Gerard Cieślik (27 April 1927 – 3 November 2013), also known as Gienek, was a football player of Ruch Chorzów (1949-1955 Unia Chorzów, 1956 Unia-Ruch Chorzów). Playing for the Poland national football team, he is most noted for having scored two goals against the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

on 20 October 1957 at

Stadion Śląski The Stadion Śląski ( en, Silesian Stadium) is a sport stadium located on the premises of Silesian Park in Chorzów, Poland. The stadium has a fully covered capacity of 55,211, after a recent refurbishment completed in October 2017. The stadium ...

. 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 Wielkie is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Abramów, within Lubartów County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It lies approximately west of Abramów, Lubartów County, Abramów, west of Lubartów, and north-west of the ...

, now a part of Chorzów, 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 The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

1944/1945 and transferred to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. In 2003, after a particular group of Ruch fans controversially displayed a banner with the German name for

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

, 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 (german: Aufstände in Oberschlesien, Polenaufstände, links=no; pl, Powstania śląskie, links=no) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic ...

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 and/or the

Germany national football team The Germany national football team (german: link=no, Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) represents Germany in men's international football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association (''Deuts ...

. In 2006, he signed29. Gerard Cieślik, emeryt, Chorzów
/ref> a protest against

Roman Giertych Roman Jacek Giertych (; born 27 February 1971 in Śrem, Poland) is a Polish politician and lawyer; he was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education until August 2007. He was a member of the Sejm (the lower house of the Polish parliament) f ...

References

External links

*
Football_Exhibition_of_Haus_der_Deutsch-Polnischen_Zusammenarbeit
.html" ;"title="Haus der Deutsch-Polnischen Zusammenarbeit">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

Biography

See also

References

External links