Roman Franciszek Strzałkowski (6 October 1941 – 5 March 1977) 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

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He signed for Scottish club

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

in June 1971, alongside fellow Polish internationals

Alfred Olek Alfred Tomasz Olek (23 July 1940 – 10 March 2007), was a Polish footballer, who played for Górnik Zabrze, Scottish club Hamilton Academical and once for the Poland national team. Olek was one of three Polish international players who mov ...

and Witold Szygula. They were "the first players from behind the Iron Curtain ��to play in Britain." The deal was orchestrated by Hamilton's chairman Jan Stepek, who was himself Polish, in return for electronic goods being sent to Poland. Strzałkowski also played in Poland for Zagłębie and

Szombierki Bytom Szombierki Bytom () is a Polish football club from Szombierki district of Bytom. Szombierki currently competes in the V liga Silesia I. Their greatest achievement was winning the Polish championship during the 1979–80 season. Honours ;Domes ...

Honours

Zagłębie Sosnowiec *

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

: 1962–63

References

External links

* 1941 births 1977 deaths Footballers from Bytom Men's association football defenders Polish men's footballers Poland men's international footballers Zagłębie Sosnowiec players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Szombierki Bytom players Ekstraklasa players Scottish Football League players Polish expatriate men's footballers Polish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland 20th-century Polish sportsmen {{Poland-footy-defender-1940s-stub