Coloman Braun-Bogdan

Coloman Braun-Bogdan (13 October 1905 – 15 March 1983) was a Romanian football midfielder and football manager.

Playing career Braun-Bogdan was born on 13 October 1905 in Arad, Arad County (then part of Austria-Hungary), and began playing football in 1920 when he was 14 years old at local club AMEF, making a name for himself as one of the best Romanian midfielders of the interwar period. In 1932 he went to play for two seasons in France at Racing Club Calais. His final appearance as a footballer took place on 15 May 1938 in a 4–1 league victory against Universitatea Cluj. One of Braun-Bogdan's most important achievements as a player was being part of Romania's squad in the 1938 World Cup. Subsequently, in 1939 he was one of the founding members of the Romanian National School of Coaches. Braun-Bogdan was unable to significantly improve the team's performance, managing to bring them just above the last place, which ultimately led to their relegation to Divizia B. In the 1946–47 season Braun-Bogdan worked at CFR București where he helped the club finish in 5th place in the league, being appreciated by the fans. However, he moved in 1947 to a newly founded club, ASA București where he was dismissed after 15 rounds because of poor results. In 1949, Braun-Bogdan had his second experience at Romania's national team, this time leading them together with Emerich Vogl in a 1–1 home friendly draw against Albania. Braun-Bogdan had the most successful spell of his career from 1953 until 1954, when he coached a team from his native Arad, Flamura Roșie, winning the only trophies of his career which are the 1953 Cupa României after a 1–0 victory in extra-time against CCA București and the 1954 Divizia A. He then worked for the Romanian Football Federation as an advisor and also was president of the Central College of Coaches until 1958. Braun-Bogdan left Știința after a conflict with some of the team's players, going for a third spell at UTA.

Writing Braun-Bogdan wrote two books about moments from his playing and managerial football career: Fotbalul în glumă (Football as a Joke) Din lumea balonului rotund (From the World of the Round Ball)

Death Braun-Bogdan died on 15 March 1983 at age 77, being remembered as the first coach that worked at all three Bucharest rivals: CFR, ASA and Dinamo.

Honours Manager Sportul Studențesc București Divizia B: 1936–37 Jiul Petroșani Divizia B: 1940–41 UTA Arad Divizia A: 1954 Cupa României: 1953