Valeriu Răchită

Răchită was born on 30 May 1970 in Boldești-Scăeni, Romania and began playing junior-level football at the age of 12 at Petrolul Ploiești. He started playing football at senior level in 1985 at Divizia B club Metalul Plopeni. The team suffered relegation at the end of his first season, but he stayed with the club, helping it gain promotion back after one year. In 1989, Răchită joined Steaua București where he was teammates with Gheorghe Hagi, Marius Lăcătuș, Ștefan Iovan, Adrian Bumbescu, Nicolae Ungureanu, Ilie Dumitrescu and Dan Petrescu. There, he made his Divizia A debut on 13 May 1990 when coach Anghel Iordănescu sent him in the 77th minute to replace Daniel Minea in a 4–2 victory against FCM Bacău. Subsequently, Răchită went to play for Petrolul Ploiești where he scored a personal record of five goals during the 1993–94 season. He helped the club win the 1994–95 Cupa României by captaining the side under coach Marin Ion for the duration of the final against Rapid București, which culminated in a penalty shoot-out victory where Răchită netted the decisive last spot kick. Then he made four appearances in the 1995–96 Cup Winners' Cup campaign as The Yellow Wolves got past Wrexham in the qualifying round, being eliminated by Rapid Wien in the following one. Răchită made a comeback to Steaua in the middle of the 1996–97 season, helping them win the title by playing 19 matches and scoring once under coach Dumitru Dumitriu. They also won the Cupa României, where Răchită…

Răchită represented Romania's junior teams at international level in the late 1980s.

In September 2005, Răchită began his coaching career, as he was named head coach of Divizia B club Petrolul Ploiești after the fourth round of the season, replacing Vasile Cosarek. The spell lasted until May 2006, a period in which he handed a debut to 16-year-old Constantin Budescu in senior football. Subsequently, in the same year, he worked as an assistant coach to Anghel Iordănescu at Al Ain. In the summer of 2007, Răchită went to coach CSM Ploiești, helping them gain promotion from the third league to the second at the end of the 2007–08 season. He was dismissed in January 2009, being replaced by Marius Șumudică. In 2009, he led Romania B in a 2–0 friendly loss to Portugal B. In June 2009, Răchită took over Petrolul once again, managing to gain first-league promotion at the end of the 2010–11 season. He left the club in March 2012. Between 2014 and 2015, Răchita served as an assistant to Victor Pițurcă at the Romania national team and Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad, respectively. In the 2017–18 Liga II season, he led Sportul Snagov to a 10th place finish. In December 2018, Răchită was appointed as the head coach of ACS Poli Timișoara, but could not save the team from relegation to the third league at the end of the season. He returned to Sportul Snagov, but after four losses in the first four rounds of the 2019–20 season, Răchită withdrew from his coaching position.

Răchită's father was also a footballer and captain at Petrolistul Boldești.