Igor Sypniewski

Igor Sypniewski (10 November 1974 – 4 November 2022) was a Polish professional footballer who played as a forward.

Born and raised in Łódź, he was believed to be one of the greatest prospects of European football, however his struggle with alcohol, gambling and mental health problems regarded as a phenomenal player in both Greece and Sweden aside from his native country, his career highlight is considered to be the 2000–01 and 2001–2002 seasons with leading Greek club Panathinaikos for whom he scored important Champions League goals in Europe.

Career Early life and career Born in Łódź on 10 November 1974, whilst hanging around the Koziny area where he would go on to frequent during his life.

He had behavioural problems early on, frequently getting into fights with players from other neighbourhoods.

Unknown outside Poland, he was successful at Kavala and it was soon evident that a bigger club would be after him. Sypniewski later said that United player David Beckham, whom he nutmegged in the game, against New Zealand and Cameroon respectively.

Decline Following his spell in Greece, Sypniewski had a short stint with top division side RKS Radomsko, scoring four goals in nine league games, before signing with Wisła Kraków in 2002, who at the time completely dominated Polish football. but in the end just several weeks after his initial transfer he was released by the club. He scored nine goals in 13 games during the spring in the 2003 Allsvenskan season, which rendered him a reputation as a fearsome striker in the series. He also snubbed international invitations from the Poland national team to focus on his club performances.

Along with Patrik Andersson and Afonso Alves, Sypniewski joined the Malmö team that had come close to winning the championship in successive years, and he was expected to play alongside Niklas Skoog, with Alves and central midfielder Tobias Grahn supplying the necessary passes. Following some unexpected problems in pre-season, while not wanting to practice properly on Malmö's camp in La Manga Club, Sypniewski hit back and scored twice in a 5–1 whitewash for Malmö at home against Örebro SK in front of over 20 thousand supporters. Following that game, Sypniewski started struggling with his form and temper, eventually going to such lengths that Malmö terminated his three-year contract after only six months. When Sypniewski departed, Afonso Alves moved up to a striking position, where he fired Malmö to the championship. Sypniewski was not given a medal due to not appearing in a sufficient number of games. Following a promising start with several goals and with rumours surfacing about interest from higher levels, Sypniewski managed to get into trouble once more, committing drunk driving in Malmö; he was sacked from Bunkeflo as a result and was forced to move back to Poland.

Sypniewski made several attempts at getting back into football, but due to his addiction, he trialled with several clubs other than ŁKS, mostly local lower league teams until he eventually retired altogether. He was also later reported by a local woman to the police in Łódź who claimed that unprovoked, he was verbally abusive towards her and threw empty bottles at her.

Sypniewski's semi-autobiography was published in November 2014 with the help of two local Łódź journalists, Żelisław Żyżyński and Paweł Hochstim. He also had made a suicide attempt and suffered a stroke.

Death According to Polish media, Sypniewski died overnight in the hospital on 4 November 2022, six days before his 48th birthday.

Honours Wisła Kraków Polish Cup: 2001–02

Malmö FF Allsvenskan: 2004