During his career Józef Manowski was one of the most prolific goal scorers in ice hockey in Poland. Manowski first joined AZS Warszawa in 1954 before playing for Legia Warszawa from 1959 to 1972. In 277 league games he scored 242 goals and he was the leading scorer in the country on three occasions (1963, 1964, 1966). He also won five Polish championships (1959, 1961, 1963–64, 1967) and was twice voted the Polish player of the year (1963 and 1964). Manowski also played in 60 international matches for Poland and scored 38 goals for the team. He competed at four editions of the World Championships and the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics, where he scored nine goals in eight matches.