Bolesław Józef Habowski (13 September 1914 – 21 May 1979) was a Polish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. Having spent the majority of his career at

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. They currently compete in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system, ...

, he also represented the Poland national team. Habowski's debut in the national team came on 10 October 1937 in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, in a 4–0 win over

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. His second and last game in the white-red jersey took place in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

on 25 September 1938 in a 1–2 loss to

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, scoring a goal in the match. He played as a forward, was regarded as a very fast and tough player, who never gave up. In the years 1934–1938 he played in all Wisła Kraków's games in the Polish top division. Then, sometime between late 1938 and early 1939, he moved to a rising power of Polish football, Junak Drohobycz. During the

Polish September Campaign The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet ...

, he was captured by the Soviets and forcefully taken to

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

. In 1942, he managed to get to the Polish Army in Soviet Union, created by General

Władysław Anders Władysław Albert Anders (11 August 1892 – 12 May 1970) was a Polish military officer and politician, and prominent member of the Polish government-in-exile in London. Born in Krośniewice-Błonie, then part of the Russian Empire, he serv ...

. From there, across Africa, he arrived in England, where he stayed and eventually died.

References

1914 births 1979 deaths Footballers from Kraków Polish men's footballers Polish Austro-Hungarians Men's association football forwards Poland men's international footballers Wisła Kraków players FC Spartak Moscow players Ekstraklasa players Soviet Top League players 1938 FIFA World Cup players Polish military personnel of World War II Polish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Soviet Union Polish expatriate sportspeople in the Soviet Union Expatriate men's footballers in England Polish expatriate sportspeople in England 20th-century Polish sportsmen {{Poland-footy-forward-1910s-stub