Andrei Stocker

Andrei Stocker

Personal information
Date of birth	(1942-11-22) 22 November 1942
Place of birth	Aninoasa, Romania
Height	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Position(s)	Central defender
Youth career
	Minerul Aninoasa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
	Minerul Aninoasa
1965–1976	Jiul Petroșani	271	(8)
1976–1977	Minerul Lupeni
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Andrei Stocker (born 22 November 1942) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a central defender and a referee.

Playing career

Andrei Stocker, nicknamed "Keke" was born on 22 November 1942 in Aninoasa, his parents being Transylvanian Saxon miners, who because of their German origins were deported in 1945 by the soviets to do forced labour for a few years in the Donbas region.

He started playing football at Minerul Aninoasa where he was noticed by coach Eugen Mladin who brought him at his team, Jiul Petroșani. In his first season played at Jiul, he helped the team gain promotion to Divizia A, a competition in which he made his debut on 21 August 1966 in a 7–0 victory against Steagul Roșu Brașov. After playing one year and a half at Jiul Petroșani as a right midfielder, Stocker started to play alongside Gogu Tonca in the central defense, where they became known for their tough way of playing, being considered by some as the most aggressive couple of defenders in Divizia A's history. His first performance with The Miners was reaching the 1972 Cupa României final where coach Eugen Iordache used him all the minutes in the eventual 2–0 loss in front of Rapid București. Stocker eventually won the competition two years later after a 4–2 victory against Politehnica Timișoara from the 1974 final in which coach Traian Ivănescu used him the whole match, helping Jiul win the first trophy in the club's history. In May 1975, during a Jiul – Politehnica Iași home game, the wooden stand of the stadium started to burn due to a cigarette thrown into the blanket of seed husks, so Stocker together with teammates Tonca and Petre Libardi jumped in to help the firefighters extinguish the fire. He appeared in 271 Divizia A matches and scored eight goals for Jiul and he played in both legs against Dundee United from the first round of the 1974–75 European Cup Winners' Cup which was lost with 3–2 on aggregate.

In 1976, Stocker went to play at Minerul Lupeni where he ended his career after one year.

Refereeing career

After he retired from his playing career, Stocker became a referee, arbitrating in Divizia C and being a linesman in Divizia B and Divizia A.

Personal life

In 1986, he emigrated to Sweden where he settled in the city of Malmö with his family.

Honours

Jiul Petroșani

• Divizia B: 1965–66
• Cupa României: 1973–74, runner-up 1971–72