Mirosław Mieczysław Pękala (born 15 October 1961) was a former Polish international footballer who played as a midfielder. His playing career lasted 11 years during which time he played for

Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław, Śląsk Wrocław () or simply Śląsk, is a Polish football club based in Wrocław that plays in Ekstraklasa, the highest level of the Polish fo ...

and

Lechia Gdańsk Lechia Gdańsk () is a Polish football club based in Gdańsk. The club was founded in 1945 by people expelled from Lwów, who were supporters of Poland's oldest football team Lechia Lwów, founded in 1903. The club's name comes from Lechia, a ...

Career

Born in

Kłodzko Kłodzko (; cz, Kladsko; german: Glatz; la, Glacio) is a historic town in south-western Poland, in the region of Lower Silesia. It is situated in the centre of the Kłodzko Valley, on the Eastern Neisse river. Kłodzko is the seat of Kłodzko Co ...

, Pękala started playing football for his local team Nysa Kłodzko. He eventually joined Piast Nowa Ruda, being transferred to

at the age of 15. He made his league debut for Śląsk in August 1977 against

Ruch Chorzów Ruch Chorzów () is a Polish association football club based in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. It is one of the most successful football teams in Poland: fourteen-time national champions, and three-time winners of the Polish Cup. Currently the team play ...

at the age of 15, being the youngest ever player to have played for the team. After shining in his early years, his high amount of playing time and early exposure to alcohol abuse took its toll on Pękala's development. During his time with Śląsk he was involved in a night of drinking when he and three other players partied in a

T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, anti-tan ...

tank outside of a Soviet cemetery. In the winter of 1984 Pękala was involved in a hit and run driving accident, eventually surrendering himself to the authorities. Eventually Śląsk had had enough of the player and his antics and he was transferred to

in early 1985. In total for Śląsk Pękala made 137 league appearances in the

I liga I liga ( pl, Pierwsza liga, ), currently named Fortuna I liga due to its sponsorship by Fortuna, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga vi ...

. Pękala made his Lechia debut on 23 March 1985 against

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, tennis, athletics and in the past ice ...

. After his initial troubles at Śląsk, Pękala initially had a more structured life and stayed away from alcohol when he joined the club. However Pękala returned to his lifestyle outside of football. One event that took place during his time with Lechia was that a player was sent to find Pękala after a night of drinking, eventually finding him in the 54th house they checked. Despite his antics frustrating the club and management, the manager at the time,

Wojciech Łazarek Wojciech Łazarek (born 4 October 1937) is a Polish footballer who played as forward in the late 1950s and early 1960s and, starting in 1964, until his retirement in 2006, embarked on a 42-year career as a renowned trainer and manager entrusted, b ...

, saw him as being so important for the team, with Łazarek saying he'd prefer one Pękala than an additional three players on the pitch. Eventually his drinking habits lead to the player retiring from football in 1988 at the age of 27 having made 114 appearances and scored 14 goals in all competitions for Lechia.

International career

It is reported that Pękala made nearly 100 appearances for the Polish international youth teams. He made his first team international debut on 25 January 1981 against Japan. In total he received six caps for Poland, four of those coming against Japan during an international team tour of the country in 1981 with the other two games coming against Bulgaria and Finland. His only international goal came against Japan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pękala, Mirosław 1961 births Śląsk Wrocław players Lechia Gdańsk players Polish men's footballers Poland men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Living people People from Kłodzko Footballers from Lower Silesian Voivodeship