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Fullname: Dariusz Wdowczyk [pronounced ‘Doob-check’]
aka: Shuggie
Height: 5.11
Weight: 11.11
Born: 21 Sep 1962
Birthplace: Warsaw, Poland
Signed: 17 Nov 1989
Left: 12 Aug 1994
Position: Defender, Left-back
Debut: Celtic 1-1 St Mirren, League, 22 Nov 1989
Internationals: Poland
International Caps: 53 caps
International Goals: 2
Biog
A one time target for Manchester United, he made his competitive debut in a 1-1 league draw at home to St Mirren on Wednesday 22nd November 1989. Technically assured Wdowczyk was a cool, ball playing defender who was not afraid to carry the ball out of defence and start attacks from deep.
His left foot was capable of delivering pinpoint passes, superbly accurate cross balls or corners and thunderous free-kicks. Unfortunately Dariusz Wdowczyk – or Shuggie as he was known to the support (his nickname having been given to him by Tommy Burns) – found himself in a team and a defence which seemed to constantly toil.
Despite his obvious technical ability Dariusz Wdowczyk too had his faults and at times his play was rather too methodical and predictable. In the crash, bang, wallop of the Scottish game there were also moments when the Pole seemed to lack a certain robustness. For this reason both he and Anton Rogan vied for the left back jersey until Rogan departed to Sunderland in 1991.
Celtic may have been going through the barren years during, but despite never winning a major trophy, Dariusz Wdowczyk had his fine moments in a green and white jersey. In the ‘St. Patrick’s day massacre‘ against Rangers at Parkhead on 17th March 1991, he struck a thunderbolt free kick past Chris Woods in the Rangers goal with the aid of a slight deflection which set Celtic on the road to a famous 2-0 win. At Tynecastle in August 1992 he became one of a select band of Celtic players to score directly from a corner kick, a vicious inswinger, in a 2-1 League Cup victory and in September 1992 he scored a delightful free kick against Hibs at Parkhead.
On the down side he missed a penalty in the 1990 Scottish Cup final penalty shoot out against Aberdeen. Although Anton Rogan is the one most remembered as the unfortunate one for Celtic losing the final (as he missed the last Celtic penalty kick) it should be remembered that had Wdwczyk scored before sudden death then Celtic would have won the cup.
Wdowczyk was undoubtedly one of the better performers in defence for the Bhoys during an era when few in the Hoops could boast the same level of technical ability as Wdowczyk. In need in later years, there would be much more successful Celtic sides who did not possess a left-back close to the quality of Wdowczyk and in contrast to his compatriot Dariusz Dziekanowski there was never any doubts about the professionalism and effort of Wdowczyk. On form he was a major asset and could possibly have graced many different Celtic teams through the club’s history.
On the other hand, we never saw necessarily the best of what he potentially could have produced. Poor management meant his best assets (such as at free-kicks) were underutilised and having to play in some poor sides with some poor fellow defenders meant he was limited in what he could achieve. Many will feel that we could have seen much more from him, but the low morale of the team during his time at the club fed through and diminished his output (and the defence was woeful for much of his time at the club).
Then again, he was part of that underperforming defence which he can’t so easily shirk off responsibility for. Tom Boyd was also in the defence and he can never be said to have been a poor player. Also, for someone said to have the hardest and best shot since Tommy Gemmell, Wdowczyk’s return in terms of goals was very low. Tommy Gemmell was also a full-back and his return was relatively high for a defender.
He departed Celtic in August 1994 for Reading after the club offered him what was commonly regarded as a derisory pay deal but he had been missing the previous season with several injuries and it was suspected that he was past his best. Change was in the air following the club’s takeover completion and a new team management having moved in.
Post-Celtic
On leaving Reading, Dariusz Wdowczyk returned to Poland and played for Polonia Warsaw – he subsequently became the manager of Legia Warsaw and led them to win the title in 2005/2006.
After carving out a career as a coach and manager in his homeland he would return to Scotland briefly in 2007 when he was appointed Director of Football at Livingston.
It was announced on the 30th October 2007 that Wdowczyk was to leave Livingston to embark on a second spell as manager of Polonia Warszawa.
In March 2008, Wdowczyk was dismissed from his position at Polonia Warszawa and was the subject (along with many) of an investigation into bribery and match-fixing in the Polish Leagues. At one point in this investigation he was even placed under house arrest. He dodged jail and got a hefty fine instead for bribing referees and footballers in Poland.
After his suspended sentence, he moved back into football with roles at Pogon Szczecin, Wisla Krakow and Piast Gliwice. He then later moved into football media work with Polsat.
We wish him all the best.
Playing Career
| _ |
From | To | Fee | League |
Scottish/FA Cup |
League cup |
Other |
||||
| Reading | 12-08-1994 | 31-05-1998 | Free | 77 (5) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 7 (1) | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 |
| Celtic | 17-11-1989 | 12-08-1994 | £ 400,000 | 112 (4) | 4 | 13 (0) | 2 | 11 (0) | 0 | 6 (1) | 0 |
| Legia Warsaw | 01-08-1988 | 17-11-1989 | – | ||||||||
| Totals | £ 400,000 | 189 (9) | 4 | 14 (0) | 2 | 18 (1) | 0 | 9 (1) | 0 | ||
| ========== | ======== | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Honours with Celtic
none (the barren years)
Pictures
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/
