Horst Panic
|
Horst Panic at Varta Namysłów in 1998 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1938年07月12日)12 July 1938 | ||
| Place of birth | Bobrek, Poland | ||
| Date of death | 7 November 2025(2025年11月07日) (aged 87) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Zryw Chorzów | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1955–1965 | Bielawianka Bielawa | ||
| 1965–1970 | Górnik Wałbrzych | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1974–1978 | Górnik Wałbrzych (assistant manager) | ||
| 1978–1979 | Górnik Wałbrzych | ||
| 1980–1984 | Górnik Wałbrzych | ||
| 1984–1986 | Zagłębie Sosnowiec | ||
| 1987–1991 | Zagłębie Wałbrzych | ||
| 1991–1994 | Chrobry Głogów | ||
| 1994–1995 | Amica Wronki | ||
| 1995 | Lechia Dzierżoniów | ||
| 1995–1996 | Polonia Świdnica | ||
| 1998 | Varta Namysłów | ||
| LKS Bestwina | |||
| Drzewiarz Jasienica | |||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Horst Panic (12 July 1938 – 7 November 2025) was a Polish football player and manager. After spending his professional playing career with Górnik Wałbrzych, he started his managerial career with the same club, leading them to a historic promotion to the Ekstraklasa in 1983, earning a "best coach" award in a Słowo Polskie plebiscite. He later went on to manage various other clubs, primarily in Lower Silesia.
Early life
[edit ]Horst Panic was born on 12 July 1938 in Bobrek, a present-day suburb of Bytom.[1] [2]
Playing career
[edit ]Panic began his football career at Zryw Chorzów,[1] and from 1955 he played for Bielawianka Bielawa.[2] From 1965 to 1970, he played for Górnik Wałbrzych [3] , with whom he competed in the Polish Second Division [1] with over 70 appearances for them.[1] He played as a forward.[1]
Managerial career
[edit ]After his playing career, Panic remained in the sport and worked as a coach. In the 1974–75 season, he became an assistant to Stanisław Stachura at Górnik Wałbrzych, then playing in the Third Division.[4] From 1975 to 1978, he assisted Stanisław Świerk and secured promotion to the Second Division in 1976.[4] In the 1978–79 season, he became the first team manager of the Wałbrzych team, but was dismissed after the autumn round.[4]
He returned to the manager's position in the spring round of the 1980–81 season, and in 1983 he led Górnik to the Ekstraklasa for the first time in the club's history, considered a historic success.[5] After the autumn round (half-way point of the season), his team even led the league,[4] and ultimately finished the season in 6th place.[6] These successes earned Panic the title of Best Coach of 1983 in the "Słowo Polskie" plebiscite.[1]
After the end of the successful 1983–84 season, he moved to Zagłębie Sosnowiec.[7] With Zagłębie, he finished 5th in the First Division in the 1984–85 season and left after the autumn round of the 1985–86 season after relegation to the third tier.[8]
In the spring of 1987, he managed the other team in Wałbrzych and Górnik's fierce rivals, the Third Division Zagłębie Wałbrzych; from the 1990–91 season a Second Division team after winning promotion.[8]
From 1991 to 1994, he coached Chrobry Głogów at the Second and Third Division levels,[9] and from 1995, the Second Division Amica Wronki for less than half a season, but was dismissed before the season's end, which nonetheless ended with the team's promotion to the First Division.[10]
In May 1995, he became the manager of Lechia Dzierżoniów, but failed to keep the team in the Second Division.[11] In the 1995–96 season, he managed the Third Division Polonia Świdnica.[12] He also had a short stint at Varta Namysłów in 1998.[13]
He ended his career as a coach at amateur clubs LKS Bestwina and Drzewiarz Jasienica.[13]
Death and legacy
[edit ]Panic died on 7 November 2025, at the age of 87.[9] His stories about Polish football are said to have been the inspiration for the Polish cult film Piłkarski Poker [pl].[14]
References
[edit ]- ^ a b c d e f Elżbieta Węgrzyn (8 November 2025), Nie żyje Horst Panic - trener piłkarski związany z wieloma dolnośląskimi klubami piłkarskimi. Odeszła legenda dolnośląskiej piłki [Horst Panic has died—football manager associated with many Lower Silesian football clubs. A legend of Lower Silesian football has passed away] (in Polish), Gazeta Wrocławska
- ^ a b Nie żyje były trener piłkarski Horst Panic, legenda Górnika Wałbrzych [Former football manager Horst Panic has died, a Górnik Wałbrzych legend] (in Polish), TVP Sport, Polish Press Agency, 7 November 2025
- ^ Maciej Filipek (7 November 2025), Wywalczył historyczny awans do ekstraklasy. Zmarł Horst Panic [He won a historic promotion to the Ekstraklasa. Horst Panic has died], RMF 24
- ^ a b c d Tomasz Piasecki (2011). 65 Górnika Wałbrzych [65 years of Górnik Wałbrzych] (in Polish). Wałbrzych: Wydawnictwo Uczelniane Państwowej Wyższej Szkoły Zawodowej im. Angellusa Silesiusa w Wałbrzychu. pp. 1–306. ISBN 9788388425745.
- ^ Michał Mielnik (7 November 2025), Polski klub poinformował o śmierci byłego trenera. Nie żyje Horst Panic [A Polish club has informed about the death of a former manager. Horst Panic has died] (in Polish), Sportowe Fakty WP
- ^ Polsat Sport (8 November 2025), Nie żyje znany polski trener piłkarski. Poprowadził klub do sensacyjnego sukcesu [A well-known manager has died. He led the club to a sensational success] (in Polish), Polsat Sport
- ^ "Nie żyje legendarny trener. Prowadził wiele polskich klubów" [A legendary manager has died. He managed many Polish clubs], onet.pl (in Polish), Przegląd Sportowy, Polish Press Agency, 7 November 2025
- ^ a b Piotr Mika (7 November 2025), Nie żyje legenda polskiego klubu. Wprowadził go do ekstraklasy, jego odejście to wielki cios [A Polish club legend has died. He led them to the Ekstraklasa, his passing away is a huge blow] (in Polish), Super Sport
- ^ a b Danuta Pałęga (7 November 2025), "Nie żyje Horst Panic. Piłkarz i trener miał 87 lat" [Horst Panic has died. Footballer and manager was 87 years old], o2.pl (in Polish), o2 Poland
- ^ Krzysztof Lis (2006). Amica Wronki. Kronika 1992-2005 [Amica Wronki. Chronicles 1992-2005] (in Polish). Wronki: ADeon. pp. 1–136.
- ^ "Trenerzy" [Managers]. www.lechia.dzierzoniow.pl. Lechia Dzierżoniów. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
- ^ Horst Panic nie żyje. Były piłkarz i ceniony trener Górnika Wałbrzych miał 87 lat [Horst Panic has died. Former footballer and respected manager of Górnik Wałbrzych has died aged 87] (in Polish), Eurosport-TVN24, Polish Press Agency, 7 November 2025
- ^ a b Nie żyje Horst Panic, były trener Zagłębia. Klub składa kondolencje rodzinie i bliskim szkoleniowca! [Horst Panic has died, former Zagłębie manager. The club sends condolences to the manager's family and loved ones!] (in Polish), Zagłębie Sosnowiec, 8 November 2025
- ^ Antoni Bugajski (10 November 2025), "Zmarł Horst Panic. Bez niego nie powstałby "Piłkarski poker"", onet.pl (in Polish), Przegląd Sportowy