Gerard Cieślik (27 April 1927 – 3 November 2013), also known as Gienek, 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 lea ...

who played as a striker. Playing for the Poland national team, he is most noted for having scored two goals against the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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 (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

Biography

Born in Hajduki Wielkie, now a part of

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; ) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Metropolis GZM – a metropolis with a population of 2 million. It is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Rawa ...

, he spent his entire career with Ruch, from July 1939 to June 1959, a tenure which included victory in the 1951 Polish Cup, and three

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

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 and served in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

from 1944 to 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 Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

, 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 The Silesian Uprisings (; ; ) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic at the time. Ethnic Polish and Polish-Silesian insurrectionists, seeking to have the area tran ...

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 team and/or the Germany national team. In 2006, he signed a protest against the politician

Roman Giertych Roman Jacek Giertych (; born 27 February 1971) is a Polish political figure and advocate. Giertych served in a PiS-led government as Deputy Prime Minister of Poland and Minister of National Education from May 2006 to August 2007. He was a mem ...

.29. Gerard Cieślik, emeryt, Chorzów
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Career statistics

International

Honours

Ruch Chorzów *

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

: 1951 Individual * Ekstraklasa top scorer: 1952, 1953 *

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

: 1999

References

External links