Petre Libardi (27 August 1942 â 14 August 2005) was a Romanian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.
Libardi was born on 27 August 1942 in Câmpulung-Muscel and began playing football at Minerul Câmpulung. He went for a short period to Dinamo PiteÃÂti, but then returned to Minerul.
In 1963, Libardi joined Jiul PetroÃÂani in Divizia B. He helped them gain promotion to Divizia A three years later. He made his debut in the competition on 21 August 1966 under coach ÃÂtefan Coidum in a 7âÂÂ0 victory against Steagul RoÃÂu BraÃÂov. His first performance with The Miners was reaching the 1972 Cupa României final, where coach Eugen Iordache used him the entire match in the eventual 2âÂÂ0 loss to Rapid BucureÃÂti. Libardi eventually won the competition two years later after a 4âÂÂ2 victory against Politehnica TimiÃÂoara in the 1974 final, as coach Traian IvÃÂnescu used him the full 90 minutes, helping Jiul win its first trophy. Afterwards he played in both legs against Dundee United in the first round of the 1974âÂÂ75 European Cup Winners' Cup which was lost with 3âÂÂ2 on aggregate. In May 1975, during a Jiul â Politehnica IaÃÂi home game, the wooden stand of the stadium started to burn due to a cigarette thrown into a pile of seed husks. Libardi, along 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 47 goals. His last appearance in the competition occurred on 29 June 1975 in a 2âÂÂ1 away loss to Universitatea Cluj.
Libardi played two games for Romania, making his debut under coach Bazil Marian in a 1âÂÂ1 friendly draw against Uruguay, which took place in Montevideo at Estadio Gran Parque Central. His second game was also a friendly which ended in a 0âÂÂ0 draw against Poland.
After he retired, Libardi worked as a manager, first in the Romanian lower leagues for clubs such as Victoria CÃÂlan, Minerul Lupeni and ParoÃÂeni Vulcan. His most notable performances were two spells in Divizia A at Jiul PetroÃÂani, one in the early 1980s and the other in 1990. He also served as Jiul's president.
In 2001 Libardi was awarded the Honorary Citizen of PetroÃÂani title. He died on 14 August 2005 at age 62. In 2019, at 100 years after Jiul PetroÃÂani was founded, the authorities decided to change the name of the local stadium from Jiul to "Petre Libardi" in his honor.
Jiul PetroÃÂani