With the A-League just weeks away, we begin our series of special features with the story of Hagi Gligor – a rising star of the A-League with a name that belongs in football’s pantheon of greats.
For football fans of the ‘80s and ‘90s there were few bigger icons than Romania’s Gheorghe Hagi.
Now, thousands of miles away from Romania, SBS speaks to Hagi Gligor - the Australian born, half-Romanian, half-Filipino, Sydney FC midfielder - about living up to this famous name.
Hagi Gligor is a talented young footballer. In June this year, he represented Australia at the FIFA U20 World Cup in Turkey, and hopes this season he can build on the four appearances he made last year in the A-League for his club Sydney FC.
His father, Tibi, a former semi-professional footballer in Romania has football in his veins.
He emigrated to Australia in 1983 and crippled by poor English-language skills, like many new migrants, he took whatever jobs he could find to make ends meet: picking fruit in South Australia, and working in hospitality as a cook.
In 1987, a young Filipino migrant, Emelda, undertook a similar journey. A friend of hers worked with Tibi and in time a romance blossomed.
Now, their son is looking to make his mark as a professional footballer.
It’s taken years of sacrifice and hard work, but the family is hopeful that this is only the beginning.
For the full story of Hagi’s journey, watch the video above.
SBS TV 2’s live coverage of the A-League begins Friday, October 11 with Sydney FC’s opening clash against the Newcastle Jets.
Richard Parkin is a Sydney-based sports journalist. He hosted the 2010 World Cup for SBS Radio, is a regular reporter on World News Australia, and covered the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations whilst living in Kampala.
