Włodzimierz Smolarek

Włodzimierz Wojciech Smolarek (16 July 1957 – 7 March 2012) was a Polish footballer who played as a winger or an attacking midfielder.

He played most of his 20-year professional career with Widzew Łódź and Utrecht, appearing in more than 200 official games for the former. He amassed Eredivisie totals of 212 matches and 45 goals, over the course of eight seasons.

Smolarek represented Poland in two World Cups, earning 60 caps. In 1984 and 1986, he won the Polish Footballer of the Year Award of the Piłka Nożna football weekly.

Club career Born in Aleksandrów Łódzki, Smolarek played for Widzew Łódź and Legia Warsaw in his country. He won the Ekstraklasa championship with the former side in 1981 and 1982, as well as the 1985 Polish Cup.

In 1986, aged 29, Smolarek was allowed to leave the Iron Curtain nation, starting with Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga where he won the German Cup in his second season, playing the full 90 minutes in the 1–0 win against VfL Bochum. He retired at 39 after eight years in the Netherlands, with Feyenoord and FC Utrecht, then went on to work with the first club as youth coach for nearly one decade.

International career Smolarek made his debut for the Poland national team on 12 October 1980, in a 1–2 friendly loss in Argentina. Over the next 12 years he appeared in a further 59 internationals, being selected for the squads at two FIFA World Cups: in 1982 he helped the country finish third in Spain, scoring the opener in a 5–1 first group stage win against Peru. Four years later, celebrating his 50th appearance, he netted the only goal in the group phase contest against Portugal (his 12th and penultimate) in an eventual round-of-16 exit.

In October 2009, Smolarek was hired by the Polish Football Association to oversee the national side's youth program.

Career statistics Club +Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals

1977–78 Ekstraklasa 3 0 0 0

3 0 1978–79 Ekstraklasa 4 0

4 0 1979–80 Ekstraklasa 26 9 2 0 2 0 30 9 1980–81 Ekstraklasa 25 6 2 0 6 Ekstraklasa 28 10 3 0 2 2 33 12 1982–83 Ekstraklasa 20 10 1 0 5 Ekstraklasa 23 8 2 1 3 Ekstraklasa 29 8 6 2 4 Ekstraklasa 26 10 2 1 2 0 30 11

181 61 18 4 24 5 223 70

1986–87 Bundesliga 30 4 3 1

33 5 1987–88 Bundesliga 33 9 6 2

39 11

63 13 9 3

72 16

1988–89 Eredivisie 31 10 ? 2

31+ 12 1989–90

Smolarek died of a heart attack on 7 March 2012 at the age of 54, in his hometown, Aleksandrów Łódzki.

Honours Widzew Łódź Ekstraklasa: 1980–81, 1981–82 Polish Cup: 1984–85

Eintracht Frankfurt DFB-Pokal: 1987–88 Piłka Nożna Polish Footballer of the Year: 1984, 1986