Minaur Baia Mare, known also as Minerul Baia Mare, is a Romanian football club, based in Baia Mare, MaramureÃÂ County, northern Romania, founded in 1947. It currently plays in Romania's third division, Liga III. It played for seven seasons in Romania's first league, Liga I, last in 1995.
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.
In the 2004âÂÂ05 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 TÃÂtÃÂran, who left in November 2004 to join Unirea Dej, the team was subsequently led by Lucian BÃÂlan until the winter break, when Adalbert Rozsnyai took charge and guided the side to a 9th-place finish out of 14 in Series IX. Rozsnyai then led FC Baia Mare to promotion at the end of the 2005âÂÂ06 Divizia C season, winning Series VIII. The squad included, among others, Bota, Han, Paul, DÃÂrÃÂbuÃÂ, Ciceu, Colar, M. Pop, Hodor, Bichiri, Negrea, Szentlaszloi, Petrovan, Fabian, Popan and Batin.
The club soon encountered serious financial difficulties, and a hesitant start to the 2006âÂÂ07 campaign resulted in RozsnyaiâÂÂs dismissal, with assistant coach Emil Kemenes taking over. In January 2007, Leontin Grozavu was appointed head coach but resigned in May 2007, and assistant Florin MureÃÂan briefly led the team before Emil Kemenes returned to finish the season. 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 clubâÂÂs history.
In the 2007âÂÂ08 Liga III season, FC Baia Mare, considered a strong contender for promotion, suffered a poor run of results and a playersâ strike caused by unpaid wages due to financial instability, leading to Emil Kemenes being replaced by Ioan TÃÂtÃÂran 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. At the start of the 2008âÂÂ09 season, former club player 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 ÃÂimleu Silvaniei and securing promotion back to Liga II.
In the 2009âÂÂ10 Liga II 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, MoÃÂoc, ÃÂomcherechi, DuruÃÂ, Hodor, Toma, Cornea, Hotico, Ernszt, Negrea, Rednic, IaÃÂu, Drule, Vanca, Ardelean, Bumba, Pop, Chiorean, PereÃÂ, Bichiri, Roszel and TÃÂnasÃÂ. Despite this mid-table result, mounting debts and the withdrawal of financial support from the MaramureàCounty Council ultimately pushed the club into bankruptcy.
The club was refounded in the summer of 2012 under the name of FCM Baia Mare. Baia Mare was inactive for one season after withdrawing from the upcoming Liga II season due to financial difficulties on 5 August 2016. 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 â MaramureàCounty. 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.
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 1979âÂÂ80 season.
The club played in the Liga I in other few occasions: in 1964âÂÂ65 (13th out of 14), 1978âÂÂ79 (5th out of 18); 1980âÂÂ81 (17th out of 18), 1983âÂÂ84 (15th out of 18), 1984âÂÂ85 (17th out of 18) and 1994âÂÂ95 (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 1982âÂÂ83 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 2âÂÂ5 in the second leg. Koller and BuzgÃÂu 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 Galaà £i, 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.
Oficiali - CS Minaur Baia Mare
The footballers enlisted below have had international cap(s) for their respective countries at junior and/or senior level.
Up to and including the end of 2024âÂÂ25 season