 Petrescu in 1966 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nicolae "Nicky" Petrescu | ||
| Date of birth | (1913-04-02)2 April 1913 | ||
| Place of birth | Bucharest, Romania | ||
| Date of death | 1991(1991-00-00) (aged 77–78) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1931–1941 | Juventus București | 144 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1945 | Juventus București | ||
| 1946–1948 | Juventus București (assistant) | ||
| 1948–1952 | Poiana Câmpina | ||
| 1952 | Vulcan București | ||
| 1953–1957 | Romania youth | ||
| 1956 | Romania U21 | ||
| 1957 | Romania (assistant) | ||
| 1957–1958 | CCA București | ||
| 1958–1960 | Dinamo Obor București | ||
| 1964–1968 | Romania U21 | ||
| 1971 | Turkey | ||
| 1972–1973 | Altay | ||
| 1977–1978 | Samsunspor | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Nicolae "Nicky" Petrescu (2 April 1913 – 1991) was a Romanian professional footballer andfootball manager.
Petrescu was born on 2 April 1913 inBucharest, Romania and spent his entire playing career at local clubJuventus.[1][2] He made his debut for the club in the last round of the 1930–31 București championship when coachEmerich Vogl used him the entire match in a 9–0 victory againstSportul Studențesc București.[3] In the following years, Petrescu started to play more often, consolidating his place in the team's starting XI, helping it gain promotion toDivizia A at the end of the 1932–33 season.[4] His style of play was praised by theGazeta Sporturilor newspaper after a 3–2 victory againstSportul Studențesc:"Insistent attacks started from the ranks of The Black and Whites (Sportul) are hardly stopped by the defense of The Red and Blues (Juventus). Petrescu is at ease, moving like a swashbuckler among his opponents, whom he regularly deprives of the ball".[1] In the first round of the following season, he made hisDivizia A debut on 17 September 1933 when coachLadislau Csillag used him the full 90 minutes of a 3–1 away win overRipensia Timișoara.[5] He scored his first and only goal of his career in the round of 16 in the1935–36 Cupa României in a 3–1 victory againstMaccabi București, Juventus managing to reach the semi-finals of that edition, a performance which was repeated in the following season.[6] In the last years of his career, Petrescu played more rarely and the team's results were poorer season after season, eventually being relegated by the end of the1939–40 season.[7] Petrescu stayed with the club and helped it get promoted after one season by contributing with 14 appearances.[8] However, he did not get to play again in the first league as the championship was interrupted due toWorld War II, thus ending his playing career in which he gained a total of 107 Divizia A appearances and 16 matches with one goal scored inCupa României.[8]
Petrescu began his managerial career at the club he spent his entire playing career,Juventus București, guiding it during the first half of the 1945–46 București championship, before being replaced in the second half withEmerich Vogl who kept him on his staff as an assistant.[9] He continued to work as an assistant for the following two seasons when the team played inDivizia A.[10] Afterwards he worked atPoiana Câmpina and Vulcan București.[1] Subsequently, Petrescu was employed by theRomanian Football Federation to coach Romanian youth teams from 1953 until 1957, including theunder-21 side, and also in 1957 he wasGheorghe Popescu's assistant at thesenior squad.[1] From 1957 until 1958 he was head coach atCCA București, then moved toDinamo Obor București for two years, after which he came back to working with juniors, being the coordinator coach ofDinamo București's youth center.[1][2] In the following years, Petrescu continued to work at youth level, serving between 1962 and 1964 as the head of the "23 August" junior center and from 1964 until 1968 he coachedRomania's under-21 team.[1] For a short period he retired from the field and became head of the Psychological Research Laboratory at the Physical Education and Sports Research Center.[1] In 1969, Petrescu returned to work for the Romanian Football Federation as a federal coach for one year.[1] In 1971 he went to work inTurkey as a technical director for theTurkish Football Federation, and was later named the head coach of thenational team for one game, a 1–0 home victory againstPoland in theEuro 1972 qualifiers.[1][2][11] In 1972 he went to coachAltay until 1973, and then returned to Romania where he held the position of president of the Central College of Coaches within theRomanian Football Federation from 1974 until 1976.[1][2] In his final years of coaching, Petrescu worked from 1976 until 1977 as the coordinator ofDinamo București's youth center and had another experience in Turkey atSamsunspor, ending his career in 1978.[1]
Petrescu wrote two volumes about football:[1][2]
Petrescu died in 1991 at age 78.[1][2][11]
Juventus București