Andrzej Iwan (10 November 1959 – 27 December 2022) was a Polish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Club career

Iwan made first steps on a long football career in Wanda Kraków, but in 1976 he moved to

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. It currently competes in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system. It ...

where he entered professional football, contributing a great deal to the title in 1978. He played 198 games and scored 69 goals for Wisła Kraków, before he was transferred to

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning the second-most Poli ...

. In next two years he proved to be a key player for a new team, a dominant force in the middle of 80s in Polish football. As he started career as a striker, he experienced transformation in Górnik Zabrze into a

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...

. He spent the last years of his professional career abroad (

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seas ...

, Aris Saloniki) punctuated by short returns to Górnik Zabrze. He won four Polish Championships (Wisła and Górnik) and ended up with 226 games and 90 goals in the Polish League. Additionally, he participated in 17 games in European club competitions and scored four goals.

International career

Iwan made his debut in the Poland national team in the second game of the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by t ...

, against Tunisia, at the age of 18, being the youngest player in the tournament. Four years later he became a first team player in the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national foo ...

until injury in the second game ruled him out from the next games. He gave up the international career in 1987 with 11 goals in 29 matches.

Coaching careeer

On his retirement as a player, Iwan embarked on a coaching profession, for the first few years with a junior team in Wisła Kraków, leading him to the assistant position of the first team between 1999 and 2001, under

Adam Nawałka Adam Nawałka (; born 23 October 1957) is a retired Polish football player and former manager of Poland. Player career Club Nawałka comes from a footballing family. His father, Adam, played for the local team Orlęta (Eaglets) Rudawa. Nawałka ...

and

Orest Lenczyk Orest Lenczyk (; born 28 December 1942, in Sanok) is a Polish football manager and former player. Player career He also was a player, in lower divisions teams, such as Sanoczanka Sanok, Stomil Poznań, Sleza Wrocław, and Moto-Jelcz Olawa. At t ...

. In

Zagłębie Lubin Zagłębie Lubin S.A. () is a Polish professional football club based in Lubin. Founded in 1945 as ''OMTUR Lubin'', the club competes in the Ekstraklasa. History The football team was founded in 1945 as OMTUR Lubin by local members of the ''Yo ...

, he was again an assistant to Adam Nawałka, however, they were relieved of their duties after only five months of working at the club. In 2003, Iwan leaped at the opportunity to lead a team, a fourth league club

Okocimski KS Brzesko Okocimski KS Brzesko is a Polish football club based in Brzesko, Poland. The club is currently playing in the Polish II Liga, the third level division in Polish football. In the 1994/95 season the club achieved its best league performance by fi ...

. He worked there for two years until his dismissal in 2005, following a series of defeats. Prior to that, Okocimski Brzesko had been close to promotion in 2004, but lost the play-offs to Kmita Zabierzów. Iwan managed three more teams, Płomien Jerzmanowice (fifth league, 2005–06) and Wiatra Ludźmierz (junior team, 2006) and Orlęta Rudawa until his coaching career was finally brought to a close.

Media careeer

In the last years, Iwan made regular appearance as football expert to commentate on Polish

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 cl ...

. Iwan's biography under the title "Spalony" (Offside) was released in 2012.

Personal life and death

Iwan was a father of

Bartosz Iwan Bartosz Iwan (born 18 April 1984) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Career In July 2011, he joined Olimpia Elbląg on a one-year contract. In 2019, he joined Wieczysta Kraków. In June 2020, his contract with ...

, a former player of

sides, such as

Widzew Łódź RTS Widzew Łódź () is a Polish football club based in Łódź. The club was founded in 1910. Its official colours are red and white, hence their nicknames ''Czerwona Armia'' (Red Army) and ''Czerwono-biało-czerwoni'' (Red-white-reds). History ...

Odra Wodzisław Śląski Odra Wodzisław Śląski Spółka z o.o. (), is a Polish football club based in Wodzisław Śląski, Poland. History The club was established in 1922 as Odra Wodzisław, then changed its name several times. After the Second World War and until ...

Piast Gliwice Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice () is a Polish football club based in Gliwice. In the 2018–19 season, Piast won its first Polish championship. As of 2022–23, it competes in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division. History The club wa ...

and

. Iwan died on 27 December 2022, at the age of 63. Zmarł Andrzej Iwan

Honours

Wisła Kraków *

: 1977–78 Górnik Zabrze * Ekstraklasa: 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88 Poland *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

third place:

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

Poland U18 * UEFA EURO U18 third place:

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

Individual * Polish Footballer of the Year: 1987

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iwan, Andrzej 1959 births 2022 deaths Footballers from Kraków Polish men's footballers Poland men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Polish football managers 1978 FIFA World Cup players 1982 FIFA World Cup players Wisła Kraków players Górnik Zabrze players VfL Bochum players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players Bundesliga players Super League Greece players