Article by Justin Gafiuc – Published on Wednesday, 21 January 2026, 00:58 / Updated on Wednesday, 21 January 2026 00:59
Ilie Luca, 71 years old, worked at FC Brașov for almost a quarter of a century, 1982-2005, during which he witnessed some epic moments in terms of strategic matches. Today, he recounts without restraint, including the story of saving Transylvania from relegation in 2000 after the intervention with money in an “indirect” favorable to the yellow-blacks, with Răzvan Lucescu as goalkeeper and Halagian as coach
Former organizer of competitions at FC Brașov between 1982-2005, Ilie Luca lived behind the scenes many spectacular moments in the life of the club at the foot of Tâmpei, together with over 20 coaches and hundreds of footballers.
And between the episodes, strategic matches also crept in, which he now recounts with sincerity and transparency, providing the details of some games played beyond the green rectangle.
“Răzvan Lucescu sent him: “If you play correctly, I will give you my last installment from the contract with Brașov””
The match with the richest ramifications was played on May 10, 2000, in the last stage of that championship. It is about the match between FC Onești and Farul (2-1), which confirmed the relegation of the Constantinians and indirectly saved Brașov. Before the meeting, the Moldovans were already in L2, and the team from the coast needed three points to stay in L1 and “clog” the “flags”. Otherwise, Brașov continued in the first division, provided they beat Astra, which easily happened (2-0).
Now retired, Ilie Luca is an encyclopedia on the history of Brașov football Photo: Justin Gafiuc (GSP)
Ilie Luca tells the incredible story of that end of the season, a preview of Gigi Becali's “Suitcase” from 2008 (1.7 million euros for U Cluj to beat CFR): “In the penultimate stage, we had lost to Brașov in Craiova by an own goal. We were very angry, especially since we had a lot of chances to score. It seemed that we were doomed to go to Division B. But a phone call changed everything”.
He elaborates: “On the way back, Ionuț Pîrvu, from Brașov, but a player at Onești, called Răzvan Lucescu, our goalkeeper at the time. He said: “Guys, did you think that we are the only ones who can save you from relegation?”. “Come on, guys, let it go, we know you are giving up!”. “Let it go, you will see!” Pîrvu tells him. And Răzvan replied: “OK, if you play correctly, I'll give you my last installment of the contract with FC Brașov”. And from that dialogue, the idea was born that we could, however, save ourselves by winning the Onești team.
Răzvan Lucescu collaborated with the former patron of Brașov, Ion Neculaie, both as a player and as a coach
“He gave me a bodyguard and a suitcase of money and sent me to the match”
He continues: “In the days leading up to the Onești – Farul game, the boss Ion Neculaie called me, he gave me a bodyguard and a suitcase of money and sent me to the match, in Moldova. We stayed in Onești the day before the match, I contacted the president of the hosts, Nicolae Puiu, who somehow took me away, that the boys are at church, they are praying for you and things like that. No it smelled good to me! I had to do something to meet the Onești players”.
The former president of FC Onești, Nicolae Puiu, was an exotic figure in Romanian football in the late 90s
And he found the recipe: “We knew that, on the day of the game, they have a table at the stadium at 2:00 p.m., so we went straight to them. We went in, Puiu introduced us, “Look, he's from Brașov, he has a message for you!”. At the table, Ionuț Pîrvu says: “Leave it, sir, we know who he is!”. And I started to say a few words to them, that we would like to help, to shoot for us, but I didn't see the players too excited. It was the moment when I opened the suitcase full of banknotes of different currencies and told them: “If you want to work for this money, it's yours!”. And I left! Only the bodyguard remained there, to guard the money together with a man from Onești”.
Do you believe I had no idea how much money was in the suitcase? I didn't count them either when I took them from the patron or when I left them at Onești. Mr. Niculae later told me that he appreciates me because I didn't get my hands on a single lion. He had checked on me on several occasions
– Ilie Luca, former FC Brașov competition organizer
“Some four fired the Lighthouse”
Gazeta Chronicle from the FC Onești – Farul match, which indirectly saved Brașov in May 2000
Ilie Luca also remembers the first reactions of the players from Onești when they saw the stacks of money: “Some seemed curious, others more restrained. Later I would find out that about four fired the Lighthouse during the game, among them Jercălău and Munteanu.”
The match had a dramatic development. Farul opened the scoring quickly through Abăluță (3), but found themselves a man down after Niță (36) was sent off for a foul as the last defender on a home counter attack. Then, after the break, Pârvu equalized (47), and Oneștiul gave the final blow in the very last minute, through Cristache.
“I was watching the match right from President Puiu's office, through a large window, and you can imagine the joy I experienced at the 2-1 goal. I saw on TV that Brașov had beaten Astra 2-0 at home, so we were saved. I sat there waiting for everyone to leave, during which time the phones rang like at the train station. From Giovanni, from others, with various things that no longer interested me. At one point, I start to leave, but I end up on the stairs directly nose to nose with Romică Vizireanu, the sports director from Farul. It turned out well, also noticed by the press. “Hey, Luca, what are you doing here?”. “Well, what? Did you want me to stay in Brasov and downgrade?!»”.
When I got back to Brașov, everyone was celebrating the rescue from relegation at the night bar. It was great joy, you can imagine! Sometimes I even think that I also won three points for Brașov, even if I wasn't a player
– Ilie Luca, former FC Brașov competition organizer
“$1,000 for the opposing defender, $1,000 for the midfielder and another $1,000 for the forward”
Florin Halagian was a key member of the Cooperative who refereed the top matches of post-revolutionary Romanian football
Luca then listed other memorable moments behind the scenes. One relates to Florin Halagian: “I know so much about him! He had a saying. “Well, that's not a coach who doesn't have 3,000 dollars with him. 1,000 for the opposing defender, 1,000 for the midfielder and another thousand for the forward!”. The man was diabolical. I also remember a match with Rocarul, in Bucharest, where I “rested” several players unjustified, so that it comes out properly”.
On the list is also a game with the “masters” from Dinamo, towards whom Brașov had a relationship of vassalage, especially before the Revolution: “I don't know exactly how much friendship there was between the clubs, but I remember perfectly an episode with Dumitru Dragomir, who was the president. We didn't lose then, and at halftime Mitica nervously entered the players' locker room and hit the wall with a bottle of mineral water, which was obviously, they all fell asleep.”
“Sandu Tudor told the players that he does not give them a penalty even if they hold each other”
It ends with another epic moment, FC Brașov – FCM Bacău 2-0, a game defeated by Transylvania in 2001, despite the interventions of the owner Ion Neculaie, who was interested in losing that game for business reasons. The descriptions come from Ilie Luca: “Dumitru Sechelariu's brother, Sergiu, was secretary of state and could facilitate certain works for Neculaie. I realized from the beginning that something was wrong when coach Gabi Stan refused to sit on the bench. He didn't come to the match. Bacau started with some huge opportunities, but Dossey defended fantastically. The referee was Sandu Tudor, who, I found out later! and told the players that he doesn't give them a penalty even if they hug!”.
Alexandru Andrași and the joy of a goal that broke the record from 2001 from FC Brașov – FCM Bacău
He adds: “It was 0-0 at half-time, the people in the stands had started to attack us, to curse us for giving the match to Bacău. At one point, Adi Hîrlab introduced Sandu Andrași onto the field, with whom I went to the side of the field for a change. He asks the coach before: “Adi, what do I do now?”. “If you can, bago-n atê!”. That's what happened. He scored twice, he finished 2-0 for us, after which Dossey went public with statements that the boss came into the booth and asked them to forfeit the game.”
It was a match after which Dossey was suspended for six months at FRF, and Ilie Luca – two years! He explains: “I felt terrible, because I had fallen in the middle. I was reproached for not stopping the patyron from entering the locker room. But where in the world does it happen that an employee blocks the access of the one who owns the team? I was done an injustice, repaired after a year by Jean Pădureanu, who proposed in the Executive Committee that my suspension be lifted halfway through the term.”
