Józef Kałuża
Personal information
Full name Józef Ignacy Kałuża
Date of birth (1896-02-11)11 February 1896
Place of birth Przemyśl, Austria-Hungary
Date of death 11 October 1944(1944-10-11) (aged 48)
Place of death Kraków, Poland
Height 1.66 m (5 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1909–1911 Robotniczy KS Kraków
1911–1931 Cracovia
International career
1913 Galicia 1 (0)
1921–1928 Poland 16 (7)
Managerial career
1927–1928 Cracovia
1930 Legia Warsaw
1932–1939 Poland
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Józef Ignacy Kałuża (11 February 1896 – 11 October 1944) was a Polish footballer and later coach,[1] was one of the legends of Polish sports.

Club career

Kałuża was one of the most experienced forward players of 1920s Poland. His whole career was connected with Cracovia[2] - with this team in 1921 he won the first, historic Championships of Poland. By 1921, Kałuża had scored 297 goals in 200 games. [3] Altogether, he played 408 games in Cracovia’s jersey, scoring 465 goals. Also, in the years 1921-1928 Kałuża represented Poland in various international games, scoring 7 goals.[4]

Career statistics

Club Season Ekstraklasa Galician Championship Kraków A-Class Friendlies Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Cracovia II Kraków 1912 00000027222722
1913 00420026293131
1914 00320014151717
1915 0000000000
1916 0000003535
1917 00000016331633
1918 00000027362736
1919 00000022592259
1920 000041017272139
1921 890061524313855
1922 0000559131418
1923 0000641692013
1924 0000862182914
1925 00000023202320
1926 440091011132427
1927 00003226232925
1928 2090000472416
1929 23100000773017
1930 0000001212
1931 0000001010
Total 4723744152295361397412

Later life

In 1932, after retirement from playing, he became a trainer/manager of the Poland national team. Directed by him, Poland slowly began to achieve successes on an international scale. In 1936, during Berlin's Olympic Games, the white-red placed 4th (some claim that had Ernest Wilimowski gone to Berlin, the Poles would have won gold). Two years later, during the FIFA World Cup 1938, Poland, after a fierce battle, lost to Brazil 5-6. This legendary game is to this day not only regarded as one of the best in the history of Polish football, but also as one of the best in all of World Cup history.

Kałuża's last game as coach took place on Sunday 27 August 1939 in Warsaw. Poland, after a very good game, beat the then vice-champions of the world, Hungary, 4-2. It was the last game of interwar Poland - on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland and World War II started.

During the war, Kałuża, as one of the few officials of the Polish Football Federation (PZPN), remained in his homeland, where he died in 1944. In 1946, to commemorate him, PZPN begun organizing Józef Kałuża's Cup, but after a few years this idea was given up. Józef Piłsudski's Cracovia Stadium is located on Kałuża's street.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Józef Kałuża". Olympedia. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  2. ↑ "Józef Kałuża - WikiPasy.pl - Encyklopedia KS Cracovia". 6 September 2022.
  3. ↑ Synowiec, Tadeusz Red (24 December 1921). "Przegląd Sportowy : Tygodnik ilustrowany, poświęcony wszelkim gałęziom sportu : Oficjalny organ Polskiego Związku Piłki Nożnej oraz Krakowskiego, Warszawskiego, Lwowskiego i Łódzkiego Związku Okręgowego Piłki Nożnej. 1921, nr 32". Biblioteka Jagiellońska, 4574 V Czasop.
  4. ↑ "Kadra.pl - Reprezentanci". Archived from the original on 2010-09-26. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
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