Gustav "Egon" or "Erwin" Pollak ( he, אגון פולק, 12 November 1898 – 21 January 1981) was an Austrian-born footballer who played for the famed

SC Hakoah Wien SC Hakoah Vienna (german: Sport Club Hakoah Wien; ' means "the strength" in Hebrew) is a Jewish sports club in Vienna, Austria. Prior to World War II, it produced several Olympic athletes and was notable for fielding an entirely Jewish associati ...

(a.k.a. Hakoah Vienna). He was also the first ever manager of the

Israel national football team The Israel national football team ( he, נבחרת ישראל בכדורגל, ) represents Israel in international football, and is governed by the Israel Football Association (IFA). Israel's national team is the direct successor of the ...

in their 3–1 loss to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

just after gaining independence.

Early life

Egon Erwin Pollak was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family.

Club career

Pollak began his career with

in the Austrian League. In 1926, he moved to the United States where he played a single season with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

of the American Soccer League.

References

External links

jewsinsports.org
1898 births 1984 deaths Jewish Austrian sportspeople Jewish footballers Austrian footballers Austria international footballers SC Hakoah Wien footballers New York Giants (soccer) players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Austrian football managers Israel national football team managers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Austrian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Footballers from Vienna Association football defenders {{austria-footy-defender-stub