Constantin "Costel" Rădulescu (5 October 1896 – 31 December 1981) was a footballer and manager from Romania who rose to prominence in the 1920s and 1930s. At one time or another Rădulescu had been associated with the Romania national team as either coach, manager or administrator within the Romanian Football Federation between 1923 and 1938.[1]
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Constantin Rădulescu | ||
| Date of birth | 5 October 1896 | ||
| Place of birth | Cluj, Austria-Hungary | ||
| Date of death | 31 December 1981 (aged 85) | ||
| Place of death | Bucharest, Romania | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Olympia București | |||
| –1923 | Tricolor București | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1923 | Romania | ||
| 1928–1934 | Romania | ||
| 1935–1938 | Romania | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
First World War activity and playing career
editRădulescu served as an officer for the Romanian Army during World War I at the front in the Battle of Mărăști between 1916 and 1918 in which he had received injuries to his right arm.[2][3] In 1919 he featured as a goalkeeper for the Romanian army team at the Inter-Allied Games held at the Pershing Stadium, in Paris.[2][3][4]
After the end of the war, Rădulescu played football for Olympia București and Tricolor București until 1923.[2][3] After 1923, Rădulescu switched to refereeing, coaching and administration and was involved in the development of the Romanian football federation in 1930, a development which put an end to the practice of the game being run in his country by a commission.[2][3]
Romania's national team coach
editHis first spell as the coach of Romania's national team took place at age 27 in 1923 for only one game, a friendly which ended 2–2 with Turkey.[2][5] His second spell started in 1928 at the Friendship Cup where he lost with 3–1 in front of Yugoslavia, but afterwards he earned victories against Bulgaria with 3–0, Greece with 8–1 and Yugoslavia with 2–1, before going at the 1930 World Cup where he earned Romania's first victory at the competition, a 3–1 against Peru, losing the second game of the group with 4–0 in front of hosts and eventual winners, Uruguay.[2][3][5] During the competition, even do he was Romania's coach, Costel Rădulescu twice officiated as a linesman in matches featuring Argentina and Uruguay on those match days when the Romanians were not playing.[2][3] He assisted as a linesman on other occasions when Romania was playing in the 1930s.[2][3] He won the 1929–31 Balkan Cup campaign, which Romania won while losing only in Sofia with Bulgaria, but scoring healthily in all matches and defeating fellow World Cup entrants Yugoslavia in October 1929.[3][5][6] Rădulescu guided Romania in the first meeting with France from June 1932, a home friendly which ended with a 6–3 victory.[5][7] He won another Balkan Cup in 1933 and the 1931–1934 Central European Cup for Amateurs, also earning the qualification for the 1934 World Cup from a group with Yugoslavia and Switzerland but at the final tournament Josef Uridil was brought as head coach, Rădulescu still remaining in the staff but with a minor role, the team losing the only game played there in the first round with 2–1 in front of eventual finalists Czechoslovakia.[2][3][5][8][9] On his third spell, Rădulescu went on to win a third Balkan Cup in 1936 and the 1936 King Carol II Cup, defeating Yugoslavia with 3–2 courtesy of a hat-trick from Iuliu Bodola.[5][10] He also took part as a technical director under coach Alexandru Săvulescu at the 1938 World Cup where they were eliminated in the first round by Cuba.[2][3][5] Rădulescu has a total of 49 matches as coach of Romania consisting of 27 victories, 7 draws and 15 losses.[2]
Referee career
editHe was a referee for 20 years, refereeing 49 Divizia A matches, having over 200 matches as a total.[2][3][11]
Honours
editManager
editRomania
Records
- Manager with the most Balkan Cup titles: 3 titles
References
edit- ^ "Romanian National Team Coaches". RSSSF (in Romanian). Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Povestea fascinantă a primului român care a arbitrat la un Mondial, Costel Rădulescu. A luptat pe front, a fost rănit la Mărășești, apoi a fost arbitru-selecționer la CM din Uruguay!" [The fascinating story of the first Romanian to referee at a World Cup, Costel Rădulescu. He fought on the front, was wounded in Mărășești, then he was referee-selector at the World Cup in Uruguay!] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Constantin Rădulescu, selecționerul României la Cupele Mondiale din 1930, 1934 și 1938" [Constantin Rădulescu, Romania's coach at the 1930, 1934 and 1938 World Cups] (in Romanian). Tackle.ro. 18 August 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ "Interallied Games 1919". RSSSF (in Romanian). Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Constantin Rădulescu profile". European Football. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ "Balkan Cup 1929–31". European Football. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ "România – Franța 6-3 (Primul meci din istorie cu francezii – 12 iunie 1932)" [Romania – France 6-3 (The first match in history with the French – June 12, 1932)] (in Romanian). Tikitaka.ro. 12 June 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Balkan Cup 1933". European Football. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ a b "1931–1934 Central European Cup for Amateurs". European Football. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ "Romania 3-2 Yugoslavia". European Football. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ "Radulescu Costel". Labtof. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ "Balkan Cup (for Nations)". RSSSF. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
External links
edit- Constantin Rădulescu manager profile at EU-Football.info
- Constantin Rădulescu coach profile at National-Football-Teams.com
- Constantin Rădulescu coach profile at Soccerway
- Constantin Rădulescu referee profile at EU-Football.info
- Constantin Rădulescu referee profile at WorldFootball.net
- Constantin Rădulescu at WorldReferee.com
