CS Minaur Baia Mare (men's handball)
Romanian handball team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Club Sportiv Minaur Baia Mare, commonly known as Minaur Baia Mare or simply Minaur, is a Romanian handball team based in Baia Mare, Maramureș County.[1]
| CS Minaur Baia Mare | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Full name | Club Sportiv Minaur Baia Mare | ||
| Short name | Minaur | ||
| Founded | 1974 | ||
| Arena | Sala Sporturilor Lascăr Pană | ||
| Capacity | 2,048 seats | ||
| Head coach | Nuno Miguel de Melo Farelo | ||
| League | Liga Națională | ||
| 2024–25 | Liga Națională, 4th of 14 | ||
| Club colours | |||
| |||
| Website Official site | |||
History
The team was founded on 15 May 1974 as Handball Club Minaur Baia Mare, becoming the first sports club in the country to specialize exclusively in handball. Its name, meaning 'Gold Mine,' refers to the gold mines around Baia Mare.[1]
From the very beginning, Minaur has played exclusively in the first division of the Romanian handball championship. In the early years, they wore golden jerseys.[citation needed]
Minaur won its first Romanian Handball Cup in the 1977–78 season. In 1978–79, they reached the semi-finals of the EHF Cup Winners' Cup undefeated, with two victories, before being eliminated by SC Magdeburg. They finished as runners-up in the 1979–80 and 1980–81 seasons.
In 1980–81, they once again reached the semi-finals of the EHF Cup Winners' Cup but were eliminated by TuS Nettelstedt.[2] During this period, Minaur was the only non-urban team in the Romanian league to compete internationally, often performing better than the Bucharest clubs.[citation needed]
In 1985, Minaur achieved Romania’s first international handball success by defeating the Soviet team ZTR Zaporizhzhia in the final of the EHF Cup. They repeated this triumph in 1988.[3]
Twenty-four years after its founding, in 1998, the dream of every Baia Mare handball fan came true: HC Minaur became the champion of Romania! The following year, in 1999, they defended their title, becoming champions again. Their most recent championship win came in 2015.[4]
Additionally, Minaur reached the semi-finals of the EHF Cup Winners' Cup in 1979, 1981, and 1986.[5][6]
Crest, colours, supporters
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Team
Current squad
- Squad for the 2025–26 season[7]
| CS Minaur Baia Mare | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
Technical staff
- Head Coach:
Nuno Miguel de Melo Farelo - Fitness Coach: Vlad Pop
Transfers
- Transfers for the 2026–27 season
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Transfer History
| Transfers for the 2025–26 season | ||
|---|---|---|
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Accomplishments
Domestic
- Liga Națională:
- Gold: 1998, 1999, 2015
- Silver: 1980, 1981, 1985, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995,2022,2023
- Bronze: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2024
- Cupa României:
- Winners: 1978, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1999, 2015
- Finalists: 1985, 2023
International
- EHF Cup:
- Winners: 1985, 1988
- EHF European Cup:
- Runners up: 2022
- EHF Cup Winners' Cup:
- Semifinalists: 1979, 1981, 1986
European record
EHF Cup and EHF European League
CS Minaur Baia Mare was founded in 1974 and made its debut in European competitions in the 1978–79 season.
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate / position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984–85 | IHF Cup | R32 |  İTÜ Istanbul |
45–17 | 41–23 | 86–40 |  |
| R16 |  Helsingør IF |
32–25 | 26–19 | 58–44 | | ||
| QF |  Lokomotíva Trnava |
37–22 | 32–29 | 69–51 | | ||
| SF |  WAT Margareten |
37–19 | 28–25 | 65–44 | | ||
| F |  SII Zaporizhzhia |
22–17 | 14–18 | 36–35 | | ||
| 1987–88 | IHF Cup | R32 | HT Tatran Prešov |
32–21 | 26–21 | 58–42 | |
| R16 |  HK Drott |
28–18 | 19–29 | 47–47 (a) | | ||
| QF | Hellerup IK Copenhagen |
24–16 | 20–25 | 44–41 | | ||
| SF |  FC Barcelona |
24–22 | 21–22 | 45–44 | | ||
| F | Granitas Kaunas |
23–20 | 20–21 | 43–41 | | ||
| 1978–79 | EHF Cup Winners' Cup | Preliminary round |  Maccabi Arazim Ramat Gan |
22–11 | 26–16 | 48–27 | |
| R16 | Aalborg HK |
31–19 | 24–21 | 55–40 | | ||
| QF |  TV Hüttenberg |
24–19 | 23–22 | 47–41 | | ||
| SF |  SC Magdeburg |
26–22 | 19–27 | 45–49 |  | ||
| 1980–81 | EHF Cup Winners' Cup | Preliminary round | Hapoel Rehovot |
27–19 | 27–15 | 54–34 | |
| R16 | Helsingør IF |
Opponent disqualified | Qualified | | |||
| SF | TuS Nettelstedt |
Eliminated | | ||||
| 2002–03 | EHF Challenge Cup | R3 |  Üla Varėna |
33–27 | 27–21 | 60–48 | |
| R4 |  Filippos Verias |
25–32 | 25–35 | 50–67 | | ||
| 2003–04 | EHF Challenge Cup | R3 |  SKAF Minsk |
31–26 | 34–23 | 65–49 | |
| R16 |  RK Jug-Zegin Skopje |
43–35 | 45–33 | 88–68 | | ||
| QF |  HCM Constanța |
28–28 | 29–35 | 57–63 | | ||
| 2004–05 | EHF Challenge Cup | R3 |  Politechnic Olkom Donetsk |
40–32 | 38–28 | 78–60 | |
| R16 |  Red Boys Differdange |
42–27 | 41–25 | 83–52 | | ||
| QF |  ABC Braga |
31–27 | 22–32 | 53–59 | | ||
| 2005–06 | EHF Cup | R3 |  US Créteil Handball |
21–32 | 31–32 | 52–64 | |
| 2015–16 | EHF Champions League | Group D | Skjern Håndbold |
28–28 | 28–32 | 5th | |
| Motor Zaporizhzhia |
35–30 | 23–25 | |||||
 Kadetten Schaffhausen |
31–31 | 23–24 | |||||
 Elverum Håndball |
24–29 | 28–28 | |||||
| Metalurg Skopje |
21–20 | 23–21 | |||||
| 2020–21 | EHF European Cup | R3 |  Parnassos Strovolou |
29–24 | 28–25 | 57–49 | |
| R16 | HC Donbas |
34–26 | 24–23 | 58–49 | | ||
| QF | Anorthosis Famagusta |
22–27 | 23–18 | 45–45 (a) | | ||
| 2021–22 | EHF European Cup | R1 |  HC Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa |
44–22 | 33–21 | 77–43 | |
| R2 | Hapoel SP Ashdod |
35–32 | 33–29 | 68–61 | | ||
| R3 |  Partizan |
28–23 | 26–30 | 54–53 | | ||
| R16 | PAOK |
32–21 | 27–28 | 59–49 | | ||
| QF | HC Victor |
10–0 | N/a | 10–0 | | ||
| SF | Alingsås HK |
34–28 | 28–31 | 62–59 | | ||
| 2021–22 | EHF European Cup | F | Nærbø IL |
26–27 | 25–29 | 51–56 | |
| 2022–23 | EHF European League | Q1 |  Ferencváros |
27–36 | 22–38 | 49–74 | |
| 2023–24 | EHF European Cup | R2 | HC Odesa |
52–26 | 39–27 | 91–53 | |
| R3 | HC Dinamo Pančevo |
33–23 | 25–29 | 58–52 | | ||
| R16 |  RK Vogošća |
36–26 | 34–25 | 70–51 | | ||
| QF | Bregenz Handball |
37–31 | 28–30 | 65–61 | | ||
| SF |  Valur |
24–30 | 28–36 | 52–66 | | ||
| 2024–25 | EHF European Cup | R2 | Beykoz BLD SK |
44–30 | 47–39 | 91–69 | |
| R3 |  KH Rahoveci |
35–40 | 38–31 | 73–71 | | ||
| R16 |  BK-46 |
33–30 | 31–32 | 64–62 | | ||
| QF | HC Alkaloid |
31–31 | 25–32 | 56–63 | | ||
| 2025–26 | EHF European League | Q1 | Stjarnan |
26–26 | 27–26 | 53–52 | |
| Group C | Fraikin BM Granollers |
24–24 | 28–29 | 4th | | ||
 RD LL Grosist Slovan |
28–22 | 29–35 | |||||
| SAH Aarhus |
27–45 | 26–39 | |||||
EHF ranking
- As of 5/12/2025[14]
| Rank | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 32 | RK Alkaloid | 143 |
| 33 | HC Kriens-Luzern | 140 |
| 34 | CS Minaur Baia Mare | 139 |
| 35 | IK Savehof | 139 |
| 36 | RK Izviđač | 138 |
| 37 | Rhein-Neckar Löwen | 137 |
| 38 | Elverum Håndball | 131 |
Former club members
Notable former players
- Ionuț Ciobanu (2019–2021)
- Gheorghe Covaciu (1980–1989)
- Alexandru Csepreghi (2004–2007, 2018–)
- Ștefan Birtalan (1967–1970)
- Iosif Boroș (1977–1987)
- Viorel Fotache (2007–2015, 2022–)
- Valentin Ghionea (2003–2005)
- Radu Ghiță (2015)
- Petru Pop (1992–1999, 2006–2010, 2011–2012)
- Răzvan Pop (2005–2016, 2017–)
- Ionuț Ramba (2015, 2020-2021)
- Marius Sadoveac (2014–2016)
- Alin Șania (2000–2003)
- Maricel Voinea (1977–1989)
Gabriel Teca (2021–)
Ivan Karačić (2015–2016)- Ivan Milas (2014–2015)
Anderson Mollino (2021–)- José Toledo (2020–2021)
Patricio Martínez (2014–2015)
Teo Čorić (2019–2020)- Antonio Pribanić (2015–2016)
Tomáš Číp (2019-)- Milan Kotrč (2019-)
Pierre-Yves Ragot (2017–2018)
Nikola Eklemović (2014–2015)- Tamás Iváncsik (2015–2016)
- Péter Tatai (2014–2016)
- Uroš Vilovski (2015–2016, 2018)
Stevan Vujović (2021–)
Inal Aflitulin (2015)
Cristian Malmagro (2014–2015)- Miloš Dragaš (2017-2018)
- Stefan Vujić (2021-)
Artem Kozakevych (2022–)- Vladyslav Ostroushko (2015–2016)
- Anton Terekhov (2021–)
