Anton Otulakowski - Profile

Anton Otulakowski: born Dewsbury, January 29, 1956.

Towards the end of the 1970's the English football fan was confronted with the problem of exotic, foreign names in earnest for the first time. Alberto Tarantini came over from Argentina Tadeusz Nowak and Kazimierz Deyna arrived from Poland and Anton Otulakowski emerged from deepest Dewsbury.

Otulakowski was noticed while playing for his local non league side Ossett Town where he caught the attention of fourth division Barnsley. Impressed by his impish wing play Jim Iley took him to Oakwell in 1975.

He was not the biggest and still in his teens so perhaps the biggest questions he had to answer on his entry into league football concerned his temperament and bravery rather than ability. The new boy showed himself up to the physical challenges and was also able to adjust to the faster pace of the game in the fourth division.

Barnsley showed a steady improvement during Otulakowski's time at the club, around eighteen months, and the fact that he was then whipped away from Oakwell straight to the first division suggests that the rookie was entitled to his fair share of the credit.

It was two respected judges who deemed his pace, ball control and old fashioned dribbling skills worthy of the top flight. The West Ham management duo of John Lyall and Ron Greenwood liked what they saw and handed over £60,000 to Barnsley to secure the transfer.

Despite Otulakowski's fine start in league football this remained a surprising deal. What was expected of him by his new club was unclear. It might reasonably have been expected that the newcomer would be left to learn his trade in the reserves for a year or two but with the Hammers struggling at the wrong end of the division Otulakowski was introduced immediately.

This was a big ask for a youngster barely out of non league football and not surprisingly he struggled to make an impact. Otulakowski featured in a dozen games as West Ham just about clung onto their first division status without convincing anyone that he was ready for his sudden elevation.

Otulakowski barely featured at all the following season as Lyall assumed complete control with Greenwood answering the national call. Again the Hammers found themselves locked in a desperate relegation battle, a battle they would eventually lose.

Having dropped a level, however, it might have been thought that the somewhat lightweight but evidently gifted Otulakowski might be recalled. This did not happen. It would have been interesting for him to be given a chance because his style of play fitted the West Ham blueprint and back in the second division they were immediately a force. In fairness to John Lyall it was Alan Devonshire, an outstanding player, that was barring Otulakowski's path back into the first team.

In March 1979 Otulakowski was allowed to leave West Ham and move to Southend United. At Roots Hall he immediately established himself as a first team regular. His time with the club did not get off to the best of starts, however, and at the end of his first full season by the seaside Southend were relegated. This meant that less than four years after leaving Barnsley for the first division he had landed back in the fourth.

His former club had managed a safe mid table finish in the third division that season but at least Otulakowski gained some satisfaction in helping his new team do the double over his old one.

There was even more excitement, and incentive, in being drawn against West Ham in the League Cup which offered Otulakowski an immediate chance to show his previous club, and their supporters, what he could do. Both he and his side could hold their heads high after managing a fine 1-1 draw at Upton Park. The replay was a hard fought, exceptionally tight goalless draw in front of a 22,497 crowd at Roots Hall. When the Hammers won the toss for choice of venue for the third game, however, Southend's challenge was spent and they went down to a 5-0 defeat back at Upton Park. Otulakowski had the further disappointment of being substituted in that game although he could certainly be happy with his efforts over the course of the tie.

Southend would have been disappointed to have been relegated from Division Three with what looked a capable side. The Shrimpers certainly proved too strong for the fourth division, winning the championship at the first attempt in 1981.

Otulakowski, not surprisingly, enjoyed his best season yet. This was the first time in his career that he had been part of a winning side and with good, consistent service he was a real threat. He also had plenty of targets to hit from the wing. Derek Spence and Keith Mercer were an experienced strikeforce while Terry Gray enjoyed a prolific season raiding from midfield.

Otulakowski missed only three games as Southend claimed the title and while he scored only two goals, the first coming in a 4-0 hiding of Bournemouth, he was the provider in chief for his colleagues.

Southend carried this momentum with them as they returned to Division Three and Otulakowski continued to tease full backs and service his forwards. The club finished the season in 7th position but found themselves slipping back down the table the following season into a mid table berth. Otulakowski remained a threat, albeit an enigmatic one. Sometimes he could be anonymous, apparently shackled by his colleagues as much as his opponents, but when he was kept in good supply he could be sensational.

It is possible, perhaps unkindly, to see something of Peter Beardsley in Otulakowski physically. The comparison as players is not wholly unjustified either. On a lower plane, of course, but Otulakowski had the same shuffling ability to wrong foot and ghost past a defender and could also pick holes in the defensive line with little passes slipped down the sides of defenders. Around bigger opponents his speed of thought and movement was often too much too handle as well.

His performances had done enough to interest the new Millwall manager George Graham. The Lions were in a dreadful mess at the foot of the third division, a mess that Graham was trying to sort out in a hurry. His side were rock bottom with two thirds of the season gone when Graham persuaded Southend to part with Otulakowski and the centre half Dave Cusack for a combined fee of £60,000. The dynamic Q.P.R attacker Ian Stewart also joined on loan at the same time to join a handful of players already recruited by Graham in his brief time in charge.

There was some desperation involved but these were desperate times and Graham had faith in his own judgement. It was just a matter of how quickly his hastily assembled team would gel. Otulakowski represented perhaps his biggest gamble. On his day he was a match winner and Graham, and Millwall, needed to win matches quickly.

Graham's transfer dealings would be spectacularly vindicated and Otulakowski would be pivotal as the Lions rallied magnificently to avoid the drop. They actually lost the first two games after Otulakowski's arrival but then lost only one more of the final twelve games, winning eight of them, to clinch safety on the last day of the season.

Otulakowski scored his first goal for his new club to equalise against his previous one, Southend, and Millwall went on to record a vital 3-1 win. He also found the net in the Lions next game, a 3-2 win at Orient.

Although that was his goalscoring done for the season he continued to be at the centre of most things Millwall did going forward. Otulakowski also displayed a fair degree of cunning in drawing fouls against him in the right areas. He won several penalties as they fought for salvation and also taunted a couple of opponents into earning themselves early baths. It was all vital to the cause as Millwall ate away at the teams above them.

In the end safety was ensured on the last day of the season with a 1-0 win away at Chesterfield. The goal came from the penalty spot and there are no prizes for guessing who won it.

At first glance Otulakowski looked like someone who might have trouble winning over the faithful at the Den but his outstanding contribution towards this great escape established his popularity on the terraces at once. George Graham quickly summed up his talented acquisition. "Anton drifts in and out of games," he acknowledged, "but when he drifts in he's class."

Graham was not a man to rest on his laurels and he continued to bolster his squad at regular intervals. Millwall improved significantly the following season to finish 7th and Otulakowski's contribution was again key. He was presented with the clubs' Player of the Year award and also enjoyed his best goals return.

In 1984-85, with the squad now boasting the attacking talents of Steve Lowndes, Kevin Bremner, Nicky Chatterton, Steve Lovell, Dean Neal and John Fashnu, Millwall finished as third division runners up to gain promotion. Otulakowski missed only two games even though true consistency continued to elude him. As with many Millwall players down the years he was particularly hard to handle at the Den.

This season also saw Otulakowski help Millwall through to the quarter finals of the FA Cup but after covering themselves in glory with superb away wins at Crystal Palace and Chelsea the Lions ended up going out in disgrace after a 1-0 defeat at Luton Town which will always be remembered mainly for the dreadful scenes of crowd trouble which accompanied it.

Otulakowski was injured for the first half of the following season and although he went straight back into the side on his return his days at the Den were drawing to a close. His departure came as something of a surprise, however. Having built up a competitive side Millwall began to look intent on dismantling it just as rapidly. Otulakowski was one of the players off loaded with seemingly indecent haste.

One way or another Millwall came through the transition stronger, however, while Otulakowski's career was heading towards an abrupt end.

On leaving the Den Otulakowski moved to Crystal Palace, also in the second division. Palace's financial state had become severely constrained and a Lifeline appeal had been launched to ensure the clubs survival. Otulakowski was the first player bought with the proceeds and cost a meagre £19,000. Millwall had wanted £100,000 but the tribunal panel had obviously seen him on one of his quiet afternoons.

Otulakowski would manage only twelve games for the Eagles before suffering an injury which would end his league career. He managed one goal for the club which came, almost inevitably, against Millwall. Otulakowski scored the equaliser as Palace came from behind for a victory that put them top of the second division. In the seven further games he played they gained only one point, however, to career down the table.

Otulakowski's last league appearance came in a 1-0 defeat on the plastic pitch at Oldham Athletic and after retiring from league football he had a spell as player manager of Hastings Town. Otulakowski had also established a Sportace programme which coached youngsters in Essex in a variety of sports and he carried that on for over a decade before returning to Yorkshire to be near his family.

His career was not, perhaps, the most thrilling of its generation but by the end of it Anton Otulakowski had certainly given the paying public more to remember him by than just his tongue twisting name.