Ștefan Barbu (2 March 1908 in Arad,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(now

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

) – 30 June 1970 in Arad) was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

striker, who played at the

1930 FIFA World Cup The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 to 30 July 1930. FIFA, ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

Club career

Barbu was born on 2 March 1908 in Arad,

(now

). He started playing junior level football at local club, Olimpia in 1921, moving afterwards at neighboring club, Gloria. He started his senior career in 1927 at Gloria, moving a few years later back to Olimpia. In 1932, he made a comeback to Gloria where on 11 September he made his

Divizia A Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

debut in a 2–1 away victory against

România Cluj ''ACS Supporter 2.0'', but mostly known as Fotbal Club Victoria Cluj (due to Victoria Cluj brand legal own), also known as Victoria Cluj or simply as Victoria, was a Romanian amateur football club based in Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, Romania, foun ...

. In 1933, Barbu went at

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

where he won the first trophy of his career, the

1934–35 Cupa României The 1934–35 Cupa României was the second season in the history of Romania's most prestigious Association football, football Single-elimination tournament, cup competition. The surprise of the tournament was ILSA Timișoara, a team from Divizia ...

, managing to score the victory goal in the 6–5 win in

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

against Ripensia Timișoara from the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. In the following season he became the top-scorer of the league, netting 23 goals in 20 games.
In the next two seasons he would win two more

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

with ''The Railwaymen'' but played in only one of the finals, the 5–1 over Ripensia from

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

. In 1938, he returned to Arad, firstly at Olimpia, then he went at Gloria where on 16 April 1939 he made his last Divizia A appearance in a 3–1 away loss to

Unirea Tricolor București Unirea Tricolor București was a Romanian football (soccer), football football team, club from Bucharest, south-east Romania, founded in 1914 as Tricolor București. It was one of the most famous inter-war clubs in Romania. History Tricolor Bucu ...

, having a total of 77 matches with 47 goals netted in the competition. Barbu ended his career after playing for Crișana Arad in the

1940–41 Divizia B The 1940–41 Divizia B was the seventh season of the second tier of the Romanian football league system. The league included 26 teams divided in three regional series. Many changes in the composition of the series were caused by the beginning of ...

season.

International career

Barbu played seven games for

, making his debut at age 19 on 19 June 1927 under coach Teofil Morariu in a friendly that ended with a 3–3 draw against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. He was selected by coach Constantin Rădulescu to be part of the team's 1930 World Cup squad in which he played in both of Romania's games at the tournament, the 3–1 victory against

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

and the 4–0 loss against eventual tournament winners

. Barbu's last appearance for ''The Tricolours'' took part on 12 October 1930 in a 5–3 away loss to

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

at the successful 1929–31 Balkan Cup in which he previously played in a 8–1 win over

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

After retirement

After he ended his playing career, Barbu worked as a coach for a while at Gloria Arad and CA Pecica. Afterwards he was a

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

for 15 years, arbitrating including in Romania's top-league,

. In his later life he worked as president of

CFR Arad CFR Arad was a football club based in Arad, Romania, founded in 1921. History The club was born in 1921, and just after one year they merged with CS Gloria Arad, a team founded in 1913. Under the name Gloria CFR Arad they have the best performa ...

Death

Barbu died on 30 June 1972 at age 62.

Honours

Club

Rapid București *

: 1934–35, 1936–37, 1937–38

International

Romania *

Balkan Cup The Balkan Cup (officially ''Coupe Balkanique de Football'') was an international association football competition contested on and off from 1929 to 1980 by countries from the Balkans region. The most successful team was Romania with four titles. ...

: 1929–31

Individual

top-scorer: 1935–36

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barbu, Stefan 1908 births 1970 deaths Footballers from Arad, Romania 1930 FIFA World Cup players Liga I players Liga II players FC Rapid București players AFC Gloria Arad players Romanian men's footballers Romania men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Romanian football managers Romanian football referees Romanian sports executives and administrators 20th-century Romanian sportsmen