Zygmunt Józef Anczok (born 14 March 1946 in

Lubliniec Lubliniec (german: Lublinitz) is a town in southern Poland with 23,784 inhabitants (2019). It is the capital of Lubliniec County, part of Silesian Voivodeship (since 1999); previously it was in Częstochowa Voivodeship (1975–1998). Geography ...

) is a former

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

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 ...

er who played as a left-sided defender, who was an Olympic champion for

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

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. ...

. His biggest success came in 1972 when he won the Polish cup as well as appearing in several Polish international matches. His international career began in 1965 when he played against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. At the time of his arrival in the national game, a player of such speed and agility was practically unheard of in Poland, and he frequently was substituted into games to bring to his teams extra power in not just defense, but attack. Anczok was given an opportunity in 1966 to go on a tour of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, where he more than held his own against players such as

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...

. Numerous minor injuries gave him problems throughout the years to come, including in the

1974 FIFA World Cup 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 ...

. He continued to play in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

in the late seventies, before retiring as a player in 1979 and heading into management. He originally managed in Poland before health problems forced him into relinquishing his duties.

References

Footballers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Poland Olympic gold medalists for Poland Poland international footballers Polish footballers Polonia Bytom players Górnik Zabrze players Polish football managers 1946 births Living people People from Lubliniec Olympic medalists in football Skeid Fotball players Sportspeople from Silesian Voivodeship Polish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Norway Polish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Association football defenders American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Chicago Cats players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Polish expatriate sportspeople in the United States {{Poland-footy-defender-stub