Virgil Popescu (1 December 1916 – 15 February 1989) 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 ...

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 later coach. In Yugoslavia, he was known as Stanislav Popesku.

Career

He was born in 1916 during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, in the

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

n town of

Zlatna Zlatna (; ; ) is a town in Alba County, central Transylvania, Romania. The town administers eighteen villages: Botești (''Golddorf''; ''Botesbánya''), Budeni (''Higendorf''), Dealu Roatei (''Rotberg''), Dobrot, Dumbrava, Feneș (''Wildendorf''; ...

,Popescu, românul care a fondat Partizan Belgrad
by Catalin Oprisan taken from

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. ...

, 27-2-2011, retrieved 3-1-2014 back then within

Austro-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, nowadays in

. In 1918, at the end of the war, his parents moved to the newly formed

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

, later renamed

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 ...

. He began playing for

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

club

FK Vojvodina Fudbalski klub Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Војводина), commonly known as Vojvodina and colloquially as Voša ( sr-Cyrl, Воша), is a Serbian professional football club based in Novi Sad, Serbia, the second large ...

and was part of Vojvodina's so called ''Millionaires team'' at the beginning of the 1940s. He played with Vojvodina in the Novi Sad subassociation league in the 1938–39 season and then in the

Serbian League The Serbian League () is the third level football league in Serbia. It consists of four groups, namely Belgrade, East, Vojvodina, and West. The winner of each group earns promotion to the Serbian First League. History 1992–1995 In the summer o ...

between 1939 and 1941. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

started in Yugoslavia in 1941. Popescu was at the time attending the Commercial Academy in Belgrade, and by 6 April 1941, he was a second lieutenant defending the country against German forces. It took four days, on 10 April, when he was captured by Axis forces near

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

and taken to Romania to a concentration camp in Turnu Măgurele. After spending two years in the camp, in 1943 he caught the attention of Juventus Bucharest boss Cezar Popescu who got the news that this 27-year-old defender who had played in Serbia was in the camp 8. By explaining how Virgil Popescu was a Romanian and as such a German ally, he managed to release him from the camp and brought him to the team. He made his debut for

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 ...

side Juventus on 6 October, in a match against Craiova. He made 7 appearances for Juventus in the 1943–44 Romanian

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 ...

. However, not very long afterwards he entered the club offices and said that he had to leave to fight alongside

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

and Marshal Tito in freeing Yugoslavia, and club officials accepted his will, so he returned to Yugoslavia and joined the resistance. He fought the Germans, and at the end of the war, in 1945, he was among the founders of Belgrade-based

FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; ), often referred to in English as Partizan Belgrade, is a Serbian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Belgrade. It forms ...

which became one of the major powers of Yugoslav football. His passion for Serbia was such that he adopted a Serbian name, Stanislav. He played with Partizan in the

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

for two seasons. He played a total of 65 matches and scored once for Partizan, of which 17 matches were in the league. Earlier, he played with SAP Vojvodina in the 1945 Yugoslav Football Tournament. With Partizan he won the first Yugoslav post-World War II championship. He later became a coach. He coached

Miroslav Blažević Miroslav "Ćiro" Blažević (; 9 February 1935 – 8 February 2023) was a Bosnian-Croatian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. A former right winger, his professional ...

at NK Rijeka in the Yugoslav First League. and was the assistant manager to

Abdulah Gegić Abdulah Gegić (, ; 19 March 1924 – 21 June 2008) was a Yugoslav football manager and player. Playing career Following World War II, Gegić played for Metalac Beograd in the inaugural Yugoslav First League season. He later spent four years wi ...

at Partizan when they reached the

1966 European Cup Final The 1966 European Cup final was a football match held at the Heysel Stadium, Brussels, on 11 May 1966 that saw Real Madrid of Spain defeat FK Partizan of Yugoslavia 2–1 to win the 1965–66 European Cup title. Route to the final Match Summa ...

. He also coached Polish side

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 ...

in the season 1964–65. Popescu then managed

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

team St. Gallen and

Wormatia Worms VfR Wormatia 08 Worms is a German association football club that plays in Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate. The club and its historical predecessors were regular participants in regional first-division football competition until the formation of the ...

in Germany before moving to

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 ...

and

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 ...

to help develop football in those countries, there he coached the Moroccan Olympic side and

KAC Kénitra KAC or Kac may refer to: Organizations * Kenitra Athletic Club, a football club in Kenitra, Morocco * EC KAC or Klagenfurter Athletiksport Club, an ice hockey club in Klagenfurt, Austria * Knight's Armament Company, an American firearm manufactu ...

. In the 1972–73 season, he was at the helm of Algerian side

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 ...

, with whom he won the championship.Championne d'Algérie
at carfootal.dz, retrieved 3-1-2014

Honours

Player

;Vojvodina * Novi Sad subassociation league: 1939, 1940 ;Partizan *

: 1946–47 *

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...

: 1947

Manager

;Legia Warsaw *

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

: 1964–65 ;JS Kabylie * Algerian League: 1972–73

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popescu, Virgil 1916 births 1989 deaths Footballers from Alba County People from Zlatna People from the Kingdom of Hungary Romanian men's footballers Yugoslav men's footballers Men's association football defenders FK Vojvodina players FK Partizan players Yugoslav First League players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Yugoslavia FC Petrolul Ploiești players Romanian football managers Yugoslav football managers HNK Rijeka managers Legia Warsaw managers FC St. Gallen managers Wormatia Worms managers JS Kabylie managers Ekstraklasa managers Romanian expatriate football managers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Morocco Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Algeria Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Yugoslavia Expatriate football managers in Yugoslavia Expatriate football managers in Poland Expatriate football managers in Switzerland Expatriate football managers in West Germany Expatriate football managers in Morocco Expatriate football managers in Algeria FK Partizan non-playing staff Kénitra AC managers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in West Germany 20th-century Romanian sportsmen