Ioan Andone (; born 15 March 1960) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player.
Andone, nicknamed "FÃÂlcosul", was born on 15 March 1960 in ÃÂpÃÂlnaca, Romania, and at 14 years old, he simultaneously played basketball and football, with Carol Gal as his first football coach at ÃÂcoala SportivàHunedoara. At 16, he decided to concentrate exclusively on his football career when he went to Corvinul Hunedoara's youth center where he was coached by Dumitru PÃÂtraÃÂcu. On 7 March 1979, Andone made his Divizia A debut for Corvinul when coach Mircea Lucescu sent him to replace Radu Nunweiller in the last 20 minutes of a 2âÂÂ0 away loss to Sportul StudenÃÂesc BucureÃÂti. At the end of his first season at Corvinul, the club was relegated to Divizia B, but Andone stayed with the club, helping it get promoted back to the first division after one year. Afterwards, he helped the club finish third in the 1981âÂÂ82 Divizia A. He also appeared in four games in the 1982âÂÂ83 UEFA Cup as they got past Grazer AK in the first round, being eliminated in the following one by FK Sarajevo, Andone scoring a goal against each of them.
In the summer of 1983, Andone and teammate Mircea Rednic were transferred from Corvinul to Dinamo BucureÃÂti in exchange for five players, including NicuÃÂor Vlad, Teofil Stredie and Florea VÃÂetuÃÂ. In his first season spent with The Red Dogs, he helped the club win The Double, coach Nicolae Dumitru using him in 24 league games in which he scored one goal and he played the entire match in the 2âÂÂ1 victory over rivals Steaua BucureÃÂti in the Cupa României final. Andone also appeared in six matches in the 1983âÂÂ84 European Cup, the club eliminating title holders Hamburg in the campaign, reaching the semi-finals where they were defeated by Liverpool. He would reunite at Dinamo with his former coach from Corvinul, Mircea Lucescu. Their first performance was the winning of the 1985âÂÂ86 Cupa României where in the final he played the entire match, which ended with a 1âÂÂ0 win against Steaua, who had recently won the European Cup.
He was in the center of a big scandal in the derby against Steaua in March 1989, which was lost 2âÂÂ1 after Gheorghe Hagi opened the score, Andone equalized for Dinamo and Gabi Balint scored the winning goal for Steaua in the last minute of the game. Furthermore, referee Ion CrÃÂciunescu eliminated Rodion CÃÂmÃÂtaru and Claudiu VaiÃÂcovici from Dinamo. Feeling disadvantaged by the referee, right after the game, Andone and Rednic showed some obscene gestures in front of the official tribune where Valentin CeauÃÂescu, the son of dictator Nicolae CeauÃÂescu and unofficial president of Steaua was staying. Initially, the Romanian Football Federation suspended Andone for one year, but after his friend from Steaua, Marius LÃÂcÃÂtuÃÂ, talked to Valentin CeauÃÂescu and convinced him to forgive Andone, his suspension was reduced to three months. Rednic also got away with it after a friend of his from Steaua, László Bölöni, talked to Valentin CeauÃÂescu.
Afterwards, he played five games and scored one goal against Kuusysi Lahti in the 1988âÂÂ89 European Cup Winners' Cup, reaching the quarter-finals where they were eliminated on the away goals rule after 1âÂÂ1 on aggregate by Sampdoria. In the following season he won another Double with the club, Lucescu giving him 20 appearances in which he scored two goals in the league, and also played the full 90 minutes in the 6âÂÂ4 win over Steaua in the Cupa României final. In the same season he made another European performance as he played eight games in the 1989âÂÂ90 European Cup Winners' Cup, the team reaching the semi-finals where they were eliminated after 2âÂÂ0 on aggregate by Anderlecht. On 9 May 1990, Andone made his last Divizia A appearance in Dinamo's 2âÂÂ2 draw against FC BraÃÂov, totaling 255 matches with 35 goals in the competition and 29 games with three goals in European competitions.
After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, Andone was bought for $125,000 by Spanish side Elche where he was colleagues with Santiago Cañizares. He played 34 matches in which he scored three goals in the 1990âÂÂ91 Segunda División season.
Andone spent the last two seasons of his career in the Netherlands, under head coach Fritz Korbach at Heerenveen where he was teammates with compatriot Rodion CÃÂmÃÂtaru. He made 39 appearances and scored four goals in the Eerste Divisie.
Andone was selected by coach Constantin CernÃÂianu to be part of Romania's under-20 squad for the 1981 World Youth Championship held in Australia. He appeared in five games, helping the team finish the tournament in third position, winning the bronze medal.
Andone played 55 matches and scored two goals for Romania, making his debut on 11 November 1981 when coach Mircea Lucescu sent him in the 82nd minute to replace Aurel ÃÂicleanu in a 0âÂÂ0 draw against Switzerland in the 1982 World Cup qualifiers. He made five appearances in which he scored one goal in a 2âÂÂ0 victory against Sweden in the successful Euro 1984 qualifiers. Then he was used by coach Lucescu in the 2âÂÂ1 loss to West Germany in the final tournament as Romania did not get past the group stage. Andone played one game during the 1986 World Cup qualifiers and one in the Euro 1988 qualifiers. Afterwards he played four games in the successful 1990 World Cup qualifiers. Coach Emerich Jenei used him for the entirety of all four matches in the final tournament, as Romania was eliminated by Ireland in the round of 16. Andone's last game for the national team took place on 17 October 1990 in a 3âÂÂ0 loss to Bulgaria in the Euro 1992 qualifiers.
For representing his country at the 1990 World Cup, Andone was decorated by President of Romania Traian BÃÂsescu on 25 March 2008 with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" â (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.
Andone started his coaching career in 1993 at Sportul StudenÃÂesc, a club he would coach on three other occasions. He coached Universitatea Cluj, Petrolul PloieÃÂti, Farul ConstanÃÂa, FC BraÃÂov and Bihor Oradea before arriving in March 2003 at Dinamo BucureÃÂti. With The Red Dogs, Andone won the first trophies of his coaching career, consisting of a Divizia A title, three Cupa României and one Supercupa României. At Dinamo he also made his first European performances, beginning with the elimination of Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2003âÂÂ04 UEFA Cup. In the 2005âÂÂ06 edition of the same competition, they eliminated Omonia Nicosia and Everton, managing a historical 5âÂÂ2 win on aggregate against the latter, reaching the group stage. There, the campaign ended, but they still managed to earn a 1âÂÂ0 victory against title holders CSKA Moscow. He would go on to have two more spells at Dinamo but without winning any trophies.
After he left Dinamo, Andone took over Cypriot club Omonia Nicosia in December 2005 and stayed there until January 2007, finishing in second place in the 2005âÂÂ06 Cypriot First Division. Andone coached CFR Cluj in the 2007âÂÂ08 season, helping the team win the title and the cup, which were the first trophies the club won in its history, but he was dismissed in the beginning of the following season for poor results. He went to coach abroad, having spells in the Arab world at Al-Ettifaq and Al-Ahli, before returning to Europe at Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia where he worked with Romanian players Florentin Petre and Daniel Pancu. On 1 April 2010, Rapid BucureÃÂti's officials appointed the former CSKA Sofia manager to lead the team until the end of the 2009âÂÂ10 season, managing to earn a 5âÂÂ1 home victory against rivals Steaua BucureÃÂti. On 9 April 2012, he returned for a second spell at CFR Cluj, replacing Jorge Costa before the 26th round of the 2011âÂÂ12 season, managing to win the title at the end of it. In the following season, CFR eliminated Slovan Liberec and Basel in the 2012âÂÂ13 Champions League qualifying rounds, reaching the group stage. There, after earning four points in three games against Manchester United, Galatasaray and Braga, Andone was dismissed.
Andone has a total of 456 matches as a manager in the Romanian top-division, Liga I, consisting of 207 victories, 80 draws and 169 losses.
In 2013, Andone went to coach abroad, first in the Kazakhstan Premier League with Astana where he finished the championship in second place. Subsequently, he had a second unsuccessful tenure at Al-Ettifaq as the club was relegated from the Saudi Pro League. Then he had a spell in Cyprus at Apollon Limassol where he was dismissed despite being in first place in the 2014âÂÂ15 Cypriot First Division. In 2015 he returned to Kazakhstan, working for Aktobe with whom he finished the season in third place.
From June 2018 until July 2021, Andone worked at Voluntari, first as general manager and from July 2020 as president.
Corvinul Hunedoara
Dinamo BucureÃÂti
Romania U20
Dinamo BucureÃÂti
CFR Cluj
Shabab Al Ahli