After seven rounds of the interdistrict senior football league, BKS Bolesławiec occupies a distant 12th place in the standings, with only 7 points.
The 0–2 defeat against local rivals Granica Bogatynia, following a very poor performance, led coach Stanisław Zapiór to submit his resignation.
Halfway through the autumn round, the competition is under way and the team has no coach. What to do? All local coaches have jobs. Time is pressing, as the next match is only a few days away. The solution came almost by itself, thanks to Józef Kawałko.
Older football fans in Bolesławiec know the name. He was our team’s goalkeeper in the 1970s. Always dressed in black. Brave. Agile and highly effective in goal. Seeking a sporting adventure, he made his way to Warsaw, where he played for 11 years for second-division Ursus. During that time, he became famous as one of the few goalkeepers in Poland and the world to save a penalty taken by Kazimierz Deyna himself.
After ending his playing career, he continued to devote his life to football. He turned to coaching, wanting to pass on his extensive football experience to young enthusiasts of the “beautiful game.” He coached Bug Wyszków, a team playing in the second division, as well as Wigry Suwałki, which was still among the leading teams in Warsaw’s third division. He was noticed in the capital’s football community. Janusz Wójcik, coach of the Olympic team, offered him the task of preparing the goalkeepers for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona; later, he went with him to the United Arab Emirates as an assistant.
Time passed—both in sport and in family life. The family grew by two sons. The elder followed in his father’s footsteps, inheriting his unusual agility and goalkeeping talent. In 1990, he was called up to Poland’s under-16 team. The younger son was also drawn to football.
Every emigrant eventually feels the so-called call of their homeland. The same was true of Mr Józef Kawałko. He returned to Bolesławiec. Almost among his first steps was a visit to his parent club, wanting to enroll his successors among BKS’s footballers. At the club, he heard about the situation mentioned at the beginning. He decided to help. He undertook to lead the team until the end of the autumn round. He wanted to find out “what was going on.” He remembered a completely different kind of sport in Bolesławiec. An outsider—as J. Kawałko must be described—looks at the team differently. He uses his own, previously tested working methods. The team believed in the coach and in its own abilities. This resulted in the first match against Dąbrownica. The players were astonished when, before the match scheduled for noon, the coach ordered them to assemble as early as 10 a.m. Everyone showed up. J. Kawałko invited the players to the military casino for coffee and chocolate. Relaxed conversation and jokes, combined with concentration before the match. You could feel the approaching game and the hopeful atmosphere. At 11 a.m., they went to the changing room, changed into kits provided by “Rulimpex,” and began their warm-up.
The match began punctually at noon. The small group of fans barely recognized our footballers. The same players, but not the same team. The 9–1 result for BKS surprised everyone. Team captain Dariusz Hałka scored as many as six goals. A shock, as young people say today. A victory offering great promise for the next matches.
The trip to Żurawina unfortunately ended in a 2–3 defeat. In the coach’s opinion, we should have won, but some players displayed an attitude that still bore traces of their former carefree approach to the game. The next match brought another emphatic result: 6–1 against IKS Ślęża Wrocław, with D. Hałka scoring three goals once again. For the first time in a long while, applause could be heard among the sparse crowd. BKS’s play can be enjoyed. Something good has happened. It is thanks to the new coach, Józef Kawałko. We await the continuation.