Nicolae Szoboszlay


Nicolae Szoboszlay was a Romanian football goalkeeper and manager.

Club career

Szoboszlay, nicknamed "Portarul Zburător", was born on 18 July 1925 in Orăștie, Romania. He began playing football at Universitatea Cluj during the hardest period of the club's history, as in 1940, the team moved from Cluj to Sibiu as a result of the Second Vienna Award, when the northern part of Transylvania was ceded to Hungary. In 1945, after the end of the Second World War and the return of the northern part of Transylvania to Romania, "U" returned to its home in Cluj. During that period he participated in a game played in Ploiești, which was postponed for one day due to a fog caused by the bombs thrown in the city by the United States Army Air Forces. In 1944, because of his Hungarian origins, Szoboszlay was forced to work for two months at the București-Craiova railway.
In 1945, Szoboszlay joined Ferar Cluj, but returned one year later to "U" Cluj in Divizia A, only to leave again in 1947 to play for Dermagarand Târgu Mureș in the same league. In 1948 he played for CSCA București under the name "Nicolae Săbăslău", as the person who was sent to Bucharest to make his ID wrongly wrote his name that way. On 21 November 1948 he played under coach Colea Vâlcov in the first ever CSCA București – Dinamo București derby. Subsequently, Szoboszlay went to Divizia C side Armata Iași and then made a comeback to Dermagarand Târgu Mureș in 1950. In the second half of the same year, he had his third spell at "U" Cluj, helping them gain promotion to Divizia A.
In 1952, he joined Divizia B club Armata Cluj. There, in May 1953 after one game, the team's coach Elemer Hirsch collapsed on his way to the team bus, and Szoboszlay tried to give him first aid, but Hirsch died in his arms. Szoboszlay ended his career in 1953, after playing five Divizia A matches for Universitatea Cluj.

International career

On 24 October 1948, Szoboszlay played for Romania B in a 4–0 loss to Hungary B.

Managerial career

After he retired from his playing career, Szoboszlay worked as a manager and as an assistant coach. His coaching career began in 1955 at Divizia B team Dermata Cluj. In 1957, he went to Universitatea Cluj, first as head coach, and then as an assistant of Ștefan Kovács, together gaining first-league promotion in the 1957–58 season. In 1958, he returned to Dermata as head coach, helping them earn promotion from Divizia C to the second league. Subsequently, Szoboszlay worked for Arieșul Turda which he helped reach the quarter-finals in the 1960–61 Cupa României, but was replaced afterwards, yet the club managed to win the competition without him. In 1962, he returned as an assistant coach of Constantin Rădulescu at "U" Cluj. In 1966, Szoboszlay served as head coach for one year in Divizia B at Industria Sârmei Câmpia Turzii, returning afterwards to first league football for one and a half years as head coach but also as an assistant of Constantin Teașcă at Universitatea Cluj. From 1969 to 1972, he coached Arieșul Turda, leading them to promotion from the third league to the second in the 1970–71 season. In 1972, he led for one year Divizia B club Corvinul Hunedoara. Subsequently, from 1974 to 1976 he worked for CFR Cluj, first as a head coach and then an assistant. Between 1976 and 1985, Szoboszlay was the coordinator of the Center for Children and Juniors at Universitatea Cluj where he taught generations of players such as Remus Câmpeanu, Emil Petru, Vasile Suciu, Septimiu Câmpeanu, Alpar Meszaros, Zsolt Muzsnay, Ioan Sabău and Tiberiu Bălan.

Personal life and death

On 18 July 2013, on the occasion of his 88th birthday, Szoboszlay was awarded the Honorary Citizen of Cluj County title. A book about him was written by Cristian Aszalos, titled Ultimul cavaler al fotbalului romantic, Nicolae Szoboszlay '''', which was released on 26 November 2016.
Szoboszlay died on 2 January 2019 at age 93.

Honours

Player

Universitatea Cluj

Manager

Universitatea Cluj
Dermata Cluj
Arieșul Turda