Bazil Marian (7 November 1922 – 19 January 2008) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and coach.

Club career

Bazil Marian nicknamed "Bombardierul" (The Bomber) because of his powerful shots was born on 7 November 1922 in Uioara de Sus, Romania and started playing junior level football at age 11 at local club Solvay. He made his

Divizia A Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

debut playing for Victoria Cluj on 24 September 1947 in a 2–1 home victory against Venus București. Victoria relegated by the end of the season, but he stayed in

, playing one season for Mica Brad before moving at Carmen București. At

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

in December 1946 in a game against Ciocanul București at the score of 4–0 he ran alone towards the opposite goal, dribbled the goalkeeper, after which he sat down with his bottom on the ball and his hand over his eyes, as if looking for his opponents, before pushing the ball into the net. At the end of the season, following another victory against Ciocanul with 6–0 in which he scored two goals, the

team was dissolved by the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

that just took over the country, so he and teammate Valentin Stănescu wanted to flee to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, going on a ship from the

Port of Constanța The Port of Constanța is located in Constanța, Romania, on the western coast of the Black Sea, from the Bosphorus Strait and from the Sulina Branch, through which the Danube river flows into the sea. It covers , of which is land and the re ...

but were caught by the authorities who told them that they can choose from either going to jail or play for a working-class team such as Locomotiva București and both of them chose the latter. At Locomotiva he managed to score 32 goals in 24 appearances in the

1947–48 Divizia A The 1947–48 Divizia A was the thirty-first season of Divizia A, the top-level football league of Romania. Teams League table Results Top goalscorers Champion squad See also * 1947–48 Divizia B References Liga I seasons ...

season but did not win the top-goalscorer of the league as ITA Arad's

Ladislau Bonyhádi Ladislau Ludovic Bonyhádi (; born 25 March 1923 - deceased 13 June 1997 in Miami, Florida, United States) was a Romanian football player of Hungarian ethnicity. During his spell with FC UTA Arad, ITA Arad he was the top-goalscorer of Liga I, Di ...

scored a record of 49 goals. In 1950 in a game against CFR Timișoara, ''The Bomber'' scored a goal with a powerful shot from 18 meters that broke the net and after the game the opponents goalkeeper, Dumitru Pavlovici said:"I am the happiest that Marian's bomb was a goal. Otherwise, if his kick would have hit me in full, I would have gone straight to the hospital". At the end of the 1951 Divizia A season, Locomotiva relegated to

Divizia B The Liga 2, most commonly spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 football season. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariu ...

but Marian stayed with the club, helping it promote back to the first league after one season, also in a match played in a cold weather against Metalul București he scored a goal which was cancelled by the referee so he ran to the fence from the stands, where boiled

țuică Țuică () is a traditional Romanian spirit that contains ~ 24–86% alcohol by volume (usually 40–55%), prepared only from plums. Other spirits that are produced from other fruit or from a cereal grain are called " rachiu" or "rachie". ''Țu ...

was sold and drank a cup, afterwards coming back to the pitch, scoring another goal which the referee cancelled again so he went to drink another cup of țuică, then he went and shook the referee's hand and asked to be replaced, leaving the pitch saying that if he scores another goal and it gets cancelled, he'll have to drink another cup and he will get drunk. He retired to start his coaching career after playing for Locomotiva on 14 November 1954 in a Divizia A match which ended with a 3–2 loss against Progresul Oradea, however six years later at age 39 he came out of retirement after he promoted Jiul Petroșani to the first league because the squad wasn't too strong, playing 14 games in which he scored two goals.

International career

Marian played 18 games and scored two goals at international level for

, making his debut on 1 June 1941 under coach Virgil Economu in a friendly which ended with a 4–1 loss. He scored his first goal for the national team in a 2–2 friendly against

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, afterwards making two appearances at the

1946 Balkan Cup The 1946 Balkan Cup was the 8th edition of this tournament. The participanting teams were Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania and for the first time ever, Albania, who ended up winning the tournament in their first try. Squads *The four men's nationa ...

, played four games in which he scored a goal in a 3–2 away victory against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

at the 1947 Balkan Cup and made two appearances at the 1948 Balkan Cup. Marian's last appearance for the national team took place on 8 May 1949 in a home friendly which ended with a 2–1 victory against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Marian goal''.

Managerial career

Marian started coaching in 1954 at juniors and as an assistant for six years at

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

. He started to work as head coach in the 1960–61 Divizia B season at Jiul Petroșani, helping it earn promotion to

, however the team relegated after one season. He went on to coach Viitorul București, shortly afterwards moving at Romania's under 21 national team and in 1967 he was coach at Romania's senior national team for one friendly game which ended 1–1 against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, that took place in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

Estadio Gran Parque Central The Estadio Gran Parque Central is the stadium of Club Nacional de Football. It is located in Montevideo, Uruguay, near Nacional headquarters (exactly between the streets Carlos Anaya, Jaime Cibils, General Urquiza and Comandante Braga), in the L ...

. Marian won his first trophy as a coach in 1968 when he guided

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

to win the 1967–68 Cupa României after a 3–1 victory in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

against

which was coached by his former Carmen București teammate, Valentin Stănescu. Marian went to have some short spells at Farul Constanța and Argeș Pitești before going at

where he won the 1971–72 Cupa României after a 2–0 victory in the

against Jiul Petroșani. At

Rapid Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

he also had his first European performances, helping the team reach the eight-finals in the

1971–72 UEFA Cup The 1971–72 UEFA Cup was the inaugural season of the UEFA Cup, now known as the UEFA Europa League, which became the third club football competition organised by UEFA. The tournament retained the structure and format of the Inter-Cities Fairs C ...

campaign after eliminating, for the first time in the history of Romanian football, an Italian team,

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

, afterwards eliminating

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

, being eliminated by the team who would eventually win the competition,

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

, also taking part in the

1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup football club tournament was won by Milan after a 1–0 victory against Leeds United at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece. Competition holders Rangers would have been eligible to compete in th ...

campaign when the team reached the quarter-finals, eliminating

Landskrona BoIS Landskrona Boll och Idrottsällskap (, locally referred to as BoIS) is a Swedish professional football club located in Landskrona, Scania, which currently plays in Superettan, the second league tier of football in Sweden. The club was formed ...

and

Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid (), commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English, is an Austrian professional football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the f ...

. In 1973 he went to coach abroad in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

at Boufarik and

JS Kabylie Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (Kabyle grammar, Kabyle: Ilemẓiyen inaddalen n leqvayel; Berber languages, Tamazight: ⵉⵍⵎⵣⵢⵏ ⵉⵏⴰⴷⴰⵍⵏ ⵏ ⵍⵇⵠⴰⵢⵍ; ), known as JS Kabylie or simply JSK, is an Algerian profession ...

, afterwards returning for one season at

and from 1979 until his retirement at age 67 in 1989 he coached Romania's under 21 national team.

Death

Marian died on 19 January 2008 in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

at age 85 after suffering from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

in the last years of his life, being buried in the town's Andronache cemetery.

Honours

Player

Locomotiva București *

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

Manager

Jiul Petroșani *

: 1960–61 Dinamo București *

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

: 1967–68 Rapid București *

: 1971–72

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marian, Bazil 1922 births 2008 deaths People from Ocna Mureș Romanian men's footballers Romania men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Liga I players Liga II players FC Rapid București players FC Carmen București players FC Victoria Cluj players Romanian football managers FC Rapid București managers CSM Jiul Petroșani managers FC Dinamo București managers FCV Farul Constanța managers FC Argeș Pitești managers JS Kabylie managers Romania national football team managers Romanian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Algeria Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Algeria WA Boufarik managers Footballers from Alba County 20th-century Romanian sportsmen