Petre Libardi (27 August 1942 – 14 August 2005) was a

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 ...

n footballer who played as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Club career

Petre Libardi was born on 27 August 1942 in Câmpulung-Muscel and started playing football at Minerul Câmpulung. He went for a short period at Dinamo Pitești but then returned at Minerul Câmpulung. In 1963 he went to play at

Jiul Petroșani Jiul may refer to these places in Romania: * the River Jiu ( + ) ** Jiul de Vest ** Jiul de Est * A village in Țuglui Țuglui is a commune in Dolj County, Oltenia, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, ...

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 ...

, helping it promote to

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 ...

three years later, making his debut in the competition on 21 August 1966 in a 7–0 victory against Steagul Roșu Brașov. His first performance with ''The Miners'' was reaching the

1972 Cupa României final The 1972 Cupa României Final was the 34th final of Romania's most prestigious football cup competition. It was disputed between Rapid București and Jiul Petroșani, and was won by Rapid București after a game with 2 goals. It was the 8th cup ...

where coach Eugen Iordache used him all the minutes in the eventual 2–0 loss in front of

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 ...

. Libardi eventually won the competition two years later after a 4–2 victory against Politehnica Timișoara from the 1974 final in which coach Traian Ivănescu used him the whole match, helping Jiul win the first trophy in the club's history. Afterwards he played in both legs against

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

from the first round of the

1974–75 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1974–75 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup club football tournament was won by Dynamo Kyiv in a convincing final victory against Ferencváros. It was the first of two Cup Winners' Cup successes for the club. First round ...

which was lost with 3–2 on aggregate. In May 1975, during a Jiul – Politehnica Iași home game, the wooden stand of the

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

started to burn due to a cigarette thrown into the blanket of seed husks, so Libardi together with teammates Gogu Tonca and Andrei Stocker jumped in to help the firefighters extinguish the fire. Libardi was Jiul's captain ten years from 1965 until 1975, a period in which he appeared in 238 Divizia A games and scored 38 goals, his last appearance in the competition taking place on 29 June 1975 in a 2–1 away loss in front of Universitatea Cluj.

International career

Petre Libardi played two games at international level for

, making his debut under coach

Bazil Marian Bazil Marian (7 November 1922 – 19 January 2008) was a Romanian professional footballer and coach. Club career Bazil Marian nicknamed "Bombardierul" (The Bomber) because of his powerful shots was born on 7 November 1922 in Uioara de Sus, Rom ...

in a 1–1 friendly against

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 ...

, which took place in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

Estadio Gran Parque Central The Estadio Gran Parque Central is the stadium of Club Nacional de Football. It is located in Montevideo, Uruguay, near Nacional headquarters (exactly between the streets Carlos Anaya, Jaime Cibils, General Urquiza and Comandante Braga), in the L ...

. His second game was also a friendly which ended 0–0 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 ...

Managerial career

After he retired, Libardi worked as a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

, firstly in the Romanian lower leagues at clubs like Victoria Călan,

Minerul Lupeni Clubul Sportiv Viitorul Minerul Lupeni, commonly referred to as Minerul Lupeni, is a Romanian football club based in Lupeni, Hunedoara County, which competes in Liga III , the third tier of the Romanian football league system. Established in 192 ...

and Paroșeni Vulcan. His most notable performances were having two spells in

, one in the early 1980s and the other in 1990. He also served as Jiul's president.

Personal life and death

In 2001 Libardi was awarded the Honorary Citizen of

Petroșani Petroșani (; Hungarian: ''Petrozsény''; German: ''Petroschen'') is a city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania, with a population of 31,044 as of 2021. The city has been associated with mining since the 19th century. History "Pietros" m ...

title. Petre Libardi died on 14 August 2005 at age 62. In 2019, at 100 years since

was founded, the authorities decided to change the name of the local stadium from Jiul to "Petre Libardi" in his honor.

Honours

Jiul Petroșani *

: 1965–66 *

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 ...

: 1973–74, runner-up 1971–72

Notes

References

External links

* *
Petre Libardi player profile
at Labtof.ro
Petre Libardi manager profile
at Labtof.ro {{DEFAULTSORT:Libardi, Petre 1942 births 2005 deaths Romanian men's footballers Romania men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Liga I players Liga II players FC Argeș Pitești players CSM Jiul Petroșani players Romanian football managers CSM Jiul Petroșani managers ACS Minerul Lupeni managers Romanian sports executives and administrators Sportspeople from Câmpulung Footballers from Argeș County 20th-century Romanian sportsmen