Gabriel Sava (born 15 October 1986) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He was born in

Bacău Bacău ( ; , ; ; ) is the main city in Bacău County, Romania. With a population of 136,087 (as of 2021 census), Bacău is the 14th largest city in Romania. The city is situated in the historical region of Moldavia, at the foothills of the ...

and played youth football for

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, before beginning a career in Ireland in 2001. Throughout his career there, he has played for Drogheda Town,

Bray Wanderers Bray Wanderers Football Club are an Irish association football club playing in the League of Ireland First Division. The club in its present form was founded in 1942 in Bray, and was known until 2010 as ''Bray Wanderers A.F.C.'' It was elect ...

Monaghan United Monaghan United F.C. is an Irish association football club based in Monaghan currently playing in the Monaghan Cavan League. The club joined the League of Ireland in 1983 and subsequently went on to play in the B Division, the First Division an ...

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club is a professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches at Sullivan & Lambe Park. The current club is the ...

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

and

. He has made three appearances in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

throughout his career and was a member of Dundalk's squad when they became the first Irish side to reach the play-off round of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

in August 2016.

Early life

Sava was born in

, Romania and raised in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy. He played youth football for

. In 2001, his family were invited to visit some Italian friends living in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, and his brother was offered a job as a chef at their restaurant in

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

. Sava decided to move to Drogheda along with his brother. His first club in Ireland was Albion Rovers before signing for Drogheda United U17s under the management of Paddy Mooney.

Professional career

Drogheda Town

After leaving the youth teams of Drogheda United, Sava began playing non-league football with Drogheda Town. He impressed many with a good performance in the 2008 FAI Cup Third Round for Drogheda Town against

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a f ...

which gave him a platform to launch a career in the League of Ireland. Bohemians were 3−0 winners on the day, but Sava was named man of the match, and in July 2008 Bray Wanderers signed him for the remainder of the season.

Bray Wanderers

Sava was third-choice goalkeeper behind Alan Gough and Chris O'Connor for the 2008 season. He was restricted to just two friendly games against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

and

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

, as well as four appearances as an unused substitute.

Drogheda United

Sava was signed by

Paul Doolin Paul Doolin (born 26 March 1963) is an Irish former footballer and manager. Who mostly recently managed NIFL Premiership side Portadown. Career He played for Bohemians, scoring on his debut on 13 September 1981. In April 1983 he played for the ...

for Drogheda United before the 2009 season, however his first-team opportunities were extremely limited due to the form of Dan Connor and

Mikko Vilmunen Mikko Vilmunen (born 23 August 1980) is a Finnish football goalkeeper who plays for PS Kemi in Finland. Vilmunen was instrumental in the Drogheda United's 2007 Setanta Cup win, saving two penalties in the shoot out against Linfield. Mikko ...

. In addition to this, Sava suffered a wrist injury that kept him out of action for eight months.

Monaghan United

In February 2010, Sava signed for

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

side

. He kept seven clean sheets in his first seven games for the club, and established himself as first-choice goalkeeper under manager Mick Cooke, making 61 league appearances over the next two seasons. In 2010, Sava played in the

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup, also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', was an annual knockout competition in men's football in Ireland. It was contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited clubs from the lower levels of the Irish footb ...

final, a game Monaghan lost 1−0 to Sligo Rovers. In 2011, he helped the club to promotion from the

Return to Drogheda United

In December 2011, Sava left Monaghan to follow his ex-boss, Mick Cooke, and return to Drogheda United. He made his debut on the opening night of the 2012 season and made 29 league appearances as Drogheda finished second in the Premier Division behind

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional association football, football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 and have been in ...

. Sava also picked up a League Cup winner's medal as Drogheda overcame

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

in the final. His form throughout the season was rewarded when he was named

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

Monday Night Soccer ''Monday Night Soccer'' is a former football television programme shown on RTÉ Two each Monday evening during the football season. Presented by Peter Collins, he was usually joined by two guests, like manager Damien Richardson and former Millw ...

's Goalkeeper of the Year, and nominated for the Airtricity/Irish Soccer Writers Goalkeeper of the Year award. At the end of the season, Sava went on trial to

BK Häcken Bollklubben Häcken, more commonly known as BK Häcken or simply Häcken (), is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Gothenburg (Hisingen). It currently plays in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. Forme ...

for a time. Sava re-signed for Drogheda for the 2013 season and made a further 20 league appearances for the club. He also played in Drogheda's

Setanta Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from the Republic of Ir ...

final defeat to Shamrock Rovers and in both legs of the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

First Qualifying Round tie against

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening (), commonly known simply as Malmö FF or MFF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Malmö, Scania. They compete in the Allsvenskan, the top division of Swedish football, and play home matches at the Eleda S ...

of Sweden. However, he fell out of favour in the latter months of the season and was on the bench for the 2013 League Cup and FAI Cup finals.

Dundalk

Sava left Drogheda at the end of the 2013 season and on 7 January 2014 he was signed for

County Louth County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...

rivals

by Stephen Kenny. Sava failed to make an appearance in the league throughout the 2014 season as

Peter Cherrie Peter Cherrie (born 1 October 1983) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper and also is goalkeeping coach of League of Ireland First Division club Dundalk. Career Cherrie started his career with Airdrie United. He played one game fo ...

remained first-choice at the club, however he started every game in Dundalk's League Cup campaign which ended with a 3−2 victory over Shamrock Rovers in the final. He also added another medal to his collection as Dundalk won the Premier Division title on the last day of the season. Sava signed a new contract for the 2015 season and went on to make three league appearances for the club, keeping two clean sheets, as Dundalk once more won the Premier Division title. In 2016, Sava again found himself second-choice behind Gary Rogers, thus missing out on the chance to appear in their Champions League qualifiers as they reached the play-off round. After a number of high-profile errors from Rogers, most notably against

in a 3−0 defeat on 8 October 2016, Sava was handed a start in the crucial top-of-the-table match with

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

and kept a clean sheet.

Bray Wanderers

On 16 December 2018 Sava re-signed for

side

. He made his debut on 23 February in a 3-0 win over

Cabinteely Cabinteely () is a suburb of Dublin's southside. It is in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin, Ireland. The population of all electoral divisions labelled as Cabinteely was 15,864 as of the 2022 census. Geography Cabinteely lies around t ...

. A week later Sava saved a penalty in a match against

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

with the score at 0-0, Bray went on to win 2-0. On 1 April Bray beat

4-2 on penalties in the EA Sports Cup after the match ended 0-0 with Sava producing a man of the match performance including a save in the shoot out. Sava made 24 league appearances over the course of the season, as Bray disappointingly missed out on the playoffs.

Warrenpoint Town

On 12 February 2020 it was announced that Sava had signed for

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

side Warrenpoint Town. He was released at the end of the 2020/21 season.

Coaching

In 2023, Sava joined League of Ireland

side

Longford Town Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of I ...

goalkeeping coach An athletic coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction, and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''Coach'' is that of a horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultimately from the ...

Honours

Drogheda United *

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Dundalk *

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

President's Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world except Europe as that continent competes against the United States in a similar but ...

References

External links

FAI Stats Portal Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sava, Gabriel 1986 births Living people People from Bacău Romanian men's footballers Romanian expatriate men's footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland League of Ireland players Bray Wanderers F.C. players Drogheda United F.C. players Monaghan United F.C. players Warrenpoint Town F.C. players NIFL Premiership players Dundalk F.C. players Men's association football goalkeepers 21st-century Romanian sportsmen