Player Pics

Polish international striker Maciej Zurawski arrived at Celtic Park on July 7th 2005 in a £2 million deal from Wislaw Krakow.


Zurawski came to Parkhead at the age of 29 with a good domestic scoring record and, in a sign of the times, the Hoops support had high hopes for the man nicknamed ‘Magic’ after watching compilations of his goals on the YouTube website.

The striker’s profile had been boosted further in the UK thanks to goals against England, Wales and Northern Ireland in recent World Cup qualifying ties.

Zurawski took a little while to settle into the Scottish game but when he did he demonstrated a good eye for goal and some excellent all round forward play.

He put on a magnificent four goal display as Celtic thrashed Dunfermline 8-1 at East End Park in the league in February 2006 when his finishing was truly exceptional. By the end of his first season Magic had recovered from a slow start and had notched 20 goals – including the only goal in a 1-0 triumph over Rangers at Ibrox - to play a noteable part in the Bhoys’ triumph in the league and CIS Cup (League Cup).

The Celtic support were sure that with a season’s experience in the SPL now under his belt that the best was still to come from Magic and even a poor World Cup from the player failed to cool expectations for the season ahead.

They were expectations which were never met. Zurawski’s form at the start of the new season was poor. Too often he looked sluggish and disinterested. The sharpness and ability in front of goal which was so obvious just months before was now seen only in fleeting moments. Injuries didn’t help but claims that the player was fatigued from the World Cup sounded rather hollow.

Zurawski slipped out of first team contention and gradually became a bit part player. His rare starts and substitute appearances offered little hope that the talent he showed in his debut season would return.

Despite being Poland skipper his international place was in serious doubt due to a lack of first team action. So, having made just a single start in the first half of season 2007/08, Zurawski was sold in January 2008 to Greek First Division outfit Larissa for an estimated fee of £500,000.

Zurawski, who scored 30 goals in 73 appearances for Celtic, was Poland captain at Euro 2008 but was injured in their opening match to Germany and never played in the two remaining matches as Poland exited in the first round.

Summary