Erwin Wilczek

Erwin Wilczek (20 November 1940 – 30 November 2021) was a Polish professional footballer who is most famous for his 1960s performances in both Górnik Zabrze and the Poland national team. He started as a forward, after some time he was moved to midfield.^[1]

Erwin Wilczek

Personal information
Full name	Erwin Feliks Wilczek
Date of birth	(1940-11-20)20 November 1940
Place of birth	Antonienhütte, Silesia, Prussia, Germany (now Wirek, Poland)
Date of death	30 November 2021(2021-11-30) (aged 81)
Position(s)	Midfielder, forward
Youth career
1950–1954	Wawel Wirek
1954–1958	Zryw Chorzów
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1959–1972	Górnik Zabrze
1973–1975	Valenciennes	70	(43)
International career
1961–1969	Poland	16	(2)
Managerial career
1975–1977	Valenciennes (scout)
1977–1979	Valenciennes II
1979–1982	Valenciennes
1983–1987	AS Sogara
1989–1991	AS Sogara
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Wilczek was born in Wirek, a district of Ruda Śląska. He began his career with local team Wawel Wirek. In 1954 he moved to Zryw Chorzów and in 1959 to Górnik Zabrze, where he stayed until 1973. Wilczek played in 293 Ekstraklasa games as well as in 101 games of various competitions (Cup of Poland, European Cups). In the Polish League he scored 96 goals, together with Gornik he was nine times champion of Poland (1959, 1961, 1963–1967, 1971, 1972), won Cup of Poland six times (1965, 1968–1972), and in 1970 reached final game of UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

Between 1961 and 1969 he was capped 16 times for the Poland national team, scoring two goals.^[2] In 1973 Wilczek moved to France, where he played for US Valenciennes, becoming the top scorer of the French Second Division.

After retiring he became scout, then B coach and finally manager of Valenciennes. In the 1980s he worked in Africa, among others for the team AS Sogara from Gabon.^[3]

References

1. Nie żyje Erwin Wilczek, piłkarz złotej ery Górnika Zabrze. Miał 81 lat (in Polish)
2. . Archived from the original on 6 March 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
3. Footballdatabase

Barreaud, Marc (1998). Dictionnaire des footballeurs étrangers du championnat professionnel français (1932-1997). L'Harmattan, Paris. ISBN 2-7384-6608-7.