Grigore Ciupitu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 13 September 1948[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Bucharest, Romania[2] | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2] | ||
| Position | |||
| Youth career | |||
| Dinamo București[3] | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1967–1970 | Progresul Brăila[a] | 54 | (30) |
| 1970–1974 | Petrolul Ploiești | 101 | (3) |
| 1975–1976 | Universitatea Craiova | 43 | (0) |
| 1976–1980 | Jiul Petroșani | 124 | (8) |
| 1980–1983 | Universitatea Craiova | 44 | (0) |
| 1983 | Chimia Râmnicu Vâlcea | 8 | (0) |
| 1984 | Constructorul Craiova | 16 | (2) |
| 1984–1985 | Drobeta-Turnu Severin | 14 | (1) |
| Total | 404 | (44) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| Aurul Brad | |||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Grigore Ciupitu (born 13 September 1948) is a Romanian former footballer who started his career as a forward, but later played as a left defender and sweeper.[3]
Ciupitu was born on 13 September 1948 in Bucharest, Romania and began playing junior-level football at local club Dinamo.[2][3] In 1967, he started his senior career at Divizia C club Progresul Brăila, helping his side gain second-league promotion at the end of the season.[2][3] A few years later, Ciupitu joined Petrolul Ploiești where he made his Divizia A debut under coach Constantin Cernăianu on 14 March 1971 in a 3–0 away loss to Politehnica Iași.[4][5] At the beginning of his spell with The Yellow Wolves, Ciupitu formed a partnership in the offence with Mircea Dridea.[3] However, he changed positions from forward to left back after Mihai Mocanu got injured.[3] At the end of the 1973–74 season, Petrolul was relegated, but he stayed with the club for another half a year in Divizia B.[2][4]
Ciupitu joined Universitatea Craiova in 1975.[4] He played the entire match under coach Cernăianu in the 2–1 loss to Rapid București in the 1975 Cupa României final.[6] Subsequently, he played in both legs in the 4–2 aggregate loss to Red Star Belgrade in the first round of the 1975–76 UEFA Cup.[7] In 1976, Ciupitu went to play for a four-season spell at Jiul Petroșani.[4] Afterwards, he made a comeback to "U" Craiova, being part of the "Craiova Maxima" generation.[4][3] Ciupitu helped the club win the 1980–81 title, playing 20 matches under coach Ion Oblemenco.[4][3][8] Following this success, they reached the quarter-finals in the 1981–82 European Cup by eliminating Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, with Ciupitu playing two games in the campaign, being defeated by Bayern Munich.[2][4][9] He also made two appearances in the 1982–83 UEFA Cup, including the 0–0 draw in the first leg of the semi-final against Benfica, as the team got eliminated after 1–1 on aggregate on the away goal rule.[3][10]
In 1983, Ciupitu joined Chimia Râmnicu Vâlcea.[2][3][4] There, he made his last Divizia A appearance on 1 November 1983 in a 1–1 draw against his former side, "U" Craiova, totaling 320 matches with 11 goals in the competition.[2][4] Afterwards, he went to play for Divizia B club Constructorul Craiova.[2] Ciupitu ended his career, after playing during the 1984–85 Divizia B season for Drobeta-Turnu Severin.[2]
After retirement
After he ended his playing career, Ciupitu coached Aurul Brad for a short while.[3] Subsequently, he worked as a police officer.[3]