Lazăr Sfera: Biography, Facts and Career

Lazăr Sfera (29 April 1909 – 24 April 1992) was a Romanian footballer who played as a defender and occasionally as a midfielder. A native of the Banat region in Austria-Hungary, he was briefly included in the Romanian Yugoslav community. In the 1920s, he moved with his family to Timișoara, which had been secured for the Romanian Kingdom. It was here that he began playing a variety of sports, including street football. The boy was discovered by the scouts of Unirea CFR, which became his first club. In 1925, Sfera joined Politehnica Timișoara's first-ever youth squad. Two years later, he was promoted to the main team, where he came to be mentored by Tony Cargnelli. Sfera impressed the Timișoara fans with his performances in local derbies, and had a stint at Banatul. However, he decided to focus mainly on his education: moving to Cluj for a chance to attend its business school, he played for România Cluj (1929–1931) and Universitatea (1931–1934). Upon graduation, Sfera took the option of relocating to Bucharest, signing up with Venus București (and marrying his boss' daughter); in subsequent matches against Universitatea, he was sent off for participating in violence against his former teammates. He also became entangled in political controversies, being upheld as an ally by the far-right of Romanian nationalism at a time when many Divizia A players belonged to ethnic minorities. Sfera and Gheorghe Albu together formed the core of Venus' defense, helping the team win three successive editions of Divizia A. Sfera was less active with the Romanian national squad, appearing as a substitute in the 1934 FIFA World Cup (and missing out on the 1938 edition). He withdrew from football during the 1940–1941 season, after his young daughter had died. Sfera's planned return as Venus' player-coach was cancelled, since the entire championship was suspended during World War II. He briefly managed FC Carmen București before the imposition of a communist regime; later, he was mainly a referee in the lesser leagues, only occasionally resuming coaching for workers' clubs—he worked as an accountant in state companies, and as such handled their respective teams (Uzina de Autobuze and Cetatea Bucur). He died shortly after the Romanian Revolution of 1989; in his final years, he was receiving stipends from the Romanian Football Federation, which had recognized him as an expert adviser.

Quick facts about Lazăr Sfera

• Full name: Lazăr Sfera
• Born: 1909-04-29
• Nationality: Romania
• Known as: Athlete
• Wikidata ID: Q579777

Profile compiled from public Wikipedia and Wikidata data. Details can change over time.