Emerich Jenei

Emerich Alexandru Jenei (; 22 March 1937 – 5 November 2025) was a Romanian football player and manager. Considered one of Romania's best managers alongside Ștefan Kovács, Mircea Lucescu and Anghel Iordănescu, Jenei won the European Cup with Steaua București in 1986. Prior to his management career, he had a 21-year playing career for clubs in Romania and Turkey, and the Romanian national team.

In 2023, Jenei was placed 63rd in FourFourTwo magazine's ranking of the best football coaches of all time. He is the second most successful manager in Romania, tied with Dan Petrescu, winning the Romanian championship on six occasions, all with Steaua București. Nicolae Dumitru is ranked first, having won seven championships, all with Dinamo București. As a child, he moved with his family to Losonc (now Lučenec, Slovakia), because his father did not want to serve in the Romanian army. Later, his father became a Hungarian soldier, but following the end of the war, he did not come back and Jenei and his mother moved back to Arad. Shortly thereafter, Jenei's mother died when he was only 12 years old.

Jenei had aspirations of becoming a lawyer before his professional football career.

Club career Flamura Roșie Arad and Progresul CPCS București Jenei began playing junior-level football in 1947 at 7 Noiembrie Arad. In 1950, he joined the junior center of Flamura Roșie Arad. In 1956, he spent a short time at Divizia B club Progresul CPCS București. In the following season, he helped them win another title, this time playing 17 matches under coach Ștefan Onisie. Jenei won his second Cupa României in 1966, after playing the full 90 minutes under coach Ilie Savu in the 4–0 victory against UTA Arad in the final. With Savu, he won his third Cupa României one year later, playing again the entire match in the final, a 6–0 win over Foresta Fălticeni. Then he made 15 appearances under coach Ștefan Kovacs in the 1967–68 season, as the club won another league title. On 25 May 1969, Jenei made his last Divizia A appearance in Steaua's 3–1 win over Jiul Petroșani, totaling 275 matches with nine goals in the competition.

Kayserispor In 1969, at age 32, Jenei was allowed by the communist regime to leave Romania together with Steaua teammate Gheorghe Constantin and go play for Turkish side Kayserispor. There, he made 29 appearances and scored three goals over the course of two seasons in the second league, retiring in 1971. Subsequently, he played in another 2–0 loss to Czekoslovakia in the quarter-finals of the same competition. Notably, coach Silviu Ploeșteanu used him in a 1–1 draw against East Germany and a 4–2 win over Ghana in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, helping the team finish in fifth place.

Managerial career Steaua București Jenei's first coaching experience was in 1971 at Steaua București's juniors with whom he won a national junior championship. Subsequently, he worked for the senior side as an assistant coach of his former teammate Gheorghe Constantin in the 1972–73 season. He remained in that position even when Constantin Teașcă became head coach. It was the first championship title won by the club in the last eight years. Subsequently, in the autumn of 1980, he took over Divizia B club Olimpia Satu Mare, fighting for first-league promotion, but eventually finishing behind UTA Arad. In 1981, he came back to Divizia A football, leading CS Târgoviște for one year.

In the 1985–86 season, Jenei helped Steaua win another title. The final against Barcelona was won after the penalty shoot-out with 2–0, courtesy of goals scored by Marius Lăcătuș and Gavril Balint and four penalties saved by Helmut Duckadam. Jenei began the 1986–87 season at Steaua but left to manage Romania, leaving Anghel Iordănescu to take over and successfully win the title. Subsequently, he led the team in five matches during the Euro 1988 qualifiers, including a 3–1 home win over Spain. In the final tournament, Romania got past the group stage after defeating the Soviet Union, earning a draw against title holders Argentina and losing to Cameroon. He was dismissed in December 1991. He helped The Magyars win the Kirin Cup in 1993, following a win over hosts Japan and a draw against the United States. However, the team performed poorly during the 1994 World Cup qualifiers, and Jenei left after a 1–0 home loss to Greece in March 1993. Jenei made his Nemzeti Bajnokság I debut on 15 August 1994 in a 4–4 draw against Zalaegerszeg. There, he had fellow Romanian Marius Predatu as one of his players. Subsequently, he led The Military Men throughout the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup, eliminating Levadia Tallinn, LASK Linz and West Ham United, being defeated by Slavia Prague in the round of 32.

Jenei has a total of 31 matches in European competitions, all with Steaua, resulting in 13 victories, 8 draws and 10 losses. Jenei is the coach with the most matches led in the Steaua – Dinamo derby, totaling 23 games of which 19 were in the championship and four in the Cupa României. In the group stage of the final tournament, they earned a draw against Germany, lost to Portugal and defeated England 3–2. His former player, Marius Lăcătuș said about him:"I never saw him upset, sad, mad. His way of interacting with all the players, all the employees, was exemplary." Subsequently, in 2008, a second volume was published by Bradu, titled Singur printre actori (Alone among actors). In 2017, President Klaus Iohannis awarded him the Order of the Star of Romania in the rank of Knight.

Until her death in 2021, Jenei was married to Ileana, former fencer for Romania, world champion and Olympic medalist. They had a daughter named Cristina. Over 1,000 people participated at his funeral, being buried with military honors in the "Rulikowski" Cemetery in Oradea.

Honours Player Steaua București Divizia A: 1959–60, 1960–61, 1967–68 Cupa României: 1961–62, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1968–69

Manager Steaua București Divizia A: 1975–76, 1977–78, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1993–94 Cupa României: 1975–76, 1984–85, 1998–99 European Cup: 1985–86 Hungary Kirin Cup: 1993

Individual FourFourTwo 63rd Greatest Manager of All Time: 2023