Michał Matyas


Michał Franciszek Mieczysław Matyas was a Polish footballer, who represented such teams as Pogoń Lwów and Polonia Bytom, as well as Poland. Among fans in Poland he was known as Myszka and in the Soviet Union he played under name of Mikhail. His real occupation was a petroleum technician.

Career

Matyas was born in Brzozów. After moving to Lwów in 1924 he started playing in junior team of Lechia and in 1926 moved to Pogoń, for which Matyas played for 14 seasons. His debut in the national team took place on 10 July 1932 in Warsaw in a 2–0 win against Sweden 2–0). Altogether he played in 18 international games, scoring 7 goals. In Pogoń, in 1935 he was the top-scorer of the Polish Football League, with 22 goals.
During the World War II in 1939–40 Matyas played in Soviet competitions for Naftovyk Boryslav and for short while for FC Dynamo Kiev in 1941. Soon after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, he returned to Lwow where he played for some local city teams in 1942–44. Following the war, Lwów was secured after the Soviet Union, together with a group of Pogon's players and activists, he settled in Bytom, where he played for Polonia Bytom in 1945–48. After finishing his career, he became a coach, in 1950-1952 he was in charge of the national team of Poland. Later, he coached such teams as Stal Mielec and Cracovia. He died on 22 October 1975 in Kraków.

Honours

Pogoń Lwów
Lwów city team