Remus Câmpeanu (8 September 1938 – 3 April 2021) was a Romanian

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 ...

who played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for Universitatea Cluj.

Career

Remus Câmpeanu was born on 8 September 1938 in

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

, Romania and started to play junior level football when he was aged 11 at local club, Flamura Roșie. Later he played for Flamura's senior squad, helping the team promote to

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 ...

and after only one season 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 ...

, working with coaches Nicolae Szoboszlay and

Ștefan Kovács Ștefan Kovács (; ; 2 October 1920 – 12 May 1995) was a Romanian football player and coach. Having won two European Cup titles, he is one of the most successful association football coaches in the history of the game. Various football magazi ...

In 1960, he was advised by Kovács to go play for Universitatea Cluj where on 4 September 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 under coach Andrei Sepci in a 2–0 away loss in front of Corvinul Hunedoara. He helped the club win the

1964–65 Cupa României The 1964–65 Cupa României was the 27th edition of Romania's most prestigious football cup competition. The title was won by Știința Cluj against Dinamo Pitești. Format The competition is an annual knockout tournament. In the first round ...

, being used by Sepci in the whole game of the 2–1 victory from 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 Argeș Pitești in which he opened the score with a spectacular goal from about 30 meters. In the following season, Câmpeanu made his debut in European competitions, playing four games in the

1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1965–66 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup club football tournament was won by Borussia Dortmund in an extra-time final victory over Liverpool at Hampden Park in Glasgow. West Ham United were the defending champions, but were eliminat ...

, helping "U" Cluj eliminate Austrian team,

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; Lower_Austria.html" ;"title=".e. Lower Austria">.e. Lower Austria , ) is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administr ...

in the first round, being eliminated in the following round by

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

. In 1966, after Traian Georgescu left the club, Câmpeanu became the team's captain. In the 1971–72 season he helped '' The Red Caps'' finish on the 3rd position and two years later on 19 June 1974 he made his last

appearance on 19 June 1974 in a 2–0 away loss in front of FC Constanța, having a total of 328 matches with 3 goals scored in the competition. After his retirement from playing football, Câmpeanu was Universitatea Cluj's president from 1975 until 1989 and for a short while in 2008. Even do he played for Romania B, Remus Câmpeanu never played for Romania's senior team and on 13 May 2020, ''

Gazeta Sporturilor Gazeta Sporturilor () is a Romanian sports website, originally founded in 1924 as a daily newspaper. It was the third-oldest daily newspaper in Europe, with 99 years of uninterrupted publication, before issuing its last edition on 31 October 2023. ...

'' included him on a list of best Romanian players who never played for the senior national team.

Personal life

A book about him was written by Ion Cupen called ''Confesiunile unui veteran al gazonului'' ''(Confessions of a veteran of the field)''. When Remus Câmpeanu was diagnosed with

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

, he requested his team colleague and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, Traian Georgescu who also worked as a

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

to operate him. His older brother, Ovidiu was a footballer who played for

Victoria Cluj ''ACS Supporter 2.0'', but mostly known as Fotbal Club Victoria Cluj (due to Victoria Cluj brand legal own), also known as Victoria Cluj or simply as Victoria, was a Romanian amateur football club based in Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, Romania, foun ...

, Aurul Brad and

Jiul Petroșani Jiul may refer to these places in Romania: * the River Jiu ( + ) ** Jiul de Vest ** Jiul de Est * A village in Țuglui Țuglui is a commune in Dolj County, Oltenia, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, ...

including at Divizia A level, while his nephew

Septimiu Câmpeanu Septimiu Câmpeanu (also known as Tim Câmpeanu and in Germany as Tim Kamp; born 12 July 1957) is a Romanian retired Association football, football Forward (association football), striker and manager. Club career Septimiu Câmpeanu was born on ...

was a footballer who played at Universitatea Cluj. On 13 May 2013, on

Cluj Arena Cluj Arena () is a multi-purpose stadium in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. It serves as the home of FC Universitatea Cluj, Universitatea Cluj of the Liga I and was completed on 1 October 2011. It is also the home of the Untold Festival. The facility, owne ...

during the halftime of the match between Universitatea Cluj and

CSMS Iași A Cyber Security Management System is a form of Information security management system, particularly focussed on protecting automation and transport systems. The EU Cybersecurity Act, of 2019, led to the creation of UNECE working groups which develo ...

he received the title of Honorary Citizen of Cluj County - "Clujean of Honor". Remus Câmpeanu died on 3 April 2021 at age 82.

Honours

Flamura Roșie Cluj *

: 1958–59 Universitatea Cluj *

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 ...

: 1964–65

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Câmpeanu, Remus 1938 births 2021 deaths Romanian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Liga I players FC Universitatea Cluj players Footballers from Cluj-Napoca Romanian sports executives and administrators 20th-century Romanian sportsmen