Spirydion Albanski
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Albanski Spirydion (nicknames: Spirytus, Romek). A Polish soccer goalkeeper, one of the best in the country in the 1930s, played for Pogon Lwow and Polish National Team.
Born October 4, 1907 in Lwow, died March 28, 1992 in Katowice. High school graduate, after the Second World War, when forced to move from Lwow to Upper Silesia, worked in coal-mining industry, later a civil servant, also a soccer coach.
Soccer career: Pogon Lwow (1928-1939), after the Soviets captured Lwow in late September 1939 (see: Polish September Campaign#Phase 2: Soviet aggression), represented newly created teams of Dinamo Lwow and Spartak Lwow. In 1944, as borders of Poland moved westwards (see: Oder-Neisse line), Albanski, together with thousands of Lwow’s inhabitants, was forced to leave the city. Firstly, he stayed in [[[Rzeszow]], where played for Resovia Rzeszow. Then, in 1945-46, played a few games for Pogon Katowice.
His best seasons however were those spent in Pogon. In the years 1928-1939 Albanski played in 234 games of Polish Soccer League, which is an absolute record among Pogon’s players. Also, in 18 games (another record for all interwar goalies) represented Poland, including matches of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.
In the 1930s Albanski, a tall and handsome man, was among the most popular athletes in Poland. Very skilled as a goalkeeper, but some claimed he was too skinny (at the beginning of career weighted only 50 kilograms, with height of 176 centimeters, later gained up to some 62 kilograms). Enjoyed great respect from his collegaues in Pogon, since 1936 was the captain of the team. In the period 1930-1939 played in all games of Pogon, never missing even a minute of play (altogether - 174 consecutive matches).
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