Ionuț Bâlbă

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Ionuț Bâlbă
Personal information
Full name Ionuț Mihai Bâlbă
Date of birth (1981-11-01) 1 November 1981
Place of birth Pașcani, Romania
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Position Striker
Youth career
CFR Pașcani
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2002 CFR Pașcani
2002–2010 Politehnica Iași 172 (46)
2010 Botoșani 5 (1)
2011 Gloria Bistrița 5 (2)
2011 CSMS Iași 3 (1)
2012 Viitorul Belcești
2012 Jiul Petroșani
2013 Viitorul Târgu Frumos
2018–2020 Bradu Borca
Total 185 (50)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22 December 2016

Ionuț Mihai Bâlbă (born 1 November 1981) is a Romanian retired football player who played as a striker. He played mainly for Politehnica Iași and made 142 appearances, scoring 35 goals in the Romanian top-league, Liga I.

Career

Bâlbă was born on 1 November 1981 in Pașcani, Romania and began playing junior-level football at local club CFR.[1] He began playing for the club's senior team during the 2001–02 Divizia C season.[1] In 2002, he was transferred for a $10,000 fee by Divizia B club Politehnica Iași.[1][2] He helped them gain promotion to the first league at the end of the 2003–04 season by netting 12 goals.[1] Subsequently, Bâlbă made his Divizia A debut under coach Vasile Simionaș on 30 July 2004 in a 2–1 loss to Rapid București, scoring his side's goal.[1][2][3] In the 2005–06 season, he netted a career-best nine goals in the first league, including a brace in a 4–0 win over FCM Bacău.[1][4] In the following two seasons, Bâlbă netted eight goals in each season, including two doubles in victories against Jiul Petroșani and UTA Arad.[1][5] Bâlbă was heavily criticized when he had the rims of his car painted in gold, as Politehnica had financial problems at that time.[2][6][7][8] In order to show solidarity and defend him, coach Ionuț Popa also had the emblems of his car painted in gold.[2][6][7][8] During his years at Politehnica, Bâlbă received offers from top Romanian clubs such as Rapid, CFR Cluj, FC Vaslui, Universitatea Craiova and Unirea Urziceni.[2][6] However, none of these materialized, either because Politehnica demanded a high transfer fee or because he did not wish to leave.[2][6] Eventually, following Politehnica's relegation at the end of the 2009–10 season, he joined the second-tier club Botoșani.[1][6][8][9] Bâlbă returned to first league football by signing with Gloria Bistrița where he made his last Liga I appearance and also scored a goal in a 3–1 loss to Steaua București, totaling 142 matches with 35 goals in the competition.[1][2][8] Afterwards, he spent the first half of the 2011–12 Liga II season at CSMS Iași, before moving to Liga IV club Viitorul Belcești, but CSMS managed to gain promotion to the first league without him.[1][10] Bâlbă spent the last years of his career playing for teams in the Romanian lower leagues such as Jiul Petroșani, Viitorul Târgu Frumos and Bradu Borca.[1][11]

Controversy

Bâlbă was caught by police on several occasions driving under the influence, driving with a suspended license, and crashing his car into a pole.[2][6][8][12] Eventually, he received a nine-month suspended sentence.[8][13]

Honours

Politehnica Iași

References

  1. Ionuț Bâlbă at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  2. "Atacantul care și-a făcut bara de aur la mașină face dezvăluiri explozive! Cum a pierdut peste un sfert de milion de dolari de la Adrian Porumboiu și de ce i-a închis telefonul în nas lui Meme Stoica" (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 4 March 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  3. "Politehnica Iasi - Rapid Bucureşti 1:2". WorldFootball. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  4. "Ionuț Bâlbă. Liga I 2005/2006". WorldFootball. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  5. "Ionuț Bâlbă. Liga I 2006/2007". WorldFootball. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
    "Ionuț Bâlbă. Liga I 2007/2008". WorldFootball. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  6. "Ionuț Bâlbă: "Am vorbit cu mesageria vocală a lui nea Popică!"" (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 3 December 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  7. ""Am împușcat ciori cu pistolul lui nea Popică!"" (in Romanian). Liga2.prosport.ro. 3 December 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  8. "Fostul golgeter care făcea furori sub comanda regretatului Ionuț Popa dă lovitura de start la Poli Iași - Rapid" (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 24 February 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  9. "Istoria fotbalului la Iași. 68 de ani de existenţă, opt denumiri ale echipei, zece retrogradări în diviziile inferioare și un singur sezon de povestit nepoților" (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  10. "Bâlbă, ce ai fost și ce-ai ajuns!" (in Romanian). Mediafax.ro. 24 May 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  11. "Îl mai ştii pe Ionuţ Bâlbă? Unde a ajuns să joace atacantul. Foto" (in Romanian). Fanatik.ro. 30 April 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
    "Borca lui Marius Onofraș, câștigătoare de cupă în județ" (in Romanian). Frf.ro. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
    "Golgheterul din munții Neamțului. Marius Onofraș își trăiește a doua tinerețe la Bradu Borca" (in Romanian). Ieseanul.ro. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  12. "Bâlbă a "parcat" în stâlp!" (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
    "Maşina fotbalistului Bâlbă a lovit un stâlp" (in Romanian). Mediafax.ro. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
    "Ionuţ Bâlbă a fost trimis în judecată pentru conducere sub influenţa alcoolului" (in Romanian). Mediafax.ro. 13 April 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
    "Ionut Balba, atacantul Politehnicii Iasi, a fost prins din nou baut la volan" (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 9 October 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  13. "Fotbalistul Bâlbă, condamnat la închisoare" (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 27 January 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
    "Ionuţ Bâlbă a fost condamnat la nouă luni de închisoare, cu suspendare" (in Romanian). Mediafax.ro. 27 January 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2026.