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Leon Sperling

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Leon Sperling
Sperling (fourth from right) with Cracovia in 1921
Personal information
Date of birth (1900-08-07)7 August 1900
Place of birth Kraków, Austria-Hungary
Date of death c. 15 December 1941(1941-12-15) (aged 41)
Place of death Lwów Ghetto, Poland
Height 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1914–1916 Jutrzenka Kraków
1917 Cracovia
1918–1920 Jutrzenka Kraków
1920–1934 Cracovia
International career
1921–1930 Poland 16 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Leon Sperling (7 August 1900 – c. 15 December 1941) was a Polish footballer.[1][2][3][4]

Sperling was born in Kraków, and was Jewish.[5] He was a forward, playing on the left wing. Sperling represented Cracovia,[6] the team he led in 1921, 1930, and 1932 to the Championship of Poland.[7] He also played in 16 games for the Poland national team,[8] including Poland's lone game at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games.[9][10][11] He was regarded as a highly skilled dribbler.[12] He also coached in Lviv.[12] Sperling is one of Cracovia Kraków's legends.

Sperling was shot to death by the Nazis in the Lwów Ghetto in December 1941.[11][13][3][14] His Jewish teammate, Józef Klotz, was also killed in the Holocaust.[3]

Honours

Cracovia[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ "SPERLING Leon". polska-pilka.pl (in Polish). 14 April 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Тридцать лучших еврейских футболистов в мире за всю историю футбола". Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Grunwald-Spier, Agnes (7 January 2016). Who Betrayed the Jews?: The Realities of Nazi Persecution in the Holocaust. The History Press. ISBN 9780750958011 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "Leon Sperling". Olympedia. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  5. ^ Std, Associate Curator for Jewish History Sean Martin; Martin, Sean (7 September 2004). Jewish Life in Cracow 1918-1939. Vallentine Mitchell. ISBN 9780853035077 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Ezra Mendelsohn (2009). Jews and the Sporting Life: Studies in Contemporary Jewry XXIII. Oxford University Press US. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-19-538291-4.
  7. ^ "Football and Murder: The Deadly Game". 12 November 2014.
  8. ^ Mendelsohn, Ezra (31 March 2009). Jews and the Sporting Life: Studies in Contemporary Jewry XXIII. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199724796 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ Leon Sperling
  10. ^ Schaffer, Kay; Smith, Sidonie (7 September 2000). The Olympics at the Millennium: Power, Politics, and the Games. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 9780813528205 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ a b "Leon Sperling Bio, Stats, and Results | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". 18 April 2020. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  12. ^ a b Bolchover, David (6 May 2019). "Remembering the cream of Jewish footballing talent killed in the Holocaust". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  13. ^ Kay Schaffer & Sidonie Smith (2000). The Olympics at the Millennium: Power, Politics, and the Games. Rutgers University Press. p. 61. ISBN 0-8135-2820-8.
  14. ^ "Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  15. ^ "Sperling Leon". muzeumsportu.waw.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 7 August 2024.
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