Lucjan Brychczy

Lucjan Brychczy

Lucjan Brychczy in 1970
Personal information
Full name	Lucjan Antoni Brychczy
Date of birth	(1934-06-13)13 June 1934
Place of birth	Nowy Bytom, Poland
Date of death	2 December 2024(2024-12-02) (aged 90)
Place of death	Warsaw, Poland
Height	1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
–1948	Pogoń Nowy Bytom
1948–1953	ŁTS Łabędy Gliwice
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
0000–1948	Pogoń Nowy Bytom
1949–1953	ŁTS Łabędy Gliwice
1954	Piast Gliwice
1954–1972	Legia Warsaw	368	(182)
International career
1954–1969	Poland	58	(18)
Managerial career
1972–1973	Legia Warsaw
1979–1980	Legia Warsaw
1987	Legia Warsaw
1990	Legia Warsaw
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Lucjan Antoni Brychczy (nicknamed Kici; 13 June 1934 – 2 December 2024) was a Polish footballer who played as a striker. Born in New Bytom, Upper Silesia, where after starting at local lower league clubs, he played for nearby the then third division Piast Gliwice.

He then transferred to Legia Warsaw, where the rest of career was linked with and one that earned him notoriety. He won four naional titles with them, in 1955, 1956, 1969 and 1970 as well as four domestic cups, in 1955, 1956, 1964 and 1966. He scored 182 goals during his stint which lasted 19 seasons, both of which remain club records to this day. His Legia career also included a foray into the semi-finals of the European Cup. He was also part of Poland's squad at the 1960 Summer Olympics. After retiring from playing, he became one of Legia's coaching staff, which included short periods of being the first team manager.

Biography

Early life and career

He was born on 13 June 1934, in Nowy Bytom. His father was Stanisław Brychczy, a Silesian Uprising participant and a lieutenant in the Polish army, and his mother, Maria Brychczy, was a homemaker. He had three siblings: Mieczysław, Helena, and Tadeusz, and he was the youngest in the family. His father was conscripted into the army in September 1939 and returned to the family only after the war.

He began his adventure with sports in the boxing section of the local club Pogoń Nowy Bytom. After being forbidden by his father, he switched to the football section. In 1949, his father was employed at the Military Mechanical Works in Łabędy (district of Gliwice), where he moved with his entire family. There, Lucjan Brychczy joined the ŁTS Łabędy club, where he was quickly promoted to the senior team, coached by former Polish national team player Karol Dziwisz. He combined playing football with working at the military factory.

Karol Dziwisz was also the coach of the voivodeship team, and at the time, he called up the 18-year-old Brychczy to join the squad. In 1953, the regional team played against the Polish national B team, ending in a 3:3 draw, with Brychczy scoring a hat-trick. Following this match, he was called up for a national B team game against Tirana in Warsaw. The match was held at Legia Warsaw's stadium, marking Brychczy's first visit to the city and the venue.

After the game, Brychczy, along with his brother Tadeusz, moved to nearby Piast Gliwice, a third-division team aiming for promotion to a higher league in the 1954 season. After six months of playing for Piast, Brychczy was conscripted into the army and assigned to play for Legia Warsaw, the central military club. Legia was coached by Hungarian János Steiner, who aimed to build a strong team modeled after Honvéd Budapest.

Legia player

Even before making his debut for Legia, Brychczy was called up to the Polish national team for a match against Bulgaria, held at Legia's stadium. Brychczy made his debut on 8 August 1954 in the second half of the game, which ended in a 2:2 draw.

During one of the training sessions, coach Steiner gave Brychczy the nickname "Kici," which stuck with him throughout his career. "Kici" is a Polonized version of the Hungarian word kicsi, meaning "small." Legia's situation was difficult, as the team had earned only 6 points after 10 matches in the first round and was on the brink of relegation. There was even consideration of disbanding the football section. Brychczy made his debut on 12 September 1954, in a match against Ruch Chorzów, which ended in a 0:1 defeat. However, a subsequent series of victories allowed Legia to avoid relegation.

Legia began the 1955 season much stronger, quickly establishing itself as one of the league's top teams. A major success came with a 5:0 victory in the Polish Cup final against Lechia Gdańsk. This was Brychczy's first career trophy and the first in Legia's history.

Lucjan Brychczy in 2014

He won four titles with Legia, in 1955, 1956, 1969 and 1970 as well as four Polish Cups, in 1955, 1956, 1964 and 1966. He scored 182 goals during his stint which lasted 19 seasons, both of which remain club records to this day. His Legia career also included a foray into the semi-finals of the European Cup. He was also part of Poland's squad at the 1960 Summer Olympics.

It is said that Real Madrid and AC Milan were interested in securing his services but during that time it was impossible to leave the country due to the restrictions of the communist regime.

Later life

Brychczy lived for many years in an apartment on the sixth floor at the corner of Świętokrzyska and Emilii Plater streets. He enjoyed playing cards, had a fear of flying, and was a fan of television series. In 1998, he was attacked in a stairwell after withdrawing a large sum of money from the bank, which resulted in an open clavicle fracture. Brychczy was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta in December 2000. He died in Warsaw on 2 December 2024, at the age of 90.

Commemoration after death

Grave of Lucjan Brychczy at Powązki Military Cemetery in Warsaw

Following the death of Lucjan Brychczy, the Polish Football Association announced that all matches of the I liga and the Polish Cup, scheduled between 2 and 9 December 2024, would be preceded by a moment of silence to honor his memory. Additionally, on 4 December, the Polish Sejm paid tribute to Lucjan Brychczy with a moment of silence during a parliamentary session.

Before the first Legia match after Brychczy’s death, on 5 December, during a Polish Cup game against ŁKS Łódź at the Władysław Król Stadium, Legia Warsaw players took to the pitch wearing special shirts featuring Lucjan Brychczy’s image and the inscription ŻEGNAJ, LEGENDO! ("Farewell, Legend!").

Immediately after his death, a debate started regarding the possibility of renaming the Polish Army Stadium in his honor.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Piast Gliwice	1954	III Liga, gr. 1					—
Legia Warsaw	1954	Ekstraklasa	10	3	0	0	—		10	3
	1955	Ekstraklasa	22	13	4	1	—		26	14
	1956	Ekstraklasa	19	16	5	8	2	1	26	25
	1957	Ekstraklasa	18	19	2	3	—		20	22
	1958	Ekstraklasa	16	15	0	0	—		16	15
	1959	Ekstraklasa	18	9	0	0	—		18	9
	1960	Ekstraklasa	22	13	0	0	2	0	24	13
	1961	Ekstraklasa	25	12	0	0	—		25	12
	1962	Ekstraklasa	13	9	2	0	—		15	9
	1962–63	Ekstraklasa	19	5	2	2	—		21	7
	1963–64	Ekstraklasa	24	18	5	6	—		29	24
	1964–65	Ekstraklasa	25	20	4	5	7	2	36	27
	1965–66	Ekstraklasa	25	8	5	4	—		30	12
	1966–67	Ekstraklasa	24	6	2	1	2	0	28	7
	1967–68	Ekstraklasa	26	8	2	3	6	0	34	11
	1968–69	Ekstraklasa	25	6	7	3	6	1	38	10
	1969–70	Ekstraklasa	22	0	4	0	8	4	34	4
	1970–71	Ekstraklasa	5	0	0	0	—		5	0
	1971–72	Ekstraklasa	10	2	3	0	4	0	17	2
Career total			368	182	47	36	37	8	452	226

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Poland	1954	2	0
	1955	3	1
	1956	6	1
	1957	5	3
	1958	2	0
	1959	3	1
	1960	7	1
	1961	6	1
	1962	8	3
	1963	6	4
	1964	4	0
	1965	1	0
	1966	0	0
	1967	3	2
	1968	0	0
	1969	2	1
Total		58	18

Honours

Player

Legia Warsaw

• Ekstraklasa: 1955, 1956, 1968–69, 1969–70
• Polish Cup: 1954–55, 1955–56, 1963–64, 1965–66

Individual

• Ekstraklasa top scorer: 1957, 1963–64, 1964–65

Manager

Legia Warsaw

• Polish Cup: 1971–72, 1979–80, 1989–90

Orders

• Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta: 2000

See also

• List of one-club men in association football

External links

• Lucjan Brychczy at IMDb

Bibliography

• Dawidziuk, Adam (2024). "Na zawsze z Legią". Nasza Legia. 4.