# Marin Ion

Marin Ion (also known as Ion Marin; born 25 March 1955) is a Romanian football manager and former defender who currently manages Romania U18.

## Playing career

Marin started his football career as a defender with the youth team of Rapid Bucharest in 1971. A year later he joined Dinamo Bucharest, where he won 5 championship titles (1975, 1977, 1982, 1983 and 1984) and two Romanian Cups (1982, 1983). In the 1983–84 season, he reached with Dinamo the semi-finals of the European Cup, where they lost to eventual winners Liverpool.
He left the club after 13 years to join bitter rivals Rapid Bucharest, and eventually ending his career with the Bucharest-based club. He also had spells with Bihor Oradea and Victoria București. As a footballer he made over 300 appearances in Liga I.
Marin represented his country in the national U-21 and U-23 sides.

## Managerial career

Marin has managed a number of teams in his native Romania, including the youth team of Dinamo Bucharest, Pandurii Târgu Jiu, Flacăra Moreni, Petrolul Ploiesti, Farul Constanţa, Astra Ploieşti, Dinamo Bucharest, Universitatea Cluj and Bihor Oradea (autumn 2002 and as of October 2005). His most successful spells in Romania was with Petrolul Ploiești taking over the team and win the Romanian Cup in the 1994–95 season, and participating in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. He also won his first league title with Dinamo Bucharest in the 2001–02 season. In October 2009, he took Al-Ettifaq from relegation, and qualified them in the AFC Champions League for two consecutive seasons. On 3 October 2011, the experienced coach signed a two-year contract with UAE Pro-League side Dubai Club. He resigned after a few months, causing him to join the reserve team of Dinamo București in 2012. In July 2012, Marin was hired as manager by Kuwait SC and during his first season in charge, he won the Kuwaiti Premier League and AFC Cup.
In 2013, he was named Kuwaiti Coach of the Year after winning his second AFC Cup title. In April 2014, Marin stepped down as head coach of Kuwait SC.
On 30 September 2014, he became the head coach of the United Arab Emirates club Al Dhafra. In January 2015 he parted ways with the club.
In April 2015, he returned for a short spell at Dubai CSC. In January 2016, he was appointed manager of Iraqi side Zakho FC replacing Ilie Stan.
In 2016, Marin was hired by Iraqi club Al-Mina'a SC, but stepped down in April 2017.
In May 2018, he moved back to Kuwait to coach Qadsia SC.
In February 2021 he was appointed to Romania's women under-19 national team.

### Managerial statistics

    As of 30 April 2019
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Team | Nat | From | To | G | W | D | L | Win % |
| Al-Minaa | | 4 July 2016 | 18 April 2017 | 28 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 053.57 |
| Qadsia | | 22 May 2018 | 30 April 2019 | 44 | 25 | 8 | 11 | 056.82 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 72 | 40 | 17 | 15 | 055.56 |

## Honours
### Player

Dinamo Bucharest
* Romanian League: 1974–75, 1976–77, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84
* Romanian Cup: 1981–82, 1983–84

### Manager

Petrolul Ploiești
* Romanian Cup: 1994–95
Dinamo Bucharest
* Romanian League: 2001–02
Al-Kuwait
* Kuwaiti Premier League: 2012–13
* AFC Cup: 2012, 2013
Qadsia
* Kuwait Super Cup: 2018
* Kuwait Federation Cup: 2018–19
Individual
* Kuwait Manager of the Year: 2013