Ryszard Kulesza (28 September 1931 – 19 May 2008) was a Polish footballer, coach and official, one of managers of the

Poland national football team The Poland national football team ( pl, Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej) has represented Poland in men's international tournaments football competitions since their first match in 1921. The team is controlled by the Polish Football Associ ...

. His father was killed during the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...

, and Kulesza himself, who was 13, was lucky to survive, as a German soldier threw him under a passing tank. After the uprising, he was forcibly taken to Germany as

Ost-Arbeiter : ' (, "Eastern worker") was a Nazi German designation for foreign slave workers gathered from occupied Central and Eastern Europe to perform forced labor in Germany during World War II. The Germans started deporting civilians at the beginning ...

, but escaped and returned to Poland on foot. After the war, Kulesza played in such teams, as

Okęcie Warszawa Okęcie () is the largest neighbourhood of the Włochy district of Warsaw, Poland. It is the location of Warsaw Chopin Airport Warsaw Chopin Airport ( pl, Lotnisko Chopina w Warszawie, ) is an international airport in the Włochy district o ...

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 ...

, and

Polonia Bydgoszcz Polonia Bydgoszcz is a Polish sports club based in Bydgoszcz most known for its Motorcycle speedway, speedway team ŻKS Polonia Bydgoszcz which currently races in the Polish Speedway First League, 1. Liga. The club has won the Team Speedway Polish ...

. He ended his career as a player in 1961, and began working as a coach. In 1972–1974, Kulesza coached

Lechia Gdańsk Lechia Gdańsk () is a Polish football club based in Gdańsk. The club was founded in 1945 by people expelled from Lwów, who were supporters of Poland's oldest football team Lechia Lwów, founded in 1903. The club's name comes from Lechia, a ...

, and since 1974, he worked with several national teams of Poland, such as U-21 (1974–1975), and U-23 (1975–1978). In 1976, Kulesza co-worked with

Kazimierz Górski Kazimierz Klaudiusz Górski (2 March 1921 – 23 May 2006) was a coach of Poland national football team and honorary president of the Polish Football Association. He was also a football player, capped once for Poland. Playing career He was bor ...

, and later with

Jacek Gmoch Jacek Wojciech Gmoch (born 13 January 1939 in Pruszków) is a former Polish footballer, who later became a trainer and manager of the Poland National Team. While having a successful football career he graduated in communication from the Warsaw ...

(1976–1977 and 1978). In October 1978, after Gmoch's resignation, he took the post of general manager of Poland national team, but left this post in December 1980, as a result of the Okęcie Airport incident. He was replaced with

Antoni Piechniczek Antoni Krzysztof Piechniczek (born 3 May 1942) is a Polish former football player and manager. From 2007 to 2011 he was a Polish senator. Playing career Piechniczek was born in Chorzów. He played for clubs such as Naprzód Lipiny, Legia W ...

. In the 1980s, Kulesza worked in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, returning to Poland in late 1980s. He became an activist of the Polish Football Federation (PZPN), founding the school of football coaches, which was popularly called ''kuleszówka''. He actively fought corruption, and in 1993, he supported stripping Legia Warsaw of its championship title, after Warsaw's team routed

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. ...

6–0 in Kraków. Kulesza died in a hospital, suffering from

Alzheimer disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...

. He was buried on 29 May 2008 at Warsaw's Czerniaków Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kulesza, Ryszard 1931 births 2008 deaths Footballers from Warsaw People from Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–1939) Polish men's footballers Polonia Warsaw players Polish football managers Polish expatriate football managers Lechia Gdańsk managers Poland national football team managers Club Athlétique Bizertin managers Tunisia national football team managers CS Sfaxien managers 1982 African Cup of Nations managers Men's association football forwards Polish World War II forced labourers