Ion Nunweiller

Ion Nunweiller (9 January 1936 – 3 February 2015) was a Romanian football player and manager who played as a defender.

Club career

Nunweiller was born on 9 January 1936 in Piatra Neamț, Romania. He had an Austrian father named Johann Nunweiller, who settled in Piatra Neamț after World War I where he met his wife, Rozina, and later they moved to Bucharest. He had six brothers: Constantin, the oldest, was a water polo player, while Dumitru, Lică, Victor, Radu, and Eduard were all footballers who each played at least one spell at Dinamo București. Nunweiller began playing junior-level football in 1950 at Progresul ICAB București, and one year later, he moved to Dinamo București where he worked with coach Petre Steinbach. He started his senior career in 1956, playing for Dinamo 6 București in Divizia B. In his first seasons spent with Dinamo he scored four goals against rivals Steaua București, including a brace in a 2–1 victory. He won his first trophy after being used the entire match by coach Iuliu Baratky in the 4–0 win over CSM Baia Mare in the 1959 Cupa României final.

Nunweiller helped the club win four consecutive Divizia A titles from 1962 until 1965. In the first one he worked with three coaches, Traian Ionescu, Constantin Teașcă, and Nicolae Dumitru, who gave him 26 appearances in which he scored three goals. In the 1968 final, he played the entire match which was a 3–1 win over Rapid București, being coached by Bazil Marian. Nunweiller played for Dinamo in a total of 19 European Cup matches in which he scored twice and one Inter-Cities Fairs Cup game. In the 1963–64 European Cup edition, he scored once in a 2–0 victory against East Germany champion Motor Jena which helped them advance to the next phase where they were defeated by Real Madrid against whom he scored in a 5–3 loss. He also appeared in a historical 2–1 win over Inter Milan in the 1965–66 edition who were the winners of the previous two seasons of the competition. For the way he played in 1966, Nunweiller was placed fifth in the ranking for the Romanian Footballer of the Year award.

Afterwards Nunweiller spent two seasons at Fenerbahçe from 1968 until 1970, making him one of the first Romanians to play professional football in Turkey. During his time in Turkey, Nunweiller played four games in the 1968–69 European Cup where he helped Fenerbahçe eliminate the champion of England Manchester City.

In 1970, Nunweiller returned to Dinamo and in his first season he won another title, playing alongside his brother Radu, coaches Dumitru and Ionescu using him in 20 games. He played four matches in the 1960 European Nations' Cup qualifiers as Romania eliminated Turkey in the round of 16, reaching the quarter-finals where they were defeated by Czechoslovakia, who advanced to the final tournament.

Managerial career After ending his playing career in 1972, Nunweiller became the head coach of Dinamo București, managing to win the title in his first season, one of his players being his brother Radu. Together, they won another title in the 1974–75 season, but this time Nunweiller was the assistant coach of Nicolae Dumitru. Nunweiller secured his first continental success in the first round of the 1973–74 European Cup by helping the club defeat Crusaders 12–0 on aggregate, a tie that included an 11–0 second-leg victory which set a record for the biggest goal difference in the competition's history. In the second round they were defeated 4–2 on aggregate by Atlético Madrid. He eventually led Dinamo to defeat Atlético 2–1 in the first leg of the first round of the 1977–78 European Cup, but the club failed to advance further as they had lost the second leg 2–0.

In the following years, Nunweiller qualified Flacăra Moreni to the 1989–90 UEFA Cup, had an experience in Turkey at Bursaspor and obtained the first ever promotion to Divizia A of his hometown team Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț.

On 25 March 2008, Nunweiller was decorated by the president of Romania, Traian Băsescu for all of his achievements as a football coach, and for forming young generations of future champions with Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" — (The Order "The Sportive Merit") class III.

Death Nunweiller died on 3 February 2015 at age 79 in a hospital in Pitești. He was buried in a cemetery in Albota, with his coffin wrapped in the flags of Dinamo București and Fenerbahçe. After his death, his former Dinamo teammate, Cornel Dinu talked about him: "He was the creator of The Red Dogs symbol and the main pillar of resistance through which the great team was built from the early 1960s. A player who had many moments of heroism, blocking opponents and ensuring that his own defense was never overtaken. He was an indisputable leader of that era and achieved great success as a coach in the 1970s, also serving in a leadership role at Dinamo. Both as a player and as a coach, he embodied the spirit of determination and loyalty in service to the club."

Honours Player Dinamo București Divizia A: 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1970–71 Cupa României: 1958–59, 1963–64, 1967–68 Fenerbahçe Turkish Super League: 1969–70 TSYD Cup: 1969–70

Manager Dinamo București Divizia A: 1972–73, 1976–77 Dinamo București (assistant) Divizia A: 1974–75 Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț Divizia B: 1992–93