Arkadiusz Jerzy "Arek" Onyszko (born 12 January 1974) is a Polish former 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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He has been coaching goalkeepers in

Motor Lublin Motor Lublin () is a Polish professional football team based in Lublin. The club was founded in December 1950 with their nickname ''The Yellow, White and Blues'' reflecting their official colours. They compete in II liga in the 2021–22 season. ...

since July 2017.

Club career

Onyszko was born in

Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...

. He began his career in 1989 with

KS Lublinianka KS Lublinianka is a Polish professional football club based in Lublin. It was founded in 1921 as WKS Lublin (Wojskowy Klub Sportowy Lublin, English: Military Sports Club) and was supported by the Lublin garrison of the Polish Army. In 1923 WKS L ...

. In 1998, he moved to

Viborg FF Viborg Fodsports Forening ("Viborg Footsport Association"), or Viborg F.F. and VFF for short, is a Danish professional football club based in Viborg. The club was founded in 1896 and waited more than a century before winning its only national ...

from

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 ...

, and established himself as Viborg's number one goalkeeper. In 2003, he was transferred to

Odense Boldklub Odense Boldklub (; also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city Odense. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play in the Danish Superliga ...

, where he spent the next six years as OB's first choice goalkeeper. Between 1998 and 2009, he played 363 games in the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

, which makes him the fifth most capped player and the most capped foreigner. After a turbulent time in Denmark, Onyszko returned to Poland and signed a short-term contract with

Odra Wodzislaw Odra may refer to: Rivers * Odra (Poland), also known as Oder, a river in Czech Republic, Poland and Germany * Odra (Kupa), a river in Croatia * Odra (Spain), a river in Spain Populated places * Odra, Silesian Voivodeship, a village in southern ...

on 13 January 2010. The club came last in the league this season and were relegated, but Onyszko's displays were impressive enough to earn him a two-year contract with

Polonia Warsaw Polonia Warsaw ( pl, Polonia Warszawa, ), founded on 19 November 1911, is the oldest existing Varsovian sports club, best known for its football and basketball teams. It also has track and field, swimming, chess, mountain biking, and contract ...

, which he signed in May 2010. However, in June 2010 Onyszko was diagnosed with kidney failure. On 6 January 2013, Onyszko had a kidney transplant in Szczecin.

International career

Onyszko was a member of the Poland national team that won the silver medal at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Spain.

Controversies

In June 2009, Onyszko was convicted on charges of assaulting his former wife and sentenced to three months imprisonment, of which two months would be suspended. His club fired him the very same day. A few days later, he signed a contract with Danish club FC Midtjylland. He was fired on 2 November after the release of his autobiography, which contained attacks on homosexuals and female sport reporters. In his native Poland, he was criticised for his homophobic statements and for sparking anti-Polish sentiment.

References

External links

OB profile

Career statistics
at

Danmarks Radio DR (), officially the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in English, is a Danish public-service radio and television broadcasting company. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enterp ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Onyszko, Arkadiusz 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Lublin Polish footballers 21st-century Polish criminals Association football goalkeepers Poland international footballers Olympic footballers of Poland Olympic silver medalists for Poland Olympic medalists in football Footballers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics KS Lublinianka players Lech Poznań players Widzew Łódź players Polonia Warsaw players Warta Poznań players Viborg FF players FC Midtjylland players Odense Boldklub players Ekstraklasa players Danish Superliga players Polish expatriate footballers Polish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate footballers in Denmark