Edward Klemens Drabiński (6 June 1912 – 28 October 1995) was a Polish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

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 ...

Football pre-war

Drabiński began his career with

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

after joining the youth teams in 1927. He made his debut for Legia in 1933, before joining Warszawianka in 1938.

World War II

The outbreak of

World War II 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 ...

in 1939 stopped his footballing career, and Drabiński was involved in the

September Campaign The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Sovie ...

. Drabiński's unit was captured by the Soviet forces in Kozielsk, and was spared exaction due to not being a Polish Army Officer. He was later involved in a prisoner exchange with the German forces and was sent to an

Oflag An Oflag (from ) was a type of prisoner of war camp for Officer (armed forces), officers which the German Army (Wehrmacht), German Army established in World War I in accordance with the requirements of the Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907), 1899 ...

camp. Drabiński later escaped from the camp and met up with Polish General

Stanisław Sosabowski Stanisław Franciszek Sosabowski (; 8 May 1892 – 25 September 1967) was a Polish general in World War II. He fought in the Polish Campaign of 1939 and at the Battle of Arnhem (Netherlands), as a part of Operation Market Garden, in 1944 as c ...

with whom he fought with. Eventually he ended up in the United Kingdom where he later trained as a

Cichociemni The Silent Unseen ( Polish: ''Cichociemni'', ) were elite special-operations paratroopers of the Polish Army in exile, created in Great Britain during World War II to operate in occupied Poland (''Cichociemni Spadochroniarze Armii Krajowej''). K ...

. During this time he played for

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

and

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...

in Scotland. Drabiński was awarded with the

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', ) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was established in 1792 by the last King of Poland Stanislaus II of Poland, ...

medal for his service in the war.

Football post-war

After the war, Drabiński moved back to Poland and joined his old club Legia Warsaw. Drabiński is the only player to have played for Legia both before and after World War II. He only made 4 more appearances for Legia, and retired from professional football in 1948, quickly becoming the Legia manager. Drabiński went on to manage other top division sides such as

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, ...

, Polonia Bydgoszcz,

Polonia Bytom Polonia Bytom () is a Polish football club based in Bytom. Founded in 1920, the team won two List of Polish football champions, championships, in 1954 Ekstraklasa, 1954 and 1962 Ekstraklasa, 1962. As of the 2025–26 I liga, 2025–26 season, th ...

, and

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 ...

, before winning his only competition as a manager with

Gwardia Warsaw WKS Gwardia Warszawa () was a Polish sports club based in Warsaw. The club was founded in 1948. The club was dissolved in 2018. Football It participated in the Polish 1st League from 1953 to 1960 (8 seasons), 1962–1966 (5 seasons), 1967–19 ...

in 1967 winning 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 ...

to get Gwardia promoted to the top division.

Honours

Polonia Bytom *

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 ...

runner-up:

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

Gwardia Warsaw *

: 1966–67

Military awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drabinski, Edward 1912 births 1995 deaths Men's association football forwards Footballers from Warsaw Polish men's footballers Legia Warsaw players KS Warszawianka players Dundee United F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Ekstraklasa players Polish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Polish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Polish football managers Legia Warsaw managers ŁKS Łódź managers Odra Opole managers Polonia Bytom managers Lechia Gdańsk managers Lech Poznań managers Raków Częstochowa managers Piast Gliwice managers Ekstraklasa managers I liga managers Recipients of the Virtuti Militari 20th-century Polish sportsmen