Jan Banaś

Who is Jan Banaś?

Jan Banaś, nicknamed Bubi, is a Polish footballer, who began his career as a youngster playing for AKS Mikołów before moving to Zryw Chorzów in 1959-62, Polonia Bytom and Górnik Zabrze. Between his first call-up for Poland in 1964 and his last in 1973, he earned 31 caps, scoring nine goals. Aged 32, he was allowed to move to the United States, and then played in a string of countries including Mexico, Belgium, and France well after his fortieth birthday.

Recently he has been coaching low-level Silesian clubs, including Szombierki Bytom.

In 1966, together with Jan Liberda and Norbert Pogrzeba, Banas decided to illegally migrate to Western Europe, they all escaped before the game Polonia Bytom vs. IFK Norrköping. He was unable to achieve much success even in the German Oberliga, and half a year later he returned and was pardoned by the Polish Football Association. After return, he changed his name to the Polish form, and took the name Jan in March 1967.