# Emil Jula

Emil Gabriel Jula (3 January 1980 – 22 August 2020) was a Romanian professional footballer who played as a striker.

## Career
### Early career

Jula was born on 3 January 1980 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, starting to play junior level football at local club, Universitatea. He made his Divizia A debut on 17 October 1998, playing for "U" under the guidance of coach Tiberiu Poraczky in a 3–1 away loss to Național București. The team relegated at the end of the season and he went on loan to Unirea Dej.
In 2000, Jula had to put his career on hold for about one year as he had to do his military service. During this time he was sent to events to ensure order, including at a Cluj derby match between his former side, Universitatea and CFR Cluj in Divizia B. After this period he was weighing 120 kilograms and was thinking to quit football but an offer from Divizia C club, Cuprirom Abrud changed his mind. After seeing in an newspaper that his former club, "U" Cluj was organizing a trial, Jula choose to participate and coach Ioan Sabău kept him in the squad for the 2003–04 Divizia B season.

### Oțelul Galați

After three years, Jula went back to first league football when he left "U" free of contract and signed with Oțelul Galați where he worked with coach Petre Grigoraș. He scored his first goal for Oțelul on 30 September 2006 when he opened the score in a 2–1 home victory against UTA Arad. On 22 October he scored the victory goal in a 2–1 against Steaua București, netting 14 goals until the end of the season, including a hat-trick in a win over Argeș Pitești and two doubles in a draw against Rapid București and a 2–1 over Dinamo București.
He made his debut in European competitions, helping The Steelworkers win the 2007 Intertoto Cup, eliminating Slavija Istočno Sarajevo against whom he netted a brace and Trabzonspor against whom he scored once in the campaign, qualifying to the UEFA Cup second round where they were defeated 3–1 on aggregate by Lokomotiv Sofia.
In the 2007–08 season, Jula was the league second top scorer with 17 goals, having four less than Dinamo's Ionel Dănciulescu, most notably managing a hat-trick in a victory against Gloria Buzău, a team against whom he managed a brace in the loss from the first half of the season. He scored three more doubles in victories against Dacia Mioveni, Pandurii Târgu Jiu and Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț.

### Energie Cottbus

His performances earned him a move at German club, Energie Cottbus who paid Oțelul 700.000€ for his transfer, giving Jula a 300.000€ yearly salary, also there he would be colleague with compatriots Sergiu Radu and Ovidiu Burcă. He made his Bundesliga debut on 30 August 2008 when coach Bojan Prašnikar sent him on the field in the 78th minute in order to replace Ervin Skela in a 1–0 loss to Borussia Dortmund. He scored his first goal on 29 November in a 3–1 victory against Borussia Mönchengladbach. He netted a total of four goals in his first season, including a brace in a 3–0 over Bayer Leverkusen from the last round which helped his side reach the relegation play-off where they were defeated by Nürnberg. In the following season he managed 12 goals and 12 assists, being alongside two other players the top assist provider of the 2. Bundesliga. In his last season he scored 10 goals and provided nine assists.
Jula has a total of 100 matches, 29 goals and 24 assists for Energie Cottbus in all competitions.

### MSV Duisburg and loans

In the summer of 2011, Jula signed with MSV Duisburg where he scored four goals in the 2011–12 2. Bundesliga season.
In 2012, Duisburg loaned him at Cypriot side, Anorthosis Famagusta where he was teammate with fellow Romanian, Dan Alexa. In January 2013, he joined VfL Osnabrück where the highlight was a double netted during a match against Hansa Rostock, which ended with a 3–2 victory after a comeback from 0–2.

### Return to Romania

In 2013, Jula returned to Romania, being convinced to sign with Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț by coach Vasile Miriuță, managing to score on his first game since his return, a 2–1 loss to Steaua București. In June 2014 he made a comeback at "U" Cluj but left the team in September after only five games to sign with Oțelul Galați. During his second spell with Oțelul, on 7 December 2014, Jula made his last appearance in the Romanian first league, playing in a 2–0 home loss to ASA Târgu Mureș, having a total of 89 matches with 34 goals scored in the competition.

### TuS Bersenbrück

In 2015 he went to play for TuS Bersenbrück in the German lower leagues where he ended his career three years later. After he retired, Jula worked as Bersenbrück's assistant coach.

## Death

He died on 22 August 2020, aged 40.

## Honours

Oțelul Galați
* Intertoto Cup: 2007