Remus Vlad (born 19 January 1946) is a Romanian former professional footballer and manager. Vlad played as a defender.
Vlad was born 19 January 1946 in CinciÃÂ, Hunedoara County, Romania and began playing junior-level football in 1957 at Minerul Teliuc. In 1960 he moved to Metalul Hunedoara where he worked with junior coach Dumitru PÃÂtraÃÂcu, then six years later he started to play for the senior squad in Divizia B.
Vlad was close to a move to Dinamo BucureÃÂti, but eventually he went to ArgeàPiteÃÂti. There, on 18 August 1968 he made his Divizia A debut under coach Ion BÃÂlÃÂnescu in a 4âÂÂ0 home win against Politehnica IaÃÂi. In his first years at the club he would make a successful partnership in the central defense with Ion Barbu. After Barbu went to play for Beà Âiktaà Â, Vlad was elected as the team's captain, as star player Nicolae Dobrin insisted for this because he appreciated Vlad's professionalism. In the 1971âÂÂ72 season he helped Argeàwin their first title, as coaches Titus Ozon and Florin Halagian gave him 30 appearances. Afterwards he played four games in the 1972âÂÂ73 European Cup, eliminating Aris Bonnevoie in the first round, then in the following one they won a home game with 2âÂÂ1 against Real Madrid, but lost the second leg with 3âÂÂ1. Years later in an interview for the AdevÃÂrul newspaper, he talked about the victory against the Spaniards:"I am proud of the fact that I was the captain of the team. That match was the biggest event in my sporting life, I met a huge team. It was a performance, we beat the great Real Madrid in PiteÃÂti. The Spaniards had a team with many internationals. We were a group of young people, including Florin Halagian, our coach was young. We also had a very good second coach, TÃÂnase Dima. I had no special preparation for the match against Real. Before the match, we all had special personal experiences, because we realized what a great team we were going to play with, the legendary Santiago Bernabéu was also present in PiteÃÂti. It was an extraordinary event, I was somehow floating."
In 1974, Vlad returned to Hunedoara in Divizia B, helping them gain promotion to the first league two years later. Vlad's last Divizia A appearance occurred on 4 December 1977 in a 1âÂÂ0 home win to Olimpia Satu Mare, totaling 219 matches with four goals in the competition and 10 games in European competitions (including four in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup).
Vlad was taken in consideration to be a member of Romania's squad that went to the 1970 World Cup, but eventually Nicolae Pescaru was preferred in his place. He played three friendly games for The Tricolours, making his debut under Gheorghe Ola on 30 January 1972 in a 4âÂÂ2 away win over Morocco. His following game was a 2âÂÂ2 draw against Peru and his last one was a 2âÂÂ0 away loss to the Soviet Union.
While still being an active player, Vlad started coaching juniors at Corvinul, discovering Mircea Rednic. In 1982 he became head coach of Corvinul after Mircea Lucescu left the team, guiding it through the 1982âÂÂ83 UEFA Cup campaign, as they eliminated Grazer AK in the first round, but were defeated in the following one by FK Sarajevo. With a few rounds before the end of his first season, Vlad left the team because the club transferred Rednic and Ioan Andone to Dinamo BucureÃÂti without consulting him.
He went to coach in Divizia B at Universitatea Cluj, being brought there by the club's president Remus Câmpeanu, helping them gain promotion to the first league in his second season. Subsequently, Vlad led The Red Caps for three full seasons in the top-league, earning a seventh-place finish in the first season and two tenth-place finishes in the next two seasons. However, after the first half of the 1988âÂÂ89 season he was replaced with Cornel Dinu. Notably, in this period he gave 18-year-old Ioan SabÃÂu his Divizia A debut. In 1990 he went to coach Gloria BistriÃÂa in Divizia B, helping them earn a first-ever promotion to the first league. Vlad returned to "U" Cluj for the 1992âÂÂ93 Divizia A season, finishing it in 11th place. He then started the following season by working as the club's technical director, with Dan Anca serving as head coach. In 1994 he returned to Gloria BistriÃÂa, first as head coach. Shortly afterwards he became Gloria's technical director and together with coach Constantin Cârstea, they helped the club win its first trophy, the 1993âÂÂ94 Cupa României, after a 1âÂÂ0 win over Universitatea Craiova in the final.
In January 1995, Vlad became head coach of Dinamo BucureÃÂti, taking the club from the seventh place and finishing third. Thus they qualified to the 1995âÂÂ96 UEFA Cup where they were eliminated in the preliminary round by Levski Sofia with 2âÂÂ1 on aggregate. He left the club in November 1995. Vlad returned to Gloria BistriÃÂa once again, reaching the 1996 Cupa României final which was lost with 3âÂÂ1 to Steaua BucureÃÂti. He also led the team in the 1996âÂÂ97 Cup Winners' Cup, helping them eliminate Valletta in the qualifying round, being eliminated with 2âÂÂ1 on aggregate by Gabriel Batistuta's Fiorentina in the first round. From 1999 to 2000 he worked for eight months at Olimpia Satu Mare. Vlad had his last coaching spell from 2002 until 2004 at Gloria BistriÃÂa with which he finished the 2002âÂÂ03 season in third place. Afterwards he would work for on several occasions as a technical director.
Vlad has a total of 355 matches as a manager in the Romanian top-division, Divizia A, consisting of 144 victories, 63 draws and 148 losses, also totaling 20 matches led in European competitions.
In 2013, Vlad received the Honorary Citizen of Hunedoara title.
ArgeÃÂ PiteÃÂti
Corvinul Hunedoara
Universitatea Cluj
Gloria BistriÃÂa