Super Dan Petrescu
The first Romanian to score in the Premier league
Welcome back to Football Icons!
This week we have a man that first made the attacking wingback role an attractive position, paving the way for the likes of Kyle Walker and Trent Alexander-Arnold - it's super Dan Petrescu. Best known in England for his 5 years at Chelsea where he played over 150 times, Petrescu was a fan favourite before falling out with manager Vialli and moving on to Bradford City. As well as his spectacular goals running from RB, you may also remember him for being part of that infamous Romania squad who turned up to World Cup 98 with bleach blonde hair. This issue is all about an attacking full back turned winger who is still remembered with great fondness on the blue side of London.
Player Profile
Name: Dan Petrescu
Date of Birth: December 22, 1967
Nationality: Romanian
Position: Full back/ Winger
Premier League Clubs: Sheffield Wednesday, Chelsea, Bradford, Southampton
Premier League Appearances: 215
Premier League Goals: 23
Premier League Assists: 33
Overview
Dan Petrescu was known for his dynamic and versatile style of play, excelling primarily as a right-back but then shifting to play a more advanced role later in his career. His game combined defensive solidity with a strong attacking instinct, making him a perfect fit for the modern full-back role and probably the exact type of full back managers would love in their teams today. Defensively, Petrescu was intelligent in his positioning and tactically disciplined, often able to read the game well and break up opposition attacks. However, it was his ability to surge forward that truly set him apart. He was known for making overlapping runs down the right flank, delivering dangerous crosses, and getting plenty of assists. Petrescu's work rate, athleticism, and ability to transition quickly between defence and attack made him one of the most well-rounded and reliable full-backs of his generation.
Memorable Moments
Although mostly remembered for his time at Chelsea, Dan Petrescu started life in the Premier league at Sheffield Wednesday. Signed for the Owls after an impressive world cup at USA 94, Petrescu’s first game for Wednesday and first in the Premier league was memorable for a number of reasons. Wednesday played Tottenham and until this match, no Romanian player had ever graced the Premier league. Remarkably two featured in the same game. Petrescu for Wednesday and Ilie Dumitrescu for Spurs. The game was a dramatic 4-3 victory for Spurs and Petrescu became the first Romain to ever score in the Premier league with a cool slotted finish in the 54th minute. This game is also famous for being Jurgen Klinsmann’s Tottenham debut and that interesting dive celebration after the German scored. Remind yourself here
After one season in Sheffield, Petrescu signed for Chelsea for a fee of about £2.3m. He enjoyed some great success at Chelsea winning four major trophies in his 5 year spell at the club. The first of those was the FA cup final in 1997, beating Middlesbrough 2-0 at Wembley, a final famous (at the time) for having the earliest opening goal after Di Matteo scored inside 25 seconds. The second was the league cup final in 1998, beating the same opponent by the same score (albeit after extra time). Di Matteo scored again in this final. The third was the UEFA Cup winners cup in 1998, beating VfB Stuttgart 1-0 in Stockholm. This was the penultimate Cup winners cup tournament, a competition which was historically contested between the domestic cup winners across Europe’s top leagues. Dan Petrescu started in all of these finals and played a pivotal role in Chelsea getting to them in the first place. The last piece of silverware he won at Chelsea was the UEFA Super Cup. Despite Petrescu being suspended for this final, Chelsea still went on to win 1-0 against Real Madrid, with Gus Poyet scoring the only goal. An impressive victory against a Madrid side that contained Raul, Seedorf, Roberto Carlos and Fernando Hierro. Four trophies in his first 3 seasons at the club was a perfect start for Petrescu and with Chelsea starting to spend money on other big signings including world cup winner Marcel Desailly and Chris Sutton, it felt like Petrescu was destined for more success at the club.
After enjoying such great success however, the 1999/2000 season was to be Petrescu’s last at the club. In a vital group stage Champions league game against Galatasaray, Petrescu was instrumental in Chelsea reaching the group stage, scoring the only goal of the match in a 1-0 win. He later commented that this goal was “definitely the most important goal I’ve ever scored for Chelsea”.
However, tension between Petrescu and manager Gianluca Vialli started to show when he was not selected as part of the line-up for Chelsea’s second-leg quarter final Champions league match against Barcelona in April 2000. Things then came to a head a few weeks later during a Premier league match against Manchester United on 24th April 2000. Petrescu scored for Chelsea in a 3-2 defeat however refused to Celebrate. It is widely suggested he left the ground early at the final whistle and never played for the club again. In the summer of that year, he was sold to Bradford City for a fee of £1m.
After a fairly unsuccessful year at Bradford city, where he scored 1 goal and City were relegated from the league, Petrescu moved to Southampton to be reunited with Glenn Hoddle who had originally brought him to Chelsea. His start at Southampton started well, scoring on his debut in a 1-0 win at The Dell. Hoddle left Southampton a few months later and getting frustrated at his lack of playing time, Petrescu eventually left the saints in 2002, returning to his native Romania.
Petrescu was the first overseas player to make over 100 premier league appearances for Chelsea. These were the days when there were usually more brits than foreigners in Premier league teams. He will also always be remembered for the world cup 1998, when him and his Romanian teammates donned bleach blonde hair after a bet with the national coach. According to fellow Romanian Gheorghe Hagi, Petrescu had bet the coach that if Romania won both their first two group games against England and Columbia the players would dye their hair and the manager should shave his head. Romania won both games, including a 2-1 victory against England in which Petrescu himself got the winning goal.
Opinion
There's no doubt that Petrescu was ahead of his time when he came to Chelsea - bringing this new attacking style of full back to the Premier League and this immediately endeared him to fans. An attacking, goal scoring full back was rare back then so many fans found Petrescu exciting and enjoyable to watch. I think he would be a perfect player in the modern game and if he was playing today I think he would have had a longer career in the Premier league. No one will truly know what happened with him and Vialli which led to his time being cut short and if it wasn't for this he could have gone on to become a true Premier league legend.
Did you know?
Dan Petrescu loved his time at Chelsea so much he chose to name his first daughter after the club. Beatrice Chelsea Petrescu.
Where are they now?
Ever since he retired in 2003, Petrescu has committed himself to management with an array of roles in leagues across Romania, Japan, China, Qatar and Russia. In total he has had 20 different managerial stints across 21 years, including 4 stints as manager at CFR Cluj which is where he is today. You'll also find him turning up to various ambassadorial projects at Chelsea where he's still a much loved fan favourite.
Tell us your memories
As always we want to hear from you. Remember that Romanian team with the blonde hair in 1998? Or are you a Chelsea fan who remembers Petrescu abruptly leaving? Hit the comments, and let us know.
Next week
A slightly different format next week, with an issue dedicated to four forgotten Premier League players who were being tipped for the top but after impressive starts, never fulfilled their potential. Give us some names?