 Iovan made his debut at CSM Reşiţa in 1977, before joining the squad of Luceafărul Bucureşti one year later.Luceafărul was then a team formed by the Romanian Football Federation to gather the young talents of Romanian football and did not play in any league.Iovan returned to Reşiţa in 1979, but in the winter of 1981 joined Steaua Bucureşti where he played for ten years, until 1991.