Mircea Dridea (born 7 April 1937) is a Romanian former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and manager, who is the current honorary president of

Liga I 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 ...

club Petrolul Ploiești.

Club career

Dridea was born on 7 April 1937 in

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Ble ...

and at age 15 he was a category one chess player, being brought by his brother

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

to play football in 1952 at the junior squads of Petrolul Ploiești where his first coach was Emil Avasilichioaie, in 1954 he worked with Manole Rădulescu and in 1955

Traian Ionescu Traian Ionescu (17 July 1923 – 4 October 2006) was a Romanian football goalkeeper and coach. Club career Ionescu was born on 17 July 1923 in Văleni, Argeș County, Romania and started to play junior level football at age 13 at TC Târgoviș ...

came to the club and formed a generation of juniors which included Dridea, Constantin Tabarcea and

Vasile Sfetcu Vasile Sfetcu (10 May 1937 - 16 September 2016) was a Romanian football goalkeeper and manager. Club career Vasile Sfetcu was born on 10 May 1937 in Ploiești, Romania, starting to play football at junior level in 1951 at local club, Metalul, ...

which reached the national junior championship final which was lost in front of

Universitatea Cluj Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply U Cluj, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the L ...

. He made his debut for the senior team under coach

Ilie Oană Ilie Oană (16 August 1918 – 27 April 1993) was a football player and manager. Club career Ilie Oană was born on 16 August 1918, being nicknamed "Americanul" ''(The American)'' because his place of birth was in Indiana Harbor to Romanian pa ...

in October 1956 in a 2–1 away victory against

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 won two consecutive

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 ...

titles in the 1957–58 and 1958–59 seasons, being used by Oană in 11 matches in which he scored 4 goals in the first one and in the second appearing in 18 games in which he scored 14 goals, being the top-goalscorer of the team. Dridea scored a hat-trick in the 6–1 victory against

Siderurgistul Galați Siderurgistul Galați was a football club based in Galaţi, Romania. It was founded in 1955 and dissolved in 1967. History The club was founded in 1955 as ''Dinamo Galați'' and in 1961 it was renamed to CSO Galați, and afterwards to Siderurg ...

from the 1963 Cupa României Final and won another championship in the 1965–66 season, being used by coach

Constantin Cernăianu Constantin Cernăianu (12 October 1933 – 22 June 2015) was a Romanian football player and coach. As a head coach, Cernăianu secured two league titles with clubs outside Bucharest, Petrolul Ploiești and Universitatea Craiova. Playing caree ...

in 25 games in which he scored 11 goals. He also did some notable performances in European competitions, scoring Petrolul's first two goals in the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

in a 4–2 loss against Wismut Karl Marx Stadt, first goal in the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

in a 4–1 loss against Fenerbahçe and first goal in the

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...

against Spartak Brno, but his most important goal scored was in the first round of the

1966–67 European Cup The 1966–67 European Cup was the 12th season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Celtic for the first time, when they beat Inter Milan 2–1 in the final at the Estádio Nacional, Lisbon, ...

against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

from a free kick in a 3–1 victory, however the team did not manage to qualify to the next round. Dridea made his last

appearance on 20 June 1971 in a 1–1 against

CFR Timișoara CFR may refer to: Biology * 23S rRNA (adenine2503-C2,C8)-dimethyltransferase, an enzyme * 23S rRNA (adenine2503-C2)-methyltransferase, an enzyme Organizations * China Fire and Rescue, China's firefighting force * , the Romanian state railway ...

, having a total of 273 matches with 142 goals scored in the competition, also having a total of 21 games with 10 goals scored in European competitions (including 10 appearances and 5 goals scored in the

International career

Dridea played 15 games in which he scored 8 goals at international level for

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 ...

, making his debut under coach

Augustin Botescu Augustin Botescu was a Romanian football manager who coached Romania at the 1960 European Nations' Cup qualifiers and Romania's Olympic team at the 1960 Summer Olympics qualifiers, failing to qualify for both tournaments. He has a total of 7 g ...

on 30 August 1959 in a friendly which ended with a 3–2 away 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 ...

in which he scored a hat-trick. He played in a 2–0 home victory against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

at the 1966 World Cup qualifiers after which opponent

Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Stri ...

said that he considered Dridea the man of the match. He also played four games at the Euro 1968 qualifiers with one goal scored in a 4–2 home victory against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and a double scored in a 5–1 victory against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after each Mircea Dridea goal.''

Managerial career

Dridea started his career as coach at a junior squad of Petrolul Ploiești, winning a national junior title. He started the

1973–74 Divizia A The 1973–74 Divizia A was the fifty-sixth season of Divizia A, the top-level football league of Romania. Teams League table Results Top goalscorers Champion squad See also * 1973–74 Divizia B * 1973–74 Divizia C References ...

season as an assistant of Gheorghe Dumitrescu at Petrolul, but after finishing the first half of the season on the 16th position, Dumitrescu left the club and Dridea became the head coach of the team in the second half, however he could not save the team from relegating 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 ...

. He coached Petrolul Teleajen in

Divizia C The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. It was founded in 1936 and was called Divizia C until 2006. An exception was the seasons 1992–93 to 1996–97, in which the league was call ...

for almost two years, being close to promote it to

. He returned at Petrolul to lead them in the

1981–82 Divizia B The 1981–82 Divizia B was the 42nd season of the second tier of the Romanian football league system. The format has been maintained to three series, each of them having 18 teams. At the end of the season the winners of the series promoted to ...

season, helping the club promote to

. In the winter of 1983 the Moroccan Football Federation asked the

Romanian Football Federation The Romanian Football Federation (; FRF) is the governing body of football in Romania. They are headquartered in the capital city of Bucharest and affiliated with FIFA and UEFA since 1923 and 1955 respectively. The Federation organizes the men's ...

to send them four coaches, one of them being Dridea who went to coach

FAR Rabat Association sportive des Forces armées royales (, ), abbreviated as AS FAR (), is a professional sport club based in Morocco's capital Rabat, that competes in Botola, the top tier of Moroccan football. The club was founded in 1958, 3 years aft ...

, leaving the club at 1983. He came back to Romania, working at

club,

Prahova Ploiești Prahova may refer to: * Prahova (river), Romania * Prahova Valley, Romania * Prahova County, named after the river Prahova, Romania ** Prahova Ploieşti, a football club based in Ploieşti, Romania ** Stadionul Prahova Prahova Stadium was a foo ...

which he helped avoid relegation. He returned for a third spell as coach at Petrolul after Petre Dragomir left the team after the first six games of the

1985–86 Divizia A The 1985–86 Divizia A was the sixty-eighth season of Divizia A, the top-level football league of Romania. Teams League table Results Top goalscorers Champion squad See also * 1985–86 Divizia B * 1985–86 Divizia C * 1985–86 ...

, leading the team for two seasons. Dridea went to coach for a second spell in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Kénitra Kenitra (, , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is a port on the Sebou River with a population of 507,736 as of 2024. It is one of the three main cities of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region and the capital of the similarly named Kénitra P ...

, afterwards returning to Romania at Progresul Brăila. He coached in the first half of the

1988–89 Divizia A The 1988–89 Divizia A was the seventy-first season of Divizia A, the top-level football league of Romania. The Dinamo versus Steaua football derby match played on 3 December 1988 was the subject of the 2014 Romanian documentary film '' The S ...

season at Sportul Studențesc București, coaching in the second half at Oțelul Galați. In the following years he coached in the Romanian lower leagues at

Flacăra Moreni ''Flacăra'' (Romanian for "The Flame") is a weekly literary magazine published in Bucharest, Romania. History and profile ''Flacăra'' was started in 1911. The first issue was published on 22 October 1911. The founder was Constantin Banu and t ...

Metalul Plopeni Clubul Sportiv Orășenesc Plopeni, commonly known as CSO Plopeni, or simply as Plopeni, is a Romanian amateur football club based in Plopeni, Prahova County. The club was originally established in 1947 under the name of ''Metalul Plopeni''. M ...

which he helped promote to

and Metalul Filipeștii de Pădure with whom he earned a promotion to

after winning a play-off against Foresta Nehoiu, also having a spell in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

at Olympic Alexandria and ended his coaching career in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

at Olympique de Médenine in 1997. Dridea has a total of 121 matches as a manager in the Romanian top-division,

consisting of 37 victories, 33 draws and 51 losses, also he worked as Petrolul's president on three occasions. Mircea Dridea 1966 2

Personal life

Dridea's brother,

was also a footballer and a manager, they played together at Petrolul Ploiești, winning two

titles together and were opponents as managers in the

season when Mircea coached Petrolul and Virgil coached

Honours

Player

Petrolul Ploiești *

: 1957–58, 1958–59, 1965–66 *

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 ...

: 1962–63

Manager

Petrolul Ploiești *

: 1981–82 Metalul Plopeni *

: 1992–93

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dridea, Mircea 1937 births Living people Footballers from Ploiești Romanian men's footballers Romania men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Liga I players FC Petrolul Ploiești players Romanian football managers FC Petrolul Ploiești managers Kénitra AC managers AFC Dacia Unirea Brăila managers FC Sportul Studențesc București managers ASC Oțelul Galați managers CSM Flacăra Moreni managers AS FAR managers CSO Plopeni managers Romanian expatriate football managers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Morocco Expatriate football managers in Morocco Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Expatriate football managers in Egypt Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Tunisia Expatriate football managers in Tunisia Romanian sports executives and administrators 20th-century Romanian sportsmen