Poul Petersen started his career as an attacker, and was one of legendary centre forward Carl "Skoma'r" Hansen's best students.

He made his senior debut for Akademisk Boldklub (AB) in the inside forward position, but eventually settled in the defense as a full-back.

[4] Poul Petersen made his debut for the Danish national team in June 1946, and quickly established himself in the starting line-up.

He was a part of the Danish team at the tournament, but despite declaring himself fit to play, he was left out of the starting line-up for the entire competition.

Unfortunately for Petersen, most of the 1960 silver medalists were now banned from the amateur-only national team for having signed professional contracts, and Danish football didn't have the amateur players to follow up on the success.