Lazăr Sfera (29 April 1909 – 24 April 1992) was a Romanian footballer who played as a defender and occasionally as a midfielder. A native of the Banat region in Austria-Hungary, he was briefly included in the Romanian Yugoslav community. In the 1920s, he moved with his family to Timișoara, which had been secured for the Romanian Kingdom. It was here that he began playing a variety of sports, including street football. The boy was discovered by the scouts of Unirea CFR, which became his first club. In 1925, Sfera joined Politehnica Timișoara's first-ever youth squad. Two years later, he was promoted to the main team, where he came to be mentored by Tony Cargnelli.
Sfera impressed the Timișoara fans with his performances in local derbies, and had a stint at Banatul. However, he decided to focus mainly on his education: moving to Cluj for a chance to attend its business school, he played for România Cluj (1929–1931) and Universitatea (1931–1934). Upon graduation, Sfera took the option of relocating to Bucharest, signing up with Venus București (and marrying his boss' daughter); in subsequent matches against Universitatea, he was sent off for participating in violence against his former teammates. He also became entangled in political controversies, being upheld as an ally by the far-right of Romanian nationalism at a time when many Divizia A players belonged to ethnic minorities.
Sfera and Gheorghe Albu together formed the core of Venus' defense, helping the team win three successive editions of Divizia A. Sfera was less active with the Romanian national squad, appearing as a substitute in the 1934 FIFA World Cup (and missing out on the 1938 edition). He withdrew from football during the 1940–1941 season, after his young daughter had died. Sfera's planned return as Venus' player-coach was cancelled, since the entire championship was suspended during World War II. He briefly managed FC Carmen București before the imposition of a communist regime; later, he was mainly a referee in the lesser leagues, only occasionally resuming coaching for workers' clubs—he worked as an accountant in state companies, and as such handled their respective teams (Uzina de Autobuze and Cetatea Bucur). He died shortly after the Romanian Revolution of 1989; in his final years, he was receiving stipends from the Romanian Football Federation, which had recognized him as an expert adviser.
Playing career Debut Sfera was born on 29 April 1909 as a subject of Austria-Hungary in Végszentmihály (today Lokve, administered as part of Alibunar in Serbia; known in Romanian as Sân-Mihai).Cristofor Cristi Alexiu, "Univers sportiv. File de album: Lazăr Sfera", in Renașterea Bănățeană, 6 October 1992, p. 4 He belonged to the ethnic Romanian community in the historical Banat region.Berceanu, p. 4"Dimineața Ardealului. Congresul românilor refugiați din Banatul jugoslav. Situațiunea refugiaților și măsurile preconizate pentru ajutorarea lor. Moțiunea", in Dimineața, 5 June 1930, p. 8Pavel P. Filip, "Univers sportiv. Tradiții sportive ale românilor din Banatul sîrbesc", in Renașterea Bănățeană, 19 November 1991, p. 5 Following World War I and the fall of the dual monarchy, and just as Lazăr had completed grade four at a local school, his family opted to relocate into the Romanian Kingdom. In doing so, the Sferas chose not to become subjects of Yugoslavia, and were instead naturalized Romanian. Later in life, Lazăr joined an "Association of Refugees from the Yugoslav Banat". Upon arrival to Romania, his father joined the state railway carrier (CFR) as a skilled worker, while his mother was employed at a cigarette factory in Timișoara. Lazăr lived with them, as well as with his sister and grandfather, in Mehala district, where they built themselves a house (at No 13 Zorile Street). In a 1966 interview, he described himself as a Timișoara native. Elsewhere, he also confessed to being fluent in Serbian. This skill allowed him to communicate directly with Yugoslav players on opposing teams.
It was in Mehala that Sfera was first introduced to street football, using either a rag ball or a regulation tennis ball. Affiliated with an informal club representing his street, he was a goalkeeper, then a half-back, before he found that he was most at ease as a defender. At age twelve or thirteen, Sfera was discovered by a local coach, Cristian Petcu, who had him join the youth squad of Unirea CFR Timișoara. Here, he was colleagues with Vasile Deheleanu, Ioan Doboșan and Grațian Sepi, who were also his schoolmates; their on-pitch collaboration was noted by Silviu Sepi of Politehnica Timișoara, who recruited them for his own team—thus creating Politehnica's first-ever youth squad. Sfera, as the bulkier boy, was assigned to play right-back. He also delved in other sports, such as boxing and wrestling, and ran every day to his high school, which, he recalled, was "quite far away" from Mehala.
By his own account, Sfera struggled in school, managing not to be held back. He reports that his German-language teacher was a personal enemy of his and Sepi, since he supported Club Atletic (CAT), calling both boys to the board on Mondays and Saturdays, when they had no chance of being prepared. Despite such pressures, Sfera stayed with Politehnica's youth roaster from 1923 to 1925. He and other teenagers were promoted to the regular club following sweeping changes caused by the sudden death of Politehnica's leading defender, Coriolan Neamțu.
Sfera's first official match under Politehnica's colors was with local favorites Chinezul; as he later remembered, Politehnica only lost 2–1. He went on playing for Politehnica's main squad for some four years. The period left a mark on his entire career, due to being coached by Tony Cargnelli—who imposed strict discipline through grueling fitness training. On 15 November 1926, a Politehnica squad coached by Cargnelli, with Sfera and Deheleanu as star players, defeated favorites Banatul Timișoara 4–1, knocking them out of the Timiș-Torontal County games. On 27 March 1927, Politehnica played in front of a record-breaking 700 spectators, defeating the wealthier CAT (which unusually also had Cargnelli on its staff). The final score was 3–0, with Sfera scoring one of the goals.
On 16 December, the club missed out on qualifying for Divizia A, which was the top tier of Romania's football pyramid. It drew 2–2 with Chinezul, who took the regional spot for the 1927–1928 season. A match analysis by writer Ion Iliescu-Zănoagă suggested that Sfera was partly to blame for this result, but no more than the goalkeeper, Pitea.Ion Iliescu-Zănoagă, "Dimineața sportivă. Chinezul–Politechnica 2–2, 1–2", in Dimineața, 17 December 1927, p. 6 In April 1928, Politehnica went to Bucharest, the Romanian capital, for a chance to play against FC Juventus. The match stunned the sports columnist at Universul daily, since Politehnica, at the time ranked third in its region, proved to be an "awful disappointment"—and Sfera its "mediocre defender"."Pagina sporturilor. Football asociație. Chinezul–Politechnica 6—0 (4—0)", in Universul, 13 April 1928, p. 5 His form had improved by April 1929, when he was called up for the all-Timișoara squad, assembled by Géza Drexler for a tournament in Bucharest."Mindkét válogatott csapatunkat a keddi tréning után állitja össze a szövetségi kapitány", in Sport. Ziar Sportiv Independent — Független Sportlap, 8 April 1929, p. 2 Late that month, Politehnica drew with Kadima in what the local press viewed as "an extremely exciting match". In that context, Sfera was forming an "excellent backcourt pair" with teammate Ignuța."Politechnica—Kadima 1:1 (1:0). Rendkívül izgalmas mérkőzés, melyben a védelmek domináltak", in Sport. Ziar Sportiv Independent — Független Sportlap, 29 April 1929, p. 2
In Cluj Later in 1929, Sfera was briefly employed by his former rivals at Banatul."Personalități. O Sferă tare ca piatra", in Regele Fotbal, Vol. I, Issue 20, October 2002, p. 2"Sport. Temesvári játékosok a Romániában", in Ellenzék, 1 October 1929, p. 8 The same year, he left for Cluj, enlisting at the Commercial Academy (AISCI); on 6 October, he debuted for a local club, FC România. As he recalled in an interview that criticized the full professionalization of football, he himself had not wanted to move from Timișoara, but did so because of his need for a prestigious diploma.Andro Petru, "Observator sportiv. 'Inima' și fotbalul", in Observator de Jimbolia, 24 December 1998, p. 7 In tandem, he continued to attend meetings of the Banatian refugees, being elected an auditor of their pressure-group in June 1930. During his first league season in Cluj, he participated in the running conflict between România and Universitatea. In the local derby of 28 April 1930, he injured opposing striker Anton Huniade, sparking indignation."Sport. Eldöntetlenül végződött a kolozsvári derby", in Brassói Lapok, 30 April 1930, p. 10 Upon the end of the game, Sfera was punched by Universitatea supporter Virgil Mircea, and punched back; the unconscious Mircea was trampled upon by the crowd, and had to be hospitalized."Sport. Súlyos szerencsétlenséggel végződött a kolozsvári futballderby", in Új Kelet, 29 April 1930, p. 7
Ahead of the 1930–1931 season, Dacia (Babeș-Bolyai) University's rector, Iuliu Hațieganu, instituted a policy that prevented Cluj students from signing up with outside clubs. As a result, Sfera and Deheleanu were inducted by Universitatea, which represented Dacia; according to Sfera, his and others accepted the transfer as a way of keeping Universitatea active, as it would have otherwise been disbanded. He then helped consolidate his new club's prestige within Divizia A. On 22 March 1931, he was included on a representative team of Romania's universities. At Bucharest's Romcomit, they met and defeated (5–3) a similar team, fielded by Czechoslovakia."Football. România–Ceho-Slovacia 5–3 (2–1)", in Vremea-Sport, 23 March 1931, p. 3 During April, his club was invited to play a tournament at Cernăuți, by local sides Dragoș Vodă and Maccabi. In justifying their selection, the Cernăuți officials proposed that Universitatea was "arguably the strongest team in Romania", and that nine of its players, including Sfera, were among the country's finest."Sport-Allgemeine. Man hat eich für die Universitatea entschieden. Die Clujer spielen zu Ostern gegen Dragosh Voda und Makkabi in Czernowitz", in Czernowitzer Allgemeine Zeitung, 29 March 1931, p. 12