Michael Władysław Klukowski (; born 27 May 1981) is a Canadian soccer player who played as a
left-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
Klukowski was born in Amstetten, Austria. He began his career in Canada playing for the Oshawa Kicks and Scarborough Azzurri-Blues, before travelling across the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
to link up with
Dijon FCO
Dijon Football Côte d'Or (; literally "Dijon Football Gold Coast"), commonly referred to as Dijon FCO or simply as Dijon, is a French football club based in Dijon. The club was founded in 1998 as a result of a merger between two local clubs in ...
in 1999. A move to Tourcoing FC followed the next year before his performances caught the attentions of Ligue 1 outfit
Lille OSC
Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional football club based in Lille, Hauts-de-France that competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Lille has played its ...
whom he joined in 2001. He only played for their reserves team however so his time at the
Stade Grimonprez-Jooris
Stade Grimonprez-Jooris was a multi-purpose stadium in Lille, France, built in 1974. It was used mainly for football matches as it was home to the Lille OSC football club from 1975 until 2004, when the stadium was closed.
The club originally pla ...
was equally fleeting though but he finally found his feet at
La Louvière
La Louvière (; wa, El Lovire) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
The municipality consists of the following districts: Boussoit, Haine-Saint-Paul, Haine-Saint-Pierre, Houdeng-Aimeries, Hou ...
, making 72 league appearances over the next two-and-a-half seasons and growing in stature. While at La Louvière he helped them win the
2002–03 Belgian Cup
The 2002–03 Belgian Cup was the 48th season of the main knockout competition in Belgian association football, the Belgian Cup. For the first time the quarter-finals were played in two legs.
Final rounds
The final phase started in the round of 3 ...
.
Club Brugge
At La Louvière, Klukowski attracted interest from
Club Brugge
(), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.
who signed him in a deal thought to be worth €900,000 during the winter break in January 2005. He initially had to bide his time at the
Jan Breydel Stadium
Jan Breydel Stadium ( nl, Jan Breydelstadion, ) is a multi-purpose stadium in Sint-Andries, Bruges, Belgium. The city-owned stadium is the home stadium of two top-flight association football clubs, Club Brugge and Cercle Brugge. It is used mainly ...
but did make six appearances towards the end of the campaign as Club Brugge sealed the title. Klukowski was the number one left back for five seasons with Brugge. He replaced
Peter Van Der Heyden
Peter Van der Heyden (born 16 July 1976) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a left-back.
Club career
Van der Heyden was born in Aalst, East Flanders. His former clubs include F.C. Denderleeuw, Eendracht Aalst, VfL Wolf ...
, who suffered a knee injury, during the last season with
Trond Sollied
Trond Johan Sollied (born 29 April 1959) is a Norway, Norwegian Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. He last managed K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen, Lokeren.
During his playing career, Sollied ...
. Klukowski left Brugge with 178 official games including 26 European appearances and two
Belgian Supercup
The Belgian Super Cup ( nl, Belgische Supercup, ; french: Supercoupe de Belgique; german: Belgischer Fußball-Super Cup), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian First Division A champion ...
Final appearances.
Ankaragücü
In mid-August 2010 Klukowski moved to
Süper Lig
The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...
club Ankaragücü for an estimated value of €750,000 while signing a three-year deal. He made his debut for the club in a 1–1 home draw against
Kayserispor
Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the Kadir Has Stadium in red and yellow kits.
The team has won one Turkish Cup in 2008 and also fini ...
on 27 August 2010. Klukowski scored his first goal in Turkey on 4 December 2010 in a 1–1 home draw against
Sivasspor
Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Demir Grup Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department competes in Süper Lig, as of 201 ...
, scoring the opening goal in the 11th minute at the
Ankara 19 Mayıs Stadium
The Ankara 19 Mayıs Stadium ( tr, Ankara 19 Mayıs Stadyumu) was the home venue of Ankara's Gençlerbirliği. It was built in 1930 and is part of the 19 Mayıs Sports Complex, which is located in the Ulus district. The stadium had a capacity o ...
until
Erman Kılıç
Erman Kılıç (born 20 September 1983) is a Turkish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and winger.
Club career
Kılıç began his career with Bergama Belediyespor in 1999. He spent two years with the club bef ...
tied it up with a goal in the 56th. In early April 2011 it was announced that Klukowski was leaving Ankaragücü over unpaid wages. The club was in the news earlier that year when former England international
Darius Vassell
Darius Martin Clarke Vassell (born 13 June 1980) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward for Aston Villa, Manchester City, Ankaragücü and Leicester City.
Vassell began his career at his home town club Aston Villa ...
was kicked out of his hotel room because the club failed to pay for his accommodation. In April 2011 Klukowski sued Ankaragücü for unpaid wages and compensation for the two years left on his contract for the amount of €1.5 million. In July 2013 Klukowski won his case and Ankaragucu were forced to pay him €800,000.
Manisaspor
In early June prior to the
2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup
The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 11th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the 21st CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's 50 years of existence. The United States was the host nation.
The competition started on June ...
it was announced that Klukowski had signed for
Manisaspor
Manisaspor is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Manisa. Originally formed in 1931 as Sakaryaspor, the club changed its name to Manisaspor on 15 June 1965.Josh Simpson Manisaspor's leading goal scorer from the
2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
season played a major factor in Klukowski's decision to sign with the Western Turkish club. Klukowski made his debut for Manisaspor on 10 September in a 1–1 draw against
Trabzonspor
Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...
.
APOEL
On 20 July 2012, Klukowski signed a two-year contract with Cypriot side
APOEL
APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...
. At the end of the season he was crowned champion after winning the
2012–13 Cypriot First Division
The 2012–13 Cypriot First Division was the 74th season of the Cypriot top-level football league. It began on 1 September 2012 and ended on 19 May 2013. AEL Limassol were the defending champions. APOEL won the championship two matchweeks before ...
with APOEL. On 12 August 2013, APOEL unilaterally terminated Klukowski's contract because of serious breaches of discipline and breaches of contract and internal regulations of the club by the player.
After the termination of his contract he took APOEL to court at
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
. On 20 June 2015, he won his court case and APOEL were forced to pay him over €200,000 in compensation.
International career
After representing Canada at the
2001 FIFA World Youth Championship
The 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Argentina between 17 June and 8 July 2001. The 2001 championship was the 13th contested. The tournament took part in six cities, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, Rosario, Salta, and Mar de ...
in Argentina, Klukowski made the step up to the senior side in March 2003. He made his debut for
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
in a February 2003 friendly match against
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
. He has represented Canada in ten
FIFA World Cup qualification
The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup.
Qualifying tournaments are hel ...
matches. As of 13 June 2012, he has earned a total of 36 caps, scoring no goals.
He managed to make the All-Tournament team of the
2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup
The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the tenth edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the twentieth soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was played from July 3 to 26, 2009 in the United States ...
along with fellow Canadian
Julian de Guzman
Julian Bobby de Guzman (born March 25, 1981) is a Canadian soccer executive and former professional player and coach.
De Guzman was the first Canadian to play in the Spanish La Liga. While playing in Spain, he was voted 2007–08 Deportivo La ...
.
Personal life
Born to Polish parents who had stopped in Austria while on their way to Canada, Klukowski is of Polish descent and holds Polish citizenship.
Honours
La Louvière
*
Belgian Cup
The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...
: 2003 Belgian Cup Final, 2002–03
Club Brugge
*
Belgian Super Cup
The Belgian Super Cup ( nl, Belgische Supercup, ; french: Supercoupe de Belgique; german: Belgischer Fußball-Super Cup), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian First Division A champion ...
:
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
*
Belgian Cup
The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...