Jacek Robert Bąk (born 7 June 1962) is a Polish former

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 ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and forward. He had success as a player with Lech Poznań and Legia Warsaw, and also had a notable spell with Lechia Gdańsk.

Career

Early years

Born in the village of Roźwienica, Bąk started playing football in the nearby town of

Jarosław Jarosław (; uk, Ярослав, Yaroslav, ; yi, יאַרעסלאָוו, Yareslov; german: Jaroslau) is a town in south-eastern Poland, with 38,970 inhabitants, as of 30 June 2014. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), previ ...

playing for the JKS 1909 Jarosław youth team. In 1980, he joined the biggest team in the region, Resovia Rzeszów, appearing for the club 42 times over the next two seasons.

Lech Poznań

In 1982, he joined Lech Poznań, where he spent the next three seasons. He played a total of 84 league games scoring 4 goals. During his time with Lech, Bąk won the

I liga I liga ( pl, Pierwsza liga, ), currently named Fortuna I liga due to its sponsorship by Fortuna, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga v ...

in 1982–83 and 1983–84, and the

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. ...

in 1984.

Lechia Gdańsk

Bąk moved to Lechia Gdańsk in 1985. He made his debut against his former club Lech on 31 July 1985 in a 0–0 draw. He spent 3 seasons with Lechia, playing 62 times in the top division for Lechia. During his time at Lechia the team were often towards the lower end of the table. He left during the winter of the 1987–88 season when Lechia looked on the verge of relegation to the

II liga II liga (Druga Liga, ), currently named eWinner II liga due to sponsorship reasons by eWinner, is a Polish football league that sits at the third tier of the Polish football league system. Until the end of the 2007–08 season ''II Liga'' refer ...

. After Lechia, he spent six months with

Zawisza Bydgoszcz Zawisza Bydgoszcz () is a sports club from Bydgoszcz, Poland, founded in 1946. Its name commemorates a legendary Polish 15th-century knight, Zawisza Czarny (Zawisza the Black). The club holds many sections: football, track and field athletics, ...

Legia Warsaw

Bąk moved to Legia Warsaw in 1988, making his debut against

Olimpia Poznań Olimpia Poznań is a Polish multi-sport club from Poznań. It has athletics, archery, basketball, boxing, kendo, judo, swimming, tennis, and triathlon sections. The sections are formally independent of each other, sharing the history and name o ...

. His time with Legia was as successful as his time with Lech. During his 132 appearances for the club, Bąk helped Legia win the

in 1988 and 1989, as well as the

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 ...

in 1988. His final appearance for Legia came in November 1992, with Bąk leaving Legia during the summer of 1993.

Later years

Bąk spent his later footballing years playing with Casale F.B.C., Chatillon St. Vincent and Crescentinese CC in Italy between 1994 and 1997. He returned to Poland in 1997 to play with Olimpia Warsaw until 1998. After 3 years away from the game he played with Marymont Warsaw in 2001.

Honours

Lech Poznań *

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 ...

: 1982–83, 1983–84 *

: 1983–84 Legia Warsaw * Polish Cup: 1988–89, 1989–90 *

: 1988

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bak, Jacek 1962 births JKS 1909 Jarosław players Lech Poznań players Lechia Gdańsk players Legia Warsaw players Ekstraklasa players I liga players Polish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Living people Polish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Polish expatriate sportspeople in Italy People from Jarosław County Footballers from Podkarpackie Voivodeship