Ioan Petcu (born 1 May 1959, in

Hunedoara Hunedoara (; ; ) is a municipiu, city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in southwestern Transylvania near the Poiana Ruscă Mountains, and administers five villages: Boș (''Bós''), Groș (''Grós''), Hășdat (''Hosdát ...

) is a retired

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 ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Petcu was born on 1 May 1959 in

, Romania. While he was aged 14, his football talent was noticed by coach Dumitru Pătrașcu who brought him to Corvinul Hunedoara. On 2 April 1977, 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, playing in Corvinul's 2–1 home win against Steaua București. In 1979 the team relegated but Petcu stayed with the club, helping it promote back to the first league after one season under the guidance of coach

Mircea Lucescu Mircea Lucescu (; born 29 July 1945) is a Romanian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, currently the head coach of the Romania national football team, Romania national team. He i ...

. Afterwards he helped Corvinul finish third in the

1981–82 Divizia A The 1981–82 Divizia A was the sixty-fourth season of Divizia A, the top-level football league of Romania. Teams League table Results Top goalscorers Champion squad See also * 1981–82 Divizia B * 1981–82 Divizia C * 1981–82 ...

season. Then he appeared in four games in the

1982–83 UEFA Cup The 1982–83 UEFA Cup was the 12th edition of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by UEFA. The final was played over two legs at the Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium, and at the Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal, ...

as they got past

Grazer AK Grazer Athletiksport Klub (; abbreviated as GAK), better known simply as Grazer AK, is an Austrian sports club based in the city of Graz in the federal state of Styria. The football section was once among Austria's most popular clubs, enjoying s ...

in the first round, being eliminated in the following one by

FK Sarajevo Fudbalski klub Sarajevo ( sh-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Сарајево; , English language, English: Sarajevo Football Club), is a professional Association football, football Sports club, club based in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosn ...

, Petcu scoring a goal against the latter with a

lob Lob may refer to: Sports * Lob (pickleball) * Lob (tennis) * Lob (association football), a lofted pass or shot in association football * Lob bowling, an archaic bowling style in cricket People * Lob Brown, American college football player * Löb ...

after an assist from

Florea Dumitrache Florea Dumitrache (22 May 1948 – 26 April 2007) was a Romanian professional footballer who played as a striker. Dumitrache spent most of his senior career at Dinamo București, appearing in over 200 league matches and winning three national ...

. In the 1985–86 season as coach Ion Ionescu promoted an offensive style of play, Petcu managed to score a personal record of 20 goals. On 5 June 1990, he made his last Divizia A appearance in a 2–0 home victory against Universitatea Craiova, having a total of 363 matches with 135 goals scored in the competition, all of them for Corvinul. In 1990 he went to play in the

Cypriot Second Division The Cypriot Second Division () is the second highest association football, football division of the Cypriot football league system. Administered by the Cyprus Football Association, it is contested by 16 teams, with the top three teams being Prom ...

for

APEP Pelendriou APEP Pelendriou (, ''Athlitiki Podosfairiki Enosi Pelendriou''; "Athletic Football Union Pelendriou") is a Cypriot football club based in Pelendri. Founded in 1956, was playing sometimes in Second and sometimes in the Third and Fourth Division ...

. After one year, he was transferred at Hungarian club,

Diósgyőr Diósgyőr (Hungarian: Help:IPA/Hungarian, �dioːʒɟøːr is a historical town in Hungary, today it is a part of Miskolc. The medieval castle in Diósgyőr was a favourite holiday residence of Hungarian kings and queens; today it is a popular t ...

where he was teammate with compatriot and former Corvinul colleague,

Romulus Gabor Romulus Gabor (born 14 October 1961) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a winger and as a forward. Club career Gabor was born on 14 October 1961 in Pui, Hunedoara County, Romania. He started playing football at age 13 a ...

. He made his

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, ), also known as NB I or Fizz Liga after its title sponsor, OTP Bank's webshop subsidiary, is a professional association football league in Hungary and the highest level of the Hungarian football league system. Twelve ...

debut on 25 August 1991 under coach

Ladislau Vlad Ladislau "Laci" Vlad (25 March 1930 – 18 March 2013Siófok Siófok (; ; ) is a town in Somogy County, Hungary on the southern bank of Lake Balaton. It is the Somogy County#Municipalities, second largest municipality in Somogy County and the seat of Siófok District. It covers an area of about between Lak ...

. Petcu scored his first goal for them on 20 September when he opened the score in a 2–1 away loss to

BVSC The Bachelor of Veterinary Science (BVSc or BVSC; Latin Baccalaureus Veterinariae Scientiae), "Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine" (BVetMed), or "Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery" ("BVM&S" or "BVMS") is a degree for studies in veterinary me ...

. On 3 May 1992 he netted a double in a 2–0 win over Videoton. He gained a total of 28 matches with five goals scored in the Hungarian league, his last appearance taking place on 20 June 1992 in a 2–0 home loss to

Ferencváros Ferencváros (, ) is the 9th district of Budapest (), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The developmen ...

. In 1992 he made a comeback to Corvinul in

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 ...

where he ended his career two years later.

International career

Petcu played two games for

, making his debut on 1 May 1982 when coach

sent him on the field at half-time to replace

Aurel Țicleanu Aurel Țicleanu (born 20 January 1959) is a Romanian football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Playing career Club career Țicleanu began his youth career with Metallurgistul Sadu in 1974. He was quickly spotted there by ma ...

in a 3–1 victory against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

at the Euro 1984 qualifiers. His following game was a friendly which took place on 2 March 1986 and ended with a 1–0 win over

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Managerial career

After he ended his playing career, Petcu started to work as a manager in 1995, coaching various teams in the Romanian lower leagues like Corvinul Hunedoara, Unirea Sânnicolau Mare, Bihor Oradea, FC Hunedoara,

Mureșul Deva Club Sportiv Municipal Deva, commonly known as CSM Deva, is a Romanian professional football (soccer), football football team, club based in Deva, Romania, Deva, Hunedoara County. The club was originally established in 1921 under the name of ''M ...

and

Cetate Deva Club Sportiv Municipal Deva, commonly known as CSM Deva, is a Romanian professional football club based in Deva, Hunedoara County. The club was originally established in 1921 under the name of ''Mureșul Deva'' and since 1964 was a constant pre ...

. He managed to promote to

Liga II 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 Liga II, 2006–07 football season. It is currently Sponso ...

with Unirea Sânnicolau Mare in the 2007–08 season. After 2012 he was the vice-president of FC Hunedoara. His last coaching spell took place between 2021 and 2023 at

Aurul Brad Clubul Sportiv Municipal Aurul Brad, commonly known as CSM Aurul Brad, or simply as Aurul Brad, is a Romanian amateur football club based in Brad, Hunedoara County, founded in 1934. The club is currently playing in the Liga IV. History Aurul Br ...

Liga III 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 ...

Honours

Player

Corvinul Hunedoara *

: 1979–80

Manager

Unirea Sânnicolau Mare *

: 2007–08

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Petcu, Ioan 1959 births Living people Footballers from Hunedoara Romanian men's footballers Romania men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Liga I players Liga II players FC Corvinul Hunedoara players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Diósgyőri VTK players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Romanian football managers FC Bihor Oradea (1958) managers FC Corvinul Hunedoara managers CSM Deva managers 20th-century Romanian sportsmen