Kazimierz Deyna (; 23 October 1947 – 1 September 1989)
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 ...
who played as an
attacking midfielder
A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...
in the
playmaker
In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...
role and was one of the most highly regarded players of his generation, due to his excellent vision.
Early life
Deyna was born in
Starogard Gdański
Starogard Gdański (; until 1950: ''Starogard''; csb, Starogarda; formerly german: Preußisch Stargard) is a city in Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland with 48,328 inhabitants (2004).
Starogard is the capital of Starogard County. It is ...
to Franciszek (1911–1976) – a
dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...
worker, and Jadwiga (1917–1981) – a
housewife
A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...
. He had six sisters and two brothers – Henryk and Franciszek, who also were footballers; Henryk played for Włókniarz Starogard Gdański, while Franciszek was a Starogardzki KS player.
Club career
Legia Warsaw
![Kazimierz Deyna Pomnik Łazienkowska](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Kazimierz_Deyna_Pomnik_%C5%81azienkowska.JPG)
Deyna began playing youth football in 1958 at his local club Włókniarz Starogard Gdański. In 1966 he made one appearance for
ŁKS Łódź
ŁKS Łódź (''Łódzki Klub Sportowy Łódź''; ) is a Polish sports club based in Łódź. They are best known for their football club but are represented in many sports such as basketball, volleyball, tennis, athletics and in the past ice ...
(on 8 October in a 0–0 draw against
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 ...
).
But he was quickly snapped up by
Legia Warsaw. In communist Poland each team had its own "sponsor". The Warsaw club was much more powerful as it was the military club. Moreover, it was the favourite club of the authorities. Deyna was called up into the army and in this way he had to play for
Legia Warsaw. He made a name for himself during his first season, becoming one of Legia's most important players.
In 1969 and 1970 his team won the Polish Championship.
After his performances at the 1974 World Cup, European top teams like
AS Saint-Étienne
Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire (), commonly known as A.S.S.E. () or simply Saint-Étienne, is a professional football club based in Saint-Étienne in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. The club was founded in 1933 and competes in ...
,
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...
,
Inter Milan
Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...
,
AS Monaco
Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Frenc ...
,
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
and
Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
tried to acquire his services but he was unable to join, since the communist regime in Poland prevented him from moving to Western Europe. Real Madrid was so determined to acquire Deyna that they sent a shirt to Warsaw with his name and number "14".
Manchester City
![Kazimierz deyna in sockers](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Kazimierz_deyna_in_sockers.jpg)
Soon afterwards Deyna was transferred to English club
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
, making his debut in November 1978,
and being one of the first wave of overseas players to play in the English league.
His time in England was marred by a series of injuries, and he left in January 1981, shortly after Manchester City made a managerial change, having made only 43 appearances in all competitions. However, he was regarded as an exceptionally gifted playmaker and became a cult figure with City fans.
Deyna scored thirteen goals in his time with the club. Furthermore, his seven goals in the last eight games of the 1978–79 season were crucial for Manchester City in their relegation battle.
San Diego Sockers
Deyna appeared in the 1981 film ''
Escape to Victory
''Escape to Victory'' (stylized as ''Victory'') is a 1981 American-British-Italian sports war film directed by John Huston and starring Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow and Pelé. The film is about Allied prisoners of wa ...
'' as Paul Wolcheck.
In the same year, he emigrated to the United States, where he signed with the
San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to:
*San Diego Sockers (1978–1996)
The San Diego Sockers were a soccer and indoor soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team played in the indoor and outdoor editions of the North American Soccer League ( ...
of the
North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to:
*North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league
*North American Soccer League (2011–2017)
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...
in January 1981. During the next seven years, he played four NASL outdoor seasons, one NASL indoor season and five
Major Indoor Soccer League seasons with the Sockers, winning five championships. The Sockers released him in June 1987. He was a 1983 NASL Second Team All Star.
International career
On 24 April 1968, Deyna made his debut for the
Poland national team in a match against
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
in
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 won the gold medal in the
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
,
and the bronze in
Football World Cup 1974
The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...
, after a match against
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
In 1972, he was also the
Top Goalscorer of the Olympic Games, with a total of nine goals.
In
1976 Summer Olympics
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...
his team yet again reached the finals and won the silver medal.
Additionally, he was ranked third in the
European Footballer of the Year
The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine '' France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (f ...
for 1974, behind
Johan Cruyff
Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...
and
Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Anton Beckenbauer (, ; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed ''Der Kaiser'' ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the fi ...
.
Deyna played for Poland on 97 (84 after the deduction of Olympic Football Tournament competition games
) occasions, scoring 41 goals, and often captained the side. He had the ability to score from unusual positions, for example directly from a corner. Because of his achievements and talents, he was chosen ''Football Player of the Year'' several times by Polish fans. In 1978, he captained Poland at the
Football World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...
in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, where the team reached the second phase.
Death
![Kazimierz Deyna grób](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Kazimierz_Deyna_gr%C3%B3b.JPG)
Deyna died in a car accident in
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
, aged 41. In 1994, he was chosen by the Polish Football Association (PZPN) and the readers of all Polish sports-related newspapers as the Greatest Polish Football Player of All Time. His number 10 is retired by
Legia Warsaw and the Sockers. In June 2012 Kazimierz Deyna's remains were exhumed and reburied in Warsaw's
Powązki Military Cemetery
Powązki Military Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Wojskowy na Powązkach) is an old military cemetery located in the Żoliborz district, western part of Warsaw, Poland. The cemetery is often confused with the older Powązki Cemetery, known colloquial ...
.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Deyna goal.''
Honours
Legia Warsaw
*
Polish Championship:
1968–69,
1969–70
*
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. ...
: 1966, 1973
Poland
*
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
gold medal:
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
*Olympic silver medal:
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
*
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
bronze medal:
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
Individual
*
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
top scorer: 1972
*
Polish Footballer of the Year: 1973, 1974
*
Ballon d'Or
The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine ''France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (fo ...
: Third place 1974
*
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team
At the end of each FIFA World Cup final tournament, several awards are presented to the players and teams who have distinguished themselves in various aspects of the game.
Awards
*There are currently five post-tournament awards from the FIFA ...
: 1974
Notes
References
External links
Kazimierz Deyna Official Website
*
*
*
*
NASL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deyna, Kazimierz
1947 births
1989 deaths
People from Starogard Gdański
Sportspeople from Pomeranian Voivodeship
Association football midfielders
Footballers at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Footballers at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Ekstraklasa players
Legia Warsaw players
ŁKS Łódź players
Manchester City F.C. players
English Football League players
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players
San Diego Sockers (NASL) players
Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players
San Diego Sockers (original MISL) players
Olympic footballers of Poland
Olympic gold medalists for Poland
Olympic silver medalists for Poland
Poland international footballers
Polish footballers
Road incident deaths in California
1974 FIFA World Cup players
1978 FIFA World Cup players
Polish expatriate footballers
Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1944–1989)
Olympic medalists in football
Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Polish emigrants to the United States