Waldemar Fornalik (born 11 April 1963 in Myślenice) 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 who is currently in charge of Ekstraklasa club Zagłębie Lubin. A former player, he spent his entire playing career with

Ruch Chorzów Ruch Chorzów () is a Polish association football club based in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. It is one of the most successful football teams in Poland: fourteen-time national champions, and three-time winners of the Polish Cup. Currently the team play ...

. He currently serves as the manager of From July 2012 to October 2013, he was the

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

of the Poland national team.

Playing career

Fornalik won the 1988–89 Ekstraklasa with

Managerial career

Following the end of his playing career, Fornalik began a managing career. He was manager in Górnik Zabrze and Odra Wodzisław. He won the bronze medal (3rd place) with

in the

2009–10 Ekstraklasa The 2009–10 Ekstraklasa was the 76th season since its establishment as the highest football league of Poland. It began on 31 July 2009 and ended on 15 May 2010. The champions were Lech Poznań. Teams Due to several non-competitive events be ...

season. In the 2011–12 season he led Ruch Chorzow to second place, the highest placement since winning the title in 1989. In July 2012, Fornalik became the coach 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 ...

after the dismissal of Franciszek Smuda. On 16 October 2013, after a 0–1 loss to Ukraine in Kharkiv, which confirmed that Poland would not be going to the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

finals in Brazil, and a 0–2 loss to England at Wembley Stadium the previous night, PZPN sacked Fornalik due to not fulfilling his contract objectives. On 19 September 2017, he became the manager of Piast Gliwice. Under Fornalik's rule, Piast turned into overachievers, consistently competing for spots in the upper half of the table, which resulted in winning the championship at the end of the 2018–19 season, finishing third two years later and two short-lived European campaigns. On 25 October 2022, following a poor start to the 2022–23 campaign, Fornalik left Piast and was replaced by Aleksandar Vuković two days later. On 29 November 2022, Fornalik was announced as the new head coach of Zagłębie Lubin, agreeing to a contract until the end of the 2023–24 season.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

;Piast Gliwice * Ekstraklasa: 2018–19

References

1963 births Living people People from Myślenice Sportspeople from Lesser Poland Voivodeship Association football defenders Polish footballers Ruch Chorzów players Polish football managers Polonia Bytom managers Górnik Zabrze managers Odra Wodzisław Śląski managers Polonia Warsaw managers Widzew Łódź managers Ruch Chorzów managers Piast Gliwice managers Poland national football team managers Zagłębie Lubin managers Ekstraklasa managers I liga managers {{Poland-footy-defender-stub