Junak Drohobycz

In 1922, a sports club Czarni was founded in Drohobych. In 1930 it changed name to Strzelec, and later, in 1931 – to Junak. For the first few years, the new team did not achieve anything significant in Polish soccer, lagging far behind top teams from Lviv. Crucial was the year 1937 – in March, Captain Mieczyslaw Mlotek from Drohobycz's Polish Army garrison was elected president of the club. He was a great fan of soccer. Using his influences, Mlotek organized Junak's council, which included the most influential citizens of the town (among them – the mayor of Drohobycz).

Drohobych, as well as adjacent town of Boryslav, were interwar centers of Polish oil mining. With the help of numerous factories and local governments of both towns, Junak developed very fast. Numerous players were bought, mostly from renowned teams of Cracovia and Wisła Kraków, and in the spring of 1939 the team won local games of the Lwów region, beating, among others, Czarni Lwów, Ukraina Lwów, Resovia Rzeszów and Polonia Przemyśl. Junak's matches were very popular, with up to 5000 fans watching them. Supporters would come not only from Drohobycz, but also from Boryslaw and Schodnica (Skhidnytsia now). Junak's fans were regarded as very rowdy: Polish writer Andrzej Chciuk, who was born and raised in Drohobycz, wrote: "As long as Junak played in C or B class, regular fans came to these games. The team, however, played better and better, and its supporters were worse and worse. They toured the country with the team, as many as 2,000 of them. Arrival of such a crowd to Stryj, Boryslaw or Stanislawow (now Ivano-Frankivsk) meant trouble for those cities. Those who could not afford to go to away games gathered in front of Drohobycz post office, to listen to updates of the match".[1]

Before reaching play-offs for Ekstraklasa, Junak had to overcame more teams. In June and July 1939, the Drohobycz's side beat Unia Lublin (6–0 and 3–4), Policyjny KS Luck (7–0 and 3–2) and Strzelec-Gorka Stanisławów (6–1 and 0–4). Junak must have been a good team, which was proved in friendly games in the spring and early summer of 1939. It tied 2–2 with Cracovia, 3–3 with Wisła Kraków, also beat 2–1 the amateur champion of Hungary.

On 13 August 1939 Junak played the first game of the play-offs. In Poznań, against Legia, the score was good (1–1). Then, on 20 August, at home, in a disappointing game versus Śląsk Świętochłowice, neither side scored. The next home game, planned on September 10, against Śmigły Wilno, never took place, because of German and Soviet invasions on Poland.

It is difficult to speculate if Junak would have won promotion (out of participating 4 teams, 3 were going to be promoted). Team's officials had far-reaching plans, hoping to win the Championship of Poland as early as in 1940. Allegedly, Junak planned to purchase Ernest Willimowski – the forward player of both Ruch Chorzów and Polish national team, by far the best player in interwar Poland. Also, at the beginning of 1939, Junak bought another star of Polish soccer, Bolesław Habowski from Wisła Kraków.

• A June 22, 1939 newspaper article with history of Junak Drohobycz (Polish).