Ion "Bebe" Barbu (24 December 1938 – 2 May 2011) was a

Romanian international The Romanian International, also known as BanuInvest International Championships, is an international badminton open held in Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southe ...

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 ...

defender who played for clubs in Romania and Turkey.

Club career

Early career

Ion Barbu also known as "Bebe" was born on 24 December 1938 in

Craiova Craiova (, also , ) is the largest city in southwestern Romania, List of Romanian cities, the seventh largest city in the country and the capital of Dolj County, situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It i ...

, Romania, starting to play football in 1954 at local club, Locomotiva. Three years later he went to play for Dinamo Obor București.

Argeș Pitești

In 1959 he signed with

Divizia B The Liga 2, most commonly spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 football season. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariu ...

club,

Argeș Pitești Arges or Argeș may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Romania * Argeș County, a county in Muntenia, with its capital at Pitești * Argeș Region, an administrative division from 1950 to 1952 * Argeș River, which flows through the Southern ...

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. 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 on 20 August 1961 in a 4–3 home loss in front of

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

. 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. In the

1964–65 Cupa României The 1964–65 Cupa României was the 27th edition of Romania's most prestigious football cup competition. The title was won by Știința Cluj against Dinamo Pitești. Format The competition is an annual knockout tournament. In the first round ...

edition, the team reached 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 ...

, however coach

Virgil Mărdărescu Virgil Vintilă Mărdărescu (also known as "Gil Mărdărescu"; 15 July 1921 – 11 June 2003) was a Romanian football player and Manager (association football), manager. Playing career Mărdărescu was born on 15 July 1921 in Bucharest, Romani ...

did not use him in the eventual 2–1 loss in front of

Știința Cluj Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply U Cluj, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the L ...

. He started playing in European competitions during the

1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The ninth Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was played over the 1966–67 season. The competition was won by Dinamo Zagreb over two legs in the final against Leeds United. For the first time in the history of the cup, replays were scrapped, with sides going ...

, appearing in five matches as they eliminated

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

and

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, the campaign ending in the third round as they were defeated with 1–0 on aggregate by

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

who eventually won the competition. For the way he played in 1968, Barbu was placed fifth in the ranking for the

Romanian Footballer of the Year The Romanian Footballer of the Year (), also known as the Nicolae Dobrin Trophy (), is an annual association football award given by the ''Gazeta Sporturilor'' newspaper to the Romanian player adjudged to have been the best during a calendar yea ...

award, that being the same position as Argeș teammate, Narcis Coman.

Beşiktaş

In 1970, Barbu was allowed by the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

to transfer in a foreign country, going in Turkey to join

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

. He worked with Romanian coach

Ted Dumitru Theodore "Ted" Dumitru (born Dumitru Teodorescu; 2 September 1939 – 26 May 2016) was a Romanian football manager who is best known for his time in South Africa. Dumitru was one of few coaches who have led South Africa's 'big three' clubs ...

, making 20 appearances in the 1970–71 1.Lig as the team finished on the 6th place.

Return to Argeș Pitești

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 Titus Ozon (13 May 1927 – 24 November 1996) was a Romanian international football striker and manager. He was considered one of the greatest talents in postwar Romanian football, famous for his extraordinary ability to dribble. Career Ozon wa ...

told him that his services are no longer needed. 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." He was considering to start coaching one of the club's junior teams when Ozon was replaced with

Florin Halagian Florin Vașken Halagian (7 March 1939 – 12 August 2019) was a Romanian football player and manager of Armenian descent, hence the nickname ''Armeanul'' (The Armenian). With 878 games, he is the manager who has the most matches in the Liga I, R ...

who wanted him in the team. Halagian used him in 16 games from the 1971–72 season, helping Argeș win the first title in its history. Afterwards he played three games in the

1972–73 European Cup The 1972–73 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won for the third consecutive time by Ajax in the final against Juventus at Red Star Stadium in Belgrade. The win by Ajax resulted in the fourth consecutive championship by a ...

, passing Aris Bonnevoie in the first round but in the following one they were eliminated by

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. 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 The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...

International career

Barbu played seven games at international level for

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 ...

, making his debut in a friendly which took place on 17 November 1966, coach

Ilie Oană Ilie Oană (16 August 1918 – 27 April 1993) was a football player and manager. Club career Ilie Oană was born on 16 August 1918, being nicknamed "Americanul" ''(The American)'' because his place of birth was in Indiana Harbor to Romanian pa ...

using him all the minutes in the 4–3 home victory with

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 ...

. His following two games were two losses in front of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

at the Euro 1968 qualifiers. He captained Romania for the first time in a friendly which ended 1–1 with

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. 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 The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the final to win their first ever ...

winners

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, exchanging pennants with

Bobby Moore Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England national team that won the 1966 FIFA ...

before the match.

Coaching career

After he ended his playing career, Barbu coached Muscelul Câmpulung and

Metalurgistul Cugir Club Sportiv Metalurgistul Cugir commonly known as Metalurgistul Cugir, is a Romanian football club based in Cugir, Alba County, currently playing in the Liga III, the third tier of the Romanian football. Metalurgistul Cugir was founded in 193 ...

in the Romanian lower leagues. At Muscelul with the help of his former Argeș teammates, Constantin Radu, Vasile Stan, Radu Jercan and

Marian Popescu Marian Popescu (14 August 1947 – 19 November 2016) was a Romanian football midfielder. Career Marian Popescu was born on 14 August 1947 in Bucharest, Romania, starting to play junior level football in 1965 at local club, FC Rapid București, ...

, he managed to promote the team from the third league to the second. He was Argeș Pitești's president from 1978 until 1982, a period in which the club won the

1978–79 Divizia A The 1978–79 Divizia A was the sixty-first season of Divizia A, the top-level football league of Romania. Teams League table Results Top goalscorers Champion squad See also * 1978–79 Divizia B * 1978–79 Divizia C * 1978–79 ...

title.

Personal life

In 2004, Barbu received the Honorary Citizen of

Pitești Pitești () is a city in Romania, located on the river Argeș (river), Argeș. The capital and largest city of Argeș County, it is an important commercial and industrial center, as well as the home of two universities. Pitești is situated in th ...

title. He died in a Pitești hospital on 2 May 2011 at age 72.

Honours

Player

Argeș Pitești *

: 1971–72 *

: 1960–61, 1962–63 *

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 ...

runner-up: 1964–65 Individual *

(''fifth place''): 1968

Coach

Muscelul Câmpulung *

Divizia C The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. It was founded in 1936 and was called Divizia C until 2006. An exception was the seasons 1992–93 to 1996–97, in which the league was call ...

: 1976–77

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barbu, Ion 1938 births 2011 deaths Romanian men's footballers Romania men's international footballers Liga I players Liga II players Süper Lig players Victoria București players FC Argeș Pitești players Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Men's association football defenders Romanian football managers Romanian sports executives and administrators Footballers from Craiova 20th-century Romanian sportsmen