Ioan Varga (born 5 January 1959) is 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 ...

n former footballer 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 ...

Club career

Varga was born on 5 January 1959 in

Iclod Iclod (; ) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Fundătura (''Szamosjenő''), Iclod, Iclozel (''Kisiklód''), Livada (''Dengeleg''), and Orman (''Ormány''). Demographics According to the census ...

, Romania. He started his senior football career in 1978 at

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 ...

club,

Mureșul Deva Club Sportiv Municipal Deva, commonly known as CSM Deva, is a Romanian professional football (soccer), football football team, club based in Deva, Romania, Deva, Hunedoara County. The club was originally established in 1921 under the name of ''M ...

. After one season he went to play for

Jiul Petroșani Jiul may refer to these places in Romania: * the River Jiu ( + ) ** Jiul de Vest ** Jiul de Est * A village in Țuglui Țuglui is a commune in Dolj County, Oltenia, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, ...

where on 12 August 1979 he 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 in a 1–0 home loss to Sportul Studențesc București. In the 1983–84 season, Varga netted a personal record of eight league goals. In 1985 he went at

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

, managing in his first season to win 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 ...

, 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 ...

using him all the minutes in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

which ended with a 1–0 victory against

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Steaua București who had recently just won the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

. During his spell with ''The Red Dogs'' he played 12 games in European competitions, most notably making six appearances in the

1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1988–89 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup was won for the third time by Barcelona in the final against Italian entrants Sampdoria. The two sides would meet again in the 1992 European Cup Final, which Barcelona also won. Wimbledon did ...

campaign as the team reached the quarter-finals where they were eliminated on the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

after 1–1 on aggregate by

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

. In 1989, Varga returned to Jiul Petroșani where on 9 December 1980 he made his last Divizia A appearance in a 3–1 home loss to Gloria Bistrița, having a total of 346 matches with 46 goals netted in the competition. In 1991 he had his only experience outside Romania at Hungarian side,

Újpest Újpest (; , ) is the 4th District in Budapest, Hungary. It is located on the left bank of the Danube River. The name Újpest means "New Pest" because the city was formed on the border of the city of Pest, Hungary in 1838. Újpest was a village ...

. He made his

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, ), also known as NB I or Fizz Liga after its title sponsor, OTP Bank's webshop subsidiary, is a professional association football league in Hungary and the highest level of the Hungarian football league system. Twelve ...

on 9 March as coach Ferenc Kovács used him all the minutes in a 1–0 away loss to

Ferencváros Ferencváros (, ) is the 9th district of Budapest (), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The developmen ...

. Varga made a total of 15 appearances in the Hungarian league, his last one taking place on 15 June 1991 in a 1–0 home win against

Békéscsaba Békéscsaba (; ; see also #Name, other alternative names) is a city with county rights in southeast Hungary, the capital of Békés County. Geography Békéscsaba is located in the Great Hungarian Plain, southeast from Budapest. Highway 44, 47 ...

, retiring afterwards from professional football.

International career

Between 1982 and 1987, Varga made several appearances for Romania's Olympic and B teams.

Personal life

His son, Dacian was also a footballer.

Honours

Dinamo București *

: 1985–86

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varga, Iooan 1959 births Living people Romanian men's footballers Olympic footballers for Romania Men's association football midfielders Liga I players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players CSM Deva players CSM Jiul Petroșani players FC Dinamo București players Újpest FC players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Footballers from Cluj County 20th-century Romanian sportsmen