| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1936-04-07)7 April 1936[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Bucharest, Romania[1] | ||
| Date of death | 10 March 2003(2003-03-10) (aged 66) | ||
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Forward[1] | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1954 | Voința București | ||
| 1955 | Progresul CPCS București | ||
| 1956 | Progresul București | 11 | (3) |
| 1957 | Dinamo 6 București | ||
| 1957–1958 | Dinamo Cluj | 20 | (1) |
| 1958–1960 | Dinamo Bacău | 31 | (7) |
| 1960–1964 | Dinamo București | 82 | (28) |
| 1965–1967 | Dinamo Pitești | 57 | (4) |
| Total | 201 | (43) | |
| International career | |||
| 1963 | Romania[a] | 3 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ion Țîrcovnicu (7 April 1936 – 10 March 2003) was aRomanian footballforward.[1]
Țîrcovnicu was born on 7 April 1936 inBucharest, Romania and began playing football in 1954 at local club Voința inDivizia B.[1] In 1955 he went to Progresul CPCS București, also in the second league.[1] One year later he signed withProgresul București where he made hisDivizia A debut on 2 April 1956 under coach Gheorghe Nicolae in a 2–1 home loss toFlamura Roșie Arad in which he scored his side's goal.[1][2] Subsequently, he went for a short period toDinamo 6 București, then he played one season forDinamo Cluj and two seasons forDinamo Bacău.[1]

In 1960, Țîrcovnicu signed withDinamo București where in hisfirst season he scored a personal record of 11 goals, including one in a 3–2derby loss toSteaua București, as the team finished the season in second place.[1][3] In thefollowing season he worked with three coaches,Traian Ionescu,Constantin Teașcă andNicolae Dumitru, scoring five goals in 20 appearances, as the team won the title.[1][4] Then he made his debut in European competitions, appearing in a 1–1 draw againstGalatasaray in the1962–63 European Cup.[1][5] He also scored seven goals in the 27 league appearances under coaches Ionescu and Dumitru, including one goal in a draw against Steaua, contributing to the team's second title win.[1][4][6] In the1963–64 European Cup he played three games, scoring one goal in a 1–0 victory againstEast Germany champion,Motor Jena, being eliminated in the next round byReal Madrid against whom he also scored once.[1][7] In the same season, Țîrcovnicu helped Dinamo winThe Double, coaches Ionescu and Dumitru giving him 17 appearances in which he scored five goals, but he was not used in the 5–3 win over Steaua in the1964 Cupa României final.[1][4][8]

He started the1964–65 season withThe Red Dogs, but moved during the season toDinamo Pitești, the team managing to win the title without him.[1][4][9] During his first season spent at Pitești, the team reached the1965 Cupa României final, coachVirgil Mărdărescu using him the entire match in the 2–1 loss toȘtiința Cluj.[1][9][10] He played three games in the1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup campaign, as in the first two rounds they eliminatedSevilla andToulouse, being defeated in the third round with 1–0 on aggregate byDinamo Zagreb who eventually won the competition.[1][9][11][12] Țîrcovnicu made his last Divizia A appearance on 1 June 1967 in Dinamo Pitești's 4–2 home loss to Universitatea Cluj, having a total of 201 appearances with 43 goals in the competition, also totaling seven appearances with two goals in European competitions (including three appearances in theInter-Cities Fairs Cup).[1]
Țîrcovnicu played one friendly game forRomania on 9 October 1963 when coachSilviu Ploeșteanu used him as a starter in a 0–0 draw againstTurkey.[13][14] He also appeared in two matches forRomania's Olympic team.[15] These were a 2–1 friendly victory againstYugoslavia in which he scored his side's first goal, and a 3–2 loss toDenmark in the1964 Summer Olympics qualifiers.[15][16]
Țîrcovnicu died on 10 March 2003 at age 66.[1][9]
Dinamo București
Dinamo Pitești