Gigi Ion (born 15 September 1967), also known as Ion Gigi, is a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and manager. Ion played as a defender or midfielder and mostly for Oțelul Galați, but he also played for other teams as:

Universitatea Cluj Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply as U Cluj, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I, the first ...

, Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț,

Dacia Unirea Brăila Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

side

Sandhausen Sandhausen () is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of Heidelberg. Geography Location Sandhausen belongs to the Rhein-Neckar Metropolitan region. It is known for its sand ...

. 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 Galați (, , ; also known by other alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the Danube River. It has been the only port for the most par ...

. Ion always shown his attachment for Oțelul and even refused an important offer from

FC Steaua București FC Steaua București was a Romanian professional football club of which two current entities are claiming the records. The original ''FC Steaua București'' team was part of the namesake CSA Steaua București sports club and belonged to the Ministry ...

, 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.Viaţa lui Gigi Ion: "Cu pastramă şi cu vin, uite aşa ne chinuim!"
evz.ro After retirement Gigi Ion worked for 5 years as a manager, later becoming a sports teacher.

Honours

Oțelul Galați *

Divizia B The Liga 2, most often spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07. It is currently Sponsor (commercial), sp ...

: 1985–86, 1990–91 Universitatea Cluj *

: 1991–92 Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț *

: 1992–93 Sandhausen *

Oberliga Baden-Württemberg The Oberliga Baden-Württemberg is the highest association football league in the state of Baden-Württemberg and the Baden-Württemberg football league system. It is one of fourteen Oberligas in German football, the fifth tier of the German footb ...

: 1999–2000

Notes

References

External links

* 1967 births Living people Sportspeople from Galați Romanian footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Liga I players Liga II players ASC Oțelul Galați players FC Universitatea Cluj players CSM Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț players AFC Dacia Unirea Brăila players Regionalliga players SV Sandhausen players Romanian expatriate footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Romanian football managers ASC Oțelul Galați managers FC Vaslui managers AFC Dacia Unirea Brăila managers {{Romania-footy-defender-stub