Ernest Willimowski

Ernest Wilimowski was a German professional football player. He was born on 23 June 1916 in Kattowitz, German Empire. He played for Germany and Poland national teams. He has scored 554 official goals and ranks 12th in the all-time highest goal scorers.

He primarily played as a forward on the left side. He occasionally played ice hockey for Pogon Katowice.

Background

Wilimowski joined the FC Kattowitz team at the age of 9. He played for their first team at the age of 13. He then moved to Ruch Chorzow in 1933 at the age of 17. He was known for his provess with his right foot and his terrific dribbling skills. He soon got his international debut for the Poland national team.

Debut

His international debut for Poland came against Denmark on 21 May 1934 at the age of 17 years and 332 days. Poland lost the match 2-4.

He debuted for Germany on 1 June 1941 against Romania. He scored two goals as Germany won 4-1.

Rise to glory

The two memorable games of Wilimowski’s Poland career are against Brazil and Hungary. Against Brazil, he became the first player to score four goals in a FIFA World Cup game. Poland lost the game 5-6 and he remains the only player to score four goals in a losing cause in the FIFA World Cup.

Against the world class Hungary team, Poland were down 2-0. Wilimowski scored four goals after the 33rd minute and Poland won the match 4-2. This match was the last before the commencement of World War II.

For the Germany team, his best performance came against Switzerland when he scored 4 goals as in Germany’s 5-3 win.

Low points

He was denied to play in the Olympic Games in 1936 in Berlin due to his off field behaviour.

Club career

Ernest played for Ruch Chorzow (then known as Ruch Wielkie Hajduki) from 1934 to 1939. He earned his nickname ‘Ezi’ here. He made 86 appearances for the club and scored 112 goals.

He then moved to his former club FC Kattowitz in 1939 but did not get any chance to play. He then moved to PSV Chemnitz in 1940. He scored 68 goals in his two year stint with them. In 1942, he became a part of the German club TSV 1860 Munchen. He managed to score 9 goals for them before moving to another club.

In 1946, he shifted base to SG Chemnitz-West where he did not get a chance to play and moved again to BC Augsburg in 1948. He scored 3 goals in 6 matches there. He then played for Offenburger FV in the 1949-50 season scoring 70 goals in 89 matches.

In the 1950-51 season, 16 goals in 30 matches for FC Singen 04.

Records

He has scored over 1000 goals, but are not reported and confirmed as football was not completely documented during his playing days.

Retirement

Ernest retired from professional football in 1959 aged 43. After retirement, he ran a restaurant with his wife upto 1978. He died in Germany on 30 August 1997 aged 81.