Grațian Sepi

Grațian Sepi (30 December 1910 – 6 March 1977) was a Romanian footballer who played as a striker.

Club career Sepi, nicknamed "The Tank from the Balkans" or "The Brunette Sindelar", was born on 30 December 1910 in Valkány, Austria-Hungary, the second of three sons. After spending the first few years in Valkány, his family moved to Timișoara where he grew up in the Mehala neighborhood. He started playing junior level football in 1922 at local club Politehnica.

In 1931, Sepi joined Universitatea Cluj and in his first season he scored seven goals in a 7–1 win over Haggibor Cluj in the regional championship. After a brief stint with Ripensia Timișoara, Sepi returned to "U" Cluj where he scored six goals against Haggibor in a 17–0 victory in the regional championship. In the 1932–33 season, The Red Caps reached the championship final, losing to Ripensia Timișoara despite Sepi scoring a goal. Ripensia also defeated them in the 1934 Cupa României final, but he did not play in it as he was injured badly in the semi-finals against UD Reșița. In the following season he helped the team win the title, scoring once in the six games coach Ferenc Plattkó used him. In 1937, Sepi went to play for Ripensia Timișoara where in his first season coach Sepp Pojar used him in 10 matches in which he netted seven goals which helped the club win the title. On 14 May 1939 he made his last Divizia A appearance in Ripensia's 3–0 away loss to Sportul Studențesc București. As he was 17 years, three months and 16 days old at his debut, Sepi was the youngest debutant in history for Romania, a record held for 86 years until May 2014 when Cristian Manea broke it.

He played four games and scored three goals in three victories against Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Greece in the successful 1929–31 Balkan Cup. In a friendly against Poland in August 1931, after scoring a brace in the 3–2 victory, Sepi was praised by the Gazeta Sporturilor newspaper:"Today, Gați is just as popular in Warsaw as he is in Cluj. The several hundred flowers received at the hotel where the Romanian team was staying, prove, abundantly, the Slavic exuberance of the Polish maidens, who will from now on caress their dreams with the face of the handsome captain of the Romanian national team".

Sepi netted one goal in a 2–2 draw against Switzerland during the successful 1934 World Cup qualifiers. He then worked at CFR Timișoara.

Style of play In the book Ripensia – Nostalgii fotbalistice (Ripensia – Football nostalgia), author Cristian Alexe describes Sepi's style of play:"Sepi II was considered a technical player, who "tamed" the ball with ease. At the same time, he also managed to impose himself through physical force, which is where he got his nickname of "Tank from the Balkans". It seemed like the easiest thing in the world for him to pass the ball between five opponents, slip subtly to the front of the goal and from there hit the ball full and relentless".

Personal life His brothers, Silviu and Valeriu, were also footballers and they all played together in the 1920s for Politehnica Timișoara. Valeriu won a league title with UD Reșița and was teammates with Sepi for one season at Universitatea Cluj.

Death Sepi died on 6 March 1977 in Timișoara at age 67, after suffering from a brain tumor.

Honours Universitatea Cluj Divizia A runner-up: 1932–33 Cupa României runner-up: 1933–34 Venus București Divizia A: 1936–37 Ripensia Timișoara Divizia A: 1937–38, runner-up 1938–39 Romania Balkan Cup: 1929–31 Central European International Cup: 1931–34