Nicolae Simatoc (also known as Nicolae Șmatoc, Miklós Szegedi or Nicholas Sims; 1 May 1920 – 11 December 1979) was a Romanian

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.

Club career

Simatoc started playing junior level football at age 14 in 1934 at Ripensia Timișoara. 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 on 28 May 1939 in a 1–0 home loss to Juventus București. In 1941 he went at

Carmen București ''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 Opér ...

where he spent one season and a half before moving to Hungary at

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, ), also known as NB I or Fizz Liga after its title sponsor, OTP Bank's webshop subsidiary, is a professional association football league in Hungary and the highest level of the Hungarian football league system. Twelve ...

team,

Nagyváradi AC Club Atletic Oradea (Nagyváradi Atlétikai Club) (), commonly known as CA Oradea (Nagyváradi AC), or simply as CAO (NAC), is a Romanian Association football, football club based in Oradea, Bihor County, which competes in the Liga IV. The team ...

with whom under the guidance of coach

Ferenc Rónay Ferenc Rónay or Francisc Rónay (29 April 1900 – 6 April 1967) was a Hungarian-Romanian footballer and manager. Rónay was the first ever scorer of the Romania national football team, giving them the equaliser against Yugoslavia in their de ...

he won the title in the 1943–44 season, contributing with one goal in 19 matches. Afterwards he spent one year at Vasas, then he returned to Romania at Carmen where on 7 December 1947 he made his last Divizia A appearance in a 6–2 home win against Ciocanul București. In 1948, Simatoc went to play at

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

, making his

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

debut on 25 January under coach

Giuseppe Meazza Giuseppe Meazza (; 23 August 1910 – 21 August 1979) was an Italian football manager and player. Throughout his career, he played mainly for Inter Milan in the 1930s, scoring 284 goals in 408 games for the club, and winning three Serie A title ...

in a 3–0 loss to

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 ...

. He scored his first goal in a 4–1 over

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

, scoring two more until the end of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

in a victory against

AS Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: Help:IPA/Italian, ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier ...

and a loss to

Triestina Unione Sportiva Triestina Calcio 1918, commonly referred to US Triestina or just Triestina, is an Italian football club based in Trieste, in the northern Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. Originally established in 1918, Triestina was one of the fo ...

. In the following season, he helped Inter to a runner-up position in the league, making his last appearance in the competition in a 0–0 against

Lucchese Lucchese may refer to: * A.S. Lucchese Libertas 1905, a football team based in Lucca, Tuscany * Lucchese crime family, one of the "Five Families" of New York City's Mafia * Lucchese School, an art school in Tuscany, Italy that flourished in the 11 ...

. Afterwards he went to play for one season at

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

where he scored a personal record of eight goals to help earn a sixth place. In 1950, Simatoc played alongside

László Kubala László Kubala (10 June 1927 – 17 May 2002) was a Hungarian professional association football, footballer. He played as a forward (association football), forward for Ferencvárosi TC, Ferencváros, ŠK Slovan Bratislava, Slovan Bratislava, F ...

at Hungaria FbC Roma, a team that was formed mainly from Hungarian players that left the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

and they would play exhibition games in Italy and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

under the guidance of

Ferdinand Daučík Ferdinand Daučík (also known as Fernando Daucik; 30 May 1910 – 14 November 1986) was a Slovak football player and manager. Daučík was the manager of several La Liga clubs, most notably Barcelona, Atlético Bilbao, Atlético Madrid and Real ...

. His next spell was at

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

where on 10 September 1950 he made his

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

debut under coach Daučík in a 8–2 win over

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

, managing to score once and provide three assists. He played regularly for the Catalans in his first season, wearing the number 10 shirt, appearing in a 7–2 win over

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

in the

El Clásico El Clásico (in Spanish, also in lowercase letters; ) or El Clàssic (in Catalan, ), both meaning "The Classic", is the name given to any football match between rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions he ...

, then scoring his second goal in another 7–2 victory against

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

, also managing to win the

Copa del Generalísimo The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanish f ...

. In his second season with ''Barça'', Simatoc made six league appearances as the club won The Double. Simatoc spent the last season of his career at

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo ( Asturian: Real Uviéu) is a Spanish professional football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, the club plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The club plays at ...

where on 22 March 1953 he played his last La Liga game, a 4–0 away loss to

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, having a total of 39 matches with two goals netted in the competition.

International career

Simatoc played eight games 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 on 22 September 1940 at age 20 under coach Liviu Iuga in a friendly which ended with a 2–1 away victory against

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. His last three games for the national team were 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 ...

, consisting of a draw 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 ...

, a victory over Yugoslavia and a loss to

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

Managerial career

After retiring as a player he became a coach, managing Spanish side

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

between 1959 and 1960 in the Spanish third league, promoting Eladio to the team. Then he worked at

Sabadell Sabadell () is a city and municipality in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, where it is one of the two capitals, the other being Terrassa. It is located on the River Ripoll, north of Barcelona, a ...

between 1960 and 1961 in the second league. In 1961 he worked as a technical director for

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

, afterwards in 1962, Simatoc went in Cyprus at

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou () is a Cyprus, Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL Limassol also maintains a AEL Limassol B.C., men's and AEL Limassol B.C. (women), women's basketball teams, a wom ...

for one year. In 1963, he moved to Australia, coaching Budapest Sydney for five years, then at Polonia Western Eagles for three years.

Personal life

Simatoc was born to Romanian parents on 1 May 1920 in

Grimăncăuți Grimăncăuți is a village in Briceni District, Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Rom ...

, then part of Romania, present-day

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

. His birth name was Nicolae Șmatoc, while in Hungary he was known as Miklós Szegedi and in Australia as Nicholas Sims. Simatoc was married to a Hungarian woman named Etelka Stolárcsik, with whom he had two sons, Silvio and Santi. Silvio, born in 1950, had followed his father's footsteps and played for the junior squads of

and in the first league of Australia at Hakoah Sydney City. Simatoc was multilingual, speaking ten languages: Romanian, Hungarian, Serbian, Russian, Italian, Spanish, English, French, Catalan and German. After retirement he became a professional poker player and owned a casino in Australia.

Death

He died in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on 11 December 1979 at age 59 after suffering a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

while playing a game of poker.

Legacy

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

Lozova Lozova (, ) or Lozovaya () is a city in Kharkiv Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Lozova Raion. Lozova hosts the administration of Lozova urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: Lozova is th ...

is named after him. A book about him was written in 2013 by

Octavian Țîcu Octavian Țîcu (born 21 August 1972) is a Moldovan politician, historian, and former professional boxer serving as a Member of Parliament in Moldova since 2019. He was Ministry of Youth and Sport in 2013. Biography Octavian Țîcu is a resear ...

and Boris Boguș called ''Nicolae Simatoc (1920 – 1979). Legenda unui fotbalist basarabean de la Ripensia la FC Barcelona'' ''(Nicolae Simatoc (1920 – 1979). The legend of a Bessarabian footballer from Ripensia to FC Barcelona)''. A documentary about him called ''Nicolae Simatoc - variațiuni pe un nume'' ''(Nicolae Simatoc - variations on a name)'' was released in 2017.

Honours

Nagyváradi *

Hungarian League Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians/Magyars, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the ...

: 1943–44 Barcelona *

: 1951–52 *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

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, ...

Notes

References

External links

* * * *
Nicolae Simatoc
at Fcbarcelona.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simatoc, Nicolae 1920 births 1979 deaths People from Briceni District Romanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Romania men's international footballers Liga I players La Liga players Serie A players Serie B players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players FC Ripensia Timișoara players Club Atletic Oradea players FC Carmen București players Vasas SC players Inter Milan players Brescia Calcio players FC Barcelona players Real Oviedo players Romanian football managers Western Eagles FC managers St George FC managers UE Lleida managers AEL Limassol managers CE Sabadell FC managers Romanian expatriate men's footballers Romanian expatriate football managers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate football managers in Spain Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate soccer managers in Australia Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate football managers in Cyprus 20th-century Romanian sportsmen