Place of birth Bytom, Poland Name Helmut Dudek Role Football player | Playing position Height 1.8 m Years Team Position Defender | |
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Date of birth (1957-12-14)14 December 1957 Date of death 22 May 1994(1994-05-22) (aged 36) Died May 22, 1994, Leverkusen, Germany | ||
Place of death Leverkusen, Germany | ||
Helmut Dudek (14 December 1957 – 22 May 1994) is deceased Polish-German football (soccer) defender who won the 1978–79 UEFA Cup with Borussia Mönchengladbach. He also played eight seasons in the Major Indoor Soccer League.
In 1978, Dudek, native of Poland who later became a West German citizen, signed with Borussia Mönchengladbach and was a member of the team as it won the 1978–79 UEFA Cup. He played a total of six games for Borussia before moving to the United States in 1980. That summer, he signed with the Memphis Americans of the Major Indoor Soccer League. He would play four seasons with the Americans in Memphis and another after the team moved west to Las Vegas, Nevada where they became the Las Vegas Americans. In 1982, he was a First Team All Star. The Americans folded at the end of the 1984–85 season and the Pittsburgh Spirit hired Don Popovic, the American head coach. Popovic brought Dudek, and several other players, to the Spirit as free agents. Dudek spent he 1985–86 season in Pittsburgh. The team folded at the end of the season and Dudek signed with the Minnesota Strikers on 18 September 1986. After one season, the Strikers sent Dudek to the Baltimore Blast for future considerations. He spent one season in Baltimore, then left the league to return to Germany. He died on 22 May 1994 of cancer.