Nicolae Pescaru

Nicolae Pescaru
Personal information
Date of birth (1943-03-27)27 March 1943
Place of birth Breaza, Prahova County, Romania
Date of death 25 May 2019(2019-05-25) (aged 76)
Place of death Mihăești, Vâlcea, Romania
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position Midfielder
Youth career
1959–1960 Someșul Beclean
1960–1961 Progresul Făgăraș
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1961–1962 Chimia Făgăraș
1962–1981 Steagul Roșu Brașov[a] 392 (77)
1981–1982 Șoimii IPA Sibiu 15 (1)
Total 407 (78)
International career
1970–1973 Romania 3 (0)
Managerial career
1981–1982 Steagul Roșu Brașov
1993–1994 Steagul Roșu Brașov
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nicolae Pescaru (27 March 1943 – 25 May 2019) was a Romanian football play and manager, who worked mostly for Steagul Roșu Brașov.

Club career

Pescaru, nicknamed "Prințul" (The Prince), was born on 27 March 1943 in Breaza, Prahova County, Romania.[1][2] He began playing junior-level football in 1959 at Someșul Beclean, and after one year he moved to Progresul Făgăraș.[1] He started to play senior football at Chimia Făgăraș in Divizia B.[1] Subsequently, Pescaru was transferred to Steagul Roșu Brașov where he made his Divizia A debut on 23 September 1962 under coach Silviu Ploeșteanu in a 4–2 home victory against Știința Cluj.[1][3]

Pescaru (front row, second from the right) with Brașov in 1965

He spent a total of 19 seasons at Steagul, serving as the team's captain for approximately 13–14 seasons, and was known for telling his teammates:"You have to defend the honor of being flagbearers!".[1][3][4] The highlights of this period were a fourth place in the 1964–65 Divizia A season and 11 games played in European competitions (including seven matches in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup).[1][3] He scored a goal in the 1965–66 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 4–2 victory against Espanyol Barcelona and played in the 3–2 win on aggregate against Beşiktaş in the 1974–75 UEFA Cup.[1][3][5] During these years, the club was relegated twice to Divizia B, but Pescaru stayed with the club, helping it get promoted back to the first division each time.[1][3]

Pescaru played his last Divizia A match on 23 November 1980 in a 3–1 away loss to Progresul București.[1] In this competition he is Steagul's leader in both appearances and goals, totaling 311 matches with 62 goals.[1][3][4][6][7] Pescaru went to play one season for Divizia B side, Șoimii IPA Sibiu, retiring in 1982.[1]

International career

Pescaru played three friendly games for Romania, making his debut under coach Angelo Niculescu, when he came as a substitute and replaced Ion Dumitru at half-time in a 2–0 loss to France.[8][9] His following two games were a 2–2 draw against Peru and a 2–0 loss against the Soviet Union.[8][10][11] Pescaru was a member of Steagul Roșu Brașov's "Mexican trio", as together with Stere Adamache and Mihai Ivăncescu they were part of Romania's 1970 Mexico World Cup squad.[12][13] However, coach Niculescu did not play him in any games there.[8][12] For the participation in that tournament he was decorated by President of Romania Traian Băsescu on 25 March 2008 with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" — (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.[14][15]

Managerial career

Pescaru worked as a junior coach.[6] He also coached Steagul Roșu Brașov's senior team on two occasions, and accumulated a total of 46 Divizia A matches as coach.[6][16]

Personal life and death

His father, also a footballer who played at Dinamo Brașov, advised Pescaru that if he were to become a footballer, he should play for Steagul Roșu Brașov.[3]

Pescaru died of cardiorespiratory arrest on 25 May 2019 at the age of 76.[6] A book about him was written by Adrian Toth titled Nicolae Pescaru, prințul brașovean al sportului rege (Nicolae Pescaru, the Brașov prince of the kingly sports), which was released on 27 March 2026, a date that signified 83 years since his birth.[17]

Honours

Steagul Roșu Brașov

Notes

  1. ↑ The statistics for the 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78 Divizia B seasons are unavailable.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Nicolae Pescaru at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  2. ↑ "Opt sute de pagini despre Nicolae Pescaru, legenda pe care brașovenii au numit-o "Prinț"" [Eight hundred pages about Nicolae Pescaru, the legend that the people of Brașov called "Prince"] (in Romanian). Welovesport.ro. 30 March 2026. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Legenda" [The legend] (in Romanian). Lastegaru.net. 15 February 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Un an fără Nicolae Pescaru! 5 amintiri memorabile despre jucătorul legendă al Brașovului" [A year without Nicolae Pescaru! 5 memorable memories about the legendary player of Brașov]. Liga2.prosport.ro (in Romanian). 25 May 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  5. ↑ "Top 3 "ce (poate) nu știați despre meciul cu Beşiktaş"" [Top 3 "what (maybe) you didn't know about the match with Beşiktaş"] (in Romanian). Lastegaru.net. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "A decedat Nicolae Pescaru, cel mai mare fotbalist din istoria lui FC Brasov" [Nicolae Pescaru, the greatest footballer in the history of FC Brașov, has died] (in Romanian). Sport.ro. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  7. ↑ "A murit Nicolae Pescaru, cel mai reprezentativ jucător din istoria lui FC Brașov și selecționat în Mexic '70. Cifrele unei cariere impresionante" [Nicolae Pescaru, the most representative player in the history of FC Brașov and selected in Mexico '70, died. The numbers of an impressive career] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 25 May 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
    "Nicolae Pescaru a murit. Ne-a părăsit încă unul dintre fotbaliștii care au jucat la Mondialul din Mexic 1970" [Nicolae Pescaru died. Another one of the footballers who played at the World Cup in Mexico 1970 has left us] (in Romanian). Digisport.ro. 25 May 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 "Nicolae Pescaru". European Football. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  9. ↑ "France - Romania 2:0". European Football. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  10. ↑ "Romania - Peru 2:2". European Football. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  11. ↑ "Soviet Union - Romania 2:0". European Football. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  12. 1 2 "România la CM 1970. Enigma Dobrin" [România la WC 1970. The Dobrin enigma] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 2 June 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  13. ↑ "FC Brașov, echipa fanion a orașului de sub Tâmpa, de 75 de ani" [FC Braşov, the flag team of the city under Tâmpa, for 75 years]. Adevărul (in Romanian). 4 July 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  14. ↑ "Decret privind conferirea Ordinului și Medaliei Meritul Sportiv" (PDF). Monitorul Oficial al României Nr. 241. 28 March 2008. p. 3. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  15. ↑ "Decorarea unor personalități ale fotbalului românesc". Administrația Prezidențială. 25 March 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  16. ↑ "Nicolae Pescaru manager profile". www.labtof.ro. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  17. ↑ "Imagini de colecție de la lansarea cărții "Nicolae Pescaru, prințul brașovean al sportului rege"" [Collection images from the launch of the book "Nicolae Pescaru, the Brașov prince of kingly sports"] (in Romanian). Monitorulexpres.ro. 28 March 2026. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
    "Cartea despre Nicolae Pescaru, simbolul "stegar", se lansează vineri 27 martie" [The book about Nicolae Pescaru, the "flag" symbol, will be launched on Friday, March 27] (in Romanian). Tvfagaras.ro. 25 March 2026. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
    "Lansare de carte. "Nicolae Pescaru, prințul brașovean al sportului rege", autor Adrian Toth" [Book launch. "Nicolae Pescaru, the Brașov prince of kingly sports", author Adrian Toth] (in Romanian). Monitorfg.ro. 23 March 2026. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
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