Emil Jula

Early career

Jula was born on 3 January 1980 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania and began playing 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 was 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 approximately one year due to military service. During this time he was deployed to maintain order at various events, including at a Cluj derby match between his former side, Universitatea, and CFR Cluj in Divizia B. Following this period, he weighed 120 kilograms and was considering quitting football. However, an offer from Divizia C club, Cuprirom Abrud, changed his mind. After seeing in a newspaper that his former club, "U" Cluj was organizing a trial, Jula chose to participate and coach Ioan Sabău kept him in the squad for the 2003–04 Divizia B season.

Oțelul Galați

Three years later, Jula went back to first league football, as 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 win over Steaua București, netting 14 goals until the end of the season, including a hat-trick in a success over Argeș Pitești and two doubles in a…

Oțelul Galați

Intertoto Cup: 2007