József Pecsovszky or Iosif Petschovschi (also known as József Perényi; 2 July 1921 – 6 October 1968), was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. His nickname was ''Peci''. He could play in any position on the pitch, he was even goalkeeper once.

Career

Petschovschi played 273 games in

Divizia A The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

, scoring a massive 86 goals. For

he won 32 caps, scoring 11 goals. Petschovschi made his debut in

at the age of 16, as player of

Chinezul Timișoara Chinezul Timișoara was a football club that played both in the Romanian and the Hungarian championship during its existence. It was based in Timișoara, Romania (at the time of foundation Temesvár, Austria-Hungary). History The club was establ ...

. Petschovschi played in the Hungarian Football Championship between 1941 and 1944 under the name of ''József Perényi'', winning the Hungarian title with

Nagyváradi AC Club Atletic Oradea (Nagyváradi Atlétikai Club) (), commonly known as CA Oradea (Nagyváradi AC), or simply as CAO (NAC), is a Romanian football club based in Oradea, Bihor County, which competes in the Liga IV. The team was founded as ''Nagy ...

, and played three times for the Hungarian national team. His fame was such that in 1946 a Hungarian footballer tried, and even did so for a short while, to steal Petschovschi's identity, when he recommended himself as the real Petschovschi in order to sign a contract with

RC Strasbourg Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (commonly known as RC Strasbourg, Racing Straßburg, RCSA, RCS, or simply Strasbourg; Alsatian: ''Füeßbàllmànnschàft Vu Stroßburri'') is a French association football club founded in 1906, based in the c ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Petschovski was suspended in October 1947 for a period of three months because before an international game between

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

he bet on the Polish team. In 1952 he became the first footballer to receive the title of ''Master of Sport''. He was also the first Romanian

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 le ...

to be called to play for a ''World Team'' alongside the biggest names of football. In 1952 he moved to Steaua București for three years, before returning to Arad to play for

UT Arad Asociația Fotbal Club UTA Arad (), commonly known as UTA Arad or simply UTA, is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Arad, Arad County, which competes in the Liga I. The UTA acronym stands for ''Uzina Textilă Arad'' ("Text ...

until 1961 when he retired from professional football. In 1961 he briefly crossed with his son Jóska, who also played for Arad. Petschovschi coached

during the 1962–63 season. He died of cancer at his home in Arad at the age of 47 on 6 October 1968. His former club,

raised him a statue, which can be found at the main entrance of the

UTA Stadium Francisc von Neuman Stadium is a football stadium in Arad, Romania. It is built on the site of the former Francisc von Neuman Stadium. The stadium was opened on the 28th of August 2020 and currently serves as the home for UTA Arad of the Liga ...

Honours

Club

;Nagyváradi AC * Hungarian Championship League: 1943–44 ;UTA Arad * Romanian Championship League: 1946–47, 1947–48,

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

Romanian Cup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

;CCA București * Romanian Championship League:

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

References

;Sources *Oroszhegyi Károly: Pecsovszky – das blonde Wunder, Neue Banater Zeitung, 1978. *Oroszhegyi Károly: Csala, a Szőke Csoda, Jelenkor kiadó, 2000.

External links

* * *
Iosif Petschovski
at RSSSF * {{DEFAULTSORT:Petschowski, Iosif 1921 births 1968 deaths Romanian footballers Liga I players Liga II players CA Oradea players FC Steaua București players FC UTA Arad players Olympic footballers of Romania Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Association football forwards Romania international footballers Hungarian footballers Hungary international footballers Sportspeople from Timișoara Dual internationalists (football) Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Romanian football managers FC UTA Arad managers CAM Timișoara players