Thadée Cisowski

1947/52 FC Metz (FRA) 127 matches, 75 goals

(French Championship: 86 matches, 46 goals)

(French D2 Championship: 30 matches, 23 goals)

(Coupe de France: 11 matches, 6 goals)

1952/60 RC Paris (FRA) 233 matches, 216 goals

(French Championship: 172 matches, 152 goals)

(French D2 Championship: 34 matches, 35 goals)

(Coupe de France: 16 matches, 17 goals)

(Coupe Charles Drago: 9 matches, 11 goals)

(Play-off: 2 matches, 1 goal)

1960/61 Valenciennes (FRA) 28 matches, 9 goals

1961/62 FC Nantes (FRA) 22 matches, 10 goals

(French Championship: 19 matches, 8 goals)

(Coupe de France: 2 matches, 1 goal)

(Coupe Charles Drago: 1 match, 1 goal)

With the National Team :

13 caps, 11 goals

(Friendly matches: 10 caps, 2 goals)

(World Cup qualifiers: 2 caps, 7 goals)

(Euro qualifiers: 1 cap, 2 goals)

1st cap: November 1, 1951 against Austria (2-2)

Last cap: October 26, 1958 against West Germany (2-2)

Tadeusz Cisowski

Born on February 16, 1927 in Laskow (POL)

Died on February 24, 2005 in Mâcon (FRA)

French/Polish, Striker, 1m75

Nickname: "Ciso"

Thadée Cisowski was born on February 16, 1927 in Laski, Poland, a small village near Warsaw. The one who was originally called Tadeusz moved with his parents to France when he was 9 years old in Lorraine, where his father worked in the mines.

At 14, he became a miner. At the same time, he continued to play football in his free time, especially on Sunday afternoons. In the local club of his city, he played alongside a certain Roger Piantoni and was spotted by the FC Metz club in 1947. Fun fact of the transfer, the player would receive a bottle of mirabelle plum as a signing bonus.

Thadée Cisowski, who now calls himself simply "Ciso", will discover the professional world of football in this club FC Metz where he starts in the season of his arrival, when he is 20 years old. In a club that moves between the first and second French divisions, the player will establish himself in the position of center forward with a first quality that stands out, his finishing. In 127 matches, he scores 75 goals, enough to make his debut with the French team in 1951, against Austria, a 2-2 draw.

Considered one of the best French players of his generation, he will be remembered for his quintuple against Belgium with the French team on November 11, 1956. However, the player will live a career in ups and downs, victim of numerous injuries, he is deprived of the 1958 World Cup while he was pre-selected, it is finally Just Fontaine who will take his place.

In 1952, the player was the subject of one of the biggest transfers of the time, 12 million old francs, the striker therefore signed with RC Paris where he would establish himself as one of the best players in the history of France. He signed a mixed first season, of adaptation we would say, with 13 goals in 30 league games in a team that ended up relegated at the end of the season.

But the 1953/54 season, in the French second division, would be the world class one, he scored 35 goals in 34 league games and 7 goals in 7 games in the various national cups. At that time, he was considered the best French center forward, despite playing in the second division. He would have allowed his club to access the French elite again.

Unfortunately, the player could not continue on his winning streak, he got injured and missed almost the entire 1954/55 season. He returned for the following season where he established his status, 31 goals in 29 French 1st division matches. He followed up with an even crazier season, 33 goals in 28 league matches. With him, RC Paris managed to stabilize among the best teams in the league.

Unfortunately, the player got injured again during the 1957/58 season, missing more than half of the season. After the World Cup which revealed a wonderful French squad, the player returned to his best level, 30 goals in 29 league matches. During the 1959/60 season, he finished with 27 goals in 28 league matches and said goodbye to RC Paris. In total, he scored 216 goals in 233 matches for the club, phenomenal statistics.

He then left for Valenciennes, before heading to FC Nantes where he ended his career, ruined by injuries, at the age of 35. Cisowski will forever remain one of the most prolific players in the French championship, a competition in which he scored no fewer than 22 hat-tricks, a record. Unfortunately, he was never able to win any title, blocked by the big clubs of the time and by his injuries, he notably suffered two broken legs. "The Cursed" as he was sometimes nicknamed, will remain a genius talent of French football.

- Top scorer in the French championship in 1956 (31 goals), 1957 (33 goals) and 1959 (30 goals) (RC Paris)

- Top scorer in the French D2 championship in 1951 (23 goals) (FC Metz)

- Top scorer in the history of Racing Club de France (216 goals)

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