Nicolae Ivan

Playing career Ivan was born on 28 August 1941 in Bucharest, Romania and began playing junior-level football in 1955 at Constructorul. In 1961, he started his career in Divizia B at Flacăra Moreni. Ivan played six matches as the club reached the 1962–63 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup quarter-finals where he scored his side's goal in the 2–1 aggregate loss to Ferencváros. Afterwards, he played the entire match under coach Oană in the 6–1 victory against Siderurgistul Galați in the 1963 Cupa României final.

In 1965, Ivan went to play for Universitatea Craiova. This outcome led poet Adrian Păunescu to nickname Craiova as "Campioana unei mari iubiri" (The Champion of a great love). He made his last Divizia A appearance in the last round of that season in the 0–0 draw against Petrolul, as the team earned the point that mathematically secured the championship. Ivan has a total of 240 matches with 14 goals in the Romanian top-league and 12 matches with one goal in European competitions (including 11 matches and one goal in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup).

In 1974, he went to play for Dinamo Slatina in Divizia B. One year later, Ivan joined neighboring club Energia until 1980 when he retired. In 1984, he returned as head coach to TM București, but in 1985 he went to work as an assistant for two years at Olt Scornicești.

Personal life and death In 2003, Ivan received the Honorary Citizen of Craiova title.

Ivan died on 7 August 2018 at the age of 76.

Honours Petrolul Ploiești Cupa României: 1962–63 Universitatea Craiova Divizia A: 1973–74