Constantin Zamfir

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Constantin Zamfir
Personal information
Date of birth (1951-05-15)15 May 1951[1]
Place of birth Bucșani, Romania[1]
Date of death 3 November 2025(2025-11-03) (aged 74)
Position Midfielder[2]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1969–1970 Petrolul Videle
1970–1971 Voința Ilia
1971–1972 Dacia Orăștie
1972–1973 Petrolul Videle
1973–1975 Petrolul Ploiești 55 (10)
1975–1979 Steaua București 109 (21)
1980 Progresul București 10 (3)
1980–1981 FCM Galați 7 (2)
1981–1982 Progresul București 14 (3)
1982–1983 Metalurgistul Cugir
1983 Dacia Pitești
1984 Chimia Turnu Măgurele
1984 Metalurgistul Cugir
1985 Urbis București
Laromet București
Inter Vaslui
Petrolul Roata de Jos
Total 195 (39)
International career
1975 Romania U21 2 (0)
1975 Romania U23 3 (0)
1975–1977 Romania B 2 (0)
1976–1979 Romania Olympic 2 (1)
1975–1978 Romania 11 (0)
Managerial career
Petrolul Roata de Jos
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Constantin Zamfir (15 May 1951 – 3 November 2025) was a Romanian footballer who played as a midfielder.[3]

Club career

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Zamfir, nicknamed Papucul Zburător (The Flying Shoe), was born on 15 May 1951 in Bucșani, Romania.[1][3] In 1969, he began playing football at Divizia C club Petrolul Videle.[1][3] Afterwards he went to play for Voința Ilia and Dacia Orăștie, before returning to Videle in 1972.[3] Subsequently, in 1973, he joined Petrolul Ploiești where he made his Divizia A debut on 12 August 1973 under coach Gheorghe Dumitrescu in a 2–1 away loss to CFR Cluj.[1][4] The team was relegated at the end of his first season, but Zamfir stayed with the club for one more year.[1]

In 1975 he joined Steaua București which sent eight players to Petrolul in exchange for his transfer, including Florian Dumitrescu and Nicolae Pantea.[1][3] In the summer of that year, the club participated in a tournament in Spain where they played against Sevilla, Espanyol Barcelona, Cádiz and Granada.[3] Zamfir made a good impression and was nicknamed by the Spanish press as "The New Gento".[3] Sevilla also made an offer of 2 million pesetas for him, but he was denied the transfer.[3] In his first season he helped Steaua win The Double, being used by coach Emerich Jenei in 32 league games in which he scored eight goals, and played the entire match in the 2–1 win over CSU Galați in the Cupa României final.[1][3][5][6] He reached another Cupa României final, where Jenei used him the full 90 minutes in the eventual 2–1 loss to Universitatea Craiova.[1][7] In the 1977–78 season, Zamfir scored three goals in the 24 league games Jenei used him, helping the club win another title.[1][3][5] The team reached the 1979 Cupa României final under coach Gheorghe Constantin, Zamfir playing the entire match in the 3–0 win over Sportul Studențesc București.[1][3][8] In his five-season spell with The Military Men he also played eight matches in European competitions, most notably getting past Young Boys with an 8–2 aggregate win in the first round of the 1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup.[1][9]

In the middle of the 1979–80 season, Zamfir left Steaua to join Divizia B club Progresul București, helping them earn promotion to Divizia A at the end of the season.[1][3] For the following season he went to play in the first league for FCM Galați which was relegated at the end of the season.[1][3][10] Subsequently, he returned to Progresul for the 1981–82 Divizia A season, but suffered another relegation at the end of it.[1][3] He made his last Divizia A appearance on 9 June 1982 in Progresul's 3–1 home loss to Olt Scornicești, having a total of 157 matches with 30 goals in the competition.[1][11] Zamfir ended his career after playing several years in the Romanian lower leagues for teams such as Metalurgistul Cugir, Dacia Pitești, Chimia Turnu Măgurele, Urbis București, Laromet București, Inter Vaslui and Petrolul Roata de Jos.[1][3] At the latter, he worked as a player-coach.[3]

International career

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Between 1975 and 1979, Zamfir made several appearances for Romania's under-21, under-23, B and Olympic teams.[12] Notably, he scored a goal for the Olympic side in a 5–1 victory against the Netherlands during the 1976 Summer Olympics qualifiers.[12]

Zamfir played 11 games for Romania, making his debut on 16 November 1975 under coach Valentin Stănescu in a 2–2 draw against Spain in the Euro 1976 qualifiers.[13][14] Afterwards he made three appearances during the 1978 World Cup qualifiers, including two victories against Spain and Yugoslavia.[13] He also played three matches during the 1977–80 Balkan Cup, including his last match for the national team which took place on 31 May 1978 in a 1–1 draw against Bulgaria.[13]

Coaching career

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Zamfir was a player-coach at Petrolul Roata de Jos in the Romanian lower leagues.[3] Afterwards he coached juniors for clubs such as Concordia Chiajna.[3][15]

Style of play

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Emerich Jenei, his coach from Steaua București, said about him:"I have coached few footballers in my career who had as many qualities as Zamfir."[3][16] Zamfir was one of Ilie Dumitrescu's childhood idols, who described his style of play as:"He had very good speed, he was explosive, and in one-on-one duels he was very good. He excelled at speed dribbling. (...) He was a great talent. He was a classic winger. The style that Giggs had. He had speed, he crossed very well."[16][17]

Death

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Zamfir died on 3 November 2025, at the age of 74.[18]

Honours

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Steaua București

Progresul București

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Constantin Zamfir at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  2. ^ Constantin Zamfir at WorldFootball.net
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Vedeta uitată! ProSport prezintă povestea celui supranumit "Papucul zburător"! Spanioli i-au zis 'noul Gento" [Forgotten star! ProSport presents the story of the one nicknamed "The flying shoe"! The Spaniards called him the new Gento] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 25 November 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  4. ^ "CFR Cluj vs Petrolul Ploiești 2-1". Labtof. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  6. ^ "Romanian Cup - Season 1975 - 1976". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  7. ^ a b "Romanian Cup - Season 1976 - 1977". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  8. ^ "Romanian Cup - Season 1979 - 1980". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  9. ^ "Steaua și-a egalat cea mai categorică victorie în Cupele Europene, după 35 de ani!" [Steaua equaled its most decisive victory in the European Cups, after 35 years!] (in Romanian). Digisport.ro. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
    "Constantin Zamfir. European Cup Winners' Cup 1979/1980". WorldFootball. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  10. ^ "Divizia A - Season 1980 - 1981". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  11. ^ "Divizia A - Season 1981 - 1982". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  12. ^ a b "Constantin Zamdfir profile". 11v11. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  13. ^ a b c "Constantin Zamfir". European Football. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  14. ^ "Romania 2-2 Spain". European Football. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  15. ^ "Constantin Zamfir, triplu campion cu Steaua, le dă lovitura de grație fostelor glorii: "Țin cu FCSB!". Reclamă măgării la o competiție organizată de FRF" [Constantin Zamfir, triple champion with Steaua, gives a hit to the former glories: "I support FCSB!". He says bad things happened at a competition organized by FRF] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  16. ^ a b "Constantin Zamfir, dublu campion cu Steaua, a murit la vârsta de 74 de ani. Ilie Dumitrescu despre idolul copilăriei sale: "Era la nivelul lui Giggs"" [Constantin Zamfir, double champion with Steaua, died at the age of 74. Ilie Dumitrescu on his childhood idol: "He was at Giggs' level"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 3 November 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  17. ^ "Ilie Dumitrescu, după decesul lui Constantin Zamfir: "Dacă ar fi jucat în fotbalul de azi, ar fi fost la un nivel foarte bun"" [Ilie Dumitrescu, after the death of Constantin Zamfir: "If he had played in today's football, he would have been at a very good level"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 3 November 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  18. ^ "A murit Constantin Zamfir, despre care Ienei spunea "puțini fotbaliști au avut atâtea calități". Momente de reculegere în Liga 1" [Constantin Zamfir, about whom Ienei said "few footballers had so many qualities", has died. Moments of silence in Liga 1] (in Romanian). Digisport.ro. 3 November 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
    "Constantin Zamfir, fostul mare atacant al Stelei în perioada 1975-1980, a murit" [Constantin Zamfir, former great striker of Steaua between 1975-1980, died] (in Romanian). Mediafax.ro. 3 November 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
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