It’s ok to [Mirosław Pękala] Ekstraklasa (76/100) The year is 1988,... (@TheRealOllieszcz)

It’s ok to [Mirosław Pękala] Ekstraklasa (76/100)

The year is 1988, Górnik Zabrze won their 14th and currently most recent Championship, Robert Lewandowski was born, and massive strikes were taking place across Poland. It was also the year Mirosław Pękala retired from football aged only 27.

Mirosław was a wonderkid, the best player in Poland for his age group. He started playing football for Nysa Kłodzko and Piast Nowa Ruda moving to play with Śląsk Wrocław in 1977. He made his debut for Śląsk that August against Ruch Chorzów aged only 15 and is still the clubs youngest ever player. As a player he had the world at his feet, he could have gone on to achieve anything, but fatal mistakes were made along the way.

When he joined Śląsk they gave him an apartment near the training ground instead of placing him with a family who could have provided guidance and discipline within his life. Instead of studying or sleeping Mirosław would end up spending his evenings drinking with the older members of the team. There were many occasions when he slept the whole day after a night of drinking, even if there was a game on. One night Mirosław and three other members of the first team drove a T34 Tank around Wrocław before parking it outside a Soviet cemetery. They ended up drinking and partying for the rest of the night in the tank. His story with Śląsk ends in December 1984 when Mirosław was involved in a hit and run incident. He eventually surrender himself to the Police, and Śląsk had decided they’d had enough.

Mirosław tried to reignite his career joining Lechia Gdańsk in 1985. Initially his moved worked out with Mirosław being more grounded, dedicated, and imposed stricter rules on himself. But eventually the desire for alcohol returned and he returned to his nights of drinking. In one incident a player was sent to look for him to make sure he arrived at the stadium before the game started. The player sent to find him eventually found him at the 54th address they looked at, and Mirosław arrived at the stadium during half time.

During his career he received 6 caps for Poland, but with greater discipline it could have been many more. After years of alcohol abuse eventually taking its toll on his ability Mirosław Pękala decided to retire from football during the time would be most players primes in their career.

#ekstraklasajestokay #pilkanozna #ekstraklasa #slakwroclaw #lechiagdansk