Former Germany forward Lukas Podolski brought the curtain down on his playing career on Saturday with one last appearance for Gornik Zabrze, the Polish club he loves so deeply that he not only chose to retire there but bought them as well.
The 40-year-old came off the bench on the final day of the season in Gornik’s 6-2 home win over Radomiak Radom, as the club finished runners-up in the top flight behind Lech Poznan.
The Gornik fans unveiled a huge tifo in Podolski’s honour, with the word ‘boss’ to the fore. He announced on Thursday that he was now the club’s majority owner, after completing a deal with the Zabrze city council who ran the club.
Podolski was born in Poland but moved to Germany as a boy, and represented his adopted country 130 times, scoring 49 goals and winning the World Cup in 2014.
After a club career which took him to Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Galatasaray, he returned to Poland in 2021.
Gornik, a club whose glory days appeared to be long behind them – winning the last of their 14 league titles in 1988 – was the team Podolski’s grandmother supported and he has remained a supporter since his childhood days visiting Poland.
Gornik won the Polish Cup for the first time since 1972 earlier in May and the fans will hope Podolski’s stewardship can lead them back to a long-awaited league title.
Aside from a successful footballing career, Podolski owns a popular kebab chain in Germany, Mangal Doner, and has also invested in several other business ventures.
