Widely regarded as one of Poland’s best ever footballers, Kazimierz Deyna (1947-1989), who fans nicknamed ‘Kaka’ or ‘The General’ was an extremely talented and visionary midfielder, both a genuine playmaker and fine finisher. Born in Starogard Gdanski in northern Poland, Deyna was snapped up by the army for their team Legia Warsaw at the age of 18 in 1966, after making just a single appearance for ŁKS Łódź. Deyna went onto spend 12 years at Legia, making over 300 appearances, and became a Legia legend thanks to his technique, vision and style. He was the top goalscorer at the 1972 Munich Olympics (where Poland won the gold medal) and a key member of the side that followed that up with third-place at the 1974 World Cup in West Germany. The fact that Deyna came third in the 1974 European Footballer of the Year (Ballon d’Or) behind two of the game’s all-time greats - Johann Cryuff and Franz Beckenbauer - is a mark of his ability. 

Deyna captained Poland at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina before Manchester City bought the soldier for reputedly 100,000 pounds worth of medical equipment, photocopiers and US dollars. Deyna’s three years in Manchester were in general a disappointing period, yet he is still remembered well by football fans in England where his ability and exoticism marked him out in an era before English football was full of talented foreign players. Injury and his age seem to have reduced his effectiveness, but a series of goals in important games endeared him to City fans while one opposing manager, Alan Durban of Stoke City, commented that Deyna was simply playing on a higher level than the players around him – “The problem is, Deyna’s on a different wavelength. He’s tuned to Radio Four, and the others are on Radio Luxembourg.”

Deyna left Manchester City in 1981 to play for the San Diego Sockers where he remained as a player and coach until the end of the 1980s. He might be remembered best of all by fans of a certain age for his appearance in the worst-ever, yet brilliant 1981 football movie ‘Escape to Victory' where he appeared alongside Pele, Bobby Moore, Osvaldo Ardiles, Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone in the story of an Allied Prisoner of War football team during WWII.

During his career Deyna played 97 times for the Polish national team, scoring 41 goals (102 times with 45 goals according to the website set up in his name) as well as making nearly 150 appearances in England and the US. He tragically died at the age of 41 in a San Diego car accident in 1989 and the club where he was loved and respected retired his number 10 shirt in his memory. This, along with many other pieces of Deyna and Legia memorabilia can be seen at the Legia Warsaw museum at Legia's Pepsi Arena.

We are indebted to Gary James of the BlueMoon blog (bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk), whose article on Deyna is a brilliant read.