Dariusz Raczyński (30 May 1962 – 12 October 2022) was a Polish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He is best known for winning the

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...

and

Polish Super Cup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2021, the Polish Super Cup has been pl ...

in 1983 with his

hometown Hometown, HomeTown, or Home Town may refer to: *A hometown, the town where someone lives or the town that they come from, typically their place of birth. *In developing nations particularly: native place, village of origin in newly urbanized soci ...

club

Lechia Gdańsk Lechia Gdańsk () is a Polish football club based in Gdańsk. The club was founded in 1945 by people expelled from Lwów, who were supporters of Poland's oldest football team Lechia Lwów, founded in 1903. The club's name comes from Lechia, a ...

, their first major trophies and greatest success to date.

Career

Raczyński was born in

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

on 30 May 1962. He made his footballing debut with

on 16 March 1980 playing against PKS Odra Wrocław. In his first three seasons he made 48 appearances and scored 5 goals in the

II liga II liga (Druga Liga, ), currently named eWinner II liga due to sponsorship reasons by eWinner, is a Polish football league that sits at the third tier of the Polish football league system. Until the end of the 2007–08 season ''II Liga'' referr ...

, with Lechia suffering relegation to the third tier at the end of his third season. Despite being relegated it was a time which would become an historic period for the club. The 1982–83 season saw Lechia winning the

III liga III liga (Trzecia liga) is a Polish football league that sits in the fourth tier of the Polish football league system. Until the end of the 2007–08 season, III liga referred to a league at the third tier (now called II liga) but this was ch ...

with Raczyński making 13 appearances and scored 2 league goals as Lechia won the division and playing in five games of Lechia's winning

run, beating

Piast Gliwice Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice () is a Polish football club based in Gliwice. In the 2018–19 season, Piast won its first Polish championship. As of 2022–23, it competes in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division. History The club wa ...

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

2–1. The following season Lechia won the

final by beating the Polish champions

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation' ...

1–0, with Raczyński starting the game. He also played in a 3–2 home defeat against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

in a European competition due to the previous season's cup win. Lechia also won promotion to the top division that season by winning the

for the 1983–84 season. That season would prove to be his last playing for Lechia, having made his final appearance for the club on 8 June 1985 against

GKS Katowice GKS Katowice (; GKS stands for , "Miners Sporting Club") is a Polish football club based in Katowice, Poland. The club currently plays in the I liga, after having won promotion in 2021. History In 1963 in Katowice a special organizational ...

. In total for Lechia he made 111 appearances and scored 9 in all competitions. Raczyński then played a further two seasons for

Igloopol Dębica LKS Igloopol Dębica () is a Polish sports club from Dębica, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland. History LKS Igloopol was formed by the Agro-Industrial Combine "Igloopol" in 1978 in Dębica. The club rose through the league pyramid very quickl ...

and then one and a half for

Arka Gdynia Morski Związkowy Klub Sportowy Arka Gdynia () is a Polish professional football club, based in Gdynia, Poland, that plays in the Polish I liga. The club was founded as Klub Sportowy Gdynia in 1929. History The history of Arka dates back to ...

, with whom he won promotion to the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

in 1988 before retiring six months later.

Death

Raczyński died in his hometown

after a serious illness on 12 October 2022, at the age of 60.

Honours

Lechia Gdańsk *

: 1982–83 *

: 1983 * II liga (western group): 1983–84 * III liga (group II): 1982–83 Arka Gdynia * III liga (group II): 1987–88

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Raczynski, Dariusz 1962 births 2022 deaths Footballers from Gdańsk Men's association football midfielders Polish men's footballers Lechia Gdańsk players Igloopol Dębica players Arka Gdynia players Ekstraklasa players I liga players II liga players