A forward who starred in the North American Soccer League for seven seasons, all of them with the Chicago Sting.
Granitza was one of the NASL’s most consistent goalscorers, with at least 15 goals in each of his NASL seasons. He appeared in 224 NASL games and scored 141 goals, putting him third among all-time NASL goalscorers.
Granitza, who was German, was somewhat unusual among the foreign players who starred in the NASL in that he had not been a major star in his native country. He blossomed after the Sting purchased him from Hertha Berlin before the 1978 NASL season. He scored 20 goals that season, the first of five seasons in which he scored 20 or more. He hit his goalscoring peak in 1981 with 26 (including seven in 10 playoff games) and was a star of the Chicago teams that won NASL titles in 1981 and 1984.
Granitza was second in the NASL in scoring behind Giorgia Chinaglia in three consecutive years, 1980, 1981 and 1982, and was a first-team all-star in 1984.
Inducted in 2003.
