Ted Dumitru, Romanian football manager, Died at 76

  Sports

Theodore “Ted” Dumitru was born on September 2, 1939, and on May 26, 2016.

He was a football manager.

Ted last worked as a technical director for Mamelodi Sundowns in the South African Premier Soccer League.

Dumitru was the former coach of the South Africa national football team.

He was one of a few coaches to have guided the ‘big three’ in South Africa Kaizer Chiefs, Sundowns and Orlando Pirates.

Ted Dumitru playing football with local club Sportul Studenţesc in the late 1950s, he had a short run because injuries had ended his career prematurely; as a result, Ted started to coach Ştiinţa Craiova known as Universitatea Craiova present-day, in the 1964–65 season, the first for the Students in Divizia A.

Ted Dumitru was only 25 years old, thus establishing a record in the Divizia A as the youngest coach ever.

Following his save of the team from relegation in the first season as a coach, in the second he finished in the eighth place.

Ted decided to leave Craiova in 1966 and was for a while the coach of Romania U-23 Olympic team.

During 1969, Ted went to Turkey where he managed Altay Izmir, Beşiktaş and then Mersin.

In 1973, Dumitru was called back by the Securitate in Romania, but he refused.

He arrived in Germany where he requested political asylum.

In Romania, he was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison during the communist regime rule.

During 1974, Ted began coaching again, but this time across the ocean, in the United States with Rochester Lancers in the NASL.

Ted never stop training them before moving to New York Apollo club, later renamed United.

In that moment, Theodore was known as Ted Dumitru.

In 1980, Dumitru arrived in Africa, and was appointed as head coach of Zambia, and led the team in the preliminaries of the African Cup of Nations together with Dick Chama, qualifying them to the final tournament in 1982, but he did not participate due to his U.S. passport and was replaced by Yugoslav coach Ante Bulešic.

He left Zambia and signed a contract with the African Football Confederation, in which he was sent to Swaziland, then in Namibia to help develop football in those countries.

During 1985, Dumitru arrived in South Africa signing with Kaizer Chiefs, with whom he won many national trophies.

After Ted relocated to Mamelodi Sundowns, the other big club in South Africa, winning two more titles in 1998 and 1999.

In South Africa Ted also coached the club of Orlando Pirates and Manning Rangers.

Ted Dumitru was appointed the manager of the Namibian national team in November 2000 replacing Lucky Richter.

Ted Dumitru joined again Mamelodi Sundowns leading the South African side to an African Champions League Final in 2001 in his second spell with the club.

Ted Dumitru then went back to Kaiser Chiefs with whom he won two titles in a row in 2004 and 2005, and made a big step towards the national team of Bafana-Bafana in November 2005 but sadly was not performing well, being dismissed in February 2006, after the final tournament in African Cup of Nations.

Ted Dumitrupassed away at 76 yrs old.