Stanisław Terlecki

Terlecki began his professional career at age 17 and played for three clubs in the Polish top division. He was first selected for the national team as a 21-year-old, but his career for Poland was cut short due to his staunch anti-communist activism off the field. Terlecki played a total of 29 games for the Poland national football team, scoring seven goals. Terlecki achieved his greatest success with the MISL's Pittsburgh Spirit, a place where he was affectionately known as "Stan the Fran" (as in "the Franchise"), becoming the club's all-time top scorer. During the 1981–1982 season, he led the Spirit with 74 goals and 117 points in 43 games played and, along with the New York Arrows' Steve Zungul, was named the league's regular season MVP. Terlecki was also the Spirit's leading scorer during the 1982–1983 season with 65 goals and 105 points, making him only one of six players in MISL history to have back-to-back 100-point scoring seasons. Then, after spending the following season playing for the NASL's Golden Bay Earthquakes and New York Cosmos indoor and outdoor teams, Terlecki returned to the Pittsburgh Spirit in 1984–1985 and once again led the team in scoring with 39 goals and 71 points. He made the MISL All-Star Team in three of his four seasons with the Spirit (1981–1982, 1982–1983, and 1984–1985), in addition to the 1st Team MISL in 1981–1982, the 2nd Team MISL in 1982–1983, and the 2nd Team NASL in 1983–1984. Terlecki's time in Pittsburgh coincided with the height…

Terlecki was known for his effort and dribbling and shooting skills, including his speedy ability to score by using a short windup to take powerful shots with either of his size-6 feet. In a February 1982 Sports Illustrated magazine article, then-Pittsburgh Spirit forward and teammate Paul Child described Terlecki's shooting prowess by stating: "His leg movement is maybe a quarter of mine. It's like a metal leaf spring when you pull it back and let it go. 'Poing!' It's that quick."

Born in Warsaw, Poland, as the son of two university professors, Terlecki was a student of history, like his father, and earned a degree in the field from the University of Łódź. This made him the first team member among Polish footballers whose education was not centered exclusively in physical education.

Having already outraged the Polish soccer authorities by switching clubs from Gwardia Warszawa to Łódzki KS in 1975, Terlecki's ardent political views against the rampant totalitarianism in both his home country and the Soviet Union at the time drew attention during the 1978 World Cup competition. Though injured and unable to play in the tournament, Terlecki emerged as a television commentator and did not refrain from any opportunity to slip in sarcastic comments that were critical of communist ideology. Terlecki was twice suspended by the Polish federation for attempting to form a players' union. In November 1980, he was one of the key figures involved in a public incident between coaches and players at a Polish airport. Later that same month, Terlecki arranged a meeting between Poland national team players and Pope John Paul II on a trip to Italy, despite warnings from the federation and government that such a meeting was forbidden. Terlecki was eventually kicked off the Poland national team after standing up for a teammate who had gotten booted for violating team rules set forth by government and federation authorities. Terlecki then became heavily involved with the anti-communist Solidarity trade union and moved to Holland. While there, John Kowalski, a fellow Polish countryman who was the then-head coach of the Pittsburgh Spirit, helped Terlecki orchestrate a move of his family to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and for him to sign with the team as a player. In February 1982,…