Traian Georgescu (20 March 1931 – 15 May 2008) was a

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

n football defender who spent his entire career at

Universitatea Cluj Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply as U Cluj, is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I, the first tier of the Romanian ...

. He was "U" Cluj's captain when the club won 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 Ştiinţa Cluj against Dinamo Piteşti. Format The competition is an annual knockout tournament. In the first ro ...

Career

Traian Georgescu was born on 20 March 1931 in

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a 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 Blejoi commun ...

where he started to play junior level football in 1946 at

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, a football-only stadium in ...

, switching teams in 1948 when he went at neighboring club, Concordia Ploiești. He went to college at the

Faculty of Medicine A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, MB ...

from

Cluj-Napoca ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Status , subdivision_name2 = County seat , settlement_type = City , ...

, where he started to play senior level football at local club, Universitatea, making his

Divizia A The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

debut on 15 April 1951 under coach

Iuliu Baratky Gyula Barátky ( ro, Iuliu Baratky; 14 May 1910 – 14 April 1962) was an ethnic Hungarian football player who represented both Hungary and Romania internationally. His preferred position was the half right. He played a total of 155 games in ...

in a 4–1 away loss in front of Flacăra Petroșani. In the same year, he scored all the goals of Universitatea, in the 3–1 victory against

CCA București CCA may refer to: Organisations * Canadian Cat Association * Canadian Cattlemen's Association, an advocacy group for the Canadian beef industry * Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal, Quebec *Canadian Council on Africa *Center for Contempora ...

, the second goal being considered by the press of the time as the most beautiful goal of that season for Universitatea, when Georgescu made a run from the center of the field and with a shot from 20 meters he defeated

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

Ion Voinescu Ion "Țop" Voinescu (18 April 1929 – 9 March 2018) was a Romanian footballer, who is often considered one of the finest goalkeepers Romania has ever produced. Voinescu joined his first club, Olympia București, in 1939 just before the start ...

. By the end of his first season he would score a total of six goals, except for the

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

against CCA, he scored once against each of

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 Yekaterinb ...

, Locomotiva Timișoara and Flacăra Mediaș, the latter being in the Cupa României. In 1954 he was called up by Romania's national team coach,

Ștefan Dobay Ștefan Dobay ( hu, Dobay István, 26 September 1909 – 7 April 1994), was a Romanian footballer who played as a striker and manager. He played for Ripensia Timișoara and the Romania national football team for whom he got 41 caps, scored 1 ...

for a friendly with

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

in which however he did not play. After the team relegated in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

, Georgescu stayed with the club, also becoming the team's captain after

Mircea Luca Mircea Luca (3 August 1921 – 29 July 2008) was a Romanian football defender, manager and president at Universitatea Cluj. Career Mircea Luca was "U" Cluj's captain in the hardest period of the club's history. In 1940, the team moved from C ...

retired, helping it promote back to the first league after one year in which scored four goals in 23 matches.
He helped "U" Cluj win the

, being used all the minutes by coach

Andrei Sepci Andrei Sepci (7 October 1911 – 3 December 1992) is a Romanian former footballer and manager. He was the manager that guided Știința Cluj in its successful 1964–65 Cupa României campaign. International career Andrei Sepci played four g ...

in the 2–1 victory from the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

with Dinamo Pitești. In the following season, Georgescu made his debut in European competitions, playing three 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. This season of the Cup Winners' Cup was the first instance of the ...

, helping ''The Red Caps'' eliminate Austrian team,

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; ; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neistod'') 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 administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land D ...

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"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in ...

. He retired shortly after the double with the Spaniards, having a total of 280 Divizia A games with 13 goals scored.

Personal life

Georgescu also worked as a surgeon and when his team colleague

Remus Câmpeanu Remus Câmpeanu (8 September 1938 – 3 April 2021) was a Romanian footballer who played as a left-back for Universitatea Cluj. Career Remus Câmpeanu was born on 8 September 1938 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania and started to play junior level footb ...

was diagnosed with

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a r ...

, Georgescu was the one who operated him at Câmpeanu's request. He died in 2008 a few years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Honours

Universitatea Cluj *

Divizia B The Liga 2, most often 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. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariurilor, a betting ...

: 1957–58 * Cupa României: 1964–65

References

External links

Traian Georgescu
at Labtof.ro {{DEFAULTSORT:Georgescu, Traian 1931 births 2008 deaths Romanian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Liga I players Liga II players FC Universitatea Cluj players Romanian surgeons 20th-century surgeons Footballers from Ploiești Deaths from dementia in Romania Deaths from Alzheimer's disease