Constantin Gâlcă

1.1. Early career and background

Born in Bucharest, Gâlcă began his senior career at the age of 16 in the third division with FC Progresul București in the 1988-89 season. After just one year, he moved to Divizia A with FC Argeș Pitești, where he made four appearances towards the end of his debut season and quickly broke into the Romanian national under-21 team. In the 1990-91 season, he continued to impress with 31 games and two goals for Argeș Pitești.

1.2. Major club career

In 1991, Gâlcă signed with Romanian giants Steaua București. He immediately made an impact, scoring five goals in 26 matches in his debut campaign (1991-92). He remained at Steaua for two more years, adding 13 more goals to his tally. After winning the domestic cup and appearing in nearly 200 official matches for Steaua, he moved to Spain in 1996, where he would play for the next 11 years.

His first stop in Spain was RCD Mallorca in the Balearic Islands. During the 1996-97 season, he scored 13 goals, which was tied for the squad's best, helping the team achieve La Liga promotion. He then had a consistent period with Barcelona-based RCD Espanyol, where he scored five goals in his third season (1999-2000), a season that also saw them win the Copa del Rey. During his time at Espanyol, Gâlcă attracted interest from major European clubs such as Chelsea, Manchester United, and Fiorentina.

In July 2001, Gâlcă signed a three-year deal with Villarreal CF, with an option for an additional year. Midway through his second year (2002-03 La Liga), he was loaned to Segunda División club Real Zaragoza. He played a significant role in Zaragoza's return to the top flight in the 2002-03 season, starting in every match he played.

Gâlcă continued his career in Spain with three more solid seasons at second-tier club UD Almería. In his final season with the club (2005-06 Segunda División), he played 40 matches, one year before the Andalusian club first reached the top division. He retired from professional football in June 2006 at the age of 34, having returned to the national team in 2005 after a three-year absence.

1.3. International career

Gâlcă made his full debut for the Romania national team on 22 September 1993, in a friendly against Israel. He was called up for the 1994 FIFA World Cup and played three matches during the tournament: against the United States in the group stage, in the famous 3-2 round-of-16 victory against Argentina, and in the penalty shootout defeat to Sweden in the quarter-finals.

From 1996 to 2000, Gâlcă featured in over 40 more international games for Romania, often forming a central midfield partnership with Dorinel Munteanu. During the qualifying phase for the 1998 World Cup, the national side went undefeated in their ten group fixtures, drawing only once and scoring 37 goals, with Gâlcă contributing two. In the 1998 World Cup finals and UEFA Euro 2000, Romania was eliminated in the last-16 and quarter-finals, respectively, with Gâlcă starting in every match. He earned a total of 68 caps for Romania, scoring 4 goals.

2.1. Early coaching career

After retiring as a player, Gâlcă settled in Almería, Spain, and began his coaching career in the 2009-10 season with Almería's B-team in the fourth tier. However, he was sacked on 19 January 2010, following a series of poor results.

On 20 August 2013, Gâlcă was appointed head coach of the Romania under-17s. He concluded his contract in June 2014.

2.2. Major club coaching career

In June 2014, Gâlcă was appointed manager of league champions Steaua București on a two-year deal, replacing Laurențiu Reghecampf. In his first and only season with the club (2014-15 Liga I), he led the team to the domestic double, winning both the Liga I and the Cupa României, as well as the Cupa Ligii.

On 14 December 2015, Gâlcă replaced his former club teammate Sergio as the head coach of RCD Espanyol. His first game in charge was a 2-1 home victory against Levante UD in the Copa del Rey on 15 December, securing a 3-2 aggregate win. He guided the Periquitos to a 13th-place finish in La Liga, but his contract was not renewed on 27 May 2016.

2.3. International and other club coaching career

Gâlcă moved to Saudi Arabia, taking over Al-Taawoun in the Saudi Professional League on 19 October 2016. The following season, he managed Al-Fayha in the same league, but was dismissed on 7 November 2017 after winning only one of nine games, with the club in the relegation zone.

On 6 March 2019, Gâlcă returned to European football to manage Vejle Boldklub, who were at the bottom of the Danish Superliga. Under his leadership, Vejle won the second tier in the 2019-20 season, earning promotion to the top flight. They successfully avoided relegation upon their return to the Superliga. Gâlcă resigned in May 2021 due to disagreements with the club's board.

He returned to the Saudi top league on 10 December 2021, joining Al-Hazem after the dismissal of Hélder. However, his tenure was short-lived, as he left the club by mutual consent on 21 February 2022.

On 16 April 2023, Gâlcă was appointed manager of Polish Ekstraklasa side Radomiak Radom, replacing Mariusz Lewandowski. His stint started positively with three wins and one draw in five league games. However, as the 2023-24 season progressed, he became openly critical of the board's decisions regarding transfer activity and the lack of youth players to meet the mandatory playing time quota. On 27 November 2023, Gâlcă left Radomiak Radom by mutual consent, just 86 minutes before a home game against Śląsk Wrocław.

Most recently, on 17 April 2024, he was named the new manager of Romanian top-tier club Universitatea Craiova, signing a contract until the end of the 2024-25 season with an extension option. However, he was sacked by the club on 27 January 2025 following a 1-0 away loss to Rapid București.

3.1. Player statistics

International goals
Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gâlcă goal.

3.2. Manager statistics

4.1. Player honours

Progresul București

• Divizia C: 1989-90

Steaua București

• Divizia A: 1992-93, 1993-94, 1994-95, 1995-96
• Cupa României: 1991-92, 1995-96
• Supercupa României: 1994, 1995

Espanyol

• Copa Catalunya: 1998-99
• Copa del Rey: 1999-00
• Supercopa de España runner-up: 2000

4.2. Coach honours

Steaua București

• Liga I: 2014-15
• Cupa României: 2014-15
• Cupa Ligii: 2014-15
• Supercupa României runner-up: 2014

Vejle

• Danish 1st Division: 2019-20