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Florin Halagian

Florin Vașken Halagian (7 March 1939 – 12 August 2019) was a Romanian football player and manager of Armenian descent, hence the nickname Armeanul (The Armenian).[1][2] With 878 games, he is the manager who has the most matches in the Romanian top-division.[2][3][4]

Playing career

Florin Halagian was born on 7 March 1939 in Bucharest, Romania, starting to play junior level football in 1950 at local club, Dinamo where he was formed and taught by coaches like Colea Vâlcov, Petre Steinbach and Ion Nedelescu.[1][5] In 1957 he starts his senior career at Divizia B club, Progresul CPCS București for whom he scored four goals.[5] After one year he left the club to go at Pompierul București.[1][5]

In 1959 he switched teams again as he went at Dinamo Pitești with whom in 1961 he promoted to Divizia A, a competition in which he made his debut and scored his first goal on 20 August in a 4–3 loss in front of eventual champions, Dinamo București.[1][5][6] Halagian made 23 appearances in his first top-league season but the team relegated at the end of it, also during this time he was teammate with a young Nicolae Dobrin.[1][5][7] The team from Pitești managed to promote back to the first league after only one season but in the middle of it he left them to go and play for Dinamo București.[1][5] He made no league appearances for The Red Dogs, playing only half an hour in the Cupa României.[5]

In 1964 he signed with Petrolul Ploiești where he scored once in seven matches.[1][5] For the 1964–65 season he went to play at Minerul Baia Mare, scoring twice in 22 games, the team relegating at the end of it.[1][5] In 1965, Halagian came back to Dinamo Pitești but left the club shortly as he played a single game to go at Divizia B club, Politehnica București.[1][5] In 1969 he arrived at Vagonul Arad where on 30 March he made his last Divizia A appearance in a 2–1 home loss in front of Universitatea Cluj, having a total of 58 appearances with eight goals scored in the competition, also Vagonul relegated at the end of the season.[1][5]

Managerial career

In 1970, Florin Halagian starting coaching juniors at Argeș Pitești.[1][6][7] After a 4–1 away loss in front of FCM Bacău in the first round of the 1971–72 season, coach Titus Ozon leaves the club, Halagian being named the team's new head coach.[5][7] His first game managed took place on 21 August 1971, ending with a 2–1 home win over Rapid București, courtesy of a brace scored by Radu Jercan.[8][9] Over the course of the season, Argeș won both games against defending champions, Dinamo București, finishing it on the first place, thus Halagian, aged 33 becoming one of the youngest coaches who ever won the title.[1][2][5][6] Afterwards, the club participated in the 1972–73 European Cup, eliminating Aris Bonnevoie in the first round, then in the following one they won a home game with 2–1 against Real Madrid led by coach Miguel Muñoz but lost the second leg with 3–1.[5][10][11] In the same season, the team finished the championship on the third place, Halagian leaving afterwards.[5]

After the first eight rounds of the 1973–74 season, Minerul Baia Mare was on the 13th place, Halagian taking over the team and finishing the season on the fifth place.[5][12]

He then returned to Argeș where after three mediocre seasons he finished 1977–78 season on the second place at equal points with Steaua București who had a better goal difference.[1][5][13] Thus the team qualified to the 1978–79 UEFA Cup where in the first round they passed Panathinaikos with a 5–1 aggregate victory.[13] In the second round they won with 2–1 the first leg with Valencia which was led on the field by recently World Cup winner Mario Kempes who was also the top-goalscorer and best player of the tournament, however they lost the second leg with 5–2, thus the campaign ending.[11][14] In the same season he helped the club win the second title in its history which was mathematically won after a spectacular 4–3 away victory in the last round over Dinamo București.[1][2][5][6][13][8][15] Next season, Argeș participated in the 1979–80 European Cup where after passing AEK Athens in the first round, they got eliminated by Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest who were the title holders and eventual winners of the competition.[13][16] Halagian had a special relationship and respect with player Nicolae Dobrin about whom he said:"The player I loved and to whom I hold a special esteem is Gicu Dobrin. Thanks to him I became a respected coach, thanks to him I and FC Argeș were champions. He was a phenomenal player."[3]

Also during this period he also worked in parallel for the Romanian Football Federation who put him in charge of Romania's Olympic team, being eliminated with 3–2 on aggregate by Hungary in the first round of the 1980 Summer Olympics qualifiers, then leading Romania's main squad in a single match which ended 1–1 with Cyprus at the Euro 1980 qualifiers.[1][13][17]

After finishing twice in the league on the third place, Halagian left Argeș to coach Olt Scornicești where with the help of some of his former players from Argeș like Ilie Bărbulescu, Marin Radu and Sevastian Iovănescu he finished the 1981–82 season on the fourth place on equal points with the team from the third place, Mircea Lucescu's Corvinul Hunedoara who qualified for the UEFA Cup.[13][18] In 1984 he arrived at Steaua București where he worked with some of his players from Olt Scornicești like Ilie Bărbulescu, Marin Radu, Victor Pițurcă and Adrian Bumbescu but after the first seven rounds of the season and a elimination suffered in the first round of the European Cup Winners' Cup with 1–0 on aggregate in front of A.S. Roma led by coach Sven-Göran Eriksson, Halagian was replaced with Emerich Jenei, the team managing to win the title at the end of the season.[8][13][18][19] Steaua managed to win the 1985–86 European Cup and Halagian is considered to have a merit in this performance as he brought to the team some of the players that helped it achieve this performance.[2][10][20][21]

In the spring of 1985, Halagian takes over Universitatea Craiova with whom he finishes the season on the fourth place and reaches the 1985 Cupa României final which was lost with 2–1 in front of his former team, Steaua.[13][22] Shortly afterwards he made a comeback at Argeș Pitești where he reached but lost the 1984–85 Balkans Cup final with Iraklis.[13][23] Also from 1987 until 1988 he worked again in parallel for the Romanian Football Federation who firstly appointed him head coach at Romania's under-21 national team, then at the Olympic side which he led in two losses with Poland and Denmark at the unsuccessful 1988 Summer Olympics qualifiers.[1][24]

Halagian left Pitești after three years to coach Victoria București with whom he finished the 1988–89 season on the third place, also eliminating Sliema Wanderers, Dinamo Minsk and Turun Palloseura in the 1988–89 UEFA Cup edition, the campaign ending in the quarter-finals where they were defeated by Dynamo Dresden.[13][20][25] In the first round from the following season of the same competition, Victoria met Halagian's old acquaintance, Valencia, earning a 1–1 in the first leg but losing the second one with 3–1.[25] After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, Victoria was dissolved by the Romanian Football Federation as it was considered that they were unfairly advantaged by the communist regime in the past years, so he worked again for Romania's under-21 side for a while.[1][13][25]

In 1991 he went to work at Dinamo București, having Rinus Israel alongside him as technical director, in his first season managing to win the league title undefeated, also eliminating in the first round of the UEFA Cup with 2–1 on aggregate Sporting Lisbon who was led on the field by Luis Figo, losing in the following one with 5–3 on aggregate in front of Genoa.[2][13][8][7][26] He then led The Red Dogs in the 1992–93 Champions League, passing Kuusysi Lahti in the first round, meeting Olympique Marseille in the second against whom he earned a 0–0 in the first leg but lost the second game with 2–0, the French eventually going on to win the competition.[27] He left Dinamo in October 1992, being replaced with Alexandru Moldovan but came back to the club in May 1993, finishing the season on the second place and the next one on the third.[13][28]

Afterwards he went for one season at Inter Sibiu with whom he finished on the ninth place, followed by a short three matches spell at Romania's under-21 team, then he went at Național București where he finished two consecutive seasons on the second place and reached the 1997 Cupa României final which was lost with 4–2 in front of Steaua.[1][13][20][29] Halagian also led The Bankers in the 1996–97 UEFA Cup edition, eliminating Partizan Belgrade and Chornomorets Odesa in the first rounds, the campaign ending after a 3–1 aggregate loss in front of Club Brugge.[30] He then had a spell of two years at FCM Bacău after which he had several short spells at Argeș Pitești, FC Brașov, Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț and Argeș again, retiring in 2002 at age 64.[13][20]

He came back to coaching in September 2009 when he signed with Gloria Bistrița, leading the club for 11 rounds until the end of the first half of the 2009–10 season.[12][13][31] In 2010 he worked for a while at Dacia Mioveni in the second league.[32] In April 2011, Halagian had the last coaching spell of his career, returning at Gloria Bistrița, but was sacked three weeks later because of issues regarding players shaving before matches.[12][13][33]

He is the manager who has the most matches in Romanian first league with 878 games consisting of 432 victories, 176 draws and 270 losses, having 33 seasons of activity in the competition, also he gained a total of 44 matches in European competitions.[1][2][3][4][34]

On 25 March 2008 he was decorated by the president of Romania, Traian Băsescu for all of his achievements as a football coach, and for forming a young generation of future champions with Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" — (The Order "The Sportive Merit") class III.[10][20][35]

Managing style

It was said about him that he was a strict and severe manager, having expectations for the footballers such as shaving before the matches but his reply in a interview was:"I don't think I was a rough coach because I loved all my players, no matter how good they were. I had discussions throughout my career with my players because I cared a lot about their dress and behavior outside the field of play. I would explain to them why the way they present themselves in front of people is extremely important, not only for them, but even for the club and the city. It really bothered me if their extra-sports life was unbalanced. I cared for many as if they were my children."[36][37]

One of Halagian's famous quotes as coach was: Focu' la ei! (The fire at them!), explaining:"This is an expression that I invented to convey to the players on the pitch that the ball is good to be on the opponent half of the pitch, even if we have possession or not, I told them it is better to play there."[7][10][36]

He also had superstitions, many years wearing a Chicago Bulls hat during the games because he believed it would bring him luck:"Even now I have a bunch of caps in my hanger. It was a weakness of mine. My wife put the Chicago Bulls one for safe keeping because she said memories should be kept. I think I would still wear it now if I had it handy and it would probably deteriorate. People cling to all sorts of things that they think might help them. I am Armenian, but I borrowed Romanian customs, because I was born here. At that time I was really convinced that the hat brought me good luck."[10][36]

Death

Florin Halagian died on 12 August 2019 at age 80.[1][3]

Quotes

Honours

Player

Dinamo Pitești

Manager

Argeș Pitești

Steaua București

Universitatea Craiova

Dinamo București

Național București

Notes

  1. ^ Only the statistics for the 1961–62 Divizia A season are available.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x "Uluitorul Florin Halagian. Din casa cu prăvălie în stradă spre selecția de la Tânărul Dinamovist. Răzvan Toma dezvăluie lucruri neștiute despre antrenorul cu 898 de partide. "Armeanul" s-a stins ieri, la vârsta de 80 de ani" [The amazing Florin Halagian. From the house with the shop in the street towards the selection from Tânărul Dinamovist. Răzvan Toma reveals unknown things about the coach with 898 games. "The Armenian" passed away yesterday, at the age of 80] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "FLORIN HALAGIAN LA 80 DE ANI Cele mai importante borne ale carierei "Armeanului": a construit generația Stelei din 1986" [FLORIN HALAGIAN AT 80 YEARS The most important moments in the career of "The Armenian": he built the Steaua's 1986 generation] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d "Doliu în fotbalul românesc! A murit Florin Halagian!" [Mourning in Romanian football! Florin Halagian died!] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 12 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Top 60 antrenori" [Top 60 coaches] (in Romanian). RomanianSoccer.ro. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Florin Halagian, antrenorul cu cele mai multe meciuri în divizia A (1)" [Florin Halagian, the coach with the most matches in division A (1)] (in Romanian). Romaniansoccer.ro. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d "Remember Florin Halagian! A stat pe bancă la 898 de meciuri pe prima scenă a fotbalului românesc" [Remember Florin Halagian! He sat on the bench for 898 matches on the first stage of Romanian football] (in Romanian). Jurnaluldearges.ro. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Florin Halagian "Focu' la ei!"" [Florin Halagian "The fire at them!"] (in Romanian). Revistaflacara.ro. 2 December 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  9. ^ "Halagian la primul meci pe banca Argeșului" [Halagian at the first game on the Argeș bench] (in Romanian). Argesfc.ro. 29 August 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
    "Halagian la primul meci pe banca Argeșului. Dobrin și momentele sale magice" [Halagian at the first match on the Argeș bench. Dobrin and his magical moments] (in Romanian). Jurnaluldearges.ro. 29 August 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d e "7 lucruri pe care le-ați uitat despre Florin Halagian, antrenorul care a bifat 898 de meciuri ca principal în Divizia A" [7 things you forgot about Florin Halagian, the coach who ticked off 898 games as head coach in Division A] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Singura echipă românească de fotbal care a învins trei mari cluburi din Spania. Marele Dobrin a fost cheia succeselor" [The only Romanian football team that has defeated three major clubs in Spain. The great Dobrin was the key to success] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  12. ^ a b c "Florin Halagian, numit director tehnic la Gloria Bistrita" [Florin Halagian, appointed technical director at Gloria Bistrita]. RomanianSoccer. 9 April 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Florin Halagian, antrenorul cu cele mai multe meciuri în divizia A (2)" [Florin Halagian, the coach with the most matches in division A (2)] (in Romanian). Romaniansoccer.ro. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  14. ^ "Ziua în care Kempes s-a înclinat în fața lui Dobrin" [The day Kempes bowed to Dobrin] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 18 October 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  15. ^ "Povestea celui mai frumos meci din istoria campionatului României. Cum a învins FC Argeş pe Dinamo la Bucureşti acum 40 de ani" [The story of the most beautiful match in the history of the Romanian championship. How FC Argeş defeated Dinamo in Bucharest 40 years ago] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
    "VIDEO Amintiri de la "thriller-ul" Dinamo - FC Argeș din 1979: "Jocurile erau făcute pentru ei. Se uitau la Dobrin ca la un extraterestru!"" [VIDEO Memories from the "thriller" Dinamo - FC Argeș from 1979:"The arrangements were made for them. They looked at Dobrin like at an alien!"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 15 March 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  16. ^ "43 de ani de la meciul dintre FC Argeș și Nottingham Forest" [43 years since the match between FC Argeș and Nottingham Forest] (in Romanian). Jurnaluldearges.ro. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
    "24 octombrie 1979: Argeşul a dat piept cu Nottingham Forest, campioana Europei" [October 24, 1979: Arges played against Nottingham Forest, the European champions] (in Romanian). Romaniansoccer.ro. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
    "FC Argeș – Nottingham Forest 1-2 (Cupa Campionilor Europeni, 7 noiembrie 1979)" [FC Arges – Nottingham Forest 1-2 (European Champions Cup, November 7, 1979)] (in Romanian). Tikitaka.ro. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  17. ^ "Florin Halagian". European Football. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
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    Siminiceanu, Radu (10 January 2004). "Romania National Team 1970–1979 – Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
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  18. ^ a b "Memorialul durerii, episodul 1: FC Olt" [Memorial of pain, episode 1: FC Olt] (in Romanian). Welovesport.ro. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  19. ^ "36 de ani de la Steaua – AS Roma 0-0 în Ghencea. Marcel Pușcaș: "A durut! Eugen Barbu a scris în revista Săptămâna că sunt străin de fotbal"" [36 years from Steaua - AS Roma 0-0 in Ghencea. Marcel Pușcaș: "It hurt! Eugen Barbu wrote in the Săptămâna magazine that I am a foreigner of football"] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 3 October 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  20. ^ a b c d e "Regretatul antrenor Florin Halagian a fost înmormântat azi la Cimitirul armenesc din București. Fostul mare tehnician slăbise mult în ultimii ani de viață. Ultima fotografie" [The late coach Florin Halagian was buried today at the Armenian Cemetery in Bucharest. The former great technician had lost a lot of weight in the last years of his life. Last photo] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  21. ^ "Se redeschide o dezbatere istorică: "Halagian a făcut echipa Stelei din '86, dar laurii i-a cules domnul Ienei!"" [A historic debate is reopening: "Halagian made the Steaua team in '86, but Mr. Ienei took the laurels!"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  22. ^ a b "Romanian Cup – Season 1984–1985". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  23. ^ a b "Balkan Cup 1980–94". RSSSF. 10 January 2004. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
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    "35 de ani de la dezastrul de la Aalborg" [35 years since the Aalborg disaster] (in Romanian). Welovesport.ro. 10 June 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  25. ^ a b c "Memorialul puterii, episodul 2: Victoria București" [The Memorial of Power, episode 2: Victoria Bucharest] (in Romanian). Wesport.ro. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
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  27. ^ "29 de ani de la cea mai Misterioasă "dublă" europeană a lui Dinamo: "Băieții au avut 30.000 de dolari bonus de calificare"" [29 years since Dinamo's most Mysterious European "double": "The boys had a $30,000 qualification bonus"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 21 October 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
    "Trei decenii de la Dinamo – Marseille, un meci învăluit în mister" [Three decades since Dinamo - Marseille, a match shrouded in mystery] (in Romanian). Welovesport.ro. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
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    "Dinamo Bucuresti in 1993–94". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  29. ^ a b "Romanian Cup – Season 1996–1997". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  30. ^ "Echipele noastre nu au mai eliminat-o pe Partizan din 1996! De atunci, sârbii n-au pierdut niciun meci din 6" [Our teams haven't eliminated Partizan since 1996! Since then, the Serbians have not lost a single match from 6] (in Romanian). Digisport.ro. 27 July 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  31. ^ "Florin Halagian numit director tehnic și manager general al clubului Gloria Bistrița" [Florin Halagian appointed technical director and general manager of the Gloria Bistrița club] (in Romanian). Mediafax.ro. 19 September 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
    "VIDEO Amintiri de la "thriller-ul" Dinamo - FC Argeș din 1979: "Jocurile erau făcute pentru ei. Se uitau la Dobrin ca la un extraterestru!"" [VIDEO Memories from the "thriller" Dinamo - FC Argeș from 1979:"The arrangements were made for them. They looked at Dobrin like at an alien!"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 15 March 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  32. ^ "Halagian la Dacia Mioveni!" [Halagian at Dacia Mioveni!] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 10 January 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
    "Florin Halagian este noul antrenor al echipei Dacia Mioveni" [Florin Halagian is the new coach of the Dacia Mioveni team] (in Romanian). Romaniansoccer.ro. 10 January 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  33. ^ David Hills (1 May 2011). "Return to Gloria Bistrita". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
    "Florin Halagian, director tehnic la Gloria" [Florin Halagian, technical director at Gloria] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
    "Poți să crezi? Halagian, dat afară de Pădureanu pentru că ar fi pus jucătorii să se bărbierească!" [Can you believe Halagian, kicked out by Padureanu because he would have made the players shave!] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 28 April 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
    "Halagian nu mai e la Bistrița din motive de… bărbierit" [Halagian is no longer in Bistrița for reasons of... shaving] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 28 April 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  34. ^ "Premieră în mileniul III. Urmează un campionat senzațional: se egalează recordul vechi de 25 de ani" [Premiere in the third millennium. A sensational championship follows: the 25-year-old record is equaled] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 12 July 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
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    "Decorarea unor personalități ale fotbalului românesc". Administrația Prezidențială. 25 March 2008. Archived from the original on 12 September 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  36. ^ a b c "Povești de viață cu Focu' la ei! "Era excepție dacă Dobrin bea o bere"" [Stories of life with The fire at them! "It was an exception if Dobrin drank a beer"] (in Romanian). Fanatik.ro. 9 March 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  37. ^ "Florin Halagian a murit. 7 întâmplări memorabile cu Florin Halagian. De la abandonarea echipei pe câmp, până la fixația pentru barbă:"L-a scos pe Pițurcă din pușcărie"" [Florin Halagian died. 7 memorable events with Florin Halagian. From abandoning the team on the field, to fixing his beard: "He got Pițurcă out of prison"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 12 August 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
    "Momente fabuloase, cu regretatul Florin Halagian în prim-plan! Cum a bătut un fost jucător de la Steaua: "Facem pariu pe 5.000 că pierdem?" "Pac, pac, mi-a tras două, dar a avut dreptate"" [Fabulous moments, with the late Florin Halagian in the foreground! As a former Steaua player said: "We bet 5.000 that we lose?" "Pac, pac, he slapped me twice, but he was right"] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 14 April 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2024.

External links