CS Minaur Baia Mare (men's handball)

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]

Baia Mare

Location of CS Minaur Baia Mare

CS Minaur Baia Mare
Full name	Club Sportiv Minaur Baia Mare
Short name	Minaur
Founded	1974; 51 years ago (1974)
Arena	Sala Sporturilor Lascăr Pană
Capacity	2,048 seats
Head coach	Alexandru Sabou
League	Liga Națională
2023–24	Liga Națională, 3rd of 14
Club colours
Home Away
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.^{[citation needed]}

In 1980–81, they once again reached the semi-finals of the EHF Cup Winners' Cup but were eliminated by TuS Nettelstedt. 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

Additionally, Minaur reached the semi-finals of the EHF Cup Winners' Cup in 1979, 1981, and 1986.^{[citation needed]}

Crest, colours, supporters

Kit manufacturers

Period	Kit manufacturer
- 2017	Hummel
2017 - 2018	Nike
2018 - 2019	Erima
2019 - present	Hummel

Kits

HOME
2016–17	2017-18	2019–20	2020–21	2021–23

AWAY
2016–17	2017-18	2019–20	2020–21	2021–22	2022–23

THIRD
2017-18	2018–19	2020–21	2021-22

Team

Current squad

Squad for the 2024–25 season^[2]

CS Minaur Baia Mare
Goalkeepers 01 Hayder Al-Khafadji 12 Anton Terekhov Left Wingers 15 Milan Kotrč 52 Lucas Sabou Right Wingers 20 Artem Kozakevych 21 Tomáš Číp 30 Vlad Pop Line players 03 Robert Nagy 04 Remus Chiș 27 Ivan Burzak Left Backs 06 Tudor Botea 10 Gabriel Cumpănici 51 Viorel Fotache Central Backs 07 Mario Racolța 17 Mihai Dobra 35 Erik Pop 43 Stefan Vujić Right Backs 14 Marcus Dahlin 44 Anderson Mollino

Technical staff

• Head Coach: Alexandru Gheorghe Sabou
• Fitness Coach: Raul Nistor

Transfers

Transfers for the 2025–26 season

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

Season	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1984–85 Winners	1/16	İTÜ Istanbul	45–17	41–23	86–40
	1/8	Helsingør IF	32–25	26–19	58–44
	1/4	Lokomotíva Trnava	37–22	32–29	69–51
	1/2	WAT Margareten	37–19	28–25	65–44
	Finals	SIL Zaporizhzhia	22–17	14–18	36–35
1987–88 Winners	1/16	HT Tatran Prešov	32–21	26–21	58–42
	1/8	HK Drott	28–18	19–29	47–47 (a)
	1/4	Hellerup IK Copenhagen	24–16	20–25	44–41
	1/2	FC Barcelona	24–22	21–22	45–44
	Finals	Granitas Kaunas	23–20	20–21	43–41

EHF ranking

As of 14/07/2022^[3]

Rank	Team	Points
32	CD Bidasoa	155
33	TBV Lemgo	150
34	CS Minaur Baia Mare	141
35	Alingsås HK	139
36	PAUC Handball	136
37	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg Håndbold	135
38	BM Logroño La Rioja	132

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–)