Dziekanowski, Dariusz

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Personal

Fullname: Dariusz Dziekanowski
aka: Jacki, Jackinowski, the Disco King
Born: 30 September 1962
Birthplace: Warsaw, Poland
Signed: 14 July 1989 (from Legia Warsaw)
Left: 14 Jan 1992 (£250k to Bristol City)
Position: Centre-Forward
Debut: Hearts 1-3 Celtic, League, 12 Aug 1989
Internationals: Poland
International Caps: 63
International Goals: 20

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Biog

“Came in like a lion, went out like a lamb” Not The View fanzine

Dariusz Dziekanowski was an immensely talented striker who sadly lacked the commitment to make the most of his considerable talents. One report claims that he was ranked by ‘World Soccer‘ magazine at one time as the 8th best player in the world! Having lost out on bringing back Mo Johnston back to Celtic, Jacki was seen as being the one to make the support forget that failure. It didn’t work.

A Polish international signed for £600,000 in July 1989 from Legia Warsaw the man who would be known to Hoops fans simply as ‘Jacki’ was a top class forward who on his day was as good as any striker in Britain.

Sadly, in Glasgow, those days were all too infrequent as disco-loving Jacki seemed more bothered about maintaining his reputation as a playboy than as a top centre-forward. His biggest weakness was living the high-life too much. Partying and clubbing was the order of the day, and staying in for rest and preparation was anathema to him, although in later years he was a little more sanguine about his reputation:

“Okay, I wasn’t a priest, but I was not the devil!”

After producing some moments of genuine magic during pre-season games, Jacki was an instant idol of the Jungle, and the Hoops faithful licked their lips at the prospect of the Pole turning on the style against defences in Scotland. Like past greats such as Tully and Nicholas, Jacki played with a confident swagger and a sense of showmanship which the Parkhead crowd adored.

Roy Aitken said of him “His ball control is phenomenal, he’s strong, he’s desperate to do well for the club… He’s a natural entertainer.” Paul Elliott remarked that he was awestruck by him. High praise indeed but shame it wasn’t to be what Jacki was remembered for most.

His competitive debut came in a 3-1 league victory at Hearts. After netting in the League Cup against Dumbarton and Queen of the South his first league goal came on August 26th in a 1-1 draw with Rangers at Celtic Park. That goal was a rather scrappy and lucky affair but when it’s against Rangers no one really cares.

Just over a month later, Jacki produced a startling display which would be talked about for years later. In a devastating demonstration of forward play he hit four goals in a dramatic 5-4 European Cup Winners Cup win against Partizan Belgrade at Parkhead. In typical the Celtic fashion of the time, a late goal by the visitors meant that they and not Jacki & Celtic would be going through to the next round on away goals. After this stellar performance it was a cruel blow. However, it is thought that he could have laid on another cert, but went for a personal five. He was later lambasted in the changing room despite having scored four goals, but maybe others were more culpable for the defeat than Jacki.

Jacki never came close to hitting those heights again. There were flashes of brilliance but these were rare moments among performances which were all too typically void of effort and interest. An undoubted maverick his self-indulgent nature when in possession of the ball would have been forgiven in much more gifted Celtic teams. But in a desperate Celtic side which was at its poorest since probably around the 1950s such antics were rightly viewed as selfish. His return in terms of goals was in retrospect quite poor, a return of around one in five in the league was woeful. His reputation for some seems to have been based alone on that cracking haul from the Partizan Belgrade match which was papering over the cracks.

He has become ranked as one of the most wasted talents ever at Celtic. He had almost everything: two great feet, perfect first touch, vision and so on. The only things he lacked were ability in the air and any kind of heart or commitment. The latter was the killer blow, his head was the first to drop in a pressure situation, Paul McStay having to drag him by the neck to take a penalty in the 1990 Scottish Cup final shoot out.

The Celtic fans have always loved a wayward genius with a bit of gallus and they – and manager Billy McNeill for that matter – did not lose faith completely with Jacki although the frustrations were obvious. Possibly this love of the maverick is what provided Jacki with an easy excuse to get away with what he did, but he was no Nicholas or McAvennie.

But while Billy McNeill was prepared to make some allowances for Jacki, his successor as manager Liam Brady – a supreme football talent in his playing days but someone also well versed in the disciplined nature of the Italian game – had little time for a player who refused to mix graft with craft. On the other hand, Brady was not the wisest manager when it came to picking players especially forwards (Tommy Coyne was another able goal scorer at Celtic Park who suffered under Brady). Brady only played Jacki once (and even then he was subbed on with 12 minutes to go). So circumstances didn’t help Jacki but he was a part of exacerbating the problems at the club rather than providing a solution.

Consequently his days at Parkhead were numbered. In 1992, Jacki – in a £250,000 deal – joined Bristol City where he stayed for a season before returning to Poland.

His stay in the south west of England may have been brief but it was enough time for him to firmly establish himself as an all-time Ashton Gate favourite (not too difficult an achievement). On his Match of the Day TV debut – an FA Cup game the BBC covered with Tony Gubba as the commentator – at one point he so highly impressed Tony Gubba that he questioned just how Celtic could possibly have let this guy go, but Celtic fans’ thoughts were “Give it another two games“. Right enough Jacki’s form pretty much vanished soon after.

The renowned English TV commentator John Motson once described his skills as, ‘…like something from another planet‘ but the problem was that Jacki had left his drive behind back there too.

In total, Jacki had played 66 games for Celtic and scored 22 goals. For all his faults, his ability was high and he is remembered fondly as a character but generally most were frustrated by his lack of application to the game whilst with Celtic.

‘Not The View‘ fanzine summed up his time at Celtic well: “Came in like a lion, went out like a lamb“.

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Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

none (the barren years)

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Pictures

• Player Pics

KDS

• Memories of Jackinowski (2013)

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Anecdotes

Legia Warsaw usually wore adidas in the 1980s and 1990s but when they won the 1990 Polish Cup final they were wearing Umbro kit gifted to them by Celtic as part of the transfer deal for Dariusz ‘Jackie’ Dziekanowski and Darius Wdowczyk. Legia won the 1990 Polish Cup final wearing what was essentially the 1988-90 Bhoys kit!
The Football Kit Podcast  @footballkitpod Source: https://twitter.com/footballkitpod/status/1633734837398798336
story: https://museumofjerseys.com/2018/07/17/when-legia-warsaw-wore-kits-by-three-different-makers-in-the-one-season/

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Articles

Dariusz Dziekanowski returns to Paradise for Legends’ match

By: Newsroom Staff on 28 Apr, 2017 12:54

JACKI’S back. Dariusz ‘Jacki’ Dziekanowski has confirmed he will return to Celtic Park to play in the Henrik’s Heroes v Lubo’s Legends match in aid of Celtic FC Foundation on May 28.

The Polish striker wrote himself into the club’s record books when he scored four goals against Partizan Belgrade in a European Cup-Winners’ Cup tie in 1989.

However, the 5-4 victory contributed to a 6-6 aggregate score and the Hoops went out on away goal. It was a dramatic night which was hard on the supporters and, especially the four-goal striker.

He said: “It was a great night for me in one way in that I scored four goals but we lost the tie on away goals. We didn’t get through to the next round.

“So one moment you are happy but the next moment you are not. When the ref blew the final whistle, I was definitely not happy. You think you have done something special but it has meant nothing.”

Jacki, though, is prepared for a brighter day on May 28. He added: “The Celtic fans were great and I always appreciated them. I loved it when they were singing. What a noise. My memories of Glasgow always centre on the atmosphere of the matches and the friendliness of the people.”

The Pole was last in Glasgow three years ago when he toured Celtic Park and he was astonished at the difference in the ground since he played here.

He said: “It is an amazing stadium and it was great to see the way it has changed.

“I’m looking forward to playing on that pitch but I may have what we Poles call soft legs! I will practice some good tricks and try to come up with a great goal. I cannot promise four!”

Now 54, Jacki is a football commentator, analyst and columnist in Warsaw and has been an assistant to the national team.

He is delighted that the Lisbon Lions will be saluted on the day. He said: “It is a remarkable achievement. They won the cup that all players dream of. They are rightly legends.”

He is also pleased that the proceeds of the match will go to Celtic FC Foundation. “It is fantastic that charity is such a big part of the club,” he said.

“It is important to realise that players are not just stars but can do things for people. We are lucky as players.

“When we are young we achieve so much in terms of fame and money. We are lucky to play football. But it is wonderful to use that to help other people. We respect the people that are not as fortunate as us.”

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Okay, I wasn’t a priest, but I was not the devil, says Dariusz Dziekanowski

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4478948/Dziekanowski-wasn-t-priest-not-devil.html
By Hugh Mcdonald For The Scottish Daily Mail

Published: 01:14, 6 May 2017 | Updated: 01:14, 6 May 2017
There are many ways to describe Dariusz ‘Jacki’ Dziekanowski. He rules out a couple for starters. ‘Okay, I wasn’t a priest, but I was not the devil,’ he says. It is an intriguing reintroduction to the player who can be listed under the bulging category of maverick in the encyclopaedia of Scottish football.

Jacki was once both king and court jester. He was the Jacki of hearts, diamonds and Celtic Football club. He had personality in spades.

Unwittingly, he speaks to a time in football when Celtic were in the deepest of troughs, when Poles and other players from what was then called Eastern Europe were strangers on Scottish fields.
Dariusz Dziekanowski will return to Celtic Park later this month for a charity match
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Dziekanowski joined Celtic in 1989 for £600,000 from Legia Warsaw, the season after the Glasgow side won a Double in their centenary year. He spent three seasons with the club before leaving to join Bristol City. He won no major trophy with the club in a period dominated by Rangers.

He is an individual memorial to the way it was. He is, of course, alive if not quite kicking. The former centre-forward is now back in his native Warsaw, contentedly married with three grown-up children. ‘I am a happy man, a lucky man,’ he chuckles.

Dziekanowski will return to Celtic Park later this month for a charity match in aid of Celtic FC Foundation. Two teams of club legends and famous fans will be captained by Henrik Larsson and Lubomir Moravcik, players who complemented their talent with substantial achievement in hooped jerseys.

Yet there will be a special cheer from many for Jacki. He may not have won anything but he did it with style, panache and a sense of sensual mischief. The Pole was always in the newspapers and not exclusively on the back pages. Handsome and amiably personable, he found no reason to avoid nightclubs or attractive company. Jacki became a shorthand for a good night out.

Asked if his reputation as the man who put the play in playBhoy is accurate, he replies: ‘No, no, no.’ So that will be a no, then?

He adds: ‘If you are single, without a family, the newspapers exaggerate. Okay I wasn’t a priest, but I was not the devil. For sure, my manager Billy McNeill would not have accepted any situation of me going out to nightclubs all the time or whatever.
Jacki Dziekanowski with Celtic manager Billy McNeill in 1990

‘If I was thinking too much about how I was spending my time after training then Billy McNeill would have reacted and I would have been out the door. When you are single, people put things on you but I don’t think I was so bad.’

He was politely shown the door by Liam Brady, when the Irishman took over from McNeill. Dziekanowski was replaced by Tony Cascarino. Yup, it was that kind of time for Celtic.

The highlight of the Pole’s career at the club was his performance against Partizan Belgrade in a European Cup Winners’ Cup tie in 1989. He scored four goals in a 5-4 victory at Parkhead but Celtic went out on away goals in a 6-6 aggregate draw.

This exploit is part of the enduring legend of the Pole but he is downbeat about it now. ‘We didn’t get through to the next round,’ he says simply. ‘You think you have done something special but it has meant nothing.’

It did, though, give him a place in the memories of a generation of fans who watched Celtic in a period when success was achingly elusive. Modern readers take a moment to gape at this: 1990, Celtic fifth in league, 17 points behind Rangers; 1991, Celtic third, 14 points behind Rangers; 1992, Celtic third, ten points behind Rangers.

Yet Celtic had a team that should have been beyond decent. ‘We had fantastic players, such as Paul McStay, Paul Elliot, Pat Bonner and Derek Whyte. I also played with Tommy Burns, Billy Stark,’ says Dziekanowski, peering back at the past.

So what went wrong? The former striker gives two reasons. ‘Could we have had more concentration, more focus? Perhaps. You can’t always blame a lack of luck,’ he says. ‘But there were also some problems that I would say were littering the club.’

He does not expand but this is likely to a reference to the financial travails that took Celtic to the brink of the abyss in 1994.

He does not, however, eschew personal responsibility: ‘You have to think: “Maybe I could have done something more to achieve something”.’

The other undeniable factor was the strength of their rivals. ‘Rangers had their best time in their history. Half of the team were foreigners, including the best of the English national side.’

This was the *** end of the Graeme Souness era and the lighting up of sustained success under Walter Smith. A casual glance of the roster in 1990 shows Dziekanowski’s assessment to be accurate. The Englishmen included Chris Woods, Gary Stevens, Terry Butcher, Trevor Steven, Mark Hateley, Nigel Spackman and Mark Walters. The Scots included Richard Gough, John Brown, Ian Ferguson, Mo Johnston and Ally McCoist.

More than 20 years on, though, Rangers remain ravaged by the wounds of financial meltdown. ‘I was surprised by what happened at Rangers,’ he says. ‘It is like a big building that has been damaged. You look at what it was once and now is and you are astonished.

‘But it is a good example of how football can go bad. You can buy players, pay big salaries but you must look after business. One side of football is sport and the other side is business. Each side depends on the other.’

He is looking forward to returning to Glasgow, saying his biggest regret in his career was leaving the club. He also knows he has a rapport with the supporters.

‘Celtic fans are honest. If you play well, they sing but if you play bad they show you that they know that. You must always accept criticism. I really had a fantastic time at Celtic because the fans were great.

‘In my first match at Parkhead, I came back from doing my warm-up in front of 3,000-4,000 fans and I said in the dressing room that there might be an attendance of 10,000. But the players told me there would be 55,000. I could not believe that yet, when I walked down the tunnel, it was incredible. We came out to the noise of a full house.’

It is likely to be the same in the charity match on May 28, the day after the Scottish Cup final where Celtic will be aiming to complete a domestic Treble. There will also be a tribute to the Lisbon Lions and Dziekanowski fondly remembers the man who signed and managed him.

‘He is a legend. Everybody respected him as a coach and a person. He had a special personality. He behaved like a captain. He was a born leader,’ he says of McNeill.

Dziekanowski is now a mentor and a hero to many of the modern Polish players. He is a former assistant coach to the national team and now works as a TV commentator, a newspaper columnist and a leader of the former players’ association.

He was once a pioneer. ‘We had problems about going abroad,’ he says of the time in the Communist bloc. ‘We had to have permission to play elsewhere and it wasn’t easy.’

It is now a matter of course for the modern Pole with such as Lukasz Fabianski at Swansea, Lukasz Piszcek at Borussia Dortmund, Kamil Glik at Monaco, Arkudiusz Milik at Napoli and the peerless Robert Lewandowski at Bayern Munich.

Lewandowski, in touch and flourish, is a disciple of Dziekanowski. But the older man reflects perceptively on what has made the modern player such a world star.

‘He left Poland at 22, which is a good age to learn,’ he says. ‘His career has been a steady progress. He takes things step by step. He went to Germany after a good basis in Poland.’

Lewandowski played for Znicz Pruszkow in the Third Division before moving to Lech Poznan.

He joined a promising and ultimately successful Borussia Dortmund team in 2010 before signing for Bayern Munich four years later.

‘He makes good decisions on and off the park,’ says Dziekanowski. ‘Lewandowski is a nice guy, 100-per-cent professional. You can say he is maybe a bit of a priest.’

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