Bodola started his career in 1929 (aged 17) for Clubul Atletic Oradea, before joining Venus București, with whom he was the champion of Divizia A in 1938–39 and 1939–40.

[5] When Northern Transylvania became part of the Kingdom of Hungary in August 1940, he preferred to play for Nagyváradi AC, and with them he won the Nemzeti Bajnokság I in 1943–44.

Bodola was a very prolific scorer for the Romania national team, scoring a then-national record of 31 goals in 48 caps.

This was Bodola's third international hat-trick (the first two having come in 1931, in a friendly against Lithuania and in the 1929-31 Balkan Cup against Greece), which still remains a national record.

For a long time (50 years) he was the absolute top scorer of the Romania national football team - with 31 goals.