We remember great sports figures. They are the ones who left in 2025

As is most often the case with November 1 and all kinds of summaries of this type, it is impossible not to mention those who passed away at the end of the previous year, in this case – from November 2024 to January 2025.

And unfortunately, in the case of the world of sports, especially the domestic one, the big two are gone. Lucjan Brychczy, who has Legia Warszawa in his heart, and Jan Furtok – the great legend of GKS Katowice.

They are the ones who left in 2025. Great losses for the world of sports

Lucjan Brychczy as a Legia player in the years 1954–1972 played 452 matches, scoring 226 goals. He won the title of Polish champion four times (1955, 1956, 1969, 1970) and won the Polish Cup four times (1955, 1956, 1964, 1966). He was the top scorer in the Polish league three times. In the Polish national team (he was, among others, the captain of the national team) he played 58 times, scoring 18 goals. It is worth adding that he played at the Olympic Games in 1960.

After retiring, he served as a coach and member of Legia’s training staff, and from 2014 he was the honorary president of the club. In recognition of his services to Polish football, he was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

Lucjan Brychczy died on December 2, 2024, at the age of 90.

Jan Furtok died at the age of 62. Legend of GKS Katowice, great striker, former Polish representative. At the end of 2024, Silesia lost an absolutely unique football figure.

At the highest level of competition in Poland, Jan Furtok recorded 209 matches and scored 85 goals for GKS Katowice. In the 1985/86 season, he won the Polish Cup with the Katowice club. Additionally, he won the runner-up title and bronze at the national elite level, in the colors of GKS. Additionally, Furtok played for Hamburger SV and Eintracht Frankfurt.

For the Polish national team, Furtok played 36 matches and scored ten goals. He appeared, among others: at the 1986 world championships.

The tragic news appeared on November 26. Jan Furtok’s beloved club, GKS Katowice, announced his death.

At the beginning of 2025, we also said goodbye to the great sports journalist Maciej Petruczenko. He was the honorary editor-in-chief of “Przegląd Sportowy”. An exceptional specialist in athletics and the history of Olympism, but in fact it is difficult to name a field of sport in which one could not count on an interesting, colorful opinion from this experienced journalist.

In addition to typical journalistic texts, Petruczenko has also written books, for example about the outstanding sportswoman, Irena Szewińska.

He received many awards and distinctions. In 2020, he was the winner of a special award named after Bohdan Tomaszewski. Petruczenko received the distinction during the final Grand Press gala. Additionally, in 2021 he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

Maciej Petruczenko died on January 27 this year at the age of 78.

It is also impossible not to mention the character of Leo Beenhakker. The Dutchman was the first foreign coach in the history of the Polish national football team. His greatest success in working for Polish football also involved a historic achievement. Leo Beenhakker introduced Poland to an event at the level of the European Championship for the first time. Poles played at Euro 2008, organized in Austria and Switzerland.

No other coach, including the great World Championship medalists – Kazimierz Górski and Antoni Piechniczek, had ever managed to do such a feat. It was Beenhakker who was the first to introduce Poland to the European Championship.

As a club coach, Beenhakker won championship titles, among others. together with Ajax Amsterdam and Real Madrid. In the first case, we are talking about two Dutch championships, and in Spain, together with the Royals, he was unrivaled three times.

The Dutchman announced his retirement on June 2, 2015.

Leo Beenhakker died on April 10 this year at the age of 82.

The football world was also shaken by a tragic accident involving Diogo Jota and his two-year-younger brother. Both players died on the spot. The Portuguese was a player of the English Liverpool FC. The fatal accident occurred in the north-west of Spain.

The car in which Jota and his brother were traveling suddenly veered off the road and burst into flames.

Unfortunately, although emergency services were called, the lives of the driver and passenger could not be saved. Both of them had no chance with the fire spreading so quickly. The recordings from the scene themselves were shocking.

In 2025, legendary wrestler Hulk Hogan also died.

There is no doubt that Hogan’s character was definitely one that transcended the world of sports. Although in the case of wrestling, in a typical exhibition version – as only in the United States can do it – some people object to the suggestion that it is a sporting discipline.

Hogan made his debut as a wrestler in 1977. His rich career, which over time made him the most recognizable figure in the history of wrestling, made this type of competition in the ring famous. The famous “Hulkomania” in the 1980s was something unique. And what is important, Hogan also found his place in later decades, shining really well both at the end of the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st century.

Hogan officially retired in 2012, after 35 years as a wrestler. He was a six-time winner of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) championship.

In mid-October, there was also a fatal accident during the Nysa Rally. Artur Sękowski died there. The 40-year-old driver was very popular in the world of motorsport.

Crew car number 112 went off the route on the sixth special stage and caught fire. The services securing the section immediately arrived at the scene of the incident. Unfortunately, the driver could not be saved. The burned pilot was freed from the car and transported to hospital. Crowds of motorsport fans said goodbye to Sękowski in Wrocław.

In mid-October, we also informed about the departure of the Polish volleyball champion. Anna Walczak, a two-time Polish champion and one of the icons of Kalisz volleyball, passed away. The former volleyball player had been fighting cancer for several years. She was supported both by the club from Kalisz, where she achieved the greatest successes in her career years ago, and by the Polish Volleyball Association. Walczak died at the age of 54.

At the end of October, there was also very sad news related to the departure of Rafał Wójcik. The athlete represented Poland at the Olympic Games in Sydney (2000). He was 53 years old.

In 1998 and 2002 he was a finalist of the European Championships in the 3000 m steeplechase. He performed, among others, at the world championships in Athens in 1997 and in Seville in 1999. The athlete passed away after a difficult and unequal fight with stage III malignant melanoma.

Let us point out that these are just a few of the characters we mentioned on November 1, i.e. All Saints’ Day.

We will certainly remember all those who have passed away – especially figures from the world of sports – not only on this day, but also in the months and years to come. Thanking you for all the emotions related to their results, performances and the memories that will remain.