Ionuț Popa (17 April 1953 – 25 June 2020) was a Romanian 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 Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. Popa managed teams such as

UTA Arad Uta or UTA may refer to: Universities *University of Texas at Arlington, in the United States * University of Tarapacá, in Chile *University of Tampere, in Finland Sports * FC UTA Arad, a Romanian football club based in the town of Arad * A ...

, Bihor Oradea, Politehnica Iași and

ACS Poli Timișoara Asociația Club Sportiv Poli Timișoara (), commonly known as ACS Poli Timișoara, Poli Timișoara or simply ACS Poli, was a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Timișoara, Timiș County. The team was founded in 2012, the yea ...

, among others.

Managerial career

Popa was the coach of

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

team Politehnica Iași from 2004, when they were promoted to the

top league Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

, until January 2009, becoming one of the longest serving coaches in Liga I. He quit his job due to a lack of funds. He was soon replaced by

Cristiano Bergodi Cristiano Bergodi (born 14 October 1964) is an Italian former professional footballer and a professional football manager, currently in charge of Romanian side Sepsi OSK. He played as a defender. Club career Born in Bracciano, Lazio, Bergodi ...

Honours

UTA Arad *

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 ...

: 2001–02 Politehnica Iași (2010) *

: 2011–12

References

External links

* 1953 births 2020 deaths Romanian footballers CS Unirea Sânnicolau Mare players Romanian football managers FC UTA Arad managers FC Bihor Oradea managers CSM Jiul Petroșani managers FC Politehnica Iași (2010) managers CS Mioveni managers ACS Poli Timișoara managers People from Arad County Association footballers not categorized by position {{Romania-footybio-stub