Constantin Ștefan (footballer, born 1951)

Constantin Ștefan
Personal information
Full name Constantin Traian Ștefan[1][2]
Date of birth (1951-01-08) 8 January 1951[3]
Place of birth Brașov, Romania[3]
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position Goalkeeper[3]
Youth career
1965–1969 Universitatea Cluj
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1968–1974 Universitatea Cluj 85 (0)
1974–1980 Dinamo București 101 (0)
1981–1982 Rapid București
1982–1984 Dinamo Victoria București
Total 186 (0)
International career
1979 Romania 1 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 24 January 2020

Constantin Traian Ștefan (born 8 January 1951) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper.[1][3][4]

Club career

Ștefan was born on 3 January 1951 in Brașov, Romania.[3][5] At age 14, he began playing junior-level football at Universitatea Cluj, winning the national junior title in 1969.[3][5] He made his Divizia A debut on 23 September 1968 when coach Constantin Teașcă sent him in the 88th minute to replace Cristian Ringheanu in Universitatea's 3–0 win over Argeș Pitești.[3][5][6] The highlight of his six-season spell with "U" Cluj was a third place in the 1971–72 season.[3][5] Subsequently, he appeared in both legs of the 6–5 aggregate loss to Levski Sofia in the first round of the 1972–73 UEFA Cup.[3][5][7]

In 1974, Ștefan joined Dinamo București where in his first season he won the title under coach Nicolae Dumitru, making only two appearances as the team's first choice goalkeeper was Mircea Constantinescu.[3][8] He won another title in the 1976–77 season, this time making 31 appearances under coach Ion Nunweiller.[3][8] During his six seasons spent with The Red Dogs, he played seven games in European competitions, including a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory against Real Madrid in the 1975–76 European Cup.[3][9] He made his last Divizia A appearance on 26 April 1980 in Dinamo's 2–0 away loss to Dunărea Galați, having a total of 186 matches in the competition.[3] Ștefan ended his career by playing three seasons in Divizia B, one at Rapid București and the last two for Dinamo Victoria București.[3][5]

International career

Ștefan played one friendly game for Romania under coach Ștefan Kovács which ended with a 1–0 loss to East Germany at Stadion der Weltjugend in Berlin.[10]

Personal life

After ending his football career, Ștefan worked as a mathematics teacher.[5]

Honours

Dinamo București

References

  1. ^ a b Constantin Ștefan at WorldFootball.net
  2. ^ Constantin Ștefan at National-Football-Teams.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Constantin Ștefan at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  4. ^ "Fostul portar dinamovist Constantin Stefan premiat in meciul de fotbal dintre Dinamo Bucuresti si Farul Constanta" [Former Dynamo goalkeeper Constantin Stefan awarded in the football match between Dinamo Bucharest and Farul Constanta] (in Romanian). Imago-images.com. 20 December 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Constantin Ștefan profile" (in Romanian). 4everucluj.ro.
  6. ^ "Universitatea Cluj 1968–69 season" (in Romanian). 4everucluj.ro.
  7. ^ "Constantin Ștefan. UEFA Cup 1972/1973". WorldFootball. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  9. ^ "Dinamo Bucureşti vs. Real Madrid". WorldFootball. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Constantin Ștefan". European Football. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
    "East Germany – Romania 1:0". European Football. Retrieved 24 January 2020.