CS Minaur Baia Mare (football)

Minaur was founded in 1947, after Phoenix Baia Mare merged with the old club also named Minaur. Following this merger, the new club was named CSM Baia Mare.

Timeline

• 1950 — The name is changed to Metalul Baia Mare;
• 1955 — Metalul Baia Mare is relegated in Liga III;
• 1956 — The team become Energia Trustul Miner Baia Mare and win promotion in Liga II;
• 1957 — The team become Minerul Baia Mare;
• 1958 — Third name change in three years, this time back to CSM Baia Mare;
• 1959 — CSM Baia Mare reach the final of Romanian Cup, only to be defeated by Dinamo București;
• 1962 — Another name change, this time back to Minerul Baia Mare;
• 1963 — Mircea Sasu become the first player ever to be selected from Minerul Baia Mare into the national team of Romania;
• 1964 — Minerul Baia Mare win the second series of Liga II and win promotion into Liga I for the first time in their history, Phoenix / Carpati Baia Mare played before the World War II in the First League.
• 1965 — As the team finish only 13th out of 14 in Liga I, they are relegated after only one year;
• 1975 — The team become FC Baia Mare;
• 1978 — FC Baia Mare win promotion into Liga I. It is the third in the history. The Golden Age starts;
• 1979 — FC Baia Mare finish 5th out of 18 in Liga I;
• 1980 — The best performance in Liga I as they finish 4th out of 18;
• 1981 — A poor year followed by relegation back to Liga II, mainly due to internal issues;
• 1982 — FC Baia Mare reach the final of Romanian Cup where they are defeated by Dinamo București. For the first time in their history FC Baia Mare play in Cup Winners' Cup, against Real Madrid of Spain.
• 1983 — FC Baia Mare win the fourth promotion in their history into Liga I;
• 1984 — A poor season in Liga I where the team finish 15th out of 18 but save themselves from relegation;
• 1985 — FC Baia Mare is relegated back to Liga II. The Golden Era ends. The team become FC Maramureş Baia Mare.
• 1993 — The Silver Era starts as FC Maramureş Baia Mare reach the semifinals of Romanian Cup;
• 1994 — After a series of average and poor seasons in Liga II during the past decade, FC Maramureş Baia Mare win promotion in Liga I for the fifth time in their history;
• 1995 — FC Maramureş Baia Mare reach the quarter-finals of Romanian Cup, but at the end of the season is relegated back to Liga II. The Silver Era ends.
• 1998 — Another name change, this time back to FC Baia Mare;
• 1999 — FC Baia Mare is relegated to Liga III for the second time in their history;
• 2000 — The team promote back to Liga II;
• 2001 — Second promotion in only two years, this time in Liga I, as FC Baia Mare win the promotion play-offs, however, the team's owner decides to trade the team's place in Liga I to another team, arguing the lack of financial resources to keep them over the competitional season. FC Baia Mare return to Liga II;
• 2002 — FC Baia Mare qualify again for promotion play-offs but do not win promotion;
• 2004 — Relegation in Liga III;

In the 2004–05 season, FC Baia Mare began with a seven-point deduction carried over from the previous campaign for failing to achieve the required points threshold. Coached initially by Ioan Tătăran, who left in November 2004 to join Unirea Dej, the team was subsequently led by Lucian Bălan until the winter break, when Adalbert Rozsnyai took charge and guided the side to a 9th-place finish out of 14 in Series IX.^[2][3][4] Rozsnyai then led FC Baia Mare to promotion at the end of the 2005–06 Divizia C season, winning Series VIII. The squad included, among others, Bota, Han, Paul, Dărăbuș, Ciceu, Colar, M. Pop, Hodor, Bichiri, Negrea, Szentlaszloi, Petrovan, Fabian, Popan and Batin.^[5]

The club soon encountered serious financial difficulties, and a hesitant start to the 2006–07 campaign resulted in Rozsnyai’s dismissal, with assistant coach Emil Kemenes taking over.^[6][7] In January 2007, Leontin Grozavu was appointed head coach but resigned in May 2007, and assistant Florin Mureșan briefly led the team before Emil Kemenes returned to finish the season.^[8][9] Despite these changes, FC Baia Mare finished 16th in Series II and was relegated. During this period, Brazilian Ayres Cerqueira Simão became the first foreign player in the club’s history.^[10]

In the 2007–08 season, FC Baia Mare, considered a strong contender for promotion, suffered a poor run of results and a players’ strike caused by unpaid wages due to financial instability, leading to Emil Kemenes being replaced by Ioan Tătăran during the second half of the campaign, and despite the managerial change, the club finished only 3rd in Series VI, remaining in the third tier.^[11][12][13] At the start of the 2008–09 season, Florin Fabian was appointed head coach and strengthened the squad with experienced first-division players such as Daniel Rednic and Sorin Iodi. FC Baia Mare went on to win Series VI, finishing eighteen points ahead of Silvania Șimleu Silvaniei and securing promotion back to Liga II.^[14][15]

In the 2009–10 Liga II season, coached by Florin Fabian in the first half and Ciprian Danciu in the second, the team finished 8th in Series II, with a squad that included Bota, Moțoc, Șomcherechi, Duruș, Hodor, Toma, Cornea, Hotico, Ernszt, Negrea, Rednic, Iațu, Drule, Vanca, Ardelean, Bumba, Pop, Chiorean, Pereș, Bichiri, Roszel and Tănasă. Despite this mid-table result, mounting debts and the withdrawal of financial support from the Maramureș County Council ultimately pushed the club into bankruptcy.^[16][17][18]

After the dissolution, the football tradition in Baia Mare was continued by FC Maramureș Universitar Baia Mare, founded in 2010, but in 2012, due to the lack of financial support from the local authorities, FCMU relocated to Zlatna, leaving the city without a senior football team. Subsequently, FC Municipal Baia Mare was established and enrolled in the 2012–13 Liga IV Maramureș County season, and under the guidance of Ioan Onciu, the team won the South Series, defeated Iza Dragomirești, the North Series winners, 6–0 in the county final, and then overcame Heniu Prundu Bârgăului, the Bistrița-Năsăud County winners, 5–0 in the promotion play-off to secure promotion to Liga III, with a squad that included, among others, Danciu, Giurgiu, Hodor, Toma, Iațu, Gherman, Balmoș, Ignat, Vanca, Lazăr, Ernszt, Răduneață, Feraru, Ardeleanu and Moldovan.^{[19][20][21][22]}

Baia Mare was inactive for one season after withdrawing from the upcoming Liga II season due to financial difficulties on 5 August 2016.^[23] After one season of inactivity the club was refounded as Minaur Baia Mare, the historical name of the sports club, also used by the handball teams. The club was enrolled in the Liga IV – Maramureș County.^[24] In contrast to the handball section, the football section is known unofficially as Minerul Baia Mare, one of the past names of the club and the most representative for supporters. Also the football section colours are different from those used for handball, if for handball squads the traditional colours are white, black and orange, for football they are yellow and blue.

• 2018 – Promoted to the Liga III.
• 2020 – Loses Promotion play-off to Comuna Recea
• 2022 – Promoted to the Liga II after beating Hunedoara in the promotion play-off final
• 2023 – Relegation to Liga III. The team goes through its worst season, at one time, having just 1 point in 6 games.

• Note: 2 years of inactivity between 2010 and 2012, and the team was refounded as FCM Baia Mare in the Liga IV.
• Note: 1 year of inactivity between 2016 and 2017, and the team was refounded as CS Minaur Baia Mare in the Liga IV.

FC Baia Mare was a finalist in the Romanian Cup in 1959 and 1982, while in the Liga I, their best performance was 4th out of 18 at the end of the 1979–80 season.

The club played in the Liga I in other few occasions: in 1964–65 (13th out of 14), 1978–79 (5th out of 18); 1980–81 (17th out of 18), 1983–84 (15th out of 18), 1984–85 (17th out of 18) and 1994–95 (17th out of 18).

The team played mainly in the Liga II where FC Baia Mare is ranked first in an all-time standing, obtaining the most points and scoring the most goals.

In 1982–83 FC Baia Mare played in Cup Winners' Cup against Real Madrid then coached by Alfredo Di Stéfano. After 0 : 0 in the first leg, FC Baia Mare lost 2–5 in the second leg. Koller and Buzgău scored for the Romanian side on Santiago Bernabeu.

In the summer of 1982, FC Baia Mare played a friendly game against AC Fiorentina in Italy and won 3 : 1. Giancarlo Antognoni and Francesco Graziani, both world champions with Italy at the 1982 World Cup, as well as Daniel Bertoni and Daniel Passarella, both world champions with Argentina at the 1978 World Cup played for AC Fiorentina in that game. This is, without doubt, the greatest achievement of FC Baia Mare to date.

The largest win in Divizia A is against FCM Galaţi, 7 : 1 in August 1979, however the club's finest hour in a Divizia A game came in June 1981 with a tremendous 5 : 0 win against Steaua Bucharest.

More information Role, Name ...

Board of directors Role Name Owner Baia Mare Municipality President Iustin Balaj Director of Football Ovidiu Mic Sporting director Cosmin Butuza Youth Center Manager Paul Juhász Organizer of Competitions Cosmin Filip Press Officer Daniel Pop Media Daniel Zoicaș Team Manager Florin Achim

Current technical staff Role Name Manager Alexandru Pelici Assistant manager Romulus Buia Goalkeeping coach Alin Bota Fitness coach Ciprian Duruș Asistent medical Ionut Andrei Sebastian Club Doctor Carmen Neagu-Morariu Video Analist Vlad Ungureanu Masseur Bogdan Șomcutean Delegate Dionisiu Bumb Storeman Robert Blasz

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Oficiali - CS Minaur Baia Mare

The footballers enlisted below have had international cap(s) for their respective countries at junior and/or senior level.

Statistics — Domestic Leagues

Up to and including the end of 2024–25 season