Józef Walczak (born 3 January 1931 – 14 April 2016) was a Polish
football player
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 ...
and
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
. He mainly played for
ŁKS Łódź
ŁKS Łódź (''Łódzki Klub Sportowy Łódź''; ) is a Polish sports club based in Łódź. They are best known for their football club but are represented in many sports such as basketball, volleyball, boxing, and in the past ice hockey, ...
during his playing career, made two international appearances for
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
between 1954 and 1956, and went on to manage eight different teams.
Football
Walczak started his playing career with his local club
ŁKS Łódź
ŁKS Łódź (''Łódzki Klub Sportowy Łódź''; ) is a Polish sports club based in Łódź. They are best known for their football club but are represented in many sports such as basketball, volleyball, boxing, and in the past ice hockey, ...
, playing with ŁKS for two seasons, winning promotion in the first season before finishing second in the top division the season after. He moved to
Zawisza Bydgoszcz
Zawisza Bydgoszcz () is a sports club from Bydgoszcz, Poland, founded in 1946. Its name commemorates a legendary Polish 15th-century knight, Zawisza Czarny (Zawisza the Black). The club holds many sections: football, track and field athletics, b ...
for two seasons, finishing third with the team in his first season. He returned to ŁKS in 1957, spending the next nine years at the club. He played for ŁKS during their golden years, helping them to their first
I liga
I liga (, ), currently named Betclic I liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga via promotion/rel ...
title in 1958, and lifting the
Polish Cup
The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...
in 1957, the only time the team have won the competition. In total for ŁKS Łódź, Walczak made a total of 211 games scoring 11 goals.
After his playing career, Walczak went on to manage
ŁKS Łódź
ŁKS Łódź (''Łódzki Klub Sportowy Łódź''; ) is a Polish sports club based in Łódź. They are best known for their football club but are represented in many sports such as basketball, volleyball, boxing, and in the past ice hockey, ...
, Włókniarz Łódź, Włókniarz Pabianice,
Motor Lublin
Motor Lublin () is a Polish professional football club based in Lublin. The club was founded in December 1950. Their nickname ''The Yellow, White and Blues'' reflects their official colours. They compete in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of Polish ...
,
Bałtyk Gdynia
Bałtyk Gdynia is a Polish football club from Gdynia. The club is named after the Baltic Sea. They currently compete in the IV liga Pomerania, the fifth tier of Polish league competition.
History
The club was established in 1930 by football e ...
,
Lechia Gdańsk
Lechia Gdańsk () is a Polish football (soccer), football club based in Gdańsk. As of the 2025–26 Ekstraklasa, 2025–26 season, they compete in the Ekstraklasa.
The club was founded in 1945 by people Polish population transfers (1944–1946 ...
,
Stal Mielec
FKS Stal Mielec, commonly known as Stal Mielec (), is a Polish professional football club based in Mielec. The team competes in the I liga, the second level of the Polish football league system.
The club was established on 10 April 1939. Histori ...
and
Cracovia. His management career saw him finishing second in the
II liga
II liga (Druga liga, ), currently named Betclic II liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is a Polish football league that sits at the third tier of the Polish football league system. Until the end of the 2007–08 season, ''II Liga'' referre ...
with Lechia in 1978, while achieving a third-place finish in the
top division with Stal Mielec in 1982.
Honours
Player
ŁKS Łódź
*
Ekstraklasa
(; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...
:
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...
; runner-up:
1954
Events
January
* January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting.
* January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...
*
II liga
II liga (Druga liga, ), currently named Betclic II liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is a Polish football league that sits at the third tier of the Polish football league system. Until the end of the 2007–08 season, ''II Liga'' referre ...
runner-up: 1953
*
Polish Cup
The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...
: 1956–57
Zawisza Bydgoszcz
* II liga third place: 1955
Manager
Lechia Gdańsk
* II liga runner-up: 1977–78
Stal Mielec
* Ekstraklasa third place:
1981–82
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walczak, Józef
1931 births
2016 deaths
Footballers from Łódź
Men's association football defenders
Polish men's footballers
Poland men's international footballers
ŁKS Łódź players
Zawisza Bydgoszcz players
Ekstraklasa players
I liga players
Polish football managers
ŁKS Łódź managers
Motor Lublin managers
Bałtyk Gdynia managers
Lechia Gdańsk managers
Stal Mielec managers
KS Cracovia managers
Ekstraklasa managers
I liga managers
20th-century Polish sportsmen