Jan Urban (; born 14 May 1962) 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 ...

manager and former player who played as a striker, who was most recently in charge 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 ...

club

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning the second-most Po ...

. His professional career was closely associated to

and

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...

, and he also coached and worked with the latter club in various capacities. Urban represented

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 populou ...

at the

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had ...

Playing career

Club

Urban was born in

Jaworzno Jaworzno is a city in southern Poland, near Katowice. It lies in the Silesian Highlands, on the Przemsza river (a tributary of the Vistula). Jaworzno belongs to the historic province of Lesser Poland. The city is situated in the Silesian Voivod ...

, being one of six children in an underprivileged mining family. In his country he played for

Zagłębie Sosnowiec Zagłębie Sosnowiec () is a football club based in Sosnowiec, Poland. The club was established in 1906. It won Polish Cup four times (1962, 1963, 1977, 1978), and also was four times Polish runner up (1955, 1964, 1967, 1972). Apart from footbal ...

and

, winning three

championships in a row with the latter to which he contributed with a combined 38 goals, including a career-best 17 in 1987–88. In the summer of 1989, Urban moved to Spain and joined

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El S ...

, going on to be one of the

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

team's most important players of the following decade. He scored 13 goals in 34 games in his second season to help the club finish in a best-ever fourth position in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

, thus qualifying to the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

; this included a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

against Real Madrid on 30 December 1990, in a 4–0 away win. Urban started the 1994–95 campaign with Osasuna in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, but returned to the top flight with

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club c ...

in the winter

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer wi ...

. He closed out his career at 36 after one-season stints with

CD Toledo Club Deportivo Toledo, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Toledo, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1928 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 18, holding home games at ''Estadio Salto del Caballo'', w ...

(also Spain, second level),

VfB Oldenburg VfB Oldenburg is a German association football club based in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony. In the 2022–23 season, they play in the 3. Liga, the third level of football in Germany. History Founded by a group of high school boys as ''FC 1897 Ol ...

(Germany) and former side Gornik.

International

Urban earned 57

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for

over six years, netting seven goals in the process. He was selected to the 1986 FIFA World Cup squad, appearing in all four matches (three starts) as the national team reached the round-of-16 in Mexico.

International goals

Coaching career

Urban settled in

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

after retiring, and begun his coaching career in the city, being in charge of Osasuna's youth academy. He then worked with the reserves in

division three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...

, moving to the offices after two seasons and leaving the club in June 2007. In the summer of 2007, Urban took over as head coach of Legia Warsaw, being responsible for signing three Osasuna players to the team, including Iñaki Astiz. During the

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

tournament, he served as an assistant for the Polish national team. On 17 March 2010, Urban was fired by Legia, signing with fellow league club

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 ' ...

roughly one year later. On 30 May 2012 he returned for a second spell with Legia, which lasted until 19 December of the following year. Urban returned to Osasuna after seven years, being appointed first-team manager on 3 July 2014 after their top-flight relegation. He was dismissed the following 28 February, with the side 16th after four consecutive losses. In October 2015, Urban returned to Poland's top tier, taking over at Lech Poznań. He was cup runner-up and SuperCup winner in 2016, but was sacked on 29 August that year. Urban was hired by

Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław, Śląsk Wrocław () or simply Śląsk, is a Polish football club based in Wrocław that plays in Ekstraklasa, the highest level of the Polish f ...

on an 18-month deal on 5 January 2017. On 18 February 2018 he was shown the door after losing eight of the last 13 games, and was replaced by Tadeusz Pawłowski. On 27 May 2021, it was announced that Urban would take over as manager of

club

immediately, replacing

Marcin Brosz Marcin Brosz (born 11 April 1973) is a Polish retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and is the current manager of the Poland under-19 national team. As a player, he spent his career playing for clubs in Poland. In 2005, he turned to c ...

for the 2021–22 season. On 14 June 2022, it was announced he would be leaving the club the following day.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Górnik Zabrze *

: 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88 *

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 ...

: 1988

Manager

Legia Warsaw *Ekstraklasa:

2012–13 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 ...

, 2013–14 *

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. ...

: 2007–08,

*Polish Super Cup: 2008 Lech Poznań *Polish Super Cup:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Urban, Jan 1962 births Living people People from Jaworzno Sportspeople from Silesian Voivodeship Polish footballers Association football forwards Victoria Jaworzno players Zagłębie Sosnowiec players Ekstraklasa players Górnik Zabrze players La Liga players Segunda División players CA Osasuna players Real Valladolid players CD Toledo players 2. Bundesliga players VfB Oldenburg players Poland youth international footballers Poland international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players Polish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Germany Polish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Polish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Polish football managers Legia Warsaw managers Polonia Bytom managers Lech Poznań managers Śląsk Wrocław managers CA Osasuna managers Górnik Zabrze managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Ekstraklasa managers Polish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Spain Zagłębie Lubin managers