# 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.

## History

Active departments of CS Minaur Baia Mare :
| Football | Handball (Men's) | Handball (Women's) |
| Motorsports | | |
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Additionally, Minaur reached the semi-finals of the EHF Cup Winners' Cup in 1979, 1981, and 1986.

## 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
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 2024–25 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 |
| 1984–85 Winners | 1/8 | Helsingør IF | 32–25 | 26–19 | 58–44 |
| 1984–85 Winners | 1/4 | Lokomotíva Trnava | 37–22 | 32–29 | 69–51 |
| 1984–85 Winners | 1/2 | WAT Margareten | 37–19 | 28–25 | 65–44 |
| 1984–85 Winners | Finals | SIL Zaporizhzhia | 22–17 | 14–18 | 36–35 |
| 1987–88 Winners | 1/16 | HT Tatran Prešov | 32–21 | 26–21 | 58–42 |
| 1987–88 Winners | 1/8 | HK Drott | 28–18 | 19–29 | 47–47 (a) |
| 1987–88 Winners | 1/4 | Hellerup IK Copenhagen | 24–16 | 20–25 | 44–41 |
| 1987–88 Winners | 1/2 | FC Barcelona | 24–22 | 21–22 | 45–44 |
| 1987–88 Winners | Finals | Granitas Kaunas | 23–20 | 20–21 | 43–41 |

### EHF ranking

    As of 14/07/2022
| 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–)