Mircea Stoenescu (11 October 1943 â 5 January 2022) was a Romanian football centre-back, manager and referee.
Stoenescu, nicknamed "Basul", was born on 11 October 1943 in Bucharest, Romania. He started his career by playing at the junior squads of Dinamo BucureÃÂti, 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 2âÂÂ0 home victory against Steagul RoÃÂu BraÃÂov. 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 BucureÃÂti. Subsequently, he spent another two seasons at Divizia A team Dinamo PiteÃÂti with whom he reached the 1965 Cupa României final, where coach Virgil MÃÂrdÃÂrescu used him for the entire match in their 2âÂÂ1 loss to ÃÂtiinÃÂa Cluj.
In 1965, Stoenescu returned to Dinamo BucureÃÂti 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 3âÂÂ1 win over Rapid BucureÃÂti in the final.
He made his last Divizia A appearance on 5 November 1972, playing in Dinamo's 1âÂÂ0 away loss to ASA Târgu MureÃÂ, totaling 158 matches with 11 goals in the competition and seven appearances in European competitions (including four games in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup). Stoenescu ended his playing career in 1975, after spending two seasons at Divizia B team Dinamo Slatina.
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 he ended his playing career, Stoenescu worked for a while as a coach at Dinamo Victoria BucureÃÂti 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 BucureÃÂti.
Stoenescu was nicknamed "Jandarmul lui Dobrin" (The Gendarme of Dobrin) for his duels on the field with the famous player with whom he was a colleague during his spell at Dinamo PiteÃÂti, 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 BucureÃÂti's defense alongside youngster Cornel Dinu. After Stoenescu's death, Dinu wrote an editorial praising his altruistic play, recalling Stoenescu's words:"Go, "DinoaÃÂcÃÂ" (that's how he would caress me...), I'll cover you... But don't leave me too long with SÃÂndel (Boc) because he tries again an "oxford" (hitting the ball with the exterior of the heel) and we'll have to take it again from place for recovery."
Stoenescu died in DrÃÂgÃÂÃÂani on 5 January 2022, at the age of 78.
Dinamo BucureÃÂti
Dinamo PiteÃÂti