Gogu Tonca

Gogu Tonca

Personal information
Date of birth	(1947-05-02)2 May 1947[1]
Place of birth	Bucharest, Romania[2]
Date of death	23 October 2010(2010-10-23) (aged 63)[3]
Place of death	Petroșani, Romania[3]
Position(s)	Central defender[2]
Youth career
1959–1966	Steaua București
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1966–1976	Jiul Petroșani	176	(4)
1976–1977	Corvinul Hunedoara
1977–1978	Minerul Lupeni
Managerial career
1980–1982	Jiul Petroșani (assistant)
1983–1984	Jiul Petroșani
1989–1990	Jiul Petroșani
1994	Jiul Petroșani (caretaker)
1994–1995	Minerul Livezeni
	Minerul Lupeni
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gogu Tonca (2 May 1947 – 23 October 2010) was a Romanian footballer who played as a central defender and a manager.

Playing career

Gogu Tonca was born on 2 May 1947 in Bucharest and started practicing boxing before reorienting towards football at the junior squads of Steaua București.[1][2]

In 1966 he made his Divizia A debut under coach Ștefan Coidum, playing for Jiul Petroșani in a 1–0 loss against Dinamo București.[2] After playing in the first seasons at Jiul Petroșani as a right or left defender, Tonca started to play alongside Andrei Stocker in the central defense, where they became known for their tough way of playing, being considered by some as the most aggressive couple of defenders in Divizia A's history.[2] Tonca in particular was known for his way of approaching his opponents before the start of home games, by going at them and telling them to not be so ambitious in their play if they don't want to be tackled hard, as he has four kids who are waiting for him at home and he needs to win the game and receive the victory money in order to provide for them.[2][4] His first performance with The Miners was reaching the 1972 Cupa României final where coach Eugen Iordache used him all the minutes in the eventual 2–0 loss in front of Rapid București.[2][5] Tonca eventually won the competition two years later after a 4–2 victory against Politehnica Timișoara from the 1974 final in which coach Traian Ivănescu used him the whole match, helping Jiul win the first trophy in the club's history.[2][6] In May 1975, during a Jiul – Politehnica Iași home game, the wooden stand of the stadium started to burn due to a cigarette thrown into the blanket of seed husks, so Tonca together with teammates Stocker and Petre Libardi jumped in to help the firefighters extinguish the fire.[2] He appeared in 176 Divizia A matches for Jiul and he played in both legs against Dundee United from the first round of the 1974–75 European Cup Winners' Cup in which he scored a goal in the 2–0 home victory of the second leg as the team lost with 3–2 on aggregate.[2][7][8]

In 1976, Tonca went to play for one year at Divizia A team Corvinul Hunedoara, moving in 1977 at Minerul Lupeni in Divizia B where he ended his playing career.[2]

Managerial career

After he retired from his playing career, Tonca started working as an assistant for his former teammate, Petre Libardi at Jiul Petroșani, shortly after he became head coach of the team and he also coached Minerul Lupeni.[2]

Personal life and death

His nephew, Andrei Tonca was also a footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Jiul Petroșani, among other teams.[7][3][9] Gogu Tonca died on 23 October 2010 at age 63.[2][4][7][10]

Honours

Jiul Petroșani

• Cupa României: 1973–74, runner-up 1971–72[5][6]

References

1. Gogu Tonca at WorldFootball.net
2. "Ticăloșii fără glorie Povestea celui mai dur cuplu de fundași centrali din istoria Ligii 1: "Ne loveau încă de pe tunelul întunecat. Era îngrozitor"" [The gloryless villains. The story of the toughest pair of central defenders in the history of Liga 1: "They were starting to hit us from the dark tunnel. It was awful."] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 10 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
3. "Gogu Tonca a fost înmormîntat astăzi" [Gogu Tonca was buried today] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
4. "S-a stins felinarul Jiului" [Jiul's lantern went out] (in Romanian). Liga2.prosport.ro. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
5. "Romanian Cup – Season 1971–1972". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
6. "Romanian Cup – Season 1973–1974". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
7. "A murit Gogu Tonca!" [Gogu Tonca has died!] (in Romanian). Liga2.prosport.ro. 25 October 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
8. "Jiul Petroșani. Special. Cei mai loiali jiuliști" [Jiul Petroșani. Special. The most loyal Jiul players] (in Romanian). Gddhd.ro. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
   "Dundee United vs. Jiul Petroșani 3 – 0". WorldFootball. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
   "Jiul Petroșani vs. Dundee United 2 – 0". WorldFootball. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
9. "Victorie pentru Gogu Tonca!" [Victory for Gogu Tonca!] (in Romanian). Liga2.prosport.ro. 30 October 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
10. "Gogu Tonca a fost condus pe ultimul drum" [Gogu Tonca was driven on the last road] (in Romanian). Liga2.prosport.ro. 26 October 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2022.