Jan Furtok (1962–2024). Member of the Polish national team and goalscorer in the German Bundesliga
Furtok grew up in the district of Kostuchna surrounded by a large family. He began his career as a striker in 1976 when he joined the Górnik Katowice junior team. He then played for the leading local rival GKS Katowice from 1979–1988. In 1984, Furtok was crowned newcomer of the year by Poland’s football magazine “Piłka Nożna”. He played 179 games for GKS, scored 77 goals and in 1986 won the Polish cup. He scored three of the goals in the 4:1 game against Górnik Zabrze, attracting a great deal of attention as a result. The skilled dribbler and dynamic goalscorer began his career in Germany at the end of the 1980s, even before the political upheaval in Europe, when he was signed to Hamburger SV. During his very first game, which ended 1:1 against Karlsruher SC, he scored the all-important goal for HSV. In 135 games for HSV between 1988 and 1993, he scored no fewer than 51 goals. He was the man for the decisive situations on the pitch. During that season, he secured the club’s place in the league table with a goal against Waldhof Mannheim. During the 1989/90 season, he became the second-best striker in the league, scoring 20 goals. Furtok played alongside greats such as Nando, Doll, and Beiersdorfer, and became a favourite of the fans in Hamburg.
His move to Eintracht Frankfurt, for whom he played from 1993–1995, was less successful compared to his time in Hamburg. During this period, he suffered from injuries, which had an impact on his scoring record, with just nine goals in 53 games. At Frankfurt, he played alongside star strikers such as Anthony Yeboah and Jay-Jay Okocha.
Jan Furtok was among the first of a large number of Polish players who were contracted to German Bundesliga clubs after the end of the 1980s. They epitomised the important role that players of Polish family origins played in German football overall, starting with the generation of migrants who came to the Ruhr region from the end of the 19th century onwards, then the emigrants after the Second World War, and later well-known German national team players such as Klose and Podolski, through to the player trio Łukasz Piszczek, Jakub Błaszczykowski and Robert Lewandowski at Borussia Dortmund in the championship years 2011 and 2012, which earned the club the name “Polonia Dortmund”.
In 1995, Furtok returned to GKS Katowice, from 1995–1997 as a player, in 2005 as a trainer, and then for a period of time as president and director of sports. This was during a difficult spell when at times, the GKS played in the fourth league.
However, it was the role he played in the Polish national team, for which he played for nine years after 1984 and scored ten goals, that made Furtok a legend. In 1993, the man who scored the goals when they were really needed rescued the Kadra (“squad”) from complete humiliation in their game against the football dwarf San Marino in Łódź, when he scored the only goal of the game, albeit in Maradona style with his hand. His clever trick can be seen on YouTube for all to admire.
As the news of Furtok’s death spread, the mayor of Katowice, Marcin Krupa, spontaneously decided to name the new stadium, which will be officially opened in the spring of 2025, after Jan Furtok. A huge portrait of him was painted on a house wall at 13 Ulica Graniczna, a street in the centre of the city, several years ago. Furtok was a famous and popular son of Katowice. His funeral in Katowice-Kostuchna on 29 November 2024 was attended by the highest-ranking members of the city government and the club, as well as a large number of fans and footballers, including Lukas Podolski. They paid their final respects to “Jasiu”.
Diethelm Blecking, December 2024
