Adrian Stoicov


Adrian Stoicov was a Romanian footballer who played as a left-back.

Club career

Stoicov, nicknamed "Bulgarul", was born on 12 November 1967 in Deta, Romania and began playing junior-level football at ȘS Timișoara before moving to Politehnica Timișoara. He started his senior career in 1986 at Divizia C club Obilici Sânmartinu-Sârbesc.
In 1987, Stoicov returned to Politehnica, making his Divizia A debut on 29 November under coach Ion Ionescu in a 1–0 home win over Universitatea Cluj. At the end of his first season, Politehnica was relegated, but he stayed with the club, helping it get promoted back after one year. Subsequently, in the 1990–91 UEFA Cup coach Constantin Rădulescu used him in four matches, as in the first round they got past Atlético Madrid with 2–1 on aggregate, being eliminated in the next round by Sporting Lisbon. He helped the club reach the 1992 [Cupa României final], coach Ion Ionescu using him the entire match in the loss at the penalty shoot-out to Steaua București, Stoicov missing one of Politehnica's spot kicks. He then participated in the 1992–93 UEFA Cup edition where in the first round they faced Real Madrid, obtaining a 1–1 draw at Timișoara and losing with 4–0 at Santiago Bernabéu.
Stoicov left Politehnica to join Progresul București for the 1993–94 season. He then returned to Politehnica for the 1994–95 Divizia B season, helping them gain promotion to the first league. He began the next season in Divizia B, playing one game for FC [CFR Timișoara|CFR Timișoara]. Afterwards, he moved to the first league to play for Politehnica, which was relegated once again at the end of the 1996–97 season. After one more season spent in Divizia B with The White-Purples, Stoicov went to third league team UM Timișoara for the first half of the 1998–99 season. He joined Inter Sibiu for the second half, UM managing to gain promotion to the second league without him. He continued to play at Divizia B level at Sibiu and Cetate Deva until he ended his career in 2001. Stoicov has a total of 217 appearances with three goals scored in Divizia A.

International career

Stoicov played two games in 1992 for Romania's B squad, a victory against China and a loss to Poland.

Coaching career

After he ended his playing career, Stoicov worked as an assistant and youth coach.

Death

He died on 15 March 2017 at age 49 in Timișoara after suffering from lung cancer.

Honours

Politehnica Timișoara
UM Timișoara