Teodor Peterek (nicknames: ''Mietlorz'' and ''Teo''; 7 November 1910 – 12 January 1969), 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.

Life and career

Peterek's career started in

Śląsk Świętochłowice Śląsk Świętochłowice (full name: Miejski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Świętochłowice) is a Polish sports club based in Świętochłowice, Upper Silesia, known for its motorcycle speedway and Association football, football teams. Name Its name c ...

in 1925. Two years later, he moved to

Ruch Chorzów Ruch Chorzów () is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. It is one of the most successful football teams in Poland, having won fourteen List of Polish football champions, Polish Championship ...

for whom he debuted at a very early age. "Teo" was not even 18 years old, when he played in a 1928 game against ŁKS Łódź. The young forward's first game for Chorzów's side was very successful - he scored a goal. He stayed in Ruch for 11 years, and won five league titles with the Silesian club. In the 1937–38 season, he scored in 16 consecutive league matches, which remained as a world record until broken by Messi in 2013. Regarded as a very ambitious, success-oriented player, who would never give up. According to an urban legend, on one occasion Peterek threw some mud in the face of a goalkeeper who had saved his penalty kick. Together with Gerard Wodarz and Ernest Willimowski, Peterek was part of Ruch's attack, which is to this day regarded as one of the best forward formations in history of Polish Soccer League. In 189 games for Ruch (1928–1939), he scored 154 goals, a lot of them with the head - this was due to "Teo's" height - at 182 centimeters, he was one of the tallest forwards in Poland. Twice - in 1936 (together with Wilimowski - 18 goals) and in 1938 (21 goals), was the best scorer of the League.

World War II

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Peterek played in Bismarckhuetter Sport-Verein (1939–1941), which was in fact a pre-war Ruch Chorzów, with a German name. In 1942, Theodor (this was the German-language variation of his first name) was conscripted to the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

, two years later escaped the German Army and was captured by the Allies, who sent him to Polish units. There, he returned to football, representing the Polish Army team in 88 friendly games.

After the war

When the war ended, he remained in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, before returning to Chorzów in 1947. In 1948, he made a few appearances for Ruch before retiring and starting a coaching career.

International career

Peterek made nine appearances for the Poland national team and scored 6 goals. He made his debut on 23 August 1931 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 2–3 loss to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. He represented Poland at the 1936 Olympic Games in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where scored a goal. He played his last match for the national team on 18 September 1938 in

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...

in a 1–4 loss to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, scoring Poland's lone goal in the game.

Honours

Ruch Chorzów *

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 ...

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

Individual *

top scorer:

* Ekstraklasa Hall of Fame: 2024

References