Andrei Prepeliță


Andrei Prepeliță is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who played mainly as a defensive midfielder, currently in charge of Liga I club Unirea Slobozia.

Club career

Argeș Pitești and Universitatea Craiova

Prepeliță was born on 8 December 1985 in Slatina, Romania and began playing organized football under the guidance of his father Constantin at CSȘ Slobozia. He completed his junior years at Argeș Pitești, being brought there by Viorel Moiceanu. He made his debut for the first team on 7 May 2003 under coach Ion Moldovan in a Liga I match which ended with a 1–0 loss to Gloria Bistrița. On 1 May 2004, he scored his first league goal in a 4–1 home win over Național București. After five seasons, Prepeliță was transferred by Argeș together with teammate Ciprian Tănasă to Universitatea Craiova for €1.5 million. He played regularly for "U" Craiova during his four-season spell.

Steaua București

On 2 August 2011, Prepeliță signed a four-year contract with Steaua București. During his first three seasons, Prepeliță won two titles and the 2013 Supercupa României under coach Laurențiu Reghecampf. In his last season under the guidance of coach Constantin Gâlcă he helped the club win The Treble, consisting of the championship title, the Cupa României and the Cupa Ligii.
Prepeliță also had some European performances with The Military Men as they reached the Europa League group phase three times, passing it twice. The first was in the 2011–12 season when the club was eliminated in the round of 32 by Twente. The second time was in the 2012–13 edition when they reached the round of 16, being defeated by Chelsea after getting past Ajax Amsterdam in the previous phase. The team also reached the 2013–14 Champions League group stage, where Prepeliță played in a draw against Schalke 04 and a loss to Chelsea.

Ludogorets Razgrad

On 1 July 2015, Prepeliță signed a two-year contract with Ludogorets Razgrad in Bulgaria, where he played alongside fellow Romanians Cosmin Moți and Claudiu Keșerü. On 11 May 2016, they each scored once in a 4–1 win over Pirin Blagoevgrad. Ludogorets won the Bulgarian league title at the end of the season.

Rostov

Prepeliță joined Russian Premier League club Rostov on 31 August 2016. He made his Russian Premier League debut on 9 September, as coach Ivan Daniliants used him as a starter in a 2–1 home win over Krylia Sovetov in which he scored the victory goal with a header. The team played in the Champions League group stage, finishing in third place. Subsequently, they qualified to the Europa League, where they were eliminated in the round of 16 by Manchester United. He left Rostov in August 2017.

Concordia Chiajna and Argeș Pitești

Prepeliță returned to Romania in February 2018, signing a contract with Concordia Chiajna, where he reunited with the coach who gave him his senior debut, Ion Moldovan. On 6 September 2019, Prepeliță rejoined Argeș Pitești, which was playing in Liga II, helping them gain promotion to the first league. There, he played in the first part of the 2020–21 season, after which he retired. Prepeliță accumulated a total of 327 Liga I matches with 29 goals and 40 appearances with one goal in European competitions.

International career

Prepeliță played 14 games for [Romanian national Association football|football team|Romania], making his debut on 7 September 2014 when coach Victor Pițurcă sent him to replace Ovidiu Hoban in the 84th minute of a 1–0 away victory against Greece in the Euro 2016 qualifiers. Prepeliță played a total of five games during those successful qualifiers. He was selected by coach Anghel Iordănescu to be part of Romania's squad for the final tournament. There, he made his last appearance for the national team in a 1–1 draw against Switzerland as his side failed to progress from their group.

Managerial career

In December 2020, Prepeliță was presented as the manager of Argeș Pitești. In the 2021–22 season, he managed to reach the play-off, a first-ever performance for the club, finishing in sixth place. On 26 October 2022, his contract was terminated.
In June 2023, Prepeliță was named the head coach of Liga II side Gloria Buzău. He helped them gain promotion at the end of his first season. However, the following season started badly for Gloria, who were in last place after the first eight rounds, thus Prepeliță was dismissed. He then worked between April and May 2025 for Moldovan team Petrocub Hîncești with whom he finished the season in fourth place. He returned to coach in the Romanian first league in June 2025 when he signed with Unirea Slobozia.

Personal life

His father, Constantin, was also a footballer who appeared in 200 Liga I games and scored 32 goals for Olt Scornicești. Prepeliță was coached by his father while he was a junior player at CSȘ Slobozia.

Honours

Player

Steaua București
Ludogorets Razgrad

Coach

Individual