Zygfryd Ludwik Szołtysik (born 24 October 1942) is a Polish former 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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, spending most of his career with

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish association football, football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning ...

. He carried the nickname 'Zyga' or 'Mały', contributed by his small posture. Szołtysik emerged as football player in a Polish club Zryw Chorzów notorious, at that time, for an excellent work with young players. He was soon visited by representatives of

and contracted to the club, in 1962. Having spent 16 years in Zabrze, the time interrupted merely for a season in

Valenciennes FC Valenciennes Football Club (; commonly known as Valenciennes, VA or VAFC) is a French professional football club based in Valenciennes. The club was founded in 1914 and currently play in Championnat National, the third tier of French footbal ...

, he accounted for 395 matches in Polish league, which makes him the club leader of that classification. The total number of games for Górnik's colors exceeds 500 matches. He was a member of a team which claimed seven titles in the Polish

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

(1963–1967, 1971, 1972), six victories in the

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

, and the only European final ever achieved by a Polish football club (1970). He boasts of 124 goals for

including 91 in the league. He made his debut to the national team in 1963 in the play against Norway (along with

Włodzimierz Lubański Włodzimierz 'Włodek' Leonard Lubański (Polish pronunciation: ; born 28 February 1947 in Gliwice-Sośnica) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the second-highest all-time goal scorer for the Poland na ...

), won 9–0, which had proved to be the highest victory of Poland for almost half century. He belongs to the very narrow group that scored two goals in the first match for Poland. Two years before he had won second place in the European Youth Championships. But the greatest achievements were yet to come. The Polish football team qualified to Olympic Games in 1972. In a day following the tragic events of Munich massacre, Poland played a decisive match against Soviet Union. While the Soviet team was prevailing over Poland, the team coach,

Kazimierz Górski Kazimierz Klaudiusz Górski (2 March 1921 – 23 May 2006) was a Polish professional football manager. He was also a football player, capped once for Poland. Under his tenure, Poland finished third at the 1974 FIFA World Cup and won two Olympic ...

decided upon bringing Szołtysik to the game. He quickly turned the tide into the favor of Poland, scoring the decisive goal that gave Poland victory 2-1. After defeating Hungary in the final, Poland (and Szołtysik as member of the team) secured the gold medal. He ended up international career the same year with the final standings of 46 games and 10 goals. He was awarded the prize "Złote Buty" (Gold Shoes) by newspaper 'Sport' in 1969. He left Poland for Canada in 1978, he returned and played in Górnik Knurów for six years, and eventually moved to Germany where he ended football career in 1990.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Górnik Zabrze *

: 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1970–71, 1971–72 *

: 1964–65, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72 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 bet ...

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, ...

Poland U18 *

UEFA European Under-18 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-19, is an annual football competition, contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain is the most successful team in this competit ...

runner-up:

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Szoltysik, Zygfryd 1942 births Living people People from Tarnowskie Góry County Footballers from Silesian Voivodeship Men's association football midfielders Polish men's footballers Poland men's youth international footballers Poland men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Poland Footballers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Poland Olympic medalists in football Górnik Zabrze players Valenciennes FC players Toronto Falcons (1975–1982) players Concordia Knurów players Ekstraklasa players Ligue 2 players Canadian National Soccer League players Polish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Polish expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Polish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany Polish expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Polish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta 20th-century Polish sportsmen