Mihai Adam (3 July 1940 – 11 December 2015) was a Romanian football player who played as a striker.

Mihai Adam
Personal information
Date of birth (1940-07-03)3 July 1940
Place of birth Câmpia Turzii, Romania
Date of death 11 December 2015(2015-12-11) (aged 75)
Place of death Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1956–1959 Industria Sârmei Câmpia Turzii
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1959–1962 Industria Sârmei Câmpia Turzii
1962–1972 Universitatea Cluj 226 (107)
1968–1969Vagonul Arad (loan) 13 (6)
1972–1976 CFR Cluj 114 (47)
Total 353 (160)
International career
1963–1964 Romania U23 7 (3)
1965 Romania B 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career edit

"He was among the greatest strikers in the history of our football, an extremely modest and serious man"

Remus Câmpeanu, former teammate of Mihai Adam at "U" Cluj[1]

Mihai Adam was born on 3 July 1940 in Câmpia Turzii, Romania, being the 11th child of his parents, starting to play football in 1956 at local club, Industria Sârmei.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] In 1962 he was transferred at Universitatea Cluj where on 19 August he made his Divizia A debut under coach Constantin Rădulescu in a 2–1 home victory in front of Politehnica Timișoara.[10][5][7][9][11] In the 1964–65 Divizia A season, Adam who made a successful couple in the team's offence with Zoltán Ivansuc, won for the first time the top-goalscorer of the season title with 18 goals scored, also he helped the club win the Cupa României, being used by coach Andrei Sepci in the whole game of the 2–1 victory from the final against Argeș Pitești.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][12] In the following season, Adam made his debut in European competitions, playing four games in which he scored a goal that helped "U" Cluj eliminate Austrian team, Wiener Neustadt in the first round of the 1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup, being eliminated in the following round by Atlético Madrid.[10][8][13] In the 1967–68 season he scored 15 goals in 26 league appearances, winning his second top-goalscorer title, seven of these were scored in two victories over Dinamo București.[1][10][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][14] In the following season he was selected to do his military service in Arad so he played for local club, Vagonul.[10][2][9] Afterwards he returned to play for three more seasons at "U" Cluj, in the last one he scored 10 goals which helped the club finish on the 3rd position.[10][9]

Then he was given to CFR Cluj in exchange for Vasile Șoo where he reunited with coach Constantin Rădulescu, scoring just three weeks later since his transfer the victory goal in the 2–1 from the Cluj derby against Universitatea, also in the 1973–74 season he won for the third and final time the top-goalscorer of the league title with a personal record of 23 goals scored as the team scored a total of 40, a performance that helped them avoid relegation as they finished on the 14th position out of 18 teams from the league.[1][10][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][15] In his last season as a player, Mihai Adam scored 9 goals in 25 appearances, being unable to save CFR from avoiding relegation this time, his last Divizia A appearance being on 20 June 1976 in a 1–0 loss in front of Steaua București, having a total of 160 goals scored in 353 matches in the competition.[1][10][2][5] After he ended his playing career, Adam became a referee, arbitrating games including in Romania's top-league Divizia A.[2][3][6][16] In the last years of his life, he lived in Cluj-Napoca, being ill of Alzheimer's disease and died on 11 December 2015 at age 75.[10][3][4][5][6][7] The Mihai Adam Stadium from Câmpia Turzii is named in his honor.[17] Even do he played for Romania's under-23 national team and Romania B, Mihai Adam never played for Romania's senior team and on 13 May 2020, Gazeta Sporturilor included him in a first 11 of best Romanian players who never played for the senior national team.[2][18][19]

Honours edit

Club edit

Universitatea Cluj

Individual edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e "Încă o veste tristă pentru fotbalul românesc. A murit cel mai mare golgheter al Clujului, Mihai Adam "bombardierul" lui U și CFR" [Another sad news for Romanian football. The greatest goalscorer of Cluj, Mihai Adam "bomber" of U and CFR, died] (in Romanian). Liga2.prosport.ro. 12 December 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Mihai Adam, primul golgeter din istoria CFR-ului" [Mihai Adam, the first goalscorer in the history of the CFR] (in Romanian). Welovesport.ro. 3 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Doliu în fotbalul românesc. Mihai Adam, o legendă a Clujului, s-a stins din viaţă! Cariera fabuloasă, aici ai toate cifrele" [Mourning in Romanian football. Mihai Adam, a legend of Cluj, passed away! Fabulous career, here are all the numbers] (in Romanian). Orangesport.ro. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Fostul fotbalist Mihai Adam a murit" [Former footballer Mihai Adam died] (in Romanian). Romanialibera.ro. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Marele fotbalist Mihai Adam a murit" [The great footballer Mihai Adam died] (in Romanian). Dcnews.ro. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "A murit încă un greu al fotbalului românesc! Mihai Adam, fost golgheter de rasă atât la "U", cât și la CFR Cluj, s-a stins din viață la vârsta de 75 de ani!" [Another legend of Romanian football has died! Mihai Adam, former top scorer both at "U" and at CFR Cluj, died at the age of 75!] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Fostul international Mihai Adam a incetat din viata la varsta de 75 de ani" [Former international Mihai Adam died at the age of 75] (in Romanian). Mediafax.ro. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Mihai Adam. Golgeter adevărat" [Mihai Adam. Real goalscorer] (in Romanian). Ovidiublag.ro. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Mihai Adam profile" (in Romanian). 4everucluj.ro.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mihai Adam at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  11. ^ "U Cluj vs Politehnica Timisoara - Liga1 1962–1963". Labtof.ro. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  12. ^ a b "Romanian Cup - Season 1964–1965". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  13. ^ "Mihai Adam. Cup Winners Cup 1965/1966". WorldFootball. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  14. ^ "Universitatea Cluj 1967–68 season" (in Romanian). 4everucluj.ro.
  15. ^ "Ei sunt copiii Clujului! Vezi cum arată 11-le ideal din toate timpurile format din jucătorii crescuţi de U și CFR" [They are the children of Cluj! See how the first 11 of all times looks like with the players raised by U and CFR] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 12 April 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  16. ^ "Mihai Adam referee profile". Labtof.ro. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  17. ^ "Stadionul comunității din Câmpia Turzii este din nou acasă!" [The community stadium from Câmpia Turzii is back home!] (in Romanian). Turdanews.ro. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  18. ^ "Mihai Adam profile". 11v11. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  19. ^ "Ion Oblemenco ar fi împlinit azi 75 de ani! Legendarul jucător nu a prins niciodată naționala. Care sunt cei mai buni fotbaliști fără vreun minut pentru România" [Ion Oblemenco would have turned 75 today! The legendary player never caught the national team. Who are the best footballers without any minutes for Romania] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 13 May 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2023.

External links edit