Men's Soccer Coaching Staff

Florin Marton - Head Men's Soccer Coach (4th Year)

Florin Marton re-took over the reigns of Soccer at Salem International University in December 2010. In his second stint at SIU, now he is an Assistant Athletic Director and Head Men's Soccer Coach.

Coach Marton brings along a wealth of soccer expertise and experience that includes more than 14 years of professional playing together with many more years of coaching. During his soccer playing career Marton played at all levels, starting as a youth player in his native town of Timisoara, Romania and working his way up into the pros and the Romanian National Teams as a goalkeeper.

While still in Romania, in the last years of his playing, Florin Marton got his Romanian National Coaching License. In the beginning he coached youth soccer and then he also had a couple of years of player/coach experience with the professionals in the second division of the Romanian National League for CFR-Victoria Caransebes.

Marton came to the USA in 1991 and started coaching in Minnesota. He was involved with youth clubs in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area and also started to coach college soccer, first as an assistant at Carleton College and Macalester College, both at the same time. He says, "I was probably the only coach in the world coaching two college teams at the same time that were part of the same conference." That lasted for one season and in the following year, 1994, Marton took over as the Head Men's Soccer Coach for Carleton College where he was in charge for the next three years.

In 1997 & 1998 Marton was the Head Coach for Men's and Women's Soccer at Clarke College in Iowa, where, in his second year he won the Northern Illinois and Iowa Conference Championship with the women's team. It was the first time ever that happened for the Lady Crusaders, at the end of their only second winning season, both under coach Marton. For his accomplishments he was awarded the 1998 NIIC Women's Soccer Coach of the Year.

The fall of 1999 finds coach Florin Marton at the University of Wisconsin in Platteville, now as an assistant for both Men's and Women's Soccer Programs.

Florin Marton arrived in West Virginia in 2000, at Salem International University and with him in charge SIU Soccer took steadily on a winning path. The Women's Team had winning seasons in 2004 and 2005, while the Men's Team won WVIAC Conference Titles for two years in a row: 2005 and 2006.

The Spring of 2007 took coach Florin Marton to West Virginia University Institute of Technology as Head Coach for both the Men's and the Women's Soccer Teams. His three years at WVU IT oversaw the resurrection of soccer and unprecedented success. Under coach Marton the Men's Team had three strong winning seasons as a member of the Mid-South Conference, only behind the best two teams in the country. Similarly, on the women's side, the WVU Tech Lady Bears grew into a powerhouse by Marton's 3rd year which witnessed the only winning season in the Program's history and a trip to the conference semifinal, only to lose to the eventual National Champion. Lindsey-Wilson College.

During his three year soccer tenure at WVU Tech coach Florin Marton was recognized for his accomplishments by being awarded the 2007 and 2008 Mid-South Conference Men's Soccer Coach of the Year while in 2009 he entered the "100 Career College Wins Club".

Coach Marton is very active in the West Virginia youth soccer as a member of the Olympic Development Program (ODP) staff and also as the Director of Coaching for the Stingers Soccer Club, an emerging powerhouse in the Mountain State and beyond.

Upon his return to Salem International University coach Marton's declared goal was to rebuild the Soccer Programs into regional contenders in the first stage and then to take them to the national level. The first stage is well under way in less than three years, as the SIU Men's Soccer Team finished the 2011 and 2012 Seasons with winning records. Starting in the Fall of 2013 Salem International University will compete in a new conference, G-MAC (Great Midwest Athletic Conference). This should be the new platform and the competitive environment to propel SIU Men's Soccer towards the elite ranks of the NCAA Division II.

Florin Marton received his Masters in Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Timisoara, Romania. For soccer education, besides his Romanian National Coach-Instructor License coach Marton also holds a National Coaching License from the USSF.  

Coach Marton knows that it will take a few years to accomplish the above lofty goals, but with the sustained support from the Salem International University Administration, with his determination and the players' hunger for success, he has no doubt that SUCCESS at the highest level WILL HAPPEN very soon!