Ion Barbu (born 14 May 1977 in ScorniceÃÂti, Olt County) is a Romanian former professional footballer and currently a manager.
Barbu was born on 14 May 1977 in ScorniceÃÂti, Romania and began playing football at age 9, under the guidance of his father at Recolta ChiÃÂeasca. At 14, he started playing senior-level football for Olt ScorniceÃÂti in Divizia B, and later moved to Drobeta-Turnu Severin in the same league. He went for a while at Universitatea Craiova's satellite team, Constructorul where he worked with coaches Nicolae Tilihoi and Silviu Lung. In 1999, he joined Politehnica IaÃÂi in Divizia B. Mid-season, he left the team to sign with Farul ConstanÃÂa where on 4 March 2000 he made his Divizia A debut under coach Gabriel Zahiu in a 1âÂÂ1 draw against Astra PloieÃÂti. At the end of his first top-flight season, Farul was relegated to Divizia B, but Barbu stayed with the club, helping it get promoted back to the first league after one year. In the following years he played constantly for the club, becoming its captain, a highlight being the reaching of the 2005 Cupa României final where coach Petre Grigoraàused him the entire match in the 1âÂÂ0 loss to Dinamo BucureÃÂti. Barbu made four appearances in the 2006 Intertoto Cup, helping the team eliminate FK Pobeda and Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the first two rounds, being eliminated in the third one by Auxerre against whom he did not play. In 2009, Farul was relegated once again to the second league where he played for three more seasons. He has a total of 189 matches with nine goals in Divizia A, all of them for Farul. During an interview he gave for Prosport, Barbu said that the most important goal he scored in his career was against international goalkeeper Florin Prunea in a 2âÂÂ1 win over FCM BacÃÂu which helped Farul earn important points in the fight to avoid relegation.
Barbu started working as head coach at Farul ConstanÃÂa in 2012, while the club was in Liga II. In the 2016âÂÂ17 Liga IV season he was player-coach at Farul, helping it gain promotion to Liga III. He worked only at Farul, when the team was in the lower leagues, having several spells as head coach or assistant.
Farul ConstanÃÂa
Farul ConstanÃÂa