Jan Furtok (9 March 1962 – 26 November 2024) was a Polish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a striker. Regarded as the greatest player in

GKS Katowice GKS Katowice (; GKS stands for , ) is a Polish professional football club based in Katowice. They currently compete in the Ekstraklasa in the 2024–25 season after gaining promotion from the I liga in 2024. History In 1963 in Katowice a spe ...

's history, he is the club's all-time best goalscorer.

Career

Born in

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

, Furtok spent the early and latter parts of his career playing for his hometown club

, with a seven-year stint in (West) German clubs

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

and

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

in-between. With GKS, he won the 1985–86

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

, the club's first major domestic achievement. He then led the Silesian side to third-place and second-place finishes in the 1986–87 and 1987–88 league campaigns, accordingly. With 122 goals in 299 appearances across all competitions, he is the best goalscorer in GKS Katowice's history. GKS retired the number 9 in honour of Furtok's service to the club. Furtok played for the Poland national team, scoring 10 goals across 36 appearances. He was a participant at the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

. His goal scored by hand rescued

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

from humiliating goalless home draw against

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

1994 FIFA World Cup qualification The 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 1994 FIFA World Cup featured 24 teams with one place reserved for the host nation, United States, and one place for the defending cham ...

Death

Furtok had been suffering from

Alzheimer Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

's for years. He was diagnosed in 2015. Furtok died on 26 November 2024, at the age of 62. Posthumously, the

President of Poland The president of Poland ( ), officially the president of the Republic of Poland (), is the head of state of Poland. His or her prerogatives and duties are determined in the Constitution of Poland. The president jointly exercises the executive ...

Andrzej Duda Andrzej Sebastian Duda (born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as the sixth president of Poland since 2015. Before becoming president, he served as a Member of the Sejm from 2011 to 2014 and before becoming Member of ...

, awarded him the Officer's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

. His funeral took place on 29 November 2024 at the cemetery of the Holy Trinity Parish in

. The ceremony was attended by prominent figures, including

Jan Urban Jan Urban (; born 14 May 1962) is a Polish professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He was most recently in charge of Ekstraklasa club Górnik Zabrze. His professional career was closely associated to Górnik Za ...

Jerzy Brzęczek Jerzy Józef Brzęczek (; born 18 March 1971) is a Polish professional football manager and former player. In a professional career which spanned nearly 20 years and brought 42 caps with the Poland national team, Brzęczek played for clubs in ...

Lukas Podolski Lukas Josef Podolski (; born Łukasz Józef Podolski, , 4 June 1985) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward or attacking midfielder for Ekstraklasa club Górnik Zabrze. He is kno ...

, and representatives from

and

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish association football, football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning ...

Commemoration

On 29 November 2024, the

Polish Football Association The Polish Football Association ( PZPN) is the governing body of association football in Poland. It organizes the Polish football leagues (without the ), the national cups, and manages the men's and women's national teams. It also runs the nati ...

announced that all matches of the I, II, and III leagues played between 29 November and 2 December would be preceded by a minute of silence in memory of Furtok. A similar announcement was made by the

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

. However, the minute of silence for Furtok was not observed by

Ruch Chorzów Ruch Chorzów () is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. It is one of the most successful football teams in Poland, having won fourteen List of Polish football champions, Polish Championship ...

before their match against

Odra Opole OKS Odra Opole Spółka Akcyjna () is a association football, football club based in Opole, Poland, currently playing in the I liga. History Beginnings The history of Odra Opole began on 16 June 1945, when in the Opole Town Hall, a group o ...

, which sparked controversy and various reactions from fans and the public. In May 2025, he was inducted into the

Hall of Fame.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Furtok goal.''

Honours

GKS Katowice *

: 1985–86 Individual * Polish Newcomer of the Year: 1984 Individual *

Hall of Fame: 2025

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Furtok, Jan 1962 births 2024 deaths Footballers from Katowice Polish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Poland men's international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players GKS Katowice players Hamburger SV players Eintracht Frankfurt players Ekstraklasa players Bundesliga players Polish football managers GKS Katowice managers Polish expatriate men's footballers Polish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany Polish expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Polish sports executives and administrators Polish football executives Association football players with retired numbers 20th-century Polish sportsmen