| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1934-04-17)17 April 1934 | ||
| Place of birth | Comarnic, Romania | ||
| Date of death | 8 July 2002(2002-07-08) (aged 68) | ||
| Place of death | Timișoara, Romania | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1948–1949 | Vulturii Comarnic | ||
| 1950–1958 | Dinamo Brașov/Cluj | ||
| 1959–1966 | Dinamo Bacău | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1966–1967 | Dinamo Bacău | ||
| 1969–1974 | Dinamo Bacău | ||
| 1974–1975 | CS Botoșani | ||
| 1975–1977 | Politehnica Timișoara | ||
| 1977–1979 | Politehnica Timișoara (assistant) | ||
| 1979 | Politehnica Timișoara | ||
| 1979–1980 | UM Timișoara | ||
| 1980–1982 | CSM Suceava | ||
| 1982–1983 | CS Târgoviște | ||
| 1983–1984 | SC Bacău | ||
| 1984–1988 | Oțelul Galați | ||
| 1988–1991 | Politehnica Timișoara | ||
| 1991–1992 | Farul Constanța | ||
| 1993–1994 | Vega Caransebeș | ||
| 1994–1996 | Politehnica Timișoara | ||
| 1998–1999 | UM Timișoara | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 9 April 2023 | |||
Constantin "Costică" Rădulescu (17 April 1934 – 8 July 2002) was a Romanianfootballer andmanager.
Rădulescu was born on 17 April 1934 inComarnic, Romania and began playing football in 1948 at local club Vulturii.[1][2][3][4][5] In 1949 he moved toDinamo Brașov, where he stayed until 1958, with the team playing inCluj during his final year.[1][2][3][5] He then signed withDinamo Bacău, a team for which he would play the rest of his career, ending in 1966.[1][2][3][5][6] In his last game, Rădulescu scored a hat-trick againstChimia Râmnicu Vâlcea, but he did not finish the match on the field due to suffering a concussion.[1][3] Even though he was a fan ofRapid București, he never got to play for them.[1]
Rădulescu started his coaching career atDinamo Bacău in 1966 at the request of his former coach,Constantin Teașcă, who left the team, managing to gain promotion fromDivizia B toDivizia A in his first year.[1][2][3][6] He andValeriu Neagu led them in the1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup campaign where they eliminatedFloriana,Skeid andKilmarnock, reaching the quarter-finals, being defeated byArsenal who eventually won the competition.[1][2][3][6][7] In 1974, during a match againstDinamo București, a general brawl ensued in which Rădulescu hit Dinamo's president Paul Moga who had previously cursed him.[1][3][6] Following that scandal, eight players were suspended, and Rădulescu was forbidden to coach any Divizia A or Divizia B team for three years.[1][3][6] Thus, he took over theDivizia C club CS Botoșani where General Marin Dragnea promised him that he would lift his suspension if he gained promotion to Divizia B which he achieved.[1][2][3][4][6]
In 1975, Rădulescu went to coachPolitehnica Timișoara, finishing thefirst season in fifth place.[1][2][3][4][6] Subsequently, from 1977 until 1979 he worked asAngelo Niculescu's assistant, being close to winning the championship in the1977–78 season, but eventually finished in third position.[2][6] After Niculescu left the club, he worked again as head coach, but got replaced after 15 rounds withIon "Jackie" Ionescu.[1][2][6] In the following years, Rădulescu coachedUM Timișoara,CSM Suceava,CS Târgoviște andSC Bacău before arriving atOțelul Galați in 1984 where he stayed for four years.[1][3][4][5] There, he gained a first-ever promotion to the first league at the end of the1985–86 season.[3][6] Afterwards, they earned a fourth place in the1987–88 season, which granted the team the qualification to the1988–89 UEFA Cup, where they were eliminated in the first round byJuventus.[3][6] However, before the double against the Italians he was replaced byCornel Dinu.[3] Rădulescu returned to Politehnica Timișoara in 1988 which was playing in Divizia B, earning promotion afterone year.[1][2][3][4][5] They finished thenext season in fifth place and earned a spot in the1990–91 UEFA Cup where they eliminatedAtlético Madrid with 2–1 on aggregate in the first round, being eliminated in the next round bySporting Lisbon.[1][2][3][6][8] He left Politehnica in 1991 after a conflict with the players who were unsatisfied with his training methods.[2] However, after two spells atFarul Constanța and Vega Caransebeș he returned to Politehnica, which was again in Divizia B.[1][2][3][4][5] He got them promoted after one season by finishing 14 points ahead of the second-place team,Corvinul Hunedoara.[1][2][5] In the1995–96 Divizia A season he started the championship well, including earning a 9–1 victory in the fifth round againstPolitehnica Iași, but the following results were poorer and eventually he was dismissed.[2]
Rădulescu's last spell as coach was atUM Timișoara which he helped get promoted from Divizia C to Divizia B at the end of the1998–99 season.[1][2][3][5][8] He also led them in the1998–99 Cupa României campaign where they eliminated Divizia A teamsAstra Ploiești andNațional București, reaching the quarter-finals where they were defeated byDinamo București.[1][2][5] During this period Rădulescu told his players his most famous quote regarding their football careers:"Everything passes, money passes, but these...these you should tell them to your children and grandchildren".[1][2][4][5] Before a Divizia B game againstUTA Arad he got a call from somebody who told him that four or five of his players got bribed to lose the game, the match ended with a 5–0 loss and he resigned from UM Timișoara.[1][2][3] Afterwards he ended his career in which he has a total of 426 matches as a coach inDivizia A, consisting of 176 victories, 82 draws and 168 losses.[9]
Rădulescu died on 8 July 2002 at age 68 inTimișoara after suffering fromperitonitis.[1][2][3][4][8]
In October 2019 a street in Timișoara was named after him.[4][10]
Dinamo Bacău
CS Botoșani
Politehnica Timișoara
Oțelul Galați
UM Timișoara