József Pecsovszky

The native form of this personal name is Pecsovszky József. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

József Pecsovszky or Iosif Petschovschi (also known as József Perényi; 2 July 1921 – 6 October 1968) was a Romanian footballer.^[2] His nickname was Peci. He could play in any position on the pitch, he was even goalkeeper once.

József Pecsovszky

Pecsovszky (left) with son after a match in 1961
Personal information
Date of birth	(1921-07-02)2 July 1921
Place of birth	Timișoara, Romania
Date of death	6 October 1968(1968-10-06) (aged 47)
Place of death	Arad, Romania
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1937–1940	Chinezul Timișoara	67	(27)
1940	CAM Timișoara	12	(10)
1940–1941	Chinezul Timișoara	34	(19)
1941–1944	Nagyváradi AC	69	(5)
1944–1945	CA Cluj	29	(13)
1946–1951	ITA Arad	104	(34)
1952–1954	CCA București	50	(19)
1955–1961	UTA Arad	133	(35)
Total		495	(181)
International career
1942–1943[1]	Hungary	7	(1)
1945–1958[1]	Romania	32	(11)
Managerial career
1962–1963	UTA Arad
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Pecsovszky played 273 games in Divizia A, scoring a massive 86 goals. For Romania he won 32 caps, scoring 11 goals.

Pecsovszky made his debut in Divizia A at the age of 16, as player of Chinezul Timișoara.

Pecsovszky played in the Hungarian Football Championship between 1941 and 1944 under the name of József Perényi, winning the Hungarian title with Nagyváradi AC, and played three times for the Hungary national team.

His fame was such that in 1946 a Hungarian footballer tried, and even did so for a short while, to steal Pecsovszky's identity, when he recommended himself as the real Pecsovszky in order to sign a contract with RC Strasbourg of France.

Petschovski was suspended in October 1947 for a period of three months because before an international game between Romania and Poland 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 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 until 1961 when he retired from professional football. In 1961 he briefly crossed with his son Jóska, who also played for Arad.^[3]

Pecsovszky coached UT Arad during the 1962–63 season.

Death and legacy

He died of cancer at his home in Arad at the age of 47 on 6 October 1968.

His former club, UT Arad raised him a statue, which can be found at the main entrance of the Francisc von Neuman Stadium.

Honours

Nagyváradi AC

• Hungarian Championship League: 1943–44

UTA Arad

• Romanian Championship League: 1946–47, 1947–48, 1950
• Romanian Cup: 1948

CCA București

• Romanian Championship League: 1952, 1953
• Cupa României|Romanian Cup: 1952