Octavian Brânzei

Octavian Brânzei was a Romanian footballer who played as a defender.

Club career

Brânzei was born on 28 September 1928 in Beba Veche, Romania and began playing football in 1947 at Electrica Timișoara. Two years later he moved to neighboring club Știința, where on 19 March 1950 he made his Divizia A debut under coach Rudolf Bürger in a 0–0 draw against Locomotiva București. At the end of the 1951 season, the team was relegated to Divizia B, but Brânzei stayed with the club, helping it get promoted back after one year. He was part of Știința's team that won the 1957–58 Cupa României, the first trophy in the club's history. However, coach Dincă Schileru did not use him in the final. In 1958 he went to play for one season at Divizia B team, CFR Timișoara.
Afterwards he switched clubs again, joining Farul Constanța with whom he was relegated at the end of his first season. He helped the club get promoted back to the first league after one year. He made his last Divizia A appearance on 2 December 1962 in Farul's 4–1 home victory against Dinamo Bacău, totaling 185 matches with six goals in the competition. Brânzei ended his career in 1963 at Divizia B club, IMU Medgidia.

Brânzei played two games for Romania, making his debut under coach Gheorghe Popescu in a 2–0 friendly loss to Bulgaria. He also played in a 3–0 victory against Greece in the 1958 World Cup qualifiers.

Brânzei died on 28 July 1994 at age 65 in Constanța, Romania.
In 2008, he was post-mortem named Honorary Citizen of Timișoara.

Știința Timișoara

Farul Constanța