Joseph Gryzik (born October 10, 1927 in

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most populo ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

-23 April 2019) was a U.S. soccer halfback who spent his entire career with the Chicago Eagles of the

National Soccer League of Chicago The National Soccer League (Chicago), formed by the merger of the Chicago Soccer League and International Soccer Football League of Chicago in 1928, is a semi-professional U.S. soccer league which is the oldest continuously operating soccer league ...

. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Gryzik emigrated to the United States in 1949, settling in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. When he arrived, he joined the Polish American Athletic Club of the

. In 1950, the team was renamed the Chicago Eagles. Gryzik and his team mates won five

Peel Cup The Peter J. Peel Challenge Cup, better known as the Peel Cup, was an open soccer competition that crowned the Illinois state champion until it was replaced by the Illinois Governor’s Cup in 1971. History Origins Peter Peel was born in 1866 in ...

titles (1950, 1954, 1955, 1957 and 1963). Gryzik holds the Peel Cup single game scoring record with eight goals. In 1955, the Eagles went to the

National Amateur Cup The National Amateur Cup, also known as the USASA Amateur Cup, is an American soccer competition open to all amateur teams affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation through United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA). In 1923, U.S. ...

finals where they fell to the Pittsburgh Heidelberg Tornados. Gryzik retired in 1965, having spent his entire career with the Eagles, after suffering a career-ending injury. Gryzik was a member of the U.S. soccer team at the

1963 Pan American Games The 1963 Pan American Games were held from April 20 to May 5, 1963, in São Paulo, Brazil. Host city selection For the first time, two cities submitted bids to host the 1963 Pan American Games that were recognized by the Pan American Sports O ...

. He was also selected to the U.S. team which did not qualify for the 1964 Summer Olympics.

References

External links

National Soccer Hall of Fame
1927 births 2019 deaths Sportspeople from Katowice Polish footballers A.A.C. Eagles players American soccer players National Soccer League (Chicago) players National Soccer Hall of Fame members Soccer players from Chicago Polish emigrants to the United States Association football midfielders Pan American Games competitors for the United States Footballers at the 1963 Pan American Games {{US-footy-midfielder-stub