Atanasie Protopopescu, known professionally as Protopopesco and colloquially as Tase Protopopescu (8 April 1900 – 22 February 1991), was a Romanian athlete and sports official, primarily noted for his achievements in association football (as both a defender and a referee), rugby union, and boxing. His first recorded participation in sports came during the 1910s: as an adolescent in Dobruja, he was involved with the amateur football club, Victoria of Constanța. Upon the end of World War I, young Protopopesco set up another such venue, Tricolor Constanța, and remained its occasional player into the late 1920s. Mostly based in Bucharest from 1921 to 1927, he played rugby for Sportul Studențesc, and football for Tricolor București, which became Unirea Tricolor under his chairmanship. He made his international debut in football during unofficial matches for team Bucharest, which was facing a similar squad representing Belgrade; meanwhile, he took at least one challenge cup with his rugby team.
Protopopesco's one match for the national football team was also Turkey's first-ever friendly (October 1923). He also had a stint on the Olympic squad for the 1924 Summer games—the only man on that team to have been born in the "Old Kingdom". In 1927, Protopopesco ended his affiliation with Unirea Tricolor, and played in regional leagues for FC Politehnica Timișoara and Dragoș Vodă. He made Cernăuți his permanent home, and the base for his activities as a referee. During the 1930s, he became involved in organizing boxing matches and training boxing referees.
Protopopesco returned to Bucharest during World War II; a staunch critic of the Romanian Football Federation and its educational system, he was validated in 1943, when he was made chairman of the Commission of Referees. He returned as a pundit during the communist era, stating his views on developments at the national squad. At the time of his death in 1991, he was the oldest-lived former Romanian international.
Early life Born on 8 April 1900,Atanasie Protopopesco, Olympedia entryMihai Ionescu, "60 de ani de la primul meci internațional la București. Relatări ale octogenarului Tase Protopopescu, internațional în anul 1922", in Sportul, 10 April 1982, p. 2 Protopopesco grew up playing a variety of sports, including rugby union, competitive swimming, and oină.Radu Ciprian Pop, "Vom fi 16. Turcia", in Renașterea Bănățeană, 24 January 2000, p. 3 The International Olympic Committee indicates his birthplace as Bucharest, though his debut in football occurred on the Black Sea, at Constanța. By his own account, in 1914 he set up the city's first local amateur club, Victoria (not directly related to the interwar Victoria Constanța)."Evenimente – fapte – Comentarii din provincie. Tase Protopopescu – vechiu internațional ne vorbește despre trecutul d-sale sportiv. Și despre programul comisiei de arbitri din Cernăuți", in Gazeta Sporturilor, 27 March 1937, p. 2 This claim is partly contradicted by football historian Gogu Cojocaru, who reports that Victoria was created in 1913 by Dan Alecu.Gogu Cojocaru, "Sport. Istoria sportului constănțean / Fotbal (I). Cine a fost primul jucător selecționat în Naționala României", in Ziua de Constanța, 10 December 2012, p. 6 Protopopesco was still present in the city after World War I. According to his own notes, he set up a new club, Tricolor, in 1919, serving as its chairman for the next two years.
In 1921, Protopopesco left for Bucharest, being appointed secretary of the athletics club Sportul Studențesc—where he played rugby. He was not registered with the sister football team, being instead co-opted by Tricolor București; throughout that period, his Constanța teammates continued to regard him as their honorary chairman. His story is again contrasted by Cojocaru's research: while he agrees that Protopopesco founded and chaired Tricolor Constanța, he sees the club as only existing from 1922.
In 1922–1923, Protopopesco appeared in unofficial friendlies opposing a Bucharest representative team to a similar squad from Belgrade. By his own account, these were "brilliant matches", as well as being the first international football events to be allowed after the war. The first took place on 9 April 1922 on the home ground, dubbed "La Șosea", drawing in some 6,000Nicolae Secăreanu, "70 de ani de viață, 70 de ani de serviciu. Amintirile unui artist", in Sportul Românesc, 8 June 1992, p. 3 to 7,000 spectators.Tase Protopopescu, "File din istoria fotbalului nostru. 9 aprilie 1922: primul joc internațional la București, după primul război mondial", in Sportul, 9 April 1972, p. 2 It ended in a 2–2 draw, but, as Protopopesco observed, the Bucharest team was made up of substitutes from Tricolor, Colțea, Prahova, and Romcomit. The first squad had been composed mostly of FC Venus athletes, but they had quit after disputes with management. According to his fellow defender Nicolae Secăreanu (later famous as an opera singer), a rematch followed shortly after, with Belgrade winning 0–9.
Football international From May 1922, Protopopesco was secretary of the Sportul Studențesc association, under chairman Mihail Ghermănescu."Dimineața Sportivă. Din țară", in Dimineața, 18 May 1922, p. 6 In June, the Bucharest team, with Protopopesco and Secăreanu as the two defenders, traveled to Belgrade; they won the subsequent match 2–1, taking a golden Friendship Cup, presented by Alexander Karađorđević. In August, Protopopesco returned to Constanța and played briefly for its all-star team, facing his colleagues at Tricolor București in a 2–1 victory. The fixture was noted for the refusal of ethnic Greeks to play on the Constanța side."Dimineața Sportivă. Foot-ball asociație. Constanța", in Dimineața, 31 August 1922, p. 6
In October, Protopopesco reached national prominence in rugby, winning with Sportul the challenge cup against the Bucharest Tennis Club. A clear win (13–0), it led one Dimineața journalist to proclaim him an "exquisite kicker".John Gar, "Dimineața Sportivă. Foot-ball asociație. Constanța", in Dimineața, 9 October 1922, p. 8 He was similarly praised by Rampa as "an admirable center-half" upon his return to the Bucharest Football League in March 1923."Sportul în aer liber. Football-Asociație. Ziua de deschidere a sesiunei din primăvară", in Rampa, 30 March 1923, p. 4 On 20 August, he and Tricolor won the Crețulescu–Ioniță Challenge Cup, defeating Elpis Constanța 2–3, and scoring one of the goals.C. S., "Sportive", in Dacia Constanța, 2 September 1923, p. 2
September 1923 came with another Bucharest–Belgrade friendly, though this time around the respective teams were clearly identified as Tricolor and BSK. Protopopesco was again praised in Rampa, which noted his "real progress", in that he no longer shot on sight, and collaborated better with midfielders."Rampa-Sport. Viața în aer liber. Beogradski–Tricolorul", in Rampa, 27 September 1923, p. 8 Protopopesco believed that his performances against the Belgrade squads made him worthy of the Romania national football team. He reportedly carried one of the earliest certificates as an international footballer, being registered therein as No. 1.G. Mitroi, "Din scrisorile primite la redacție: Cititorii despre revitalizarea fotbalului", in Scînteia, 20 November 1977, p. 5 He was simultaneously a referee, and on 21 October appeared as such at a Constanța match between city clubs Săgeata and Elpis."Buletin periodic. Sport. Foot-Ball", in Dobrogea Jună, 20 October 1923, p. 1
Protopopesco was a left-back in one official game for Romania. This was an October 1923 friendly against Turkey, for which he traveled to Istanbul; ending 2–2, the game was especially significant for the Turkish side, which was debuting internationally. He was soon after replaced on that roaster by Attila Molnár, himself replaced within months by Ioan Krieshofer.Herodot, "Zece ani de activitate internațională. Footballul românesc intre 1922–1931", in Gazeta Sporturilor, 19 January 1932, p. 3 In late May 1924, Protopopesco was made captain of Romania's Olympic football squad, which was preparing for the Summer games."Informații", in Dobrogea Jună, 20 May 1924, p. 2 As Protopopesco himself noted, he was the only player fielded to have been born in the "Old Kingdom", rather than in regions that had previously been under foreign rule (he was also implicitly the first Constanța-based footballer to play for any national squad). The same issue was discussed in a 1938 reportage by Silviu Herescu and M. Silvian, who further noted that all other players came from Timișoara (formerly in Austria-Hungary) and were generally not ethnic Romanians.Silviu Herescu, M. Silvian, "Tribulațiile cu haz și fără ale echipei naționale de football. Primul 'trial' a avut ca rezultat un 0–6 la Paris, în cadrul Olympiadei!... Primul match de selecție — prima înfrângere serioasă", in Gazeta Sporturilor, 30 December 1938, p. 2 Herescu and Silvian also propose that Protopopesco was only included for his Romanian-sounding surname, as he was otherwise inferior to his new colleagues.
The departure was mired in controversy, after rumors that manager Adrian Suciu had wanted to withdraw the squad from the competition, and had been labeled a national traitor by various Bucharest papers."Sport. Méltatlan támadás Suciu nemzetiszövetségi kapitány ellen", in Brassói Lapok, 19 May 1924, p. 4 After a 6–0 loss to The Netherlands, Protopopesco had his own dispute with Suciu, whom he regarded as incompetent.Radu Ciprian Pop, "Ramura de măslin a Olimpiadei. Primele prezențe românești", in Renașterea Bănățeană, 10 April 2000, p. 7
Unirea Tricolor and relocations Like all his Olympic teammates, Protopopesco paid for his trip to and from Paris out of his own pocket. Part of the money came from an additional fixture arranged by Suciu in Vienna, where the Romanians were defeated 4–0 by Austria. In late July 1924, he traveled with Săgeata into the Kingdom of Bulgaria. At Varna, the visiting team had a 4–0 loss to Diana. He covered this encounter in an article for Dobrogea Jună, expressing his concerns about the overall mediocrity of Romanian football.Tase Protopopescu, "Sport. 'Săgeata' din Constanța la Varna", in Dobrogea Jună, 25 July 1924, p. 1 Despite his Bucharest affiliation, he continued to be fielded by Tricolor Constanța: in July 1925, they played against another Tricolor, of Călărași."Dimineața Sportivă. Călărași", in Dimineața, 25 July 1925, p. 4
In 1925–1926, Protopopesco was chairman of Tricolor București, in which capacity he oversaw its merger with another local squad, Unirea, producing the consolidated Unirea Tricolor. During October 1927, he was again playing for Tricolor Constanța, and unable to prevent its 8–0 defeat by the new Victoria, in what had become a Dobrujan derby for the Brătoianu Cup."Cronica Sportivă. Campionatul pentru cupa General Brătoianu. Victoria–Tricolor 8–0", in Dobrogea Jună, 19 October 1927, p. 1 He had by then taken up semi-professional boxing, and was training at Popovici Hall."Box. O importantă ședință a Comitetului F.R. Box Bucovina", in Gazeta Sporturilor, 29 November 1937, p. 2 In December, while still registered at Unirea Tricolor, he made guest appearances in the Timiș-Torontal County league, at FC Politehnica Timișoara."Dimineața Sportivă. Rezultatele din țară. Timișoara", in Dimineața, 14 December 1927, p. 6 By April 1928, he had signed an exclusive deal with Politehnica, appearing as its left-back."Dimineața Sportivă. Football-asociațiune. Matchurile de azi", in Dimineața, 9 April 1928, p. 6