Baia Mare

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.