Bobby Petta
Petta with Adelaide United in 2008
Personal information
Full name Alfred Manuel Petta[1]
Date of birth (1974-08-06) 6 August 1974 (age 49)
Place of birth Rotterdam, Netherlands
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Position(s) Left winger
Youth career
Feyenoord
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1996 Feyenoord 1 (0)
1993–1994 → Dordrecht '90 (loan) 9 (0)
1994–1995 → RKC Waalwijk (loan) 21 (1)
1996–1999 Ipswich Town 71 (9)
1999–2004 Celtic 52 (0)
2004 → Fulham (loan) 8 (0)
2005 Darlington 12 (1)
2005–2006 Bradford City 27 (4)
2006–2008 Adelaide United 19 (1)
2008 Para Hills Knights 4 (0)
2008 Sydney FC 9 (0)
2009 Heidelberg United 9 (0)
2009 Adelaide Croatia 2 (0)
2016–? Rossvale
Total 244 (16)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alfred Manuel "Bobby" Petta (born 6 August 1974) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a left winger.

Formed at Feyenoord, he spent most of his career in Britain, most notably with Ipswich Town of the Football League First Division and Celtic of the Scottish Premier League. He also had a loan at Fulham in the Premier League in 2004, and several years in the Australian A-League with Adelaide United and Sydney FC.

Club career

Born in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Petta's early playing career was with Feyenoord, from the age of 13 to 21, but he never became a regular in the first team during that period, having loan spells at Dordrecht'90 and RKC Waalwijk.

Petta signed for English First Division club Ipswich Town in 1996. In July 1999 he moved on a free transfer to Celtic of the Scottish Premier League.[3][4] He scored four times during his spell at Celtic, but scored no goals in the league. His first goal came against Ayr United in the Scottish League Cup in October 1999.[5] He also scored against Jeunesse Esch in 2000–01 UEFA Cup qualifying[6] and another against Ajax in 2001–02 UEFA Champions League qualifying.[7] His fourth and final Celtic goal came against Alloa Athletic in the Scottish Cup in January 2002.[8]

Petta had a number of injuries during his time at Celtic; Celtic won the domestic treble in 2001 but after picking up an injury in the 2001 Scottish League Cup Final Petta missed the 2001 Scottish Cup Final.[9][10] He also missed the 2003 UEFA Cup Final as a result of injury.[11] Due to the injuries and falling out of favour with manager Martin O'Neill[12] Petta only made one appearance for the Celtic first team between November 2002 and his departure from the club in late 2004; his sole appearance coming against MTK Hungaria in a UEFA Champions League qualifier.[13][14][15]

In January 2004, Petta returned to England, signing with Fulham of the Premier League on loan for the rest of the season.[16] Upon his return to Celtic after the loan he had a trial at Leeds United.[17] As the 2004–05 season began Petta surprisingly made some of the first team match day squads, but did not play.[18][19] Shortly afterwards he was released by Celtic and as a free agent he joined Darlington of League Two.[20] On his debut on 5 February, he scored the only goal away to Bury.[21] In June 2005 he signed a two-year deal with Bradford City in League One,[22] and again scored on his debut in a 2–0 win at Hartlepool United on 6 August.[23]

In July 2006, Petta was given permission to leave Bradford and move to Australia, where he failed a trial at Brisbane Roar before signing for Adelaide United of the A-League.[24] Petta signed for South Australian side Para Hills Knights on 11 June 2008.

He was invited to have a trial with A-League club Sydney FC in late July, and join up with his former coach at Adelaide, John Kosmina. He signed a contract with Sydney until the end of the 2008–09 season as a replacement for Michael Enfield, who was placed on the long-term injury list.[25] After the season finished, Petta was released. He signed for Heidelberg United in the Victorian Premier League for the 2009 season.

In June 2011, Petta held talks with new Alloa Athletic manager Paul Hartley, with a view to resurrecting his playing career with the Scottish Third Division side.[26] Scottish Junior club, Rossvale announced the signing of Glasgow-based Petta in February 2016.[27]

International career

Petta was called up by manager Louis van Gaal for the Netherlands national team in February 2001, ahead of a friendly against Turkey, but had to withdraw through injury.[28] He was called up again in August 2001 for a friendly against England.[29]

Personal life

In December 2002, during the Celtic team Christmas party, Petta and fellow players Joos Valgaeren, Johan Mjallby and Neil Lennon ended up in police custody after a Daily Record photographer alleged they had stolen or damaged two cameras worth £12,000. Lennon was released without charge while the other three spent the night in prison.[30]

In August 2011, Petta was cast as an extra in the film World War Z, which was being shot in Glasgow.[31]

Petta was declared bankrupt after retiring from football. He was one of several contemporary players of Celtic or their rivals Rangers to meet that fate in the 2010s.[32]

From 2017, Petta worked as a house music disc jockey, having pursued it as a hobby in the 1990s.[33]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Feyenoord 1992–93[34] Eredivisie 1 0 0 0 – – 1 0
RKC Waalwijk (loan) 1994–95[34] Eredivisie 21 1 1 1 – – 22 2
Adelaide United 2006–07[34] A-League 14 1 2 0 1 0 17 1
2007–08[34] A-League 5 0 – – 5 0
Total 19 1 2 0 1 0 22 1
Sydney FC 2008–09[34] A-League 9 0 – – 9 0
Career total 50 2 1 1 2 0 1 0 54 3

Honours

Dordrecht

Celtic:

References

  1. ^ "Bobby Petta". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Bobby Petta Midfielder, Profile & Stats | Premier League". www.premierleague.com. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Petta Off Elswehere". TWTD. 10 July 1999. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Soccer: Ipswich land new keeper Salmon". Daily Gazette. 13 July 1999. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  5. ^ "Ayr 0 Celtic 4". SportingLife. 13 October 1999. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  6. ^ "Moravcik sparks Celtic victory". BBC. 10 August 2000. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  7. ^ "Celtic impress in Amsterdam". BBC. 8 August 2001. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  8. ^ "Celtic crush ailing Alloa". BBC. 8 January 2002. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  9. ^ "Celtic clinch Cup with Larsson treble". BBC. 18 March 2001. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  10. ^ "Winger Petta eyes Cup Final berth". ESPN. 15 May 2001. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  11. ^ "Celtic's Hartson a doubt for UEFA Cup final". The Irish Times. 13 May 2003. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  12. ^ "Petta unsettled at Celtic". BBC. 25 February 2003. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  13. ^ "Sutton eases Celtic through". BBC. 27 August 2003. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  14. ^ "Games played by Bobby Petta in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  15. ^ "Games played by Bobby Petta in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  16. ^ Grahame, Ewing (17 January 2004). "Canero fee proves too rich for Celtic". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  17. ^ "Petta on trial with Leeds". BBC. 24 August 2004. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  18. ^ "Motherwell 2-3 Celtic". BBC. 30 October 2004. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  19. ^ "Celtic 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk". BBC. 2 November 2004. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  20. ^ "Transfers – January 2005". BBC Sport. 1 February 2005. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  21. ^ "Bury 0–1 Darlington". BBC. 5 February 2005. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  22. ^ "The only way is up for Petta". The Telegraph & Argus. 24 June 2005. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  23. ^ "Hartlepool 0-2 Bradford". BBC. 6 August 2005. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  24. ^ "Petta gets a second stab at Australia". Daily Mirror. 17 June 2006. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  25. ^ Sky Blues call on fresh reserves as they goes for Glory[permanent dead link]
  26. ^ Former Celtic winger Bobby Petta keen on Alloa Athletic move
  27. ^ "Former Celtic star Bobby Petta comes out of retirement to sign for Rossvale Juniors". Daily Record. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  28. ^ "Petta has a near miss for cap". Herald Scotland. 27 February 2001. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  29. ^ "Familiar look to Holland squad". The Daily Telegraph. London. 9 August 2001. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  30. ^ "When footballs Christmas parties go wrong". The Daily Telegraph. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  31. ^ Smith, Mark (25 August 2011). "Brad's a smash in Glasgow as bedlam takes over". The Herald. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  32. ^ Macdonald, Stuart (24 July 2017). "Former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson bankrupt with debts of £1.4m over unpaid tax bills". Daily Record. Retrieved 18 March 2020. Ferguson joins a list of former Old Firm stars who have gone bust in recent years including Chris Sutton, Craig Beattie, Colin Hendry, Rab Douglas, Kevin Drinkell and Bobby Petta.
  33. ^ Lyons, Beverley (18 November 2019). "Ex-Celtic star Bobby Petta hits the decks as rising DJ". Daily Record. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  34. ^ a b c d e "Bobby Petta » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 2 June 2023.

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