Waldemar Fornalik (born 11 April 1963) is a Polish professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Ekstraklasa club Zagłębie Lubin. He spent his entire playing career with Ruch Chorzów.[1] From July 2012 to October 2013, he managed the Poland national team.
 Fornalik in 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Waldemar Fornalik | ||
| Date of birth | 11 April 1963 | ||
| Place of birth | Myślenice, Poland | ||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1982–1994 | Ruch Chorzów | 233 | (4) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1996 | Polonia Bytom | ||
| 2001 | Górnik Zabrze | ||
| 2002–2004 | Górnik Zabrze | ||
| 2005–2006 | Odra Wodzisław | ||
| 2006–2007 | Polonia Warsaw | ||
| 2008 | GKS Bełchatów II | ||
| 2008–2009 | Widzew Łódź | ||
| 2009–2012 | Ruch Chorzów | ||
| 2012–2013 | Poland | ||
| 2014–2017 | Ruch Chorzów | ||
| 2017–2022 | Piast Gliwice | ||
| 2022–2024 | Zagłębie Lubin | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career
editFornalik won the 1988–89 Ekstraklasa with Ruch Chorzów.
Managerial career
editFollowing the end of his playing career, Fornalik began a managing career.[2] He was manager in Górnik Zabrze and Odra Wodzisław. He won the bronze medal (3rd place) with Ruch Chorzów in the 2009–10 Ekstraklasa season. In the 2011–12 season he led Ruch Chorzow to second place, the highest placement since winning the title in 1989.
In July 2012, Fornalik became the coach of the Poland national football team after the dismissal of Franciszek Smuda.[3][4][5] On 16 October 2013, after a 0–1 loss to Ukraine in Kharkiv, which confirmed that Poland would not be going to the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil, and a 0–2 loss to England at Wembley Stadium the previous night, PZPN sacked Fornalik due to not fulfilling his contract objectives.[6]
On 19 September 2017, he became the manager of Piast Gliwice.[7] Under Fornalik's rule, Piast turned into overachievers, consistently competing for spots in the upper half of the table, which resulted in winning the championship at the end of the 2018–19 season, finishing third two years later and two short-lived European campaigns. On 25 October 2022, following a poor start to the 2022–23 campaign, Fornalik left Piast and was replaced by Aleksandar Vuković two days later.[8]
On 29 November 2022, Fornalik was announced as the new head coach of Zagłębie Lubin, agreeing to a contract until the end of the 2023–24 season.[9] He extended his deal for a further year on 26 June 2024.[10] On 22 September 2024, Zagłębie suffered a 1–5 away loss to Raków Częstochowa, leaving the club in relegation zone with eight points after nine rounds of the 2024–25 season. The following day, Fornalik was sacked by Zagłębie's board.[11]
Managerial statistics
edit- As of 23 September 2024.
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Górnik Zabrze | 2001 | 2004 | 84 | 29 | 29 | 26 | 34.52 |
| Odra Wodzisław | 2005 | 2006 | 41 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 34.15 |
| Polonia Warszawa | 2006 | 2007 | 39 | 24 | 7 | 8 | 61.54 |
| Widzew Łódź | 2008 | 2009 | 20 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 55.00 |
| Ruch Chorzów | 2009 | 2012 | 118 | 55 | 27 | 36 | 46.61 |
| Poland | 2012 | 2013 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 44.44 |
| Ruch Chorzów | 2014 | 2017 | 97 | 34 | 17 | 46 | 35.05 |
| Piast Gliwice | 2017 | 2022 | 205 | 88 | 50 | 67 | 42.93 |
| Zagłębie Lubin | 2022 | 2024 | 62 | 24 | 14 | 24 | 38.71 |
| Career totals | 684 | 287 | 166 | 231 | 41.96 | ||
Honours
editPlayer
editRuch Chorzów
Manager
editPiast Gliwice
Individual
- Polish Coach of the Year: 2009,[13] 2012,[14] 2019[15]
- Ekstraklasa Coach of the Season: 2011–12,[16] 2018–19[17]
- Ekstraklasa Coach of the Month: April 2011,[18] November 2011,[19] March 2012, March 2017,[20] July 2018,[21] September 2018,[22] March 2019,[22] April 2019,[22] May 2019,[22] July 2023[23]
References
edit- ^ "Waldemar Fornalik". 90minut.pl. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
- ^ "Waldemar Fornalik".
- ^ Kozminski, Piotr (10 July 2012). "Fornalik succeeds Smuda at Poland helm". UEFA.com.
- ^ "Fornalik Appointed new Poland coach". Goal.com. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
- ^ "Fornalik succeeds Smuda at Poland helm". FIFA.com. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
- ^ "Poland FA sacks coach Fornalik". BBC Sport.
- ^ "Waldemar Fornalik trenerem Piasta" (in Polish). 90minut. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
- ^ "Trenerze, dziękujemy za wszystko!" (in Polish). Piast Gliwice. 27 October 2022.
- ^ "Waldemar Fornalik nowym trenerem KGHM Zagłębia Lubin!" (in Polish). Zagłębie Lubin. 29 November 2022.
- ^ "Jasmin Burić, Tomasz Makowski, Arkadiusz Woźniak i Waldemar Fornalik na dłużej w Zagłębiu Lubin". 90minut.pl (in Polish). 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ Pasternak, Dominik (23 September 2024). "Oficjalnie: Waldemar Fornalik i Piotr Burlikowski odchodzą z Zagłębia Lubin". sport.tvp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 23 September 2024.
- ^ a b "Waldek King. Waldemar Fornalik po 30 latach ponownie został mistrzem". sport.tvp.pl (in Polish). 19 May 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ "M. Lewandowski piłkarzem roku!". sport.tvp.pl (in Polish). 13 December 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ "Lewandowski najlepszy w plebiscycie "Piłki Nożnej"". sport.tvp.pl (in Polish). 16 February 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ Bukowski, Bartłomiej (2 February 2020). "Robert Lewandowski Piłkarzem Roku 2019 w plebiscycie tygodnika "Piłka Nożna"!" (in Polish). Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ "Gala Ekstraklasy: laury Piecha i Fornalika". sport.tvp.pl (in Polish). 7 May 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "Rozdano nagrody w Ekstraklasie za sezon 2018/19". 90minut.pl (in Polish). 20 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
- ^ "Marian Kelemen i Waldemar Fornalik najlepsi w kwietniu" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 21 May 2011.
- ^ "Fornalik i Nakoulma najlepsi w listopadzie w T-Mobile Ekstraklasie" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 14 May 2012.
- ^ "Waldemar Fornalik Trenerem Marca w LOTTO Ekstraklasie!" (in Polish). Ruch Chorzów. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
- ^ "Trener Lipca w LOTTO Ekstraklasie - Waldemar Fornalik" (in Polish). Ekstraklasa. 9 August 2018. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Fornalik wybrany trenerem miesiąca". pilkanozna.pl (in Polish). 13 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
- ^ "TRENER LIPCA 2023: WALDEMAR FORNALIK (KGHM ZAGŁĘBIE LUBIN)" (in Polish). Ekstraklasa. 8 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
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