Marian, nicknamed "Bombardierul" (The Bomber) because of his powerful shots, was born on 7 November 1922 in
Uioara de Sus, Romania. He began playing junior-level football at age 11 at local club Solvay. He made his
Divizia A debut playing for
Victoria Cluj on 24 September 1947 in a 2–1 home victory against
Venus București. In 1950 in a game against
CFR Timișoara, Marian scored a goal with a powerful shot from 18 meters that broke the net and after the game the opponents goalkeeper,
Dumitru Pavlovici said:"I am the happiest that Marian's bomb was a goal. Otherwise, if his kick would have hit me in full, I would have gone straight to the hospital". At the end of the
1951 Divizia A season, Locomotiva was relegated to
Divizia B, but Marian stayed with the club, helping it get promoted back to the first league after one season. During a match played in cold weather against
Metalul București, he scored a goal that the referee disallowed. He then ran to the fence near the stands, where boiled
țuică was sold, and drank a cup before returning to the pitch. Upon scoring another goal, which the referee again cancelled, he drank another cup of țuică. Marian then shook the referee's hand, asked to be replaced, and left the pitch, stating that if he scored another goal and it was cancelled, he'd have to drink another cup and would get drunk. He retired after playing for Locomotiva on 14 November 1954 in a Divizia A match which ended with a 3–2 loss against
Progresul Oradea. However, six years later at age 39, Marian came out of retirement after he, as a coach, gained promotion with
Jiul Petroșani to the first league because the squad's quality was insufficient for the top-division. He played 14 games in which he scored two goals for
The Miners during the
1961–62 Divizia A season. ==International career==