Dan Păltinișanu

Dan Păltinișanu (23 March 1951 – 4 March 1995) was a Romanian footballer who played as a defender.

He was mostly known for his spell at Politehnica Timișoara with whom he won the 1979–80 Cupa României, scoring the victory goal in the final against Steaua București, also scoring the goal that helped them eliminate Celtic in the 1980–81 European Cup Winners' Cup.

Club career
Dan Păltinișanu, nicknamed "Tata Mare" (Big Daddy) was born in on 23 March 1951 in Bucharest, Romania, starting to play football in 1962 at the youth system of TM București, after three years moving to Dinamo București. He started his senior career at FC Brașov, making his Divizia A debut on 11 June 1972 in a 0–0 with Politehnica Iași. After playing only one Divizia A match for FC Brașov, Păltinișanu went to play one season in the second division for Metrom Brașov. In 1973, Păltinișanu signed with Politehnica Timișoara where in his first season the team reached the Cupa României final where coach Ion Ionescu used him all the minutes in the 4–2 loss in front of Jiul Petroșani. In 1975 he would make a successful couple in the central defense with Gheorghe Șerbănoiu, their first performance being a third place in the 1977–78 season. Afterwards he made his debut in European competitions, playing in three games from the 1978–79 UEFA Cup campaign as they eliminated MTK Hungária in the first round against whom he scored a goal, being eliminated by Budapest Honved in the following one in which he also scored once. He won the only trophy of his career, the 1979–80 Cupa României, being used by coach Ionescu all the minutes of the final with Steaua București in which he scored the decisive goal of the 2–1 victory. He then scored a goal that helped the club eliminate Celtic in the first round of the 1980–81 European Cup Winners' Cup, being eliminated with 4–1 on aggregate in the following one by West Ham United against whom he scored in the 1–0 win from the second leg. In the following years he helped Poli reach two more Cupa României finals, which were both lost in front of Universitatea Craiova, Păltinișanu appearing in only one of the finals, the one from 1981 when coach Ionescu used him all the minutes in the 6–0 loss. He made his last Divizia A appearance on 4 May 1983 in a 3–1 away loss in front of Dinamo București, having a total of 272 appearances with 24 goals scored in the competition and 9 matches with four goals in European competitions. Dan Păltinișanu ended his career in 1985, after playing two years for Unirea Sânnicolau Mare in the third league.

For his performances achieved at Politehnica Timișoara, the Dan Păltinișanu Stadium from Timișoara was named in his honor.

Păltinișanu won the Universiade gold medal with Romania's students football team in the 1974 edition of the tournament that was held in France, playing alongside László Bölöni, Gheorghe Mulțescu, Romulus Chihaia and Paul Cazan.

International career
Dan Păltinișanu made appearances in 1976 for Romania's under 23 and B squads.

Păltinișanu played three games at international level for Romania's senior team, making his debut on 31 May 1978 under coach Ștefan Kovács in a 1–1 against Bulgaria at the 1977–80 Balkan Cup. His following two games were friendlies, a 1–0 loss against East Germany and a 3–1 loss against Soviet Union.

Personal life and death
His son, who is also named Dan Păltinișanu, was a basketball player who played for Romania's national basketball team and won the Romanian Basketball Cup while playing for BCM Elba Timișoara in 2010.

He died on 4 March 1995, two weeks before turning 44. After his death, his former coach, Ion Ionescu wrote an article in the Fotbal Vest newspaper about Păltinișanu, describing him as:"Coming modestly and shyly from the bohemia of Bucharest, two houses from the Mărțișor of Arghezi, Pălti was assimilated to the Banat with immense love and joy. Where, in turn, he found his joy and immortality. Dan Păltinișanu enters the gallery of the greatest players of Timișoara and Politehnica. Symbol of football in these lands. Symbol of the devouring will for victory. For which he burned strongly.. And, perhaps, that is why so quickly".

Honours
Politehnica Timișoara
 * Cupa României: 1979–80, runner-up 1973–74, 1980–81, 1982–83