Gerard Wodarz
Gerard Wodarz was a Polish footballer who played as a striker. One of the best players of interwar Poland, he was a multiple champion of the country and also played 28 games on the Poland [national football team|Poland national team], scoring 9 goals.
Biography
He was born in 1913 in Bismarckhütte, and died in 1982 in his hometown.Wodarz was a left-wing forward player. His career started in Ruch Wielkie Hajduki, in which he played in the years 1926–1939 and after the war, in 1946–47. Together with Ernest Wilimowski and Teodor Peterek, he was part of one of the best forward formations in the history of Ruch. In 183 games he scored 51 goals, and won five Polish championships.
He made 28 appearances for the Poland national team. His debut occurred on 2 October 1932 in Bucharest, against Romania. Wodarz participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, where he scored five goals. Also, he represented Poland during one of the most famous games in Polish football history, against Brazil in Strasbourg, France, during the 1938 FIFA World Cup.
After the German Invasion of Poland in September 1939, Wodarz signed a German Nationality List and played for a newly created team, Bismarckhütter SV 99. In 1941, he was called up to the Wehrmacht and in 1944 he was captured by the U.S. Army. The Americans passed him to the Polish Armed Forces in the West, where he returned to football, playing for some British teams.
In 1946, he returned to Poland and for next two years represented Ruch Chorzów. His career ended in 1947. Later, he managed several Upper Silesian teams, but without major achievements.