 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1922-11-20)20 November 1922 | ||
| Place of birth | București, Romania | ||
| Date of death | 4 April 1994(1994-04-04) (aged 71) | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1933–1941 | Olimpia București | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1941–1942 | Malaxa Tohan | ||
| 1942–1946 | Sportul Studențesc București[a] | 10 | (0) |
| 1946–1947 | Carmen București | 12 | (0) |
| 1947–1952 | Locomotiva București[b] | 39 | (0) |
| Total | 61 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1947 | Romania | 5 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1953–1955 | Locomotiva MCF București | ||
| 1955–1958 | Dunărea Giurgiu | ||
| 1958–1959 | Unirea Focșani | ||
| 1959–1963 | Metalul Târgoviște | ||
| 1963–1968 | Rapid București | ||
| 1964 | Romania Olympic | ||
| 1968–1971 | Steagul Roșu Brașov | ||
| 1971 | Romania Olympic | ||
| 1971–1972 | Steaua București | ||
| 1973–1975 | Romania | ||
| 1976–1978 | Petrolul Ploiești | ||
| 1979–1980 | Universitatea Craiova | ||
| 1980–1981 | Romania | ||
| 1980–1982 | Dinamo București | ||
| 1982–1984 | Rapid București | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Valentin Stănescu (20 November 1922 – 4 April 1994) was aRomanian football goalkeeper and manager. Stănescu andConstantin Cernăianu are the only two coaches who have managed the big three Bucharest city rivals, Steaua, Dinamo, and Rapid.
Stănescu, also known as "Tinel" or "Zimbrul" (The bison), was born on 20 November 1922 inBucharest, Romania and began playing junior-level football at age 11 in 1933 at local clubOlimpia.[1][3][4][5][6] In 1942 he joined Malaxa Tohan for a short while, before moving toSportul Studențesc București for three years, during which he played aCupa României final that was lost with 4–0 toCFR Turnu Severin.[1][3][7][8][9] He made hisDivizia A debut playing forCarmen București under coachPetre Steinbach on 16 March 1947 in a 3–2 away victory againstDermagarand Târgu Mureș.[1][3][7][8][10] At the end of the season, the Carmen team was dissolved by theCommunist regime that just took over the country.[11][12][13][14] Stănescu and teammateBazil Marian attempted to flee toItaly by boarding a ship in thePort of Constanța.[11][12][13][14] However, the authorities apprehended them, offering a choice between imprisonment or playing for a working-class team like Locomotiva București, and they both chose the latter option.[11][12][13][14] He played for Locomotiva until he ended his career, making his last Divizia A appearance on 27 May 1951 in a 2–1 home loss toSteaua București, totaling 51 matches in the competition.[1] However, he spent his last season inDivizia B as the club was relegated, but Stănescu stayed with the team, helping it gain promotion back to the first division after one year.[1][3][7]
Stănescu played five matches forRomania, making his debut on 22 June 1947 when coachColea Vâlcov introduced him in the 71st minute to replaceStanislau Konrad in a 3–1 loss toYugoslavia in the1947 Balkan Cup.[3][15][16] He made two more appearances in that competition, a 3–2 victory againstBulgaria and a 3–0 loss toHungary.[15] The latter was his last game played for the national team.[15]
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Stănescu started his managerial career in 1953 at Locomotiva MCF București in the Romanian regional championship.[3][4][5][7] In 1955 he went to coach atDunărea Giurgiu, after three years moving toUnirea Focșani inDivizia B, helping it avoid relegation.[3][4][5][7][8] In 1959 he started to coachMetalul Târgoviște, managing to gain promotion fromDivizia C to Divizia B and later toDivizia A.[3][4][5][7][8] There, in his first season as coach in the first division, the team was relegated as it finished in 13th place.[1][3][4] In 1963, Stănescu went to coachGiulești based clubRapid București, where he created a team formed on the clubs juniors with some transfers including his former player fromDunărea GiurgiuConstantin Năsturescu and goalkeeperRăducanu Necula.[1][3][4][5][7] He was the first coach that implemented the 4–4–2formation in Romanian football, thus creating a team that won the club's first title in the1966–67 season.[1][3][4][5][17] Stănescu also won twoBalkans Cups, becoming the first manager to achieve this performance.[4][6] In the following season he led Rapid in the1967–68 European Cup, making his first European performance by eliminatingTrakia Plovdiv with 3–2 on aggregate, being eliminated in the following round byJuventus Torino with 1–0 on aggregate.[4][18] In the same season he reached the1968 Cupa României final which was lost with 3–1 inextra time toDinamo București that was coached by his formerCarmen București teammate,Bazil Marian.[3][11][12][19][20] He also coachedRomania's Olympic team for a short while, achieving a 2–1 away victory in a friendly againstYugoslavia on 17 June 1964.[21][22][23] In 1968, Stănescu went to work for Divizia B team,Steagul Roșu Brașov, helping it win promotion to the first league after one year.[1][3][4][5][8] In 1971 he led for a second time Romania's Olympic team in the1972 Summer Olympics qualifiers.[21][22][23][24] The team got pastAlbania with 4–2 on aggregate in the first round, qualifying for the next round.[21][22][23][24] There, they lost 2–1 in the away first leg againstDenmark and he was replaced before the second leg.[21][22][23][24] In 1971, he took overSteaua București, leading them in the1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup campaign.[3][4][6][8] He made history by becoming the first Romanian coach to eliminateBarcelona with a 3–1 aggregate, though his team was defeated byBayern Munich in the quarter-finals on theaway goal rule after a 1–1 aggregate.[3][4][6][8][25] Stănescu became the coach ofRomania's national team in 1973, making his debut in a friendly which ended with a 2–0 away loss to theSoviet Union.[21][5][7] During his two-year spell, Romania managed its biggest ever victory, a 9–0 win againstFinland in the1974 World Cup qualifiers.[4][21][26] Stănescu took charge of Divizia B clubPetrolul Ploiești in 1976, helping it gain promotion to the first league after one year.[3][4][5][7][8] In 1979 he went to coachUniversitatea Craiova, a team he helped win the1979–80 title.[1][3][4][5][17] While with "U" Craiova, he also became the first Romanian coach who eliminated a team fromEngland,Leeds United, with 4–0 on aggregate in the second round of the1979–80 UEFA Cup, also earning a 1–0 victory againstBorussia Mönchengladbach in the following round.[4][7][6][8] In 1980 Stănescu went for a second spell at Romania's national team, earning a 2–1 home victory and a 0–0 away draw againstEngland in the1982 World Cup qualifiers, totaling 35 games across both of his spells, consisting of 11 victories, 14 draws and 10 losses.[4][5][7][8][21] From 1980 until 1982, he coachedDinamo București, simultaneously coaching Romania for the first year and a half of that period.[1][3][4][5][7] He helpedThe Red Dogs winThe Double in his second season and managed to become the first Romanian coach who eliminatedInter Milan with a 4–3 victory on aggregate in the second round of the1981–82 UEFA Cup.[3][4][6][8][27] In 1982 he returned to Rapid, helping them get promoted back to Divizia A after the club spent six years in Divizia B.[1][3][4][5][8] Stănescu was the first coach who won the Romanian top-division, Divizia A, with three different teams, having a total of 455 matches as a manager in the competition, consisting of 206 victories, 101 draws and 148 losses.[1][4][5][17][28]
Stănescu admitted he was mostly attached toRapid București among all the clubs he worked for, holding the following speech in front of the players during his 1980s tenure which remained popular in the club over the years: "Hey guys, are you listening? Let me tell you how things are. Rapid is not yours, it is not mine or the ministry's. Rapid belongs to over 100,000 railway workers from all over the country. It belongs to them, to their wives and children, to those who were, hundreds of thousands more, and who are no longer here and of those who will be after us! They are people who have worked and are working so that you can kick a ball, learn a book, become people. Do not disgrace Rapid! Whoever doesn't love the team does not have a choice, he'll have to love it like his mother and father. Here are your mother and father, house and table and sister and brother and lover and everything, everything you want and have holy in the world! From now on I'm your grandfather, but don't think that if I'm 60 years old, I have an easier hand. Whoever wants can leave now, because those who stay only leave the ship with their feet first!".[3][4][5]
Stănescu died on 4 April 1994 at age 71.[1][4][8]
TheGiulești-Valentin Stănescu Stadium was a football stadium in theGiulești neighborhood of Bucharest.[3][8] The venue, named after him, was the home stadium ofRapid București for almost 80 years.[3][8]
Sportul Studențesc București
CFR București
Metalul Târgoviște
Rapid București
Steagul Roșu Brașov
Petrolul Ploiești
Universitatea Craiova
Dinamo București