# Vasile Gergely

László Vasile Gergely (Hungarian: Gergely László; born 28 October 1941) is a Romanian former football player and manager.

## Club career

Vasile Gergely was born on 28 October 1941 in Baia Mare and started playing football in Divizia B at local club, CSM Baia Mare. Gergely made his Divizia A debut under coach Gheorghe Ola on 19 August 1962, playing for Viitorul București in a 7–0 home victory against Minerul Lupeni, but in the middle of the season the club dissolved and he went to play for Dinamo București, coach Traian Ionescu using him in just one game from the second half of the season as the club won the title. In the next two seasons, he helped The Red Dogs win another two championships, coaches Ionescu and Nicolae Dumitru giving him three appearances in the first and under the guidance of Angelo Niculescu he played 20 games in the second. During his eight seasons spent at Dinamo, he also won two Cupa României, at the 5–3 victory over rivals Steaua București from the 1964 final, coach Ionescu did not use him at all but in the one from 1968, Gergely played the whole match which was a 3–1 over Rapid București, being coached by Bazil Marian. He played in eight matches and scored once in European competitions for Dinamo, in the 1963–64 European Cup edition, helping the club get past Denmark's champion, Boldklubben 1909 against whom he scored a goal, the campaign ending in the next round in front of the winners of the previous two seasons of the competition, Inter Milan but he helped the team earn a historical 2–1 victory in the first leg. For the way he played in 1966, Gergely was placed second in the ranking for the Romanian Footballer of the Year award, behind only Nicolae Dobrin.
After a tournament with Dinamo in West Germany, he remained there, signing with Hertha BSC, playing 30 games in the 1970–71 Bundesliga season as the club finished on the third position, then appearing in both legs and scoring a goal in the 8–3 aggregate victory against Boldklubben 1901 from the first round of the 1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. He was banned for life in January 1972 together with other players for throwing the game against Arminia Bielefeld and accepting a 15,000 Deutsche mark bribe in exchange. Afterwards, Gergely went to play for Durban City in South Africa where he could play because at that time the country was not a member of FIFA, winning the 1972 National Football League, also working as a police officer during that time. In November 1973, the German Football Association cancelled his and the other players suspensions, it is believed that the case was hastily and superficially tried and the players were unduly pardoned because the image of the 1974 World Cup, which was to be held in Germany would have been affected. Even though his suspension was lifted, Gergely retired at age 32, working for a while as head coach at BFC Germania 1888 and at club 1. FC Wilmersdorf where he coached juniors, also working at the club's casino. Vasile Gergely has a total of 145 matches and seven goals scored in Divizia A and 35 appearances in Bundesliga.

## International career

Vasile Gergely played 34 matches for Romania and scored two goals, making his debut on 30 September 1962 under coach Constantin Teașcă in a friendly which ended with a 4–0 victory against Morocco. He went on to play two games at the 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifiers, four at the 1966 World Cup qualifiers and five at the Euro 1968 qualifiers. Gergely played four games at the successful 1970 World Cup qualifiers, also being used by coach Angelo Niculescu in the 2–1 victory against Czechoslovakia from the group stage of the final tournament when he was sent on the field in the 81st minute in order to replace Ion Dumitru, this being his last appearance for the national team which did not advance to the next stage.

### International goals

    Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after each Gergely goal.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1. | 17 November 1966 | Petrolul Stadium, Ploiești, Romania | Poland | 2–0 | 4–3 | Friendly |
| 2. | 22 November 1967 | 23 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania | West Germany | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |

## Personal life

His brothers, Iuliu and Iosif were also footballers.

## Honours

Dinamo București
* Divizia A: 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65
* Cupa României: 1963–64, 1967–68
Durban City
* National Football League: 1972
Individual
* Gazeta Sporturilor Romanian Footballer of the Year (runner-up): 1966