Clubul Sportiv Minaur Baia Mare, commonly known as Minaur Baia Mare or simply Minaur, is a Romanian professional association football club based in Baia Mare, Maramureș County, founded in 1948. The present football section is part of the municipally owned CS Minaur Baia Mare multi-sport club. The Maramureș County Football Association lists the current football section as established in 2017, with yellow and blue as its colours and the Viorel Mateianu Stadium as its home ground. The team currently competes in Liga III, the third tier of the Romanian football league system.

The present side follows a much older football tradition in Baia Mare, but that history was not institutionally uninterrupted. The post-war club generally associated with the names Minerul, FC Baia Mare and FC Maramureș was formed in 1948 following the merger of Phoenix Baia Mare and Minaur, the latter having previously been known as Tricolor Baia Mare. That club ceased activity in 2010 amid serious financial problems. A new club, FC Municipal Baia Mare, was created in 2012 and withdrew from all competitions organised by the Romanian Football Federation in August 2016.

The historical FC Baia Mare lineage spent seven seasons in the Romanian top flight, achieving its best result with a fourth-place finish in 1979–80. It also reached two Cupa României finals, in 1959 and 1982, and represented Romania in the 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup, where it faced Real Madrid.

History

Origins and the post-war club

The roots of the historical Baia Mare side came from two clubs formed during the interwar period. Tricolor Baia Mare was founded in 1927 under the patronage of the local mining administration, while Phoenix, the works team of the city's chemical industry, appeared in 1932. Tricolor used the name Minaur between 1946 and 1948. In 1948, Minaur and Phoenix merged and the resulting team entered competition as CSM Baia Mare.

The club went through several names during the 1950s. It became Metalul Baia Mare in 1950, Energia Trustul Miner in 1956 and Minerul in 1958, before returning briefly to the CSM and CSO names. On the field, Metalul was relegated from Divizia B in 1955, but immediately returned after winning its 1956 Divizia C series. The team reached its first major national final in the 1958–59 Cupa României, losing 0–4 to Dinamo București.

The Minerul name was restored in 1962. Two years later, the club won Series II of the 1963–64 Divizia B and earned its first promotion to the top division as the post-war Baia Mare side. Its stay in 1964–65 Divizia A lasted one season, with Minerul finishing 13th and returning to the second tier.

FC Baia Mare and the Mateianu era

In 1975, Minerul was renamed FC Baia Mare. The most successful period in the club's history began after Viorel Mateianu took charge during the second half of the 1970s. His side won promotion in 1977–78, then finished fifth in its first season back in Divizia A and fourth in 1979–80, which remains the club's highest top-flight placing.

Baia Mare was relegated in 1980–81, but the following season produced one of the club's best cup runs. Although playing in Divizia B, FC Baia Mare reached the 1981–82 Cupa României final, where Dinamo București won 3–2. As Dinamo also qualified for the European Cup as league champions, Baia Mare entered the following season's European Cup Winners' Cup.

The draw paired FC Baia Mare with Real Madrid in the first round. The first leg, played in Baia Mare on 15 September 1982, ended 0–0 in front of a reported 25,000 spectators. Real won the return at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium 5–2, with Alexandru Koller and Viorel Buzgău scoring for the Romanian side. During the summer of 1982, the team also recorded a notable friendly victory in Italy, beating Fiorentina 3–1 in Florence.

FC Baia Mare won Divizia B again in 1982–83. Its next spell in the top division lasted two seasons: the club finished 15th in 1983–84 before being relegated from 17th place a year later. In 1985, it adopted the name FC Maramureș Baia Mare.

FC Maramureș and the end of the historical club

FC Maramureș spent most of the following decade in the second division. It came close to promotion several times, finishing runner-up in its series in 1985–86, 1986–87 and 1991–92. The 1992–93 Cupa României brought another notable run, with the team reaching the semi-finals.

Promotion finally came in 1993–94, when FC Maramureș won Series II. The return to Divizia A was again brief: it finished 17th in 1994–95 and was relegated after one season. The club reverted to the name FC Baia Mare in 1998, but fell into Divizia C at the end of 1998–99. It responded by winning Series VI in 1999–2000 and returned immediately to the second division.

In 2000–01, Baia Mare finished second in Series II and defeated Foresta Fălticeni on the away-goals rule in the promotion/relegation play-off, thereby earning a place in Divizia A. The club did not take up the promotion, however: its top-flight place was sold to FCM Bacău.

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. 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.

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. 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. 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.

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. 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.

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.

Successor projects and FC Municipal

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.

FCM finished 6th in Liga III in 2013–14 and won Series V the following season, gaining promotion to Liga II. The newly promoted side made a strong start to the 2015–16 campaign and reached the promotion play-off group. It eventually finished 6th, while also reaching the round of 16 of the Cupa României, where it was eliminated by FCSB after a penalty shoot-out. Financial problems prevented the project from continuing. On 5 August 2016, the Romanian Football Federation formally recorded FCM Baia Mare's withdrawal from all competitions organised by the federation.

CS Minaur era

The current multi-sport Club Sportiv Minaur Baia Mare had been created by the Baia Mare Local Council in May 2015 as a public institution subordinated to the municipality. A football section was added in 2017, with the Maramureș County Football Association recording that year as the foundation date of the present team.

Minaur began in the 2017–18 Liga IV campaign and won the Maramureș title after defeating Bradul Vișeu de Sus 11–0 on aggregate in the county championship play-off. The club also won the Maramureș County phase of the Cupa României, beating Zorile Moisei 6–0 in the final. Minaur subsequently won the inter-county promotion play-off and entered Liga III.

After finishing third in 2018–19, Minaur was runner-up in its Liga III series in the shortened 2019–20 season. It met local rival Comuna Recea in a promotion play-off: each side won its home leg 2–1, before Recea secured promotion on penalties.

Minaur won Series X in 2020–21, but its promotion bid ended against Unirea Dej, following a 0–0 draw in Baia Mare and a 1–3 defeat away. The club again won its series in 2021–22. This time it eliminated Metalurgistul Cugir 7–2 on aggregate and then overturned a 1–2 first-leg defeat against Hunedoara by winning the return 4–1 at the Viorel Mateianu Stadium, securing promotion to Liga II.

The second-tier stay lasted a single season. Minaur finished the regular part of the 2022–23 Liga II campaign in 18th place and was relegated after finishing sixth in its play-out group. Back in Liga III, the team endured a difficult 2023–24 regular season but recovered during the play-out to finish seventh overall in Series X.

Minaur returned to the top of Series X in 2024–25. In the promotion semi-final it won 2–1 away to Politehnica Timișoara, but lost the return by the same score after extra time and was eliminated in the subsequent penalty shoot-out.

In 2025–26, Minaur finished first in the regular season of Series X but carried seven points into the cross-series promotion play-off and eventually placed sixth in Play-off Series IV. Paul Pîrvulescu was appointed head coach in July 2026. For 2026–27, Minaur was allocated to Liga III Series VIII. The club reached the play-off round of the Cupa României before losing 2–3 at home to Corvinul Hunedoara, and opened the league season with victories over CSM Sighetu Marmației and Academica Recea.

Identity and chronology of names

The following chronology distinguishes the historical FC Baia Mare lineage from the later clubs created after its disappearance.

Entity Name Period Historical club CSM Baia Mare 1948–1950 Metalul Baia Mare 1950–1956 Energia Trustul Miner Baia Mare 1956–1957 Minerul Baia Mare 1957–1958 CSM Baia Mare 1958–1961 CSO Baia Mare 1961–1962 Minerul Baia Mare 1962–1975 FC Baia Mare 1975–1985 FC Maramureș Baia Mare 1985–1998 FC Baia Mare 1998–2010 Separate successor project FC Maramureș Universitar Baia Mare 2010–2013 Later club FC Municipal Baia Mare 2012–2016 Current football section CS Minaur Baia Mare 2017–present

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