Gheorghe Băcuț

Gheorghe Băcuț (also known as Gheorghe Băcuț I; 12 July 1927 – 24 July 1974) was a Romanian footballer who played as a right back.

Club career
Gheorghe Băcuț was born on 12 July 1927 in Oradea, Kingdom of Romania, starting to play junior level football at local clubs, Stăruința and Libertatea. In 1946 he started his senior career at ITA Arad where he made his Divizia A debut under coach Zoltán Opata on 25 August in a 5–1 away win against his former club, Libertatea, by the end of the season he played a total of 24 games with one goal scored, helping the club win the first title in its history. In the following season he helped The Old Lady win The Double, being used by coach Petre Steinbach in 26 matches in which he scored four goals, also playing all the minutes in the 3–2 victory from the 1948 Cupa României final against CFR Timișoara.

In 1950 Băcuț went to play for Dinamo București, his first performance with the club was reaching the 1954 Cupa României final where coach Angelo Niculescu used him all the minutes in the eventual 2–0 loss in front of Metalul Reșița, then in the following season he helped the club win the first Divizia A title in its history, being used by Niculescu in 24 matches. He then played in the first European match of a Romanian team in the 1956–57 European Cup in the 3–1 victory against Galatasaray, helping The Red Dogs go to the next phase of the competition where they were eliminated by CDNA Sofia against whom he scored a goal, Băcuț playing three games in the campaign.

In 1957 Băcuț returned to his hometown to play for CS Oradea where on 15 June 1958 he made his last Divizia A appearance in a 3–0 away loss against his former team, Dinamo București, having a total of 237 matches with eight goals scored in the competition. In 1958, he and other players were banned from playing football by the Communist regime because of "their lack of responsibility resulted in liberalist tendencies", but after one year he was allowed to play again. He retired in 1961 after playing two seasons in Divizia B for CS Oradea.

International career
Gheorghe Băcuț played in 28 matches at international level for Romania, making his debut under coach Coloman Braun-Bogdan on 30 September 1945 in a friendly against Hungary which ended with a 7–2 loss. He played in a 2–1 victory at the 1946 Balkan Cup against Yugoslavia, made three appearances at the 1947 Balkan Cup, scoring one goal in a 3–2 victory against Bulgaria and played another four games at the 1948 Balkan Cup. Băcuț also played in three games at the 1954 World Cup qualifiers, making his last appearance for the national team on 10 September 1956 in a 2–0 away loss with Bulgaria in which he was for the first time the team's captain.

International goals

 * Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after each Gheorghe Băcuț goal.

Personal life
His brother, Ladislau Băcuț was also a footballer, they played together at ITA Arad and Dinamo București.

Death
Gheorghe Băcuț died on 24 July 1974 at age 47 in his native town, Oradea.

Honours
ITA Arad Dinamo București
 * Divizia A: 1946–47, 1947–48
 * Cupa României: 1947–48
 * Divizia A: 1955
 * Cupa României runner-up: 1954