Ștefan Cârjan

Ștefan Cârjan
Personal information
Date of birth (1909-05-10)10 May 1909[1]
Place of birth Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania
Date of death 18 November 1978(1978-11-18) (aged 69)[1]
Position(s) Left winger[1]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1926–1947 Unirea Tricolor București
Managerial career
1938–1947 Unirea Tricolor București
1948 Universitatea Cluj
1969–1970 Universitatea Cluj
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ștefan Cârjan (10 May 1909 – 18 November 1978) was a Romanian football left winger and manager.[1]

Life and career

Cârjan was born on 10 May 1909 in the Dracului neighborhood of Bucharest, Romania.[1] He played over 20 years for Unirea Tricolor București, winning the 1940–41 Divizia A title as a player-coach, appearing in 12 games without scoring.[1][2] In 1947, after the Communist regime came in Romania, the Ministry of Internal Affairs wanted Unirea Tricolor to merge with Ciocanul București in order to create Dinamo București.[1][3][4] Cârjan, together with the club's president Valeriu Negulescu and player-secretary Constantin Anghelache opposed the merger.[1][3][4] All three of them were sent to jail for their past membership in or suspected sympathy for the fascist Iron Guard; in particular, Cârjan was accused of harboring Iron Guard members after their failed rebellion.[1][3][4] Anghelache and former coach Gheorghe Constantin claimed the arrests were the result of their opposition to the merger.[1][3][4] In 1948, Cârjan received a ten years sentence, which was served in Jilava and Aiud.[1][3][4] Historian Gheorghe Bodea claimed he also passed through Gherla, Pitești, and Văcărești prisons.[1][3][4] After finishing his sentence, because of his refusal to collaborate with the Communist regime, Cârjan was forced to work for four years at the cutting of the common reed from the Danube Delta.[3][4]

After his death, in 1978, Cârjan's former player from Unirea Tricolor, Constantin Anghelache, who kept all his writings, released in 1996 the volume named În slujba unui rege – fotbalul (In the service of a king – football), which is a romanced presentation of Unirea Tricolor's history.[5]

Cârjan also had a manuscript which he wrote during his period spent as coach at Universitatea Cluj, which was released in two volumes.[1] These are Cârjan's volumes, which were released after his death:[1][5]

  • În slujba unui rege – fotbalul (In the service of a king – football) (1996)
  • Însemnări despre "U" (Notes about "U") (2004)
  • Ideea U (The U idea) (2011)

Honours

Player

Unirea Tricolor București

Manager

Unirea Tricolor București

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Povestea lui Ștefan Cîrjan, tehnicianul care a schimbat mai multe închisori decît echipe. Arestat la antrenament" [The story of Ștefan Cîrjan, the technician who changed more prisons than teams. Arrested at training] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 26 March 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g ""Dinamo m-a băgat în puşcărie!"" [Dinamo put me in jail!] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 19 February 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "East Side Story. De la Unirea Tricolor la FCM Bacău" [East Side Story. From Unirea Tricolor to FCM Bacău] (in Romanian). Desteptarea.ro. 19 February 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Constantin Anghelache, fotbalistul care l-a învăţat să schieze pe Regele Mihai" [Constantin Anghelache, the football player who taught King Mihai to ski] (in Romanian). Historia.ro. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  6. ^ "Romanian Cup – Season 1935 – 1936". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Romanian Cup – Season 1940 – 1941". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 2 November 2020.