Spiridon Niculescu

Spiridon Niculescu

Personal information
Date of birth	(1943-04-08) 8 April 1943 (age 81)[1]
Place of birth	Vidra, Romania[1]
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s)	Goalkeeper[1]
Youth career
1961–1962	Dinamo București
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1962–1966	Dinamo Pitești[a]	48	(0)
1966–1968	Dinamo București	15	(0)
1968–1972	Argeș Pitești	74	(0)
1973	Rapid București	2	(0)
1973–1974	Argeș Pitești	6	(0)
1975–1976	FC Brăila
Total		145	(0)
Managerial career
1976–1977	Celuloza Călărași
1984–1985	Corvinul Hunedoara (assistant)
1985–1986	Dunărea Galați
1990	Flacăra Moreni
1994	Dunărea Galați
2007–2008	Dunărea Galați
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Spiridon Niculescu (born 8 April 1943) is a Romanian former football goalkeeper and manager.^[1][2][3]

Playing career

Spiridon Niculescu was born on 8 April 1943 in Vidra, Romania, starting to play junior level football in 1961 at Dinamo București.^[1][3] One year later he went to play for Divizia B club, Dinamo Pitești, a team which he helped promote to the first league after one season.^[1][3] He made his Divizia A debut on 25 August 1963 in a 2–1 home victory in front of Știința Cluj.^[1] At the end of his third season, the team reached the 1965 Cupa României final where coach Virgil Mărdărescu used him as a starter and he conceded a goal from Remus Câmpeanu in the 11th minute, being replaced in the 17th minute with Constantin Matache in the eventual 2–1 loss in front of Știința Cluj.^[1][4] In 1966, Niculescu was given in exchange to Dinamo București for fellow goalkeeper Narcis Coman where he played in another Cupa României final in 1968, coach Bazil Marian using him all the minutes in the 3–1 win over Rapid București.^{[1][3][5][6][7]} Afterwards Niculescu returned to Pitești, the team being now named Argeș and started playing in European competitions during the 1968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, appearing in both legs of the 5–3 loss on aggregate from the second round in front of Göztepe.^[1][8] In the 1971–72 season he won the league title with Argeș, but he played just one game as coaches Titus Ozon and Florin Halagian preferred Vasile Stan as first-choice goalkeeper.^[1][3][9] In 1973 he went for half of season at Rapid București, playing only two league games.^[1] He then returned to Argeș where he made one appearance in a 1–1 with Fenerbahçe from the first round of the 1973–74 UEFA Cup edition but they did not qualify further as the first leg was lost with 5–1.^[1][10][11] On 29 September 1975, Niculescu made his last Divizia a appearance in a 2–0 away loss in front of Politehnica Iași, having a total of 145 games in the competition with 216 goals conceded.^[1] He completely ended his career in 1976 after he spent one season and a half in Divizia B at FC Brăila.^[1][3]

Coaching career

After he ended his playing career, Spiridon Niculescu worked as a coach in the Romania lower leagues for teams such as Celuloza Călărași or Dunărea Galați.^[3] He was also Ion Nunweiller's assistant at Corvinul Hunedoara and had a short spell in the first league at Flacăra Moreni during the 1989–90 Divizia A season in which he led the team in 13 games but won just two and the team relegated at the end of it.^[12][13][14]

Honours

Argeș Pitești

• Divizia A: 1971–72^[1]
• Divizia B: 1962–63^[1]
• Cupa României runner-up: 1964–65^[4]

Dinamo București

• Cupa României: 1967–68^[5]

Notes

1. The statistics for the 1962–63 Divizia B are unavailable.^[1]

References

1. Spiridon Niculescu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
2. Spiridon Niculescu at WorldFootball.net
3. "Un portar din anii 60, Spiridon Niculescu" [A goalkeeper from the 60s, Spiridon Niculescu] (in Romanian). RomanianSoccer.ro. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
4. "Romanian Cup - 1964-1965". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
5. "Romanian Cup - 1967-1968". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
6. "Povestea unei fabuloase finale de Cupă" [The story of a fabulous cup final] (in Romanian). Welovesport.ro. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
7. "Narciz Coman- Dincolo de sport, de fotbal, de carieră, am ales libertatea. Nu am lăsat capul jos niciodată!" [Narciz Coman- Beyond sports, football, career, I chose freedom. I never put my head down!] (in Romanian). Giurgiu-tribune.ro. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
8. "Spiridon Niculescu. Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1968/1969". WorldFootball. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
9. "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
10. "FC Argeș – Fenerbahce 1-1 (Cupa UEFA – 3 octombrie 1973)" [FC Argeș – Fenerbahce 1-1 (Cupa UEFA – 3 October 1973)] (in Romanian). Tikitaka.ro. 3 October 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
11. "Spiridon Niculescu. UEFA Cup 1973/1974". WorldFootball. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
12. "Cronica sentimentală. Legendele Hunedaorei: Primul fotbalist campion național!" [The sentimental story. Legends of Hunedoara: The first footballer national champion!] (in Romanian). Zhd.ro. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
13. "Spiridon Niculescu". Labtof.ro. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
14. "Divizia A - 1989-1990". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 25 August 2024.

External links

• Spiridon Niculescu player profile at Labtof.ro
• Spiridon Niculescu manager profile at Labtof.ro