Vasile Ioan Godja (19 October 1954 — 1 August 2016) was a Romanian football player 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 ...

. Godja was head coach of

Tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commo ...

an Iranian football club during the early 1990s, while working for Iran Tractor Manufacturing Co. (ITMCO), one of the industries in

Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...

, Iran.

Playing career

Between 1970 and 1986 Godja played for local clubs Metrom Brașov, Steagul Roșu Brașov (now known as FC Brașov) and Tractorul Brașov.

Managerial career

After retiring as a player, Godja managed the youth team of his hometown Tractorul Brașov. He obtained his coaching license at A.N.E.F.S.

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

in 1988. From 1990–96, Godja was in this period the coach of Iranian football side

, under his lead the club promoted from the third league to the first league. In the

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

season, he led the club to a third-place finish in the Azadegan League top flight. During the 1995–96 season Tractor were playing in the second league, Godja managed to promote the team once again into the first league. Under his leadership, Tractor were runners-up of the

Hazfi Cup Hazfi Cup (Jām-e Hazfi; ) is the Iranian football knockout cup competition, run by the Iranian Football Federation. The Iranian football league was not held during the 1980s, hence the winner of Hazfi Cup represented Iran in the Asian Club Ch ...

in 1994, and won in 1995 the MILLS International cup in India. He was appointed again in July 2003 and spent six months without success before being replaced in December.

Discovery of footballers in Iran

Godja discovered and trained various players such as Karim Bargheri,

Sirous Dinmohammadi Sirous Dinmohammadi ( fa, سیروس دین‌محمدی, born 2 July 1970 in Tabriz) is a retired Iranian football player. Club career He is most notably for playing for Tractor and Esteghlal. Career statistics International career Di ...

Alireza Nikmer Alireza Nikmehr ( fa, علیرضا نیک‌مهر, born 1972 in Tabriz — died 2003 in Tabriz) was an Iranian footballer who played for Tractor as a goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes te ...

and Hossein Khatibi all went to represent the Iran national team early in their careers.

Death

Godja died on 1 August 2016, at the age of 61, after struggling for several years with an incurable disease.

References

1954 births 2016 deaths Sportspeople from Brașov Romanian footballers Romanian football managers Tractor S.C. managers Expatriate football managers in Iran Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Iran Romanian expatriate football managers Association footballers not categorized by position {{Iran-footy-bio-stub