Gerard Cieślik (27 April 1927 – 3 November 2013), also known as Gienek, was a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player of
Ruch Chorzów
Ruch Chorzów () is a Polish association football club based in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. It is one of the most successful football teams in Poland: fourteen-time national champions, and three-time winners of the Polish Cup. Currently the team play ...
(1949-1955 Unia Chorzów, 1956 Unia-Ruch Chorzów). Playing for the
Poland national football team
The Poland national football team ( pl, Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej) has represented Poland in men's international tournaments football competitions since their first match in 1921. The team is controlled by the Polish Football Associ ...
, he is most noted for having scored two goals against the
Soviet Union on 20 October 1957 at
Stadion Śląski. The rather small striker (163 cm, 59 kg) was capped 45 times and scored 27 goals. He also played for Poland at the
1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...
.
Biography
Born in
Wielkie Hajduki, now a part of
Chorzów
Chorzów ( ; ; german: link=no, Königshütte ; szl, Chorzōw) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population ...
, he spent his entire career with Ruch, from July 1939 to June 1959, a tenure which included victory in the 1951 Polish Cup, and 3
Poland Master titles (1951, 1952, 1953). In total, he scored 177 goals for Ruch. He became the club's coach and scout in 1959, and having never cut ties with the team, is seen as a great example of loyalty within the Polish game.
He was drafted to
Wehrmacht 1944/1945 and transferred to
Denmark.
In 2003, after a particular group of Ruch fans controversially displayed a banner with the German name for
Upper Silesia, Cieslik expressed his opposition to the banner and urged the fans to respect the memory of the club's founders who had been patriots and participated in the
Silesian Uprisings against German rule of Silesia.
In 2006, the documentary film ''Das Alphabet von Gerard Cieślik'' was presented by Antena Górnośląska as part of the exhibition ''Oberschlesier in der deutschen und polnischen Fußballnationalmannschaft – gestern und heute. Sport und Politik in Oberschlesien im 20. Jahrhundert'' covering Upper Silesians who played for the
Poland national football team
The Poland national football team ( pl, Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej) has represented Poland in men's international tournaments football competitions since their first match in 1921. The team is controlled by the Polish Football Associ ...
and/or the
Germany national football team.
In 2006, he signed
29. Gerard Cieślik, emeryt, Chorzów
/ref> a protest against Roman Giertych.
See also
* Sport in Poland
* List of Polish football players
References
External links
*
Football Exhibition of Haus der Deutsch-Polnischen Zusammenarbeit
">Haus der Deutsch-Polnischen Zusammenarbeit">Football Exhibition of Haus der Deutsch-Polnischen Zusammenarbeit
br>Details at sport.pl
Details at IMDb.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cieslik, Gerard
1927 births
2013 deaths
Sportspeople from Chorzów
Poland international footballers
Polish footballers
Ruch Chorzów players
Ekstraklasa players
Olympic footballers of Poland
Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Polish football managers
Ruch Chorzów managers
Association football forwards