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Fullname: Filip Twardzik
aka: –
Born: 10 Feb 1993
Birthplace: Trinec, Czech Republic
Signed: 1 August 2010
Left: 1 February 2015 (to Bolton)
Position: Midfielder
Debut: Peterhead 0-3 Celtic, Scottish Cup, 8 Jan 2012
Squad No.: 56
Internationals: Czech Republic
International Caps: none with the senior team
Biog
Filip Twardzik came to Celtic as a youth player with his twin brother (Patrik Twardzik), joined also by their mother to help them settle into a new country and make the best of the opportunity at hand.
The novelty of the foreign youth player twins at Celtic gave them some media attention, although there was genuine belief that they had the talent to make it to the first team. It was all in the family, as another brother was a goalkeeper at Motherwell.
A tall gangly player, he possessed good awareness and skill, so boded well for the future. Any ideas of this being some new family dynasty like the McStay’s at Celtic, were a bit too premature and far-fetched, but this is football and hyperbole is all part of the game.
Filip Twardzik was the first to make it, as a substitute for Samaras in the wide left midfield attacking role on 8 January 2012 in a Scottish Cup match against Peterhead. He made a little name for himself in the title winning 6-0 game v Kilmarnock in Apr 2012, setting up a goal for the side with a wonderful little back heel which delighted all attending the match.
Concerns that the Scottish game may be too tough for someone of his ability were overcome as he stood up to the physical treatment regularly dished out in u-19 matches, and more than felt at home in the first team as well.
What promised to be an intriguing player, didn’t really blossom into a career in the first team. An 18 month long injury spell (groin & muscle injuries) lost him development time. Thereafter, he was handed only a sporadic number of First Team games over the following years under Neil Lennon. Given these opportunities, criticism was rare on his performances, and there was hope but the squad was packed with midfielders ahead of him in the queue.
His last match was the 1-0 defeat by Inverness away in Aug 2014 under new manager Ronnie Deila, who was to have a very poor start as Celtic manager. It was the only time Filip Twardzik experienced a defeat with the First Team.
Bolton completed a late swoop in February 2015 for an undisclosed fee, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract. Filip Twardzik linked up with his former manager Neil Lennon, having been handed his Celtic debut by Lennon at Celtic, so showed he still had much faith in him. Lennon was initially doing well at Bolton so all hoped the best to both of them. If anything, it showed that if Lennon had remained then maybe Filip Twardzik had more of a chance of a career in Celtic’s First Team. Ronnie Deila seems to have had other plans.
Sadly, he never got to play together with his twin brother for the first team, Patrik Twardzik never won a call up to the First Team.
We wished him all the best.
Post-Celtic
His time was short at Bolton before he moved on to a number of different clubs over the following seasons playing mostly in the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Austria without too much fanfare. However, he helped his side Spartak Trnava to the Slovak Cup in 2022/23, playing in the final.
[…]
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES
(subs)
|
LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 2011/12 | 0(1) | 0(2) | 0 | 0 | 4(3) |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012/13 | 2(0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1(1) |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013/14 | 1(0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1(0) |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014/15 | 1(0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total |
4(1) |
0(2) |
0 |
0 |
4(3) |
| Goals | 0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Honours with Celtic
Scottish League