# Grațian Sepi

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

## Club career

Grațian Sepi, nicknamed "The Tank from the Balkans" or "The Brunette Sindelar" was born on 30 December 1910 in Valkány, Austria-Hungary, being his parents second child of three boys. 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 1924 he moved to neighboring club, Banatul, then after a short while he returned to Politehnica where he played three seasons. In the 1928–29 season he played for Banatul, reaching the semi-finals of the national league where they were defeated with 3–0 by România Cluj, a team for whom he would play in the following season.
In 1931 he went to play for Universitatea Cluj where in his first season he scored seven goals in a 7–1 win over Haggibor Cluj from the regional championship. In the following season after playing for a while for Ripensia Timișoara, Sepi returned to "U" Cluj where he scored six goals against Haggibor in a 17–0 in the regional championship. In the 1932–33 season, The Red Caps reached the championship final which was lost in front of Ripensia Timișoara, Sepi managing to score 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 with UD Reșița.
Afterwards he was transferred from "U" Cluj to Venus București for a total fee of 140.000 Romanian lei where in the 1935–36 season he scored 18 goals which made him the second top-goalscorer of the league, having five goals less than CFR București's Ștefan Barbu. In the following season he helped the team win the title, scoring once in the six games coach Ferenc Plattkó used him. In 1937 he 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 in front of Sportul Studențesc București. Sepi ended his career in 1942 after playing in the Romanian lower leagues for UM Cugir.

## International career

Grațian Sepi played 23 games of which in six he was captain and scored 14 goals at international level for Romania, making his debut on 15 April 1928 under coach Teofil Morariu in a 4–2 home win in a friendly over Turkey in which he scored a goal. 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 his record.
He played four games and scored three goals in three victories against Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Greece at the successful 1929–31 Balkan Cup. In a friendly against Poland from 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". He won another tournament, the 1931–1934 Central European Cup for Amateurs in which he played four games and scored four times in a 5–1 over Hungary.
Sepi netted one goal in a 2–2 with Switzerland at the successful 1934 World Cup qualifiers, afterwards being selected by coaches Josef Uridil and Constantin Rădulescu to be part of the squad that went at the final tournament in Italy where he played all the minutes in the first round which was a 2–1 defeat to eventual finalists, Czechoslovakia. In the following years, Sepi played in two games at the 1935 Balkan Cup, making his last appearance for the national team on 8 July 1937 in friendly in which he was also captain, a 2–0 over Lithuania.

### International goals

    Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sepi goal.
List of international goals scored by Grațian Sepi :
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 15 April 1928 | Stadionul Gloria CFR, Arad, Romania | Turkey | 3–1 | 4–2 | Friendly match |
| 2 | 15 September 1929 | Levski Field, Sofia, Bulgaria | Bulgaria | 1–0 | 3–2 | Friendly match |
| 3 | 6 October 1929 | Stadionul ANEF, Bucharest, Romania | Yugoslavia | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1929–31 Balkan Cup |
| 4 | 10 May 1931 | Stadionul ANEF, Bucharest, Romania | Bulgaria | 1–0 | 5–2 | 1929–31 Balkan Cup |
| 5 | 23 August 1931 | Stadion Wojska Polskiego, Warsaw, Poland | Poland | 1–0 | 3–2 | Friendly match |
| 6 | 23 August 1931 | Stadion Wojska Polskiego, Warsaw, Poland | Poland | 3–0 | 3–2 | Friendly match |
| 7 | 26 August 1931 | LFLS Stadionas, Kaunas, Lithuania | Lithuania | 3–2 | 4–2 | Friendly match |
| 8 | 29 November 1931 | Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, Athens, Greece | Greece | 3–2 | 4–2 | 1929–31 Balkan Cup |
| 9 | 24 September 1933 | Stadionul ANEF, Bucharest, Romania | Hungary | 1–0 | 5–1 | 1931–1934 Central European Cup for Amateurs |
| 10 | 24 September 1933 | Stadionul ANEF, Bucharest, Romania | Hungary | 2–0 | 5–1 | 1931–1934 Central European Cup for Amateurs |
| 11 | 24 September 1933 | Stadionul ANEF, Bucharest, Romania | Hungary | 3–1 | 5–1 | 1931–1934 Central European Cup for Amateurs |
| 12 | 24 September 1933 | Stadionul ANEF, Bucharest, Romania | Hungary | 5–1 | 5–1 | 1931–1934 Central European Cup for Amateurs |
| 13 | 29 October 1933 | Wankdorf Stadium, Bern, Switzerland | Switzerland | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1934 World Cup qualifiers |
| 14 | 3 November 1935 | Stadionul ANEF, Bucharest, Romania | Poland | 4–1 | 4–1 | Friendly match |

## Managerial career

Grațian Sepi started his coaching career in the Romanian lower leagues at UM Cugir in 1940 as a player-coach. He then worked at CFR Timișoara.

## Style of play

In the book Ripensia – Nostalgii fotbalistice (Ripensia – Football nostalgia), author Cristian Alexe describes Grațian 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 also won a league title with UD Reșița and was teammate with Grațian Sepi for one season at Universitatea Cluj.

## Death

Grațian 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