Mircea Stoenescu


Mircea Stoenescu was a Romanian football centre-back, manager and referee.

Club career

Stoenescu, nicknamed "Basul", was born on 11 October 1943 in Bucharest, Romania. He started his career by playing at the junior squads of Dinamo București, winning a national title at children level in 1959 and one at junior level in 1961. He made his Divizia A debut on 9 July 1961, playing for The Red Dogs under coach Traian Ionescu in a 2–0 home victory against Steagul Roșu Brașov. In the following season he made one league appearance as the club won the title. Afterwards, Stoenescu went to play for two seasons at Divizia B club Dinamo Obor București. Subsequently, he spent another two seasons at Divizia A team Dinamo Pitești with whom he reached the 1965 Cupa României final, where coach Virgil Mărdărescu used him for the entire match in their 2–1 loss to Știința Cluj.
In 1965, Stoenescu returned to Dinamo București for an eight-season spell in which he won two titles. In the first, coaches Nicolae Dumitru and Ionescu used him in 20 games, and in the second coach Ion Nunweiller gave him eight appearances in which he scored once. He also played four Cupa României finals, winning only the one in 1968, as coach Bazil Marian used him the entire match in the 3–1 win over Rapid București in the final.
He made his last Divizia A appearance on 5 November 1972, playing in Dinamo's 1–0 away loss to ASA Târgu Mureș, totaling 158 matches with 11 goals in the competition and seven appearances in European competitions. Stoenescu ended his playing career in 1975, after spending two seasons at Divizia B team Dinamo Slatina.

International career

Between 1965 and 1966, Stoenescu made two appearances for Romania's under-23 squad, playing in a victory over Soviet Union and a draw against Austria.

After retirement

After he ended his playing career, Stoenescu worked for a while as a coach at Dinamo Victoria București in the Romanian lower leagues. Subsequently, he became a referee, officiating 39 matches over the course of six seasons in Romania's top-league Divizia A. He was also president at Dinamo București.

Style of play

Stoenescu was nicknamed "Jandarmul lui Dobrin" for his duels on the field with the famous player with whom he was a colleague during his spell at Dinamo Pitești, saying in a Gazeta Sporturilor interview from 2019:"Well, I hit the ground with Gicu Dobrin, I made him one with the grass, how I used to roll him! Of course, within the bounds of sportsmanship, because he also ate a piece of bread, after the games we complimented each other. With "Mopsu'" Dumitrache I didn't really succeed, because I had a hard time catching him, he was a brilliant footballer, I say better than Dobrin! I'm not saying that I haven't fouled, but never with a harshness that exceeded the limits, to put the man in front of me in the hospital."
For a while, Stoenescu played in Dinamo București's defense alongside youngster Cornel Dinu. After Stoenescu's death, Dinu wrote an editorial praising his altruistic play, recalling Stoenescu's words:"Go, "Dinoașcă", I'll cover you... But don't leave me too long with Săndel because he tries again an "oxford" and we'll have to take it again from place for recovery."

Death

Stoenescu died in Drăgășani on 5 January 2022, at the age of 78.

Honours

Dinamo București
Dinamo Pitești