Ion "Bebe" Barbu (24 December 1938 â 2 May 2011) was a Romanian international football defender who played for clubs in Romania and Turkey.
Barbu, also known as "Bebe", was born on 24 December 1938 in Craiova, Romania and began playing football in 1954 at local club Locomotiva. Three years later he went to play for Dinamo Obor BucureÃÂti.
In 1959, he signed with Divizia B club, ArgeàPiteÃÂti at which in his first years he worked with coach ÃÂtefan Vasile, managing to score 10 goals in his first season as they finished in third place. In the second one he helped the club finish first and earn promotion to the first league. He made his Divizia A debut on 20 August 1961 in a 4âÂÂ3 home loss to Dinamo BucureÃÂti. However, his first top-league season was rather unsuccessful, as they were relegated back to the second league, but Barbu stayed with the club, helping it get promoted again after one year. In the 1964âÂÂ65 Cupa României edition, the team reached the final, but coach Virgil MÃÂrdÃÂrescu did not use him in the eventual 2âÂÂ1 loss to ÃÂtiinÃÂa Cluj. He appeared in five matches in the 1966âÂÂ67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, as they eliminated Sevilla and Toulouse, the campaign ending in the third round, losing 1âÂÂ0 on aggregate to Dinamo Zagreb who eventually won the competition. For the way he played in 1968, Barbu was placed fifth in the ranking for the Romanian Footballer of the Year award, that being the same position as Argeàteammate, Narcis Coman.
In 1970, Barbu was allowed by the communist regime to transfer to a foreign country, and went to Turkey to join Beà Âiktaà Â. He worked with Romanian coach Ted Dumitru, making 20 appearances in the 1970âÂÂ71 Turkish League, as the team finished in sixth place.
Following his time in Turkey, Barbu desired a return to ArgeÃÂ, joining the team at a training camp, only to be informed by coach Titus Ozon that his services were no longer required. He talked about this moment in an interview for the Fotbal magazine one year later in July 1972:"I put my things in my bag, hugged the boys. I also made a joke, but my soul was tar. Dobrin came to the cottage door. The cabin "Valea cu peÃÂti", where I had started training. He said to me in his slightly hoarse voice: "Don't worry Bebe, it's not over. You will see that you will still play". But I no longer believed in such a thing. I shook his hand. I took my bag and left. No, this time I was really breaking up with football." He was considering starting coaching one of the club's junior teams when Ozon was replaced with Florin Halagian who wanted him in the team. Halagian used him in 16 games in the 1971âÂÂ72 season, helping Argeàwin the first title in its history. Afterwards he played three games in the 1972âÂÂ73 European Cup, defeating Aris Bonnevoie in the first round but in the next one they were eliminated by Real Madrid. On 2 December 1973, Barbu made his last Divizia A appearance in a 5âÂÂ2 away loss to Politehnica TimiÃÂoara, totaling 224 matches with three goals in the competition and 14 games in European competitions (including 11 in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup).
Barbu played seven games for Romania, making his debut on 17 November 1966, as coach Ilie Oanàused him the entire match in the 4âÂÂ3 friendly victory against Poland. His following two games were two losses to Italy in the Euro 1968 qualifiers. He captained Romania for the first time in a friendly that ended in a 1âÂÂ1 draw against Austria. In his last match for the national team, which was also a friendly, he was again captain in the 0âÂÂ0 draw against the 1966 World Cup winners, England, exchanging pennants with Bobby Moore before the match.
After he ended his playing career, Barbu coached Muscelul Câmpulung and Metalurgistul Cugir in the Romanian lower leagues. At Muscelul with the help of his former Argeàteammates, Constantin Radu, Vasile Stan, Radu Jercan and Marian Popescu, he got the team promoted from the third league to the second.
He was ArgeàPiteÃÂti's president from 1978 until 1982, a period in which the club won the 1978âÂÂ79 Divizia A title.
In 2004, Barbu received the Honorary Citizen of PiteÃÂti title.
He died in a PiteÃÂti hospital on 2 May 2011 at age 72.
ArgeÃÂ PiteÃÂti
Individual
Muscelul Câmpulung