The encounter
Petrolul won 3–1 in Ploiești · Liverpool qualified after a third match
Match cassette · results and dates
Romanian club’s score first.
- 28 September 1966 · AwayPetrolul Ploiești 0–2 Liverpool FC (England)
- 12 October 1966 · HomePetrolul Ploiești 3–1 Liverpool FC (England)
- 19 October 1966 · NeutralPetrolul Ploiești 0–2 Liverpool FC (England)
The champions of Romania and England
Petrolul’s 1966 Romanian title earned them a European Cup tie against Bill Shankly’s Liverpool, who had just won their seventh English league title. The first leg was at Anfield on 28 September, under floodlights and in front of more than 44,000 spectators. Ian St John and Ian Callaghan scored in a 2–0 Liverpool win. Petrolul’s retrospective recalls praise from the British press for the visitors’ performance, but they still had two goals to recover.
Ploiești fills the ground
For the return on 12 October, supporters arrived long before kick-off. Petrolul’s anniversary account describes more than 18,000 spectators and gates closed well before the start. Constantin Moldoveanu gave the home side a first-half lead. Roger Hunt equalised after the break, leaving Petrolul needing two more goals to level the tie.
Boc and Dridea bring Liverpool back to level
Alexandru Boc scored from a corner to make it 2–1. Then Mircea Dridea’s free-kick gave Petrolul a 3–1 lead on the day and made the aggregate score 3–3. Petrolul had beaten the English champions and forced a third match.
A third match in Brussels
The deciding match took place at the Heysel Stadium on 19 October. Petrolul were missing several players, according to the club’s account. St John and Peter Thompson scored in a 2–0 Liverpool win. Liverpool went through, but the 3–1 victory in Ploiești remained one of Petrolul’s best-known results. In its 2021 retrospective, the club described it as the only official Romanian victory over Liverpool up to that date.
Team line-ups
Starting players; substitutes are included where recorded · GK = goalkeeper · C = captain.
Return leg · Ploiești · starting line-ups
- Petrolul Ploiești
- Mihai Ionescu; Gheorghe Pahonțu, Alexandru Boc, Gheorghe Florea, Mihai Mocanu, Octavian Dincuță, Petre Dragomir, Constantin Moldoveanu, Mircea Dridea, Alexandru Badea, Virgil Dridea.
- Liverpool
- Tommy Lawrence; Chris Lawler, Gordon Milne, Tommy Smith, Ron Yeats, Willie Stevenson, Ian Callaghan, Roger Hunt, Ian St John, Geoff Strong, Peter Thompson.
Line-ups follow the match reports linked in Sources & image credits.
Explore the archive
Sources & image credits
About the historical details and source differences
The narrative is adapted from FC Petrolul’s anniversary account and its reproduction of a contemporary Sportul Popular report. Attendance and goal timings vary between published records; the narrative uses the club’s attendance description and does not assign disputed goal minutes.
Match results and dates follow the archive records. Reference pages:
- FC Petrolul · anniversary and all three matches ↗
- UEFA · Petrolul 3–1 Liverpool ↗
- FC Petrolul · 55 years since the Liverpool victory ↗
- FC Petrolul · anniversary line-ups ↗
Club crest: the image already stored in the club archive, used as a visual identifier rather than a photograph of this encounter.
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