Marian Popescu

Marian Popescu
Personal information
Date of birth (1947-08-14)14 August 1947[1]
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania[1]
Date of death 19 November 2016(2016-11-19) (aged 69)[2]
Place of death Bucharest, Romania[2]
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Position Central midfielder[1]
Youth career
1965–1966 Rapid București
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1966–1968 Universitatea Craiova 27 (2)
1968 Rapid București 7 (0)
1969–1970 CFR Cluj 33 (4)
1970–1975 Argeș Pitești 134 (12)
1975–1976 FC Constanța 13 (1)
1976–1979 Muscelul Câmpulung
Total 214 (19)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Marian Popescu (14 August 1947 – 19 November 2016) was a Romanian football midfielder.[2][3]

Career

Popescu was born on 14 August 1947 in Bucharest, Romania and began playing junior-level football in 1965 at local club Rapid.[1] One year later he signed with Universitatea Craiova where he made his Divizia A debut on 6 November 1966 under coach Robert Cosmoc in a 4–1 away loss to Steaua București.[1][4] After one season he left Craiova and returned to Rapid where he made his debut in European competitions, playing in both legs of the 7–4 aggregate loss to OFK Beograd in the first round of the 1968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.[1][5] He left Rapid after half a year to join Divizia B side, CFR Cluj which he helped earn promotion to the first league.[1]

Popescu arrived at Argeș Pitești in 1970 where in the 1971–72 season he helped the club win its first title, scoring two goals in the 30 appearances given to him by coaches Titus Ozon and Florin Halagian.[1][2][6] Afterwards he played four games in the 1972–73 European Cup, eliminating Aris Bonnevoie in the first round, then in the following one they won a home game with 2–1 against Real Madrid, but lost the second leg with 3–1.[1][7][8]

In 1975, Popescu joined FC Constanța where on 31 March 1976 he made his last Divizia A appearance in a 1–0 win over FCM Reșița in which he scored the goal, totaling 199 matches with 17 goals in the competition and seven games in European competitions (including two games in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup).[1] Afterwards he went to Muscelul Câmpulung where his former Argeș teammate, Ion Barbu was coach, and he was also colleagues with other former Argeș teammates such as Constantin Radu, Vasile Stan and Radu Jercan.[1][9] They managed to get the team promoted from the third league to the second.[9] After two more seasons spent with Muscelul in the second league, in which he scored 10 goals in the first one, Popescu retired in 1979.[1][9]

Death

Popescu died on 19 November 2016 at age 69 in his hometown, Bucharest.[2]

Honours

CFR Cluj

Argeș Pitești

Muscelul Câmpulung

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Marian Popescu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  2. ^ a b c d e "A murit Marian Popescu, fostul mare campion al FC Argeș" [Marian Popescu, a former great champion of FC Argeș, died] (in Romanian). Jurnaluldearges.ro. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  3. ^ Marian Popescu at WorldFootball.net
  4. ^ "Steaua București vs Universitatea Craiova 4-1". Labtof. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  5. ^ "Marian Popescu. Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1968/1969". WorldFootball. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  6. ^ "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Singura echipă românească de fotbal care a învins trei mari cluburi din Spania. Marele Dobrin a fost cheia succeselor" [The only Romanian football team that has defeated three major clubs in Spain. The great Dobrin was the key to success] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Marian Popescu. Champions League 1972/1973". WorldFootball. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d "Cutia cu amintiri: VASILE STAN: "Cea mai mare satisfacție era să-i vezi pe acei oameni că te felicită și sunt fericiți de jocul tău"" [Box of memories: VASILE STAN: "The greatest satisfaction was to see those people congratulating you and being happy with your game"] (in Romanian). Argespress.ro. 3 September 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2024.