During the 1952–53 season Pettersson debuted at age 17 for his hometown team Surahammars IF in Division 1, the highest level of ice hockey in Sweden at the time.

Surahammar were relegated to Division 2 for the 1954–55 season, where Pettersson set a new club record as he scored 23 goals in seven games.

[5] In 1955 Pettersson left Surahammar as he was enlisted to do conscript service in the Swedish Navy, stationed in Stockholm's archipelago.

[6] Pettersson played for Sweden in all thirteen international championships between 1955 and 1967, totaling 252 games for the national team.

[4][7] He made his debut for Juniorkronorna in February 1954,[4] and for Tre Kronor when they played two games against Norway in Stockholm on 26 and 27 November 1954.

[8] His feat was long considered an unbreakable record, but he was surpassed by Thomas Rundqvist in 1993 and later by Jonas Bergqvist and Jörgen Jönsson.

[11] Pettersson had a two-year stint with IFK Göteborg in Allsvenskan,[12] the top-level football league in Sweden.