Iosif Erdei (15 August 1974 – 6 December 2014) was a

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 ...

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 lea ...

who played as a

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 ...

Career

At the age of 14, Erdei was already in the team for his hometown club Minerul Șuncuiuș, and at the age of 18 he moved to Crișul Aleșd. In 1993 he moved to

FC Bihor Oradea FC Bihor Oradea may refer to: * FC Bihor Oradea (1958), a dissolved football club in Oradea, Romania * FC Bihor Oradea (2022) Asociația Club Sportiv Fotbalistic Oradea (), commonly known as Bihor Oradea or simply as FC Bihor, is a Romanian pro ...

in the second division

Divizia B The Liga 2, most commonly 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 football season. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariu ...

, and during his military service he also briefly played for

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 ...

. In 1995 he moved to the first division club FC Brașov in

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 ...

, but an illness in 1996 interrupted his career for a year. Nevertheless, coach

Mircea Lucescu Mircea Lucescu (; born 29 July 1945) is a Romanian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, currently the head coach of the Romania national football team, Romania national team. He i ...

brought him to

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

in 1997, and he later played for

Olimpia Satu Mare Fotbal Club Olimpia MCMXXI Satu Mare, commonly known as Olimpia Satu Mare, Olimpia MCMXXI or simply as Olimpia, is a Romanian professional football club from Satu Mare, Satu Mare County, Romania, founded on 5 May 1921, re-founded in 2010 and 20 ...

and again for FC Bihor Oradea. He ended his career with Crișul Aleșd in the third division. After his career ended, Erdei founded a company and became involved in local politics. In December 2014 he died of a heart attack. In his honor, the stadium of his hometown club Minerul Șuncuiuș was renamed after him in the summer of 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erdei, Iosif 1974 births 2014 deaths Romanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Liga I players Liga II players FC Bihor Oradea (1958) players FC UTA Arad players FC Brașov (1936) players FC Rapid București players Footballers from Bihor County