Eugen Pojoni

Eugen Pojoni
Pojoni in 1968
Personal information
Date of birth (1942-01-01)1 January 1942[1]
Place of birth Libánfalva, Hungary[1]
Date of death 11 January 2026(2026-01-11) (aged 84)
Place of death Budapest, Hungary
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position Defender[1]
Youth career
1957–1961 Avântul Reghin
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1961 Avântul Reghin
1962 Viitorul București 1 (0)
1963–1967 Crișul Oradea[a] 57 (2)
1967–1977 UTA Arad 247 (9)
Total 305 (11)
International career
1961 Romania U18
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Eugen Pojoni (also known as Jenő Pozsonyi;[2] 1 January 1942 – 11 January 2026) was a Romanian footballer who played as a defender.[1]

Club career

Pojoni was born in Libánfalva, Kingdom of Hungary on 1 January 1942.[1][3][4][5][6] He didn't meet his father until he was five years old because the parent was a prisoner of the Soviets during World War II.[5] In 1955, his parents took him to the Reghin Municipal Stadium to watch the Divizia A match between Avântul Reghin and UTA Arad, where he was impressed by UTA's style of play, led by József Pecsovszky, hoping to play for them one day.[3] Pojoni began playing football for the junior squads of Avântul, then he started to play for the senior team in the lower leagues.[1][3][4][5][6] After participating in the 1961 European Under-18 Championship, he went with coach Gheorghe Ola to play for Viitorul București where he made his Divizia A debut on 26 August 1962 in a 2–2 draw against UTA.[1][3][5][6] That would remain his only appearance for Viitorul as in the middle of the season he joined Crișul Oradea in Divizia B.[1][3][5][6] In his first season spent at Crișul, Pojoni helped the club gain promotion to Divizia A where he would play for the next three seasons.[1][3][5][6] However, during this time he was absent from the field for about one year, suffering from hepatitis.[1][3][5][6]

At the end of the 1965–66 season, Crișul was relegated back to Divizia B where Pojoni played for a while, but he wanted to return to Divizia A football, having an offer from UTA.[1][3][5][6] The club's officials did not allow him to go.[3][5][6] However, after dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu talked with the first secretaries from both towns, the transfer was approved.[3][5][6] Pojoni stayed with UTA until the end of his career which consisted of 10 Divizia A seasons.[1][3][4][5][6] He won two consecutive titles under coach Nicolae Dumitrescu in the 1968–69 and 1969–70 seasons.[1][3][4][5][7] He contributed with two goals scored in 29 appearances in the first season and in the second he played 26 games.[1][7] Pojoni also made some European performances with The Old Lady, such as eliminating defending champions Feyenoord in the 1970–71 European Cup.[1][3][4][5][6] In the 1971–72 UEFA Cup he helped the club reach the quarter-finals where they were eliminated by Tottenham Hotspur who eventually won the competition.[1][6][8] Pojoni's last Divizia A game took place on 1 September 1976 in a 3–0 away loss to FC Constanța, totaling 295 appearances with nine goals in the competition and 16 matches in European competitions.[1]

International career

Pojoni was called up by coach Gheorghe Ola to be part of Romania's under 18 national team squad for the 1961 European Under-18 Championship held in Portugal where they did not get past the group stage.[3][5][6] During his time at the final tournament, Pojoni had a discussion with Benfica's coach Béla Guttmann who offered him the opportunity to stay in Portugal and sign with his team, but he declined the offer.[3][5][6]

Throughout his career, Pojoni was called up by coach Angelo Niculescu at Romania's senior team to play in some friendly games.[3][4] During one of them, he was sent by Niculescu to warm-up and shortly afterwards was told to sit on the bench, as he wouldn't play.[3][4] Because of this, Pojoni got upset and told the coach not to call him anymore.[3][4]

Coaching career

Pojoni worked as a coach in the Romanian lower leagues, and during his spell at the local club from Oravița, he debuted the future Romanian international Dorinel Munteanu in Divizia C football at the age of 14.[4][6][9]

Death

Pojoni died on 11 January 2026 in Budapest, Hungary, at the age of 84.[10]

Honours

Crișul Oradea

UTA Arad

Notes

  1. ^ The statistics for the 1966–67 Divizia B season are unavailable.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Eugen Pojoni at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  2. ^ "Aki nemet mondott Guttmann-nak: Pozsonyi Jenő, az aradi bástya".
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "70 de ani de UTA. Povestea fantastică a unuia din campionii ultimei generații de aur. Eugen Pojoni: "Am fost 16 mari și tari". Ceaușescu l-a ajutat să joace la UTA!" [70 years of UTA. The fantastic story of one of the champions of the last generation of gold. Eugen Pojoni: "We were 16 big and strong". Ceaușescu helped him to play at UTA!] (in Romanian). Sportarad.ro. 5 April 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Povestea fantastică a unuia din campionii ultimei generații de aur. Eugen Pojoni: "Am fost 16 mari și tari". (II)" [The fantastic story of one of the champions of the last generation of gold. Eugen Pojoni: "We were 16 big and strong". (II)] (in Romanian). Glsa.ro. 15 April 2015. Archived from the original on 24 May 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Eugen Pojoni – Povestea unui Campion" [Eugen Pojoni – The story of a champion] (in Romanian). Glasulvailor.ro. 27 September 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Aki nemet mondott Guttmann-nak: Pozsonyi Jenő, az aradi bástya" [The one who said no to Guttmann: Jenő Pozsonyi, the Arad bastion] (in Romanian). Fourfourtwo.hu. 26 May 2021. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Fotbalul de altă dată: UTA Arad – Tottenham Hotspur, Cupa UEFA, 1972" [Football of another time: UTA Arad - Tottenham Hotspur, UEFA Cup, 1972] (in Romanian). Tackle.ro. 10 February 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  9. ^ "Doliu în fotbalul românesc! Dublul campion a murit la 84 de ani" [Mourning in Romanian football! The double champion died at 84]. Fanatik.ro. 12 January 2026. Retrieved 11 January 2026.
  10. ^ "Eugen Pojoni, dublu campion al României, a murit la 84 de ani" [Eugen Pojoni, double Romanian champion, died at 84]. Gsp.ro. 11 January 2026. Retrieved 11 January 2026.
    "Doliu în fotbal. Eugen Pojoni, "apărătorul de fier" al echipei UTA Arad, a murit la 84 de ani" [Mourning in football. Eugen Pojoni, the "iron defender" of the UTA Arad team, died at the age of 84]. Evz.ro. 12 January 2026. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugen_Pojoni