Stanisław Terlecki

Stanisław Andrzej Terlecki (13 November 1955 – 28 December 2017 ) was a Polish footballer.

He played in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) and North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1981 to 1990. Terlecki was a MISL Most Valuable Player recipient who scored 267 goals and recorded 179 assists in his 256-game career with the Pittsburgh Spirit, New York Cosmos, Golden Bay Earthquakes, and St. Louis Storm.

Early life Born in Warsaw, Poland, as the son of two university professors, Terlecki was a student of history, like his father, and earned a degree in the field from the University of Łódź. This made him the first team member among Polish footballers whose education was not centered exclusively in physical education.

Career Terlecki began his professional career at age 17 and played for three clubs in the Polish top division. He was first selected for the national team as a 21-year-old, but his career for Poland was cut short due to his staunch anti-communist activism off the field. Terlecki played a total of 29 games for the Poland national football team, scoring seven goals.

Terlecki achieved his greatest success with the MISL's Pittsburgh Spirit, a place where he was affectionately known as "Stan the Fran" (as in "the Franchise"), becoming the club's all-time top scorer. During the 1981–1982 season, he led the Spirit with 74 goals and 117 points in 43 games played and, along with the New York Arrows' Steve Zungul, was named the league's regular season MVP. Terlecki was also the Spirit's leading scorer during the 1982–1983 season with 65 goals and 105 points, making him only one of six players in MISL history to have back-to-back 100-point scoring seasons. Then, after spending the following season playing for the NASL's Golden Bay Earthquakes and New York Cosmos indoor and outdoor teams, Terlecki returned to the Pittsburgh Spirit in 1984–1985 and once again led the team in scoring with 39 goals and 71 points. He made the MISL All-Star Team in three of his four seasons with the Spirit (1981–1982, 1982–1983, and 1984–1985), in addition to the 1st Team MISL in 1981–1982, the 2nd Team MISL in 1982–1983, and the 2nd Team NASL in 1983–1984. Terlecki's time in Pittsburgh coincided with the height of popularity for the Major Indoor Soccer League and the Spirit, which regularly drew larger hometown crowds to the Civic Arena than the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL) before the arrival of legendary superstar Mario Lemieux in 1984.

Terlecki finished his playing career in Poland in 1993, but was never selected for a return to the national team. He retired after two seasons with Polonia Warsaw, helping the club achieve promotion to the first division for the first time in forty years.

Playing style Terlecki was known for his effort and dribbling and shooting skills, including his speedy ability to score by using a short windup to take powerful shots with either of his size-6 feet. In a February 1982 Sports Illustrated magazine article, then-Pittsburgh Spirit forward and teammate Paul Child described Terlecki's shooting prowess by stating: "His leg movement is maybe a quarter of mine. It's like a metal leaf spring when you pull it back and let it go. 'Poing!' It's that quick."

Terlecki was eventually kicked off the Poland national team after standing up for a teammate who had gotten booted for violating team rules set forth by government and federation authorities. Terlecki then became heavily involved with the anti-communist Solidarity trade union and moved to Holland. While there, John Kowalski, a fellow Polish countryman who was the then-head coach of the Pittsburgh Spirit, helped Terlecki orchestrate a move of his family to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and for him to sign with the team as a player.

Death Terlecki died in his home in Łódź on 28 December 2017, at age 62, according to a release from the Polish Football Association and multiple European news reports. Meanwhile, a Radio Poland report said Terlecki had been battling a long illness. Kowalski, who remained life-long friends with Terlecki, said he had spoken with a family member the day following the footballer's death and was told that Terlecki had died in his sleep, most likely from a heart condition or heart attack.

Individual Polish Newcomer of the Year: 1976