Virgil Popescu

Virgil Popescu
Personal information
Date of birth (1916-12-01)1 December 1916
Place of birth Zlatna, Kingdom of Romania
Date of death 15 February 1989(1989-02-15) (aged 72)
Place of death Kovin, Yugoslavia
Position Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1938–1941 Vojvodina
1943–1944 Juventus Bucharest 7 (0)
1945–1948 Partizan 17 (0)
Total 24 (0)
Managerial career
1963–1964 Rijeka
1964–1965 Legia Warsaw
1965–1966 Partizan (assistant)
1966–1967 St. Gallen
1968–1970 Morocco Olympic
1970 Wormatia Worms
1970–1972 KAC Kénitra
1972–1973 JSK Kabylie
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Virgil Popescu (1 December 1916 – 15 February 1989)[1] was a Romanian football player and coach. In Yugoslavia, he was known as Stanislav Popesku.

Career

Popescu was born in 1916 during the First World War, in the Transylvanian town of Zlatna,[2] back then within Austro-Hungary, nowadays in Romania.[3] In 1918, at the end of the war, his parents moved to the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later renamed Yugoslavia. He began playing for Novi Sad club FK Vojvodina and was part of Vojvodina's so called Millionaires team at the beginning of the 1940s.[4] He played with Vojvodina in the Novi Sad subassociation league in the 1938–39 season [5] and then in the Serbian League between 1939 and 1941.[6][7]

The Second World War 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.[2] It took four days, on 10 April, when he was captured by Axis forces near Belgrade and taken to Romania to a concentration camp in Turnu Măgurele.[2] 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.[2] 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.[2] He made his debut for Bucharest side Juventus on 6 October, in a match against Craiova. He made 7 appearances for Juventus in the 1943–44 Romanian Divizia A.[8] However, not very long afterwards he entered the club offices and said that he had to leave to fight alongside Yugoslav Partisans and Marshal Tito in freeing Yugoslavia, and club officials accepted his will, so he returned to Yugoslavia and joined the resistance.[2]

He fought the Germans, and at the end of the war, in 1945, he was among the founders of Belgrade-based FK Partizan which became one of the major powers of Yugoslav football.[9] His passion for Serbia was such that he adopted a Serbian name, Stanislav.[2] He played with Partizan in the Yugoslav First League for two seasons. He played a total of 65 matches and scored once for Partizan, of which 17 matches were in the league.[10] Earlier, he played with SAP Vojvodina in the 1945 Yugoslav Football Tournament.[11] With Partizan he won the first Yugoslav post-World War II championship.

He later became a coach.[12] He coached Miroslav Blažević at NK Rijeka in the Yugoslav First League.[13] and was the assistant manager to Abdulah Gegić at Partizan when they reached the 1966 European Cup Final.[14] He also coached Polish side Legia Warsaw in the season 1964–65.[15] Popescu then managed Swiss team St. Gallen and Wormatia Worms in Germany[16] before moving to Morocco and Algeria to help develop football in those countries, there he coached the Moroccan Olympic side and KAC Kénitra.[17] In the 1972–73 season, he was at the helm of Algerian side JS Kabylie, with whom he won the championship.[18]

Honours

Player

Vojvodina

Partizan

Manager

Legia Warsaw

JS Kabylie

References

  1. ↑ "Istoria ex yu fudbala". Facebook. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Popescu, românul care a fondat Partizan Belgrad, by Catalin Oprisan taken from Gazeta Sporturilor, 27 February 2011, Retrieved 3 January 2014 (in Romanian)
  3. ↑ Gabriel Enache nu e primul jucător român care semnează cu Partizan! Gazeta vă prezintă povestea lui Virgil Popescu: fost fundaș la Juventus și fondator al clubului sârb at gsp.ro, 20 June 2018 (in Romanian)
  4. ↑ Na današnji dan - Velika pobeda nad Segedom at fkvojvodina.com, Retrieved 3 January 2014 (in Serbian)
  5. ↑ 1938/39 FK Vojvodina season at fkvojvodina.com
  6. ↑ 1940/41 FK Vojvodina season at fkvojvodina.com
  7. ↑ 1939/40 FK Vojvodina season at fkvojvodina.com
  8. ↑ Povestea lui Virgil Popescu, romanul de la Legia, prietenul lui Flamaropol si Oana! at A1.ro, 9 August 2013, Retrieved 3 January 2014 (in Romanian)
  9. ↑ Istorija kluba FK Partizan Archived 31 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine at partizan.rs, Retrieved 3 January 2014 (in Serbian)
  10. ↑ FK Partizan all-time players, Popesku #819 at FK Partizan official website, Retrieved 3 January 2014
  11. ↑ 1945 Yugoslav season at Ligaški vremeplov, at hrsport.net
  12. ↑ Pamtim naslov: "Konac delo – Karasi" at Politika, Retrieved 3 January 2014 (in Serbian)
  13. ↑ 1963/64 NK Rijeka season at HNK Rijeka official website, Retrieved 3 January 2014 (in Croatian)
  14. ↑ Beše to jedne majske noći na Hejselu at FK Partizan official website, Retrieved 3 January 2014 (in Serbian)
  15. ↑ Trenerzy Legii Warszawa at Legia Warsaw official website, Retrieved 3 January 2014 (in Polish)
  16. ↑ Trainers Wormatia Worms at wormatia.de, Retrieved 3 January 2014 (in German)
  17. ↑ Entraîneurs KAC de Kénitra at Kacfoot.ma, Retrieved 3 January 2014 (in French)
  18. ↑ Championne d'Algérie at carfootal.dz, Retrieved 3 January 2014 (in French)
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