Gigi Ion

Gigi Ion (born 15 September 1967), also known as Ion Gigi, is a Romanian former professional footballer and manager. Ion played as a defender or midfielder and mostly for Oțelul Galați, but he also played for other teams as: Universitatea Cluj, Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț, Dacia Unirea Brăila and German side Sandhausen.[1][2] Gigi Ion is considered a symbol of Oțelul, being introduced in 2014 by the Dunărea Bătrâna publication in the top 50 symbols of the club from Galați.[3][4] Ion always shown his attachment for Oțelul and even refused an important offer from FC Steaua București, years later he stated: I wanted to play for Oțelul, not anywhere else. It really matters for me to feel something for the team I play, in this way I was raised. Despite its loyalty, he is considered one of the most unlucky footballers, in his career Gigi suffered two double tibia and fibula fractures, first in 1987 after which he, with much sacrifice spirit, returned to the pitch, having a metal rod in his leg and the second one in 2000, injury that ended his career.[5] After retirement Gigi Ion worked for 5 years as a manager, later becoming a sports teacher.[4]

Gigi Ion
Personal information
Date of birth (1967-09-15) 15 September 1967
Place of birth Galați, Romania
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Defender / Midfielder
Youth career
1978–1983 CSU Galați
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1991 Oțelul Galați[lower-alpha 1] 41 (3)
1991–1992 Universitatea Cluj 30 (6)
1992–1993 Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț
1993–1994 Dacia Unirea Brăila 31 (3)
1994–1999 Oțelul Galați 134 (7)
1999–2000 Sandhausen
Total 236+ (19+)
Managerial career
2000–2001 Oțelul Galați (caretaker)
2003 FC Vaslui
2003–2004 Dacia Unirea Brăila
2004–2005 Prefab 05 Modelu
2005 Oțelul Galați (caretaker)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 February 2018

Honours

Oțelul Galați

Universitatea Cluj

Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț

Sandhausen

Notes
  1. The statistics for the 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1989–90 and 1990–91 Divizia B seasons are unavailable.[1]

References
  1. Gigi Ion at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  2. "Gigi Ion profile" (in Romanian). 4everucluj.ro.
  3. "FC Oţelul Galaţi îşi premiază legendele şi suporterii. Marele premiu pentru fani: un cantonament cu echipa" [FC Oţelul Galaţi awards its legends and supporters. The big prize for fans: a training camp with the team] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  4. "50 de ani/50 de legende: Ion Gigi" [50 years/50 legends: Ion Gigi] (in Romanian). Dunareabatrana.ro. 28 September 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  5. Viaţa lui Gigi Ion: "Cu pastramă şi cu vin, uite aşa ne chinuim!". evz.ro (in Romanian)


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