Adam Musiał (English)

Z Historia Wisły

Adam Musiał - born on 18.12.1948 in Wieliczka near Krakow, died on 18.11.2020 - was a prominent Polish football player who excelled as a left defender. He represented the senior national team at a young age and participated in the 1974 World Cup. Known for his strong performances and leadership on the field, Musiał also had a notable career playing for Wisła Kraków and Arka Gdynia in Poland and Hereford United in England. His passion for football extended beyond his playing days, as he later became a coach.

Stars of the White Star

This text by Jakub Pobożniak was originally published on club's website on 28-07-2017

Defender whom players feared to face. A regular national team player, third-place finisher at the 1974 World Cup. A footballer who scored only one goal for the White Star team because, as he emphasizes, the ball just happened to go in. A man associated with Wisła since his youth, who had a clause in his contract while representing Arka Gdynia that he wouldn't have to face the Krakow club at the Reymonta Stadium. The next hero of the "Stars of the White Star" series is Adam Musiał.

Adam Musiał was born on December 18, 1948, in Wieliczka. He began his, as it turned out later, fantastic career on the school pitch located across from his house. Then came the time for the Górnik Wieliczka juniors and the Polish youth national teams, where his coach was none other than Kazimierz Górski. After one of those matches, played in Nowy Sącz, the officials of the White Star approached the 19-year-old Musiał. The left-back was invited into a black Volga that would transport him to Krakow. Also joining the journey with the Wisła officials was Stanisław Gonet. It resulted in two contracts with Wisła for this inseparable pair of friends.

On and off the field!

Although Gonet had to wait a few more years for regular appearances with the white star on his chest, Musiał quickly established himself in the starting eleven of the team from under Wawel Castle. The relentless defender was known for his tough play and effective sliding tackles, often discouraging opponents running down his flank from playing. "In the first two tackles on the field, the aim was to make the opponent feel who they were up against" - that was Musiał's main motto. And those were not light tackles but ones that, in today's times, could lead Musiał to be forced to leave the field prematurely. To prevent that from happening, the Wisła player employed various tricks. Once, he even approached a fouled opponent and kissed him on the forehead, and the surprised referee forgot to give him a card! It happened that opponents deviated from tactical plans and changed sides because they preferred to face Antoni Szymanowski, who did not listen to his fellow colleague's advice and tried to cleanly disrupt the actions.

Adam Musiał was known among his teammates as a storyteller and joker on the field. Alongside his best friend, Stanisław Gonet, the Wisła player played pranks on both teammates and opponents. He also had his tricks when coaches prescribed the famous mountain running during the preparatory period. If the conquered peak was Gubałówka, Musiał and a few other players would stay behind at the beginning of the training session, run down, and... buy tickets for the cable car. The same went for the return trip! All they had to do was buy a bottle of water, sprinkle themselves with it, and it seemed as if the sweaty players had completed the training session!

Górski's Eagle from an early age

At the age of 20, Adam Musiał made his debut in the senior national team. He played in almost every match until 1974, including the World Cup at that time. The left defender did not play only in the match against Sweden, which is considered the weakest performance by the Polish team. After being excluded from the squad for one match, the player returned for the crucial game against Yugoslavia and once again became one of the leading figures on the field. Interestingly, a few years later, when Musiał was ending his career at Hereford United in England, the English joked that the defender was trying to let the Englishmen into that World Cup. It was Musiał who, according to the referee, committed a foul on the English rival in the penalty area in the famous "match at Wembley," allowing the Sons of Albion to equalize the score to 1-1. As the left defender himself recalls, the referee's decision was very controversial, and it's a good thing that his teammates didn't allow him to approach the referee. Otherwise, he could have been beaten up!

Musiał proved his willingness to engage in a fight and stand by his teammates in the game against RWD Molenbeek. In the UEFA Cup, when Kraków's Biała Gwiazda faced the Belgian team with the same nickname, the left defender reacted to the brutal attack by the Belgians on Stanisław Gonet and took justice into his own hands, for which he was sent off to the locker room. However, the values of friendship were much more important at that time! Unfortunately, this behavior caused subsequent coaches to look at Musiał slightly differently. The match against the Belgian team is often referred to as the beginning of the end of the career of the 34-time representative of Poland in Wisła.

Wisła Family

After this incident, Adam Musiał played 18 more matches for the Kraków team and then joined Arka Gdynia. His tally stopped at 262 official matches in the first team of Biała Gwiazda, with one goal. What a goal it was! In his jubilee 100th appearance, which coincided with an important match against Stal Mielec, Musiał decided to take a shot from about 40 meters. The ball gained rotation and went straight into the goal, guarded by Stanisław Majcher. As Musiał himself admitted years later, the ball slipped off his foot during that shot!

After leaving Wisła, Musiał settled in Gdynia. In the colors of the local Arka, the defender won the Polish Cup in 1979, and in the decisive match, the Gdynia team defeated... Biała Gwiazda 2-1. Then came the time for the fourth-tier English team Hereford and the Polish-American team Eagle Yonkers New York. Years later, Adam Musiał returned to Poland, where he was the coach of Biała Gwiazda for over two years, and then took care of the facility at Reymonta Street. The sporting bug was also passed on to his two sons - Tomasz, who is a top-league referee and recently had the opportunity to officiate a match of his father's beloved club, and Maciej, who is the sports director of Wisła Kraków Football Academy. We wish Mr. Adam and his entire family good health!