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Ion Barbu (footballer, born 1938)

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For other people with similar names, see Ion Barbu.
Ion Barbu
Personal information
Date of birth (1938-12-24)24 December 1938
Place of birth Craiova, Romania
Date of death 2 May 2011(2011-05-02) (aged 72)
Place of death Pitești, Romania
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1954–1957 Locomotiva Craiova
1957–1959 Dinamo Obor București
1959–1970 Argeș Pitești[a] 176 (3)
1970–1971 Beşiktaş 20 (0)
1971–1974 Argeș Pitești 48 (0)
Total 244 (3)
International career
1966–1968 Romania 7 (0)
Managerial career
Muscelul Câmpulung
Metalurgistul Cugir
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ion "Bebe" Barbu (24 December 1938 – 2 May 2011) was a Romanian international football defender who played for clubs in Romania and Turkey.

Club career

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Early career

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Ion Barbu also known as "Bebe" was born on 24 December 1938 in Craiova, Romania, starting to play football in 1954 at local club, Locomotiva.[1][2] Three years later he went to play for Dinamo Obor București.[1]

Argeș Pitești

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In 1959 he signed with Divizia B club, Argeș Pitești where in his first years he worked with coach Ștefan Vasile, managing to score 10 goals in his first season as they finished on the third place and in the second one helping the club finish first and earn promotion to the first league.[1][2][3] He made his Divizia A debut on 20 August 1961 in a 4–3 home loss in front of Dinamo București.[1][4] However his first top-league season was rather unsuccessful as they relegated back to the second league but Barbu stayed with the club, helping it promote back after one year.[1] In the 1964–65 Cupa României edition, the team reached the final, however coach Virgil Mărdărescu did not use him in the eventual 2–1 loss in front of Știința Cluj.[1][5] He started playing in European competitions during the 1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, appearing in five matches as they eliminated Sevilla and Toulouse, the campaign ending in the third round as they were defeated with 1–0 on aggregate by Dinamo Zagreb who eventually won the competition.[1][6][7][8] For the way he played in 1968, Barbu was placed fifth in the ranking for the Romanian Footballer of the Year award, that being the same position as Argeș teammate, Narcis Coman.[9]

Beşiktaş

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In 1970, Barbu was allowed by the communist regime to transfer in a foreign country, going in Turkey to join Beşiktaş.[1][2][10] He worked with Romanian coach Ted Dumitru, making 20 appearances in the 1970–71 1.Lig as the team finished on the 6th place.[1][2][11][12]

Return to Argeș Pitești

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After his spell in Turkey, Barbu wanted to come back to play for Argeș, going with the team in a cantonment but coach Titus Ozon told him that his services are no longer needed.[3] He talked about this moment in an interview for the Fotbal magazine one year later in July 1972:"I put my things in my bag, hugged the boys. I also made a joke, but my soul was tar. Dobrin came to the cottage door. The cabin "Valea cu pești", where I had started training. He said to me in his slightly hoarse voice: "Don't worry Bebe, it's not over. You will see that you will still play". But I no longer believed in such a thing. I shook his hand. I took my bag and left. No, this time I was really breaking up with football."[3] He was considering to start coaching one of the clubs junior teams when Ozon was replaced with Florin Halagian who wanted him in the team.[3] Halagian used him in 16 games from the 1971–72 season, helping Argeș win the first title in its history.[1][2][13] Afterwards he played three games in the 1972–73 European Cup, passing Aris Bonnevoie in the first round but in the following one they were eliminated by Real Madrid.[1][2][6][14] On 2 December 1973, Ion Barbu made his last Divizia A appearance in a 5–2 away loss in front of Politehnica Timișoara, having a total of 224 matches with three goals scored in the competition, also playing a total of 14 games in European competitions, including 11 in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.[1][4]

International career

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Ion Barbu played seven games at international level for Romania, making his debut in a friendly which took place on 17 November 1966, coach Ilie Oană using him all the minutes in the 4–3 home victory with Poland.[15][16][17] His following two games were two losses in front of Italy at the Euro 1968 qualifiers.[15] He captained Romania for the first time in a friendly which ended 1–1 with Austria.[15] In his last match for the national team, which was also a friendly, he was again captain in the 0–0 with the 1966 World Cup winners England, exchanging pennants with Bobby Moore before the match.[15][4][18]

Coaching career

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After he ended his playing career, Barbu coached Muscelul Câmpulung and Metalurgistul Cugir in the Romanian lower leagues.[2][19][20] At Muscelul with the help of his former Argeș teammates, Constantin Radu, Vasile Stan, Radu Jercan and Marian Popescu, he managed to promote the team from the third league to the second.[21]

He was Argeș Pitești's president from 1978 until 1982, a period in which the club won the 1978–79 Divizia A title.[2][19]

Personal life

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In 2004, Barbu received the Honorary Citizen of Pitești title.[20]

He died in a Pitești hospital on 2 May 2011 at age 72.[1][2]

Honours

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Player

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Argeș Pitești

Individual

Coach

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Muscelul Câmpulung

Notes

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  1. ^ The statistics for the 1959–60, 1960–61 and 1962–63 Divizia B seasons are unavailable.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Ion Barbu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Cine a fost primul fotbalist român care a jucat în străinătate. Povestea fundaşului de legendă lăsat de comuniști "în afară"" [Who was the first Romanian footballer to play abroad? The story of the legendary defender left "outside" by the communists] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d "Ion Barbu – a doua "înviere" în fotbalul românesc" [Ion Barbu - the second "resurrection" in Romanian football] (in Romanian). Tikitaka.ro. 10 January 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Adrian, Dragomir (2 May 2011). "Încă un campion printre îngeri-Bebe Barbu a pierdut meciul cu viața" [Another champion among angels-Bebe Barbu has lost the match with his life] (in Romanian). Argeseanul.com. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Romanian Cup – Season 1964–1965". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Singura echipă românească de fotbal care a învins trei mari cluburi din Spania. Marele Dobrin a fost cheia succeselor" [The only Romanian football team that has defeated three major clubs in Spain. The great Dobrin was the key to success] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Singura echipă românească ce a eliminat Sevilla în cupele europene. Povestea unei duble istorice jucate în urmă cu 50 de ani" [The only Romanian team that eliminated Sevilla in European cups. The story of a historic double played 50 years ago] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 24 May 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Ion Barbu. Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1966/1967". WorldFootball. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Romania - Player of the Year Awards". Rsssf.org. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  10. ^ Gheorghiu, Lucian (11 September 2011). "Pe timpul lui Ceauşescu fotbaliştii români au invadat Turcia" (in Romanian). Cotidianul.ro.
  11. ^ Ion Barbu at National-Football-Teams.com
  12. ^ "Geçmişten Bugüne Teknik Direktörlerimiz" [Our technical directors from past to present] (in Turkish). Besiktasarena.com. 20 October 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  14. ^ "Ion Barbu. Champions League 1972/1973". WorldFootball. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  15. ^ a b c d "Ion Barbu". European Football. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  16. ^ "Romania 4-3 Poland". European Football. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  17. ^ Siminiceanu, Radu (10 January 2004). "Romania National Team 1960–1969 – Details". RSSSF.
  18. ^ "Ion Barbu schimbă fanioanele cu Bobby Moore" [Ion Barbu exchanges tennants with Bobby Moore] (in Romanian). Argesfc.ro. 6 November 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  19. ^ a b "Ion Barbu era s-o pățească pentru că i-a furat titlul lui Dinamo în '79: "Miliția m-a amenințat că mă bagă la pușcărie"" [Ion Barbu was to blame for stealing the title from Dinamo in 1979: "The militia threatened to put me in prison"] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  20. ^ a b "12 ani fără Ion "Bebe" Barbu" [12 years without Ion "Bebe" Barbu] (in Romanian). Argesfc.ro. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  21. ^ a b "Cutia cu amintiri: VASILE STAN: "Cea mai mare satisfacție era să-i vezi pe acei oameni că te felicită și sunt fericiți de jocul tău"" [Box of memories: VASILE STAN: "The greatest satisfaction was to see those people congratulating you and being happy with your game"] (in Romanian). Argespress.ro. 3 September 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
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