Kazimierz Klaudiusz Górski (2 March 1921 – 23 May 2006) was a Polish professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

. He was also a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player, capped once for Poland. Under his tenure, Poland finished third at the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, 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 ...

and won two

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 bet ...

medals; gold in

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, ...

and silver in

1976 Events January * January 2 – 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 18 – Full diplomatic ...

. He is often regarded as the best Polish football manager of all time.

Playing career

Górski was born in

Lwów Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

(nowadays

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, Ukraine). He played as a forward in several Polish football teams: RKS Lwów, Spartak Lviv, Dynamo Lviv,

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

. His football nickname was "Sarenka" ("Fawn"). His successful career was interrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and it took until 1948 before he participated in his only international match, a game between Poland and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

(8–0 loss).

Coaching career

Club in Poland

Górski graduated in football training from the Higher School of Physical Education in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

(Wyższa Szkoła Wychowania Fizycznego, today the Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego w Krakowie) and the Physical Education Academy in Wrocław (Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego we Wrocławiu) in 1980. He was the coach of

(three times), Marymont Warszawa (his first independent training job started there in 1954), Gwardia Warszawa, Lublinianka Lublin, and

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, boxing, and in the past ice hockey, ...

Poland national team

Górski started as the coach of the Poland national junior team from 1956 to 1966, then the Polish U-23 national team from 1966 to 1970, and finally the first

Poland national football team The Poland national football team () represents Poland in men's international Association football, football competitions since their first match in 1921. It is governed by the Polish Football Association (PZPN), the governing body for football ...

from 1970 to 1976. His first international match with the team was held on 5 May 1971 in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. His major successes were winning the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in the 1972 Olympic Games in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

; the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

(for third place) in the

1974 World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, 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 ...

held in Germany; and another silver medal for second place in the

1976 Olympic Games 1976 Olympics refers to both: *The 1976 Winter Olympics, which were originally to be held in Denver, United States, but relocated to Innsbruck, Austria *The 1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of t ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

(the second of Poland's three Olympic medals in football). Kazimierz Górski was the coach of the Poland national team for 73 matches (with 45 wins). Poland qualified for the 1974 World Cup by defeating

1966 World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the final to win their first ever ...

winners

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at home and holding them to a draw at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

Club in Greece

After resigning his position with the Polish national team, Górski went to Greece and was a successful coach with Panathinaikos, Kastoria FC,

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

and Ethnikos Piraeus.

PZPN activist

From 1976 Kazimierz Górski was an honorary member of the Polish Football Union (Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej, PZPN). When he retired from coaching, he became an activist for PZPN in 1986. From 1987 he was a vice-president and from 1991 to 1995 was the president of PZPN. From 3 July 1995 he was the honorary president of PZPN. He died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

following a long illness on 23 May 2006, aged 85, in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Honours

Poland *

gold medal:

* Olympic silver medal:

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

third place:

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; ...

Panathinaikos *

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

: 1976–77 *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: 1976–77 Olympiacos * Super League Greece: 1979–80, 1980–81, 1982–83 * Greek Cup: 1980–81 Awards and recognition *

FIFA Order of Merit The FIFA Order of Merit is the highest honour awarded by FIFA. The award is presented at the annual FIFA congress. It is normally awarded to people who are considered to have made a significant contribution to :association football. At FIFA's ce ...

(2006, posthumously) * Order of Merit in Ruby – UEFA award (2006, posthumously) * Gold Medal of Merit – FIFA award (2001) * Commander's Cross of

Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievements in the fields of education, science, sport, culture, ...

(1996) * Commander's with Star of Polonia Restituta (2006) * Grand Cross of Polonia Restituta (2006, posthumous) * Honorary citizen of

(2003), Plock (2004) and

Lubaczów Lubaczów ( ''Liubachiv'') is a town in southeastern Poland, close to the border with Ukraine, with 12,567 inhabitants Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, it is the capital of Lubaczów County and is located northeast of Przemyśl. Othe ...

* Doctor Honoris Causa of the

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

Academy of Physical Education and Sport (Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego i Sportu im. Jędrzeja Śniadeckiego) (24 November 2003) * Super Victor (24 April 2006)

Other recognition

* A School Sports Championships in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

was named after him. * The

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...

is named after him and has a statue honouring him outside it. * The Płock Municipal Stadium is also named after him.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gorski, Kazimierz 1921 births 2006 deaths Deaths from cancer in Poland Footballers from Lviv People from Lwów Voivodeship Men's association football forwards Polish men's footballers Poland men's international footballers FC Dynamo Lviv players Legia Warsaw players Ekstraklasa players Polish football managers 1974 FIFA World Cup managers Legia Warsaw non-playing staff Legia Warsaw managers Gwardia Warsaw managers Poland national football team managers ŁKS Łódź managers Panathinaikos F.C. managers Kastoria F.C. managers Olympiacos F.C. managers Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. managers Ekstraklasa managers Super League Greece managers Polish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Greece Polish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Grand Crosses of the Order of Polonia Restituta 20th-century Polish sportsmen