Erwin Wilczek (20 November 1940 – 30 November 2021) was a Polish professional

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 is most famous for his 1960s performances in both

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning the second-most Poli ...

and the Poland national team. He started as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, after some time he was moved to

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

Career

Wilczek was born in

Wirek Wirek (german: Antonienhütte) is a district in the centre of Ruda Śląska, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. In 2006 it had an area of 5.9 km2 and was inhabited by 20,595 people. On January 12, 2006 a part of it was split off to form a ...

, a district of

Ruda Śląska Ruda Śląska (formerly ) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. It is a district in the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, a metropolis with a population of two million. It is in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica River (t ...

. He began his career with local team Wawel Wirek. In 1954 he moved to Zryw Chorzów and in 1959 to Górnik Zabrze, where he stayed until 1973. Wilczek played in 293

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 cl ...

games as well as in 101 games of various competitions (Cup of Poland, European Cups). In the Polish League he scored 96 goals, together with Gornik he was nine times champion of Poland (1959, 1961, 1963–1967, 1971, 1972), won Cup of Poland six times (1965, 1968–1972), and in 1970 reached final game of

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

. Between 1961 and 1969 he was capped 16 times for the Poland national team, scoring two goals. In 1973 Wilczek moved to France, where he played for

US Valenciennes Valenciennes Football Club (; commonly known as Valenciennes or USVA) is a French association football club based in Valenciennes. The club was founded in 1913 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. Valenciennes play ...

, becoming the top scorer of the French Second Division. After retiring he became scout, then B coach and finally manager of Valenciennes. In the 1980s he worked in Africa, among others for the team

AS Sogara AS Sogara is a Gabonese football club based in Port-Gentil Port-Gentil () or Mandji is the second-largest city of Gabon, and it is a leading seaport. It is the center of Gabon's petroleum and timber industries. The city is located on a delta i ...

from Gabon.Footballdatabase
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References

1940 births 2021 deaths People from the Province of Upper Silesia Footballers from Ruda Śląska Polish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Poland men's international footballers Górnik Zabrze players Valenciennes FC players Ekstraklasa players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Polish football managers Valenciennes FC managers Polish expatriate men's footballers Polish expatriate football managers Polish expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate football managers in France Expatriate football managers in Gabon {{poland-footy-forward-stub