Top scorer for Poland in their World Cup 2006 qualifying campaign, including one against England, over 150 career goals and three-times Polish league top scorer, Tomasz Frankowski sounds like quite an impressive player. However, if I were to mention he was the ‘missing piece in the jigsaw’, most Wolves fans would know exactly what I’m about to talk about.
After notching up an impressive goal scoring record with Polish sides Poltiers FC (22 goals) and Wisla Krakow (115), Frankowski moved to Spanish side Elche at the start of the 2005/06 season. A return of eight goals in just 14 games, plus an international goal for Poland and against England at Old Trafford, caught the attention of then-Wolves boss Glenn Hoddle.
A couple of scouting trips later and Hoddle had been convinced of his talent and decided to splash out £1.4 million on the Polish international. With Wolves looking for a promotion push, and a lack of goals hindering their process, Hoddle described Frankowski as ‘the missing piece in the jigsaw’.
Wolves fans were drooling at the prospect of what an international class player could bring to their faltering side. He made his Wolves bow during their FA Cup tie against Manchester United – which the Premier League side went on to win 3-0. However, for fans who went to that game, they may remember a chance Frankowski had – a one-on-one which he struck narrowly wide. Now, it is easy to forgive a player in this situation against such a good side – so Wolves fans looked forward to the next time he took to the pitch.
‘The Pole without a goal’
However, we waited…and waited…and waited some more, but that first goal just wouldn’t come. For the rest of that season, Frankowski was used both as a starter and a substitute, but nothing would work out for the striker. By the end of the season, he had earned himself the nickname ‘the Pole without a goal’.
Ultimately, the poor season cost him his place in Poland’s World Cup 2006 squad – despite him finishing as their top scorer in England. To add insult to injury, Wolves missed out on promotion and Hoddle left the club.
Mick McCarthy arrived in the summer of 2006 to take charge at Wolves. Now, Mick being Mick, he gave Frankowski the chance to prove himself, allowing him to train with the first team and play in some friendlies. I remember one friendly in particular, away at Burton. The team were finishing the warm-up and Frankowski jogged over towards the goal in front of the Wolves fans, dribbling a ball. With an open net, we all cried ‘Shooooot!’…and he did. I don’t think I’ve seen Wolves fans celebrate a “goal” so much!
Again, the striker failed to find the net and, after appearing in a Wolves shirt for the final time, in a disappointing League Cup exit at Chesterfield, Frankowski was shipped out on loan to Tenerife – where he notched three goals in 19 games.
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Departure from Wolves
He returned to Wolves in the summer of 2007, following their play-off semi-final defeat to West Brom. However, he now had to compete with the likes of newly-signed Freddy Eastwood and Stephen Elliott. McCarthy told Frankowski he could leave if a club came in for him – not surprisingly, nobody did. After suffering a knee injury in pre-season, the ‘Pole without a goal’ left the club by mutual consent.
A while went by without anyone hearing anything of him then, all of a sudden, he turned up playing for Chicago Fire in the MLS in early 2008. He scored twice on their first home game of the season against New England Revolution – but failed to find the net again that season and saw his appearances drop. He was released in late November 2008 to reduce the wages at the club.
Little over a month later, he signed for his hometown club of Jagiellonia Bialystok (OK, that was a copy and paste job on that one), where he started his career back in 1991. It’s fair to say that he found his level there and settled into the team nicely. The home comforts must have been a big help after his glob-trotting.
In early 2010, he became the 9th highest scorer in the history of Ekstraklasa (another copy and paste job), a great achievement no matter what league you are playing in. Last season ended well for the Pole, when Jagiellonia won the Polish Supercup by beating Lech Poznan 1-0, in which Frankowski scored the winner.
A quick search on Google, plus a couple of translations, has helped me find out how he’s getting on this season. With Jagiellonia sitting top of the table, and Frankowski as captain, things definitely are looking good for the 36-year-old.
Despite his disastrous time at Wolves and his bad spell with Chicago Fire, I don’t think many people would grudge Frankowski some happiness. However, for Wolves fans, despite his superb goal scoring record in his homeland, to us, he will always be ‘the Pole without a goal’ who was never destined to be the ‘missing piece in the jigsaw’.
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