The Vladimir Petrovic Saga

For those who can remember Petrovic's story was always one of what might have been.

In the summer of 1982 Terry Neill did a most un Terry Neill thing and he spent big. Very big. In came experienced England striker Tony Woodcock, promising Lee Chapman and a real life foreigner in Red Star Belgrade's Petrovic.

As a club we hadn't really dabbled in the foreign market while that lot up the road had gone all Argentinan four years earlier. Then came Petrovic. These were the days of the cold war and Yugoslavia was considered the least communist of the European nations and one thing that set them apart, though I am sure it was never discussed at SALT talks, was their allowing players to actually play abroad when they reached the age of 28. Or something like that.

Petrovic signed ahead of the season but there were soon delays and come the first day of the season chairman Peter Hill Wood, yep same guy, was disappointed, saying 'we are very disappointed with the unexpected hitch' and the club were 'trying very hard to get agreement to him coming before January.'

In the same programme, against Norwich, Neill explains that 'there is a meeting of the Executive of the Yugoslavia Football Association on 15 September when our appeal will be held.'

By the time of the Notts County game three days after the FA meeting, Neill was saying he wasn't confident; back then programmes were printed several days before the game.Ironically Notts County had a Yugoslavian international in their ranks: Raddy Avramovic who later went on to coach Singapore with some success.

By the time of the UEFA Cup tie with Spartak Moscow Neill revealed the all important meeting had in fact been cancelled!

Vlad's tale then disappeared for a while before resurfacing when Neill, against Everton in the middle of November all but admitted defeat saying that it was unlikely he could be released until January by which time the club may no longer want him.

On New Days Day we entertained Swansea City and an obviously frustrated fan wrote into the letters page saying he hoped the club could eventually sign him. The reply was pessimistic; the complicated situation at the moment is such that Petrovic is unlikely to come to Arsenal.'

But things had happened. Before the Tottenham game on 27 December a series of phone calls between London and Belgrade had got things moving and despite the denial in the Swansea programme Petrovic actually made his debut that day and first appeared on the back page against Stoke wearing the number nine shirt.

Those who were there will remember his class that day and the sublime free kick he scored at the Clock End.

Of course the Swansea game was not his first at Highbury as the back page above shows. In 1978/79 he played for Red Star Belgrade in the UEFA Cup!