Ion Geolgău (born 20 February 1961) is a former

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n football

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

and manager.

Club career

Ion Geolgău was born in Pielești,

Dolj County Dolj County (; originally meant ''Dol(no)-Jiu River, Jiu'', "lower Jiu", as opposed to ''Gorj'' (''upper Jiu'')) is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Oltenia, with the capital city at Craiova. Demographics In 2011, ...

. On 7 November 1976, being 15 years and 9 months old, Geolgău made his

Divizia A Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

debut under coach Constantin Teașcă, playing for Universitatea Craiova in a 3–1 victory against

UTA Arad Asociația Fotbal Club UTA Arad (), commonly known as UTA Arad or simply UTA (''Uzina Textilă Arad''; ), is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Arad, Arad County that competes in the Liga I. The team was founded in 1945 ...

. After his debut, writer

Adrian Păunescu Adrian Păunescu (; 20 July 1943 – 5 November 2010) was a Romanian writer, publisher, cultural promoter, translator, and politician. A profoundly charismatic personality, a controversial and complex figure, the artist and the man are almost ...

wrote an article about him called ''Visul lui Geolgău'' ''(Geolgău's dream)'', in which he mistaken Geolgău's first name calling him Gheorghiță instead of Ion, thus ''Gheorghiță'' becoming Ion Geolgău's nickname. On 16 March 1977, he scored his first

goal at the age of 16 in a 5–0 victory against Progresul București. Geolgău went on to play seasons with Universitatea Craiova, being part of the "Craiova Maxima" generation, helping them win two consecutive league titles in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

and

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

, at the first he was used by coach

Valentin Stănescu Valentin Stănescu (20 November 1922 – 4 April 1994) was a Romanian football goalkeeper and manager. Stănescu and Constantin Cernăianu are the only two coaches who have managed the big three Bucharest city rivals, Steaua, Dinamo, and Rapid. ...

in 24 games in which he scored two goals and at the second coach Ion Oblemenco gave him 29 appearances in which he scored three goals. He also won the

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

four times, in the years

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

and

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

. Geolgău played 38 games and scored 8 goals for "U" Craiova in European competitions, being part of the team that reached the

1982–83 UEFA Cup The 1982–83 UEFA Cup was the 12th edition of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by UEFA. The final was played over two legs at the Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium, and at the Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal, ...

semi-finals in which he contributed with two goals scored in 9 matches from the campaign. In the middle of the 1989–90 season, Geolgău transferred to Argeș Pitești where he would stay only half of season, scoring one goal in 11

appearances. After the

1989 Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily within the Eastern Bloc. The Romanian revoluti ...

, Geolgău went to play in the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

for

Aris Limassol Aris Limassol (Greek: ''Άρης Λεμεσού'') is a professional Cypriot football club based in Limassol and one of the founder members of Cyprus Football Association. The club's colours are green, black and white, and their home is the A ...

. After one season spent in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, he went to play for one year at Belgian side Avenir Lembeek, returning to Romania where he retired at Jiul Craiova. During his whole career, Ion Geolgău played 304 Divizia A matches in which he scored 34 goals and 21 games with one goal scored in the

International career

Ion Geolgău played for

in 23 matches, scoring three goals, making his debut on 10 September 1980 when coach

sent him on the field in the 60th minute to replace

Tudorel Stoica Tudorel Stoica (born 7 September 1954, in Brăila, Brăila County, Romania) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the most capped player in the history of Steaua București. He is one of the most famous and succe ...

in a friendly which ended with a 2–1 away victory against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, which took place in

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city ** Varna Province ** Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna ** Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis * Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy * Varna (Šabac), a village in Serbia Asia * Var ...

on the

Yuri Gagarin Stadium Yuri Gagarin Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Varna, Bulgaria. It was initially used as the stadium of Cherno More Varna and Spartak Varna. It was named after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first ...

. He played four games at the Euro 1984 qualifiers, scoring the decisive goal that mathematically qualified

at the final tournament in a 1–1 against

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, which took place on

Tehelné pole Tehelné pole or National football stadium () is a multi-use stadium in Bratislava, Slovakia. It was completed in 2019 and is used for football matches, including the home matches of ŠK Slovan Bratislava and the Slovakia national football tea ...

from

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

, earning him the nickname "The hero from Bratislava". Geolgău also played three matches at the 1986 World Cup qualifiers, scoring one goal in a 3–2 loss against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. His last match for the national team was on 1 June 1988 in a 2–0 away loss in a friendly against

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Geolgău also played one game for Romania's Olympic team in a 0–0 against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

at the 1984 Summer Olympics qualifiers.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first.''

Managerial career

Ion Geolgău started his coaching career in 1994 at Jiul Petroșani and from 1996 until 1997 he was an assistant coach at Universitatea Craiova. In 1997 he went to coach in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

HB Tórshavn HB or Hb may refer to: Academia * H-b index, an extension of the h-index used in determining academic impact * H-B Woodlawn, a secondary education program in Arlington, Virginia, US * Hathaway Brown School, an all-girls private school in Shaker ...

where he spent five years, winning the title and the cup in 1998. In 2002 he moved to

B36 Tórshavn B36 Tórshavn () is a Faroese football club based in the capital of Tórshavn, playing in the Faroe Islands Premier League, the top tier of Faroese football. B36 Tórshavn has always played its home games in Gundadalur. Today B36 Tórshavn i ...

where he stayed until 2003 when he won a cup. In 2004 Geolgău had his last coaching experience at Fram Reykjavík from

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

Personal life

Geolgău said that he was born on 19 February 1961 but his birth date was declared by his father to the People's Council only on 20 February 1961.

Honours

Player

Universitatea Craiova *

: 1979–80, 1980–81 *

: 1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1982–83

Manager

HB Tórshavn * Faroe Islands League:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Faroe Islands Cup The Faroe Islands Cup (, literally the Prime Minister Cup) is the main football cup competition in the Faroe Islands. The first edition was played in 1955. History The HB–TB decade The first decade of the competition was marked by the alternanc ...

: 1998 B36 Tórshavn *

: 2003

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Geolgau, Ion 1961 births Living people Footballers from Dolj County Romanian men's footballers Romania men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Romania Romania men's under-21 international footballers Romanian expatriate men's footballers Liga I players Liga II players Cypriot First Division players CS Universitatea Craiova players FC Argeș Pitești players Aris Limassol FC players Romanian football managers Romanian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in the Faroe Islands Expatriate football managers in Iceland CSM Jiul Petroșani managers Havnar Bóltfelag managers B36 Tórshavn managers Knattspyrnufélagið Fram managers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Men's association football forwards Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Romanian expatriate sportspeople in the Faroe Islands 20th-century Romanian sportsmen