Igor Sypniewski

Early life and career

Born in Łódź on 10 November 1974, Sypniewski's career revolved around ŁKS Łódź, his boyhood club. He reportedly had his first beer and cigarette when he was 8 years old, whilst hanging around the Koziny area where he would go on to frequent during his life. He started playing for PTC Pabianice aged 11, his first formal club. He had behavioural problems early on, frequently getting into fights with players from other neighbourhoods. After appearing intoxicated at training several times, he was transferred to Orzeł Łódź temporarily and subsequently to Opoczno-based Ceramika as a result. He went on to play several seasons in the Polish Ekstraklasa and I liga for ŁKS.

Greece

Sypniewski then spent several seasons playing in the Super League Greece with Kavala, Panathinaikos and OFI. Unknown outside Poland, he was successful at Kavala and it was soon evident that a bigger club would be after him. He appeared in the UEFA Champions League with Panathinaikos, one of the powerhouses of Greek football, and was overall reasonably successful with the club, even though he failed to win the Greek championship. He performed very well for Panathinaikos in the 2000–01 and 2001–2002 seasons, especially in Europe, including an outstanding match against Manchester United. Sypniewski later said that United player David Beckham, whom he nutmegged in the game, was average and that he had played against many better footballers in Greece. He also scored a goal…

His former club ŁKS Łódź offered him a helping hand, but his personal problems continued. Sypniewski made several attempts at getting back into football, but due to his addiction, he trialled with several clubs other than ŁKS, mostly local lower league teams until he eventually retired altogether. Sypniewski re-appeared in 2007 when he went to watch ŁKS Łódź play Lech Poznań as a spectator in the stands. In a state of intoxication he, along with a group of ŁKS hooligans, attacked the Lech fans in the away sector. He was also later reported by a local woman to the police in Łódź who claimed that unprovoked, he was verbally abusive towards her and threw empty bottles at her. In 2008, he was jailed for a year and a half for domestic violence. Sypniewski's semi-autobiography was published in November 2014 with the help of two local Łódź journalists, Żelisław Żyżyński and Paweł Hochstim. He continued attending ŁKS matches until the very end of his life. Igor openly talked about his continued suffering from clinical depression, gambling addiction and alcoholism, stating that he frequently binge drank after taking strong anti-psychotic medication. He also had made a suicide attempt and suffered a stroke. Many of his colleagues attempted to help improve his health but to no avail.

Wisła Kraków

Polish Cup: 2001–02 Malmö FF

Allsvenskan: 2004