Ion Ionescu (footballer, born 1936)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 2 May 1936 | ||
| Place of birth | Rudna, Romania | ||
| Date of death | 30 June 2024 (aged 88) | ||
| Place of death | Timișoara, Romania | ||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1945–1953 | Politehnica Timișoara | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1953–1954 | Politehnica Timișoara | 0 | (0) |
| 1955–1956 | Progresul Sibiu | ||
| 1956–1959 | Știința București | ||
| 1959–1960 | Victoria București | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1960 | Politehnica Timișoara (assistant) | ||
| 1961–1964 | Politehnica Timișoara (juniors) | ||
| Variaș | |||
| Gloria Timișoara | |||
| 1964–1966 | Politehnica Timișoara (assistant) | ||
| 1966 | Politehnica Timișoara | ||
| 1966–1967 | Politehnica Timișoara (assistant) | ||
| Progresul Timișoara | |||
| CFR Timișoara | |||
| 1971–1972 | UTA Arad (assistant) | ||
| 1972–1975 | Politehnica Timișoara | ||
| 1975–1976 | Jiul Petroșani | ||
| 1976–1977 | CFR Timișoara | ||
| 1977–1979 | UTA Arad | ||
| 1979 | CSM Reșița | ||
| 1980–1981 | Politehnica Timișoara | ||
| 1982–1983 | Politehnica Timișoara | ||
| 1983–1984 | Aurul Brad | ||
| 1984–1986 | Corvinul Hunedoara | ||
| 1986–1988 | Politehnica Timișoara | ||
| 1988–1990 | Sportul Studențesc București | ||
| 1990–1991 | Corvinul Hunedoara | ||
| 1991–1992 | Politehnica Timișoara | ||
| 1993–1994 | Progresul București | ||
| 1996–1997 | UTA Arad | ||
| 2002 | CSU Timișoara | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ion V. "Jackie" Ionescu (2 May 1936 – 30 June 2024) was a Romanian football player and coach.
He was mostly known for his coaching spells at Politehnica Timișoara with whom he won a Cupa României and reached three other finals, also eliminating Celtic in the 1980–81 European Cup Winners' Cup.
Early life
[edit]Ion Ionescu was born on 2 May 1936 in the Crai Nou village which is part of the Rudna commune from Romania.[1][2][3][4][5] In 2016, during an interview with the Adevărul newspaper, he described his early life in Rudna:"I lived exclusively in Rudna, among Serbs. I was born in Crai Nou, but my father built a house in Rudna. It was nice. We had a neat house near the train station. We had fruit trees, a very rich vineyard, a small lake with fish, it was an idyllic country life before the Second World War, with Serbian friends, Hungarian friends, Romanian friends. We were all the same, there was no problem of misunderstandings.".[2] In 1943 when he started school, his family moved to Timișoara, Ionescu saying about this period:"My father found a job at the town hall in Timișoara, and my mother - at General School no. 8. I was there too, but my mother was not my teacher. We moved to the Iosefin area, a central, highly developed area, another very multi-ethnic area. Fewer Serbs, many Hungarians, Germans, Jews. I was a neighbor, a few meters away, with Iolanda Balaș.".[2] He explained that he got his nickname "Jackie": "During high school football, from the need for cosmopolitanism at that time, to have a cosmopolitan one in addition to the Romanian first name. Ion was not transformed into Jean, nor Ivan, but Jackie. At that time, this name was not only beautiful, but also dangerous. But I assumed it.".[2][6]
Playing career
[edit]Ionescu started playing football in 1945, aged 9 at Politehnica Timișoara's junior center.[1][3][4][5][7] He stayed at Poli for a decade, going through all the stages of the youth center, playing right midfielder and even catching a match for the senior team in a friendly with Flamura Roșie Arad in 1954, where his direct opponent was József Pecsovszky.[1][3][4][7] In 1955 he went to play for Progresul Sibiu, shortly afterwards moving at Știința București for three years, retiring in 1960 because of an injury, being aged 24 after spending one year at Victoria București, having spent all of his career playing in the Romanian lower leagues.[1][3][4][5][7]
Managerial career
[edit]"Jackie could never breathe away from Poli... He was like a fish, and Timișoara was his water."
–Journalist Ioan Chirilă talking about Ionescu[4][8]
He started his coaching career shortly after he ended his playing career in 1960 at age 24, being Eugen Mladin's assistant at Politehnica Timișoara in Divizia A.[1][4] In 1961 he started working at Politehnica's Center for Children and Juniors where he would spent about three years, also in parallel he started working as head coach for the senior squads of Variaș and Gloria Timișoara in the lower leagues.[4] In 1964 he started working once again as an assistant for The White-Purples, becoming head coach in 1966, having Nicolae Reuter as his assistant but after 11 rounds he switched back to being assistant, the team relegating at the end of the season.[4] In 1967 he leaves Poli, going to work at neighboring clubs, Progresul and CFR.[4] From 1971 until 1972 he was the assistant coach of Nicolae Dumitrescu at UTA Arad, the team reaching the quarter-finals of the 1971–72 UEFA Cup and finishing the championship on the second place.[4][5][9][10] In 1972 at age 36 he returned at Politehnica in Divizia B, helping the team finish on the first place in his first season, earning promotion to the first league after a absence of five years.[1][4] Then he reached the 1974 Cupa României final where they lost with 4–2 in front of Jiul Petroșani.[1][3][4][7][11] He was the assistant coach of Constantin Cernăianu at Romania's students football team, winning the Universiade gold medal in the 1974 edition that was held in France.[1][5][12][13]
In 1975 he went to coach Jiul after the 22nd round of the season, helping the team avoid relegation, managing to earn a 2–0 win over Dinamo București.[3][7][14] In the following season the team finished on the 12th place, avoiding relegation once again.[14] After a period spent at CFR Timișoara, Ionescu went to coach UTA Arad where he was dismissed by the end of his second season, leaving them on the 12th place from 18 teams, the club relegating without him.[3][4][7][9][10] After a short period spent at CSM Reșița, he returned to Politehnica, managing to win the 1979–80 Cupa României, after a 2–1 win over Steaua București in the final.[1][3][4][7][15] He participated with Poli in the 1980–81 European Cup Winners' Cup, eliminating Celtic in the first round, being eliminated in the following one by West Ham United.[1][2][3][4][7] Also he reached the 1981 Cupa României final, losing it with 6–0 in front of Universitatea Craiova.[1][4][7][16] He left Politehnica shortly afterwards but returned in 1982 for only a short while, leaving before the end of the season at which the club relegated.[1][4] After one year spent at Aurul Brad, in 1984 Ionescu signed with Corvinul Hunedoara where in the 1985–86 season the team impressed by having a three goals per home game scored, including a 9–0 win over Rapid București.[1][3][4][7] He returned at Politehnica, helping it promote from Divizia B back to the first league where after a 2–1 home win over Dinamo, he had a conflict with the opponents coach, Mircea Lucescu who threatened that Politehnica would relegate at the end of the season which coincidentally or not actually happened.[1][3][4][7][17] Shortly afterwards he signed with Sportul Studențesc București where he worked with Lucescu's son, Răzvan who was a player but had no problem with him.[1][3][4][7][17] In 1990 he returned for a second spell at Corvinul but left after the clubs officials allegedly asked him to throw a game with Universitatea Craiova.[1][3][4] In 1991 he went for a final spell at Politehnica Timișoara where he finished the season on the 5th place at equal points with the third place and also reaching the 1992 Cupa României final which was lost at the penalty shoot-out in front of Steaua.[1][3][4][18] He then participated with the club at the 1992–93 UEFA Cup edition where in the first round they faced Real Madrid, obtaining a 1–1 at Timișoara and losing with 4–0 on Santiago Bernabéu.[1][4] After a spell at Progresul București from 1993 until 1994, he went back at UTA in 1996, this time in the second league.[3][7][9][10] In 2002 he had his final coaching spell at third league side, CSU Timișoara.[4][8]
Ion Ionescu has a total of 496 matches as a manager in the Romanian top-division, Divizia A consisting of 194 victories, 89 draws and 213 losses.[19]
Writing
[edit]Ion Ionescu wrote five books about football:[2][7][20]
- Fotbal. Metode si mijloace de antrenament (Football. Training methods and means) - co-written with Angelo Niculescu (1972)
- Fotbal – Tactica astăzi (Football – The tactic of today) - co-written with Cornel Dinu (1977)
- Fotbal – Concepția de joc (Football – The concept of the game) - co-written with Cornel Dinu (1982)
- Fotbal – Tehnica și tactica jocului (Football – The technique and the tactic of the game)
- O minge în Babilon (A ball in Babylon)
After retirement
[edit]After retiring as a coach, he worked as a university professor, was an advisor at Politehnica Timișoara from 2005 until 2007, columnist at various local and national sports newspapers and generally became known as football analyst with numerous appearances on TV and the radio.[2][3][12] He received the Honorary Citizen of Timișoara and Hunedoara titles.[3][12]
In July 2009, after Politehnica Timișoara played the first leg against Mircea Lucescu's UEFA Cup holders, Shakhtar Donetsk in the third qualifying round of the 2009–10 Champions League, Ionescu said:"We have a 70-80 percent chance of qualifying (...) Shakhtar is a modest team. It won the UEFA Cup by chance and because it met very weak opponents. In Romania, Shakhtar would be a team in seventh place!".[21][22] Eventually Poli eliminated Shakhtar.[23]
Death
[edit]Ion Ionescu died on 30 June 2024 at age 88 in Timișoara.[1][3][7][12][24]
Honours
[edit]Player
[edit]Știința București
- Divizia C: 1958–59
Manager
[edit]Politehnica Timișoara
References
[edit]- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "A murit profesorul Ion V. Ionescu. A jucat patru finale cu Poli Timișoara în Cupa României" [Professor Ion V. Ionescu died. He played four finals with Poli Timișoara in the Romanian Cup] (in Romanian). Digisport.ro. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "Jackie Ionescu, "profesorul" de fotbal, la 80 de ani: "Din iubirea Anei Pauker cu mumia lui Lenin s-a născut Dinamo, în 1948"" [Jackie Ionescu, the "professor" of football, at 80 years old: "Dinamo was born from Ana Pauker's love with Lenin's mummy in 1948"] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 16 July 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Doliu în fotbalul românesc! A murit Jackie Ionescu, antrenorul care a eliminat-o pe Celtic Glasgow în Cupa Cupelor. Mesajul emoționant al lui Marian Iancu" [Mourning in Romanian football! Jackie Ionescu, the coach who eliminated Celtic Glasgow in the Cup Winners' Cup, has died. Marian Iancu's emotional message] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z "S-a stins legendarul Ion V. Ionescu" [The legendary Ion V. Ionescu has passed away] (in Romanian). Sspolitehnica.ro. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Jackie Ionescu, cel mai de succes antrenor din istoria lui Poli Timișoara, a murit" [Jackie Ionescu, the most successful coach in the history of Poli Timișoara, has died] (in Romanian). Golazo.ro. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "A murit Jackie Ionescu, un mare antrenor de fotbal. De numele lui se leagă numeroase performanțe şi meciuri de referinţă din istoria Politehnicii Timișoara" [Jackie Ionescu, a great football coach, died. Many important performances and matches in the history of Timișoara Polytechnic are linked to his name] (in Romanian). G4media.ro. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Doliu în fotbalul românesc! A murit fostul mare antrenor Ion V. Ionescu. Cu Poli a cucerit Cupa și a eliminat-o pe Celtic, iar cu Corvinul a reușit un teribil 9-0 cu Rapid" [Mourning in Romanian football! The former great coach Ion V. Ionescu died. With Poli he won the Cup and eliminated Celtic, and with Corvinul he managed a terrible 9-0 with Rapid] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "A murit profesorul Ion V. Ionescu. Împlinise 88 de ani în luna mai" [Professor Ion V. Ionescu died. He had turned 88 in May] (in Romanian). Stiridetimisoara.ro. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "S-a stins Jackie Ionescu!" [Jackie Ionescu has died!] (in Romanian). Uta-arad.ro. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "A murit cunoscutul om de fotbal Jackie Ionescu, unul dintre foștii antrenori ai UTA-ei" [The well-known football player Jackie Ionescu, one of the former coaches of UTA, died] (in Romanian). Arq.ro. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "Romanian Cup – Season 1973–1974". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Doliu în fotbalul românesc: Jackie Ionescu a murit la 88 de ani. A adus ultimul trofeu în vitrina Politehnicii Timișoara" [Mourning in Romanian football: Jackie Ionescu died at 88 years old. He brought the last trophy to the Timișoara Politehnica showcase] (in Romanian). Liga2.prosport.ro. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "Au fost odată campioni mondiali" [Once they were world champions] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 20 July 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Antrenori. Antrenor la Jiul Petrosani în urma cu 40 de ani(1975-76), Jackie Ionescu rãmâne si la 80 de ani acelasi anti Dinamo-Steaua" [Trainers. Coach at Jiul Petrosani 40 years ago (1975-76), Jackie Ionescu remains the same anti Dinamo-Steaua even at 80 years old] (in Romanian). Cronicavj.ro. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "Romanian Cup – Season 1979–1980". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "Romanian Cup – Season 1980–1981". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "33 de ani de la Timișoara - Dinamo 2-1, meciul care a prefigurat Revoluția. "Lucescu n-a știut și nici n-a învățat să piardă!"" [33 years since Timisoara - Dinamo 2-1, the match that foreshadowed the Revolution. "Lucescu neither knew nor learned to lose!"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 8 November 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "Romanian Cup – Season 1991–1992". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "Top 60 antrenori" [Top 60 coaches] (in Romanian). RomanianSoccer.ro. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "Profesorul Ion V. Ionescu a murit. Doliu în fotbalul timișean" [Professor Ion V. Ionescu died. Mourning in Timișoara football] (in Romanian). Debanat.ro. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "Jackie Ionescu: "Șahtior e o echipă modestă. În Liga 1 ar fi de locul 7"" [Jackie Ionescu: "Shakhtar is a modest team. In Liga 1 they would be in 7th place"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 31 July 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "Jackie Ionescu: Sahtior ar fi de locul 7 la noi!" [Jackie Ionescu: Shakhtar would be in 7th place for us!] (in Romanian). Romaniansoccer.ro. 31 July 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "Timisoara face istorie! Timisoara 0-0 Sahtior! Vezi rezumat!" [Timisoara makes history! Timisoara 0-0 Sahtior! See summary!] (in Romanian). Sport.ro. 6 August 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "Ion V. Ionescu, legendă a Poli Timișoara, a murit la 88 de ani" [Ion V. Ionescu, legend of Poli Timișoara, died at 88 years old] (in Romanian). Hotnews.ro. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
External links
[edit]- Ion Ionescu at WorldFootball.net
- 1936 births
- 2024 deaths
- Footballers from Timișoara
- Romanian men's footballers
- Romanian football managers
- Men's association football midfielders
- Liga II players
- Liga III players
- FC Politehnica Timișoara players
- FC Sportul Studențesc București players
- FC Politehnica Timișoara managers
- FC Sportul Studențesc București managers
- FC UTA Arad managers
- CSM Jiul Petroșani managers
- FC Progresul București managers
- CSM Reșița managers
- CS Corvinul Hunedoara managers
- Romanian writers
- Romanian male writers
- 20th-century Romanian writers
- 20th-century Romanian male writers