Czesław Michniewicz (; born 12 February 1970) is a Polish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and former player who managed the Poland national team in 2022.

Managerial career

Early years

In September 2003, Michniewicz was appointed as the manager of

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation' ...

. He led the side to the 2003–04

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...

and

Polish Super Cup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2021, the Polish Super Cup has been pl ...

titles. He left the club in June 2006. In October 2006, he was appointed manager of

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 ...

side

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 ' ...

, leading the club to the 2006–07 league title. In October 2007, he was relieved of his duties. From 8 July 2008 to 12 April 2009 he managed

Arka Gdynia Morski Związkowy Klub Sportowy Arka Gdynia () is a Polish professional football club, based in Gdynia, Poland, that plays in the Polish I liga. The club was founded as Klub Sportowy Gdynia in 1929. History The history of Arka dates back to ...

in the Ekstraklasa. From 15 November 2010 until 30 June 2011, he managed

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). Histor ...

. On 22 July 2011, he was appointed as the manager of

Jagiellonia Białystok Jagiellonia Białystok () is a Polish football club based in Białystok that plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top level of Polish football. The club was founded in 1920 by soldiers in the Reserve Battalion in Białystok. Jagiellonia play their home g ...

, but left the position on 22 December 2011 by mutual consent. On 28 March 2012, Michniewicz was named as the new coach of

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 led until 8 May 2012. Czesław Michniewicz Podbeskidzie

From 22 March to 22 October 2013, he managed

Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała TS Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała () is a football club based in Bielsko-Biała, Poland. They currently compete in the I liga, the second tier of Polish football. History The club was essentially founded on 11 July 1997, although it can trace i ...

. After a year and a half pause, he was hired as the coach of

Pogoń Szczecin Pogoń Szczecin Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Pogoń Szczecin (), is a Polish professional football club, based in Szczecin, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, which plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the national football league s ...

. Michniewicz's side finished the league at sixth place in the 2015–16 season. Despite the best result in years, his contract was not renewed and he left the club on 30 June 2016. From 1 July 2016 to 22 March 2017, he was in charge of

Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza Klub Sportowy Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza, is a professional Polish football club based in Nieciecza, Poland. The team was established in 1922. The club was founded after Wo ...

in Ekstraklasa.

Poland national under-21 football team

On 7 July 2017, he was appointed as the coach of the Poland under-21 national team. After defeating

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in the play-offs, Poland under his leadership qualified for the first time since 1994 for the final tournament of the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. On 15 October 2020, he was replaced by Maciej Stolarczyk.

Legia Warsaw

On 21 September 2020, he was appointed as the coach of Legia Warsaw. In his debut Legia won 2–0 over

FC Drita Football Club Drita ( sq, Klubi Futbollistik Drita), commonly known as Drita, is a professional football club based in Gjilan, Kosovo. The club plays in the Football Superleague of Kosovo . The club's home ground is the Gjilan City Stadium. It ...

at the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League qualifiers. On 18 October 2020, he made his

debut, as Legia won 2–1 over

. On 11 December 2020, he was named Ekstraklasa's Coach of the Month after Legia's successful run in November. He was awarded the same distinction for March 2021, as his team completed the campaign in the above-mentioned month without any defeat. On 28 April 2021, Michniewicz won his second Polish Championship after 0–0 draw between

and

Raków Częstochowa Robotniczy Klub Sportowy Raków Częstochowa Spółka Akcyjna (commonly referred to as Raków Częstochowa, or simply Raków) is a Polish professional football club, based in Częstochowa, that competes in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of na ...

(as the latter team had already lost mathematical chances of catching up with Legia), with three games to spare. On 26 August 2021, Legia led by Michniewicz defeated

SK Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...

, and for the first time in five years qualified for the group stages of a European cup. They would face

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * WB ...

in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

group stage. Although Legia led their

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

after wins against

and

, they struggled in the league. After four consecutive defeats, managing nine points in ten fixtures and sitting 15th in the table, Michniewicz was dismissed on 25 October 2021.

Poland national team

On 31 January 2022, Michniewicz was named as the new manager of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, signing a deal until 31 December 2022 with an extension option, following the previous manager

Paulo Sousa Paulo Manuel Carvalho de Sousa, CavIH (; born 30 August 1970) is a Portuguese football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. Starting his career at Benfica, he also represented Sporting CP in his countr ...

's decision to join

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football ...

three months before Poland's first 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification play-offs game. He was scheduled to make his debut against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, prior to the disqualification of Russia. On 24 March, Poland played their first match under Michniewicz, a 1–1 draw in a friendly against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. On 29 March 2022, Michniewicz led Poland to a 2–0 victory over

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in the

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qualification play-off final. On 30 November 2022, Poland advanced to the knockout stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1986 under the lead of Michniewicz. On 22 December 2022, following criticism of the national team's defensive tactics and style of play under Michniewicz by the media, a turmoil regarding bonuses for national team players and staff, Michniewicz blocking several journalists on Twitter before deleting his account, and reportedly shouldering part of the blame for the media fallout on team manager Jakub Kwiatkowski, it was announced Michniewicz's contract would not be extended and he was to leave his post on 31 December 2022.

Personal life

Michniewicz was born in Byarozawka, then in the

Byelorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

(present-day

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

), while his mother was visiting her family; but grew up in Biskupiec, Poland. On 20 June 1998, he married Grażyna Rzewuska, with whom he has two sons: Mateusz (born 22 January 2001) and Jakub (born 13 August 2003).

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Amica Wronki *

: 1998–99, 1999–2000 *

: 1999

Manager

Lech Poznań *

: 2004 *

: 2004 Zagłebie Lubin *

: 2006–07 *

: 2007 Legia Warsaw *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Michniewicz, Czeslaw 1970 births I liga players II liga players Amica Wronki players Arka Gdynia managers Association football goalkeepers Bałtyk Gdynia players Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza managers Ekstraklasa players Jagiellonia Białystok managers Lech Poznań managers Legia Warsaw managers Living people People from Lida District People from Nowe Miasto County Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała managers Poland national football team managers Pogoń Szczecin managers Polish football managers Polish footballers Polonia Gdańsk players Polonia Warsaw managers Widzew Łódź managers Zagłębie Lubin managers 2022 FIFA World Cup managers