Łukasz Załuska (; born 16 June 1982) is a Polish former professional

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 lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. After playing for Stomil Olsztyn,

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

Jagiellonia Białystok Jagiellonia Białystok () is a Polish professional football club based in Białystok that plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top level of Polish football. The club was founded in 1920 by soldiers in the 42nd Infantry Regiment Reserve Battalion in Bi ...

(on loan) and

Korona Kielce Korona Kielce (, Korona – ''Crown'' – symbol of club and city, Kielce – name of city where club is based) is a Polish professional football club based in Kielce, competing in Ekstraklasa in the 2025–26 season. From 2002 to ...

in Poland, Załuska continued his career in Scotland, joining

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

in 2007. He then signed for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

in 2009, spending six years mainly as a reserve goalkeeper, before joining

Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German professional association football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was bri ...

in 2015. He made one international appearance for

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, in 2009. Following retirement, he became a goalkeeping coach, first working with Poland youth national teams, before joining

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. They currently compete in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system, ...

's staff in 2024.

Club career

In Poland

Born in

Wysokie Mazowieckie Wysokie Mazowieckie (; ) is a town in north-eastern Poland, in Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the capital of Wysokie Mazowieckie County. Population is 10,034 . History Wysokie was founded by Polish people, Polish settlers from nearby Mazovia in t ...

, Załuska began his career in 1997 with

Ruch Wysokie Mazowieckie Ruch Wysokie Mazowieckie is a Polish football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ' ...

but left within a few months to join MSP Szamotuły. After a year, he moved on to Sparta Oborniki, before spending time with Zryw Zielona Góra. In 2001, Załuska moved to Stomil Olsztyn and made his first appearance in the

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

that August. In 2002, he joined

but made no appearances for the club. From here, he had two

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

spells with

before joining

in 2004. Załuska spent two years with Kielce, culminating in a

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

runners-up medal in just before moving to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in May 2007.

Dundee United

Załuska joined

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

team

on a two-year contract on 30 May 2007. He played in pre-season for United but suffered a broken foot before the start of the domestic season, prompting the club to sign countryman Grzegorz Szamotulski as a short-term replacement. After returning to training in late October, it was feared Załuska had broken his foot a second time in early November. Załuska finally made his competitive debut for United on 26 January 2008, just days before Szamotulski's departure. United won 2–1 in what was captain

Barry Robson Barry Gordon George Robson (born 7 November 1978) is a Scottish football coach and former player, who is the manager of Scottish Championship club Raith Rovers. Robson played as a midfielder for several clubs in Scotland, England and Canada an ...

's final match for the club. In February 2008, after helping United beat

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in the semi-final of the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

, Załuska was reported to the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...

(SFA) for making gestures to the Aberdeen fans. In the match, both keepers faced missiles thrown by sets of opposing fans, including plastic cups, chocolate and £1 coins. Referee Iain Brines was also hit by a coin thrown from the Aberdeen supporters' end. A month later, Załuska received a £500 fine and a warning from the SFA for his actions. On 17 December 2008, it was reported that he had declined a new contract and would be leaving the club at the end of the season after the current one expired.

Celtic

On 23 December 2008, Załuska signed a pre-contract agreement with

and would be joining at the start of the 2009–10 season. He officially became a Celtic player on 1 June 2009. He made his debut on 21 September 2009, in a 4–0 League Cup victory over

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

. On 25 October 2009, he made his league debut for the Hoops against

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

as a replacement for his injured compatriot

Artur Boruc Artur Boruc (; born 20 February 1980) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Boruc began his career in the Polish third division with hometown club Pogoń Siedlce. He joined Ekstraklasa team Legia Warsaw in 1999 ...

and pulled off several saves in a 2–1 win. On 10 April 2010, Zaluska played in a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

which they lost 2–0 to Ross County. At the start of the 2010–11 season Załuska became Celtic's first choice goalkeeper after Boruc left for Italian side

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

. However Celtic signed

Fraser Forster Fraser Gerard Forster (born 17 March 1988) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur. He will becom ...

on loan from

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

and Załuska once again became second choice goalkeeper. At the start of the 2011–12 season he became Celtic's first choice goalkeeper after Forster returned to Newcastle United. He started the opening SPL game against Hibernian, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 victory. However, Celtic's re-signing of Forster on loan again pushed Załuska down the pecking order. On 29 September, Załuska started in the Europa League against

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

. Although he played well and made several good saves, the match finished 1–1 with Udinese scoring from a penalty. After Forster was sold to

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, the recently acquired

Craig Gordon Craig Sinclair Gordon (born 31 December 1982) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Heart of Midlothian and the Scotland national team. Gordon started his career with Currie Boys before joining Heart of ...

established himself as first choice for season 2014–15.Celtic's Lukasz Zaluska assaulted in Glasgow
Sky Sports. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2015. In October 2014, he was injured in an apparent assault in Ashton Lane, in Glasgow's West End. Having only made two league starts by October, Zaluska kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 league defeat of Inverness CT on 1 November 2014. Załuska, an used substitute in the 2015 Scottish League Cup Final victory, did come off the bench in a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,McDiarmid Park McDiarmid Park is a stadium in Perth, Scotland, Perth, Scotland, used mainly for association football. It has been the home ground of Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone F.C., St Johnstone since its opening in 1989. The stadium has an All-seat ...

keeping a clean sheet with a string of fine saves in a 0–0 league draw. He left Celtic in June 2015.

Darmstadt 98

On 31 August 2015, Załuska joined

SV Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German professional association football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was bri ...

, newly promoted to the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

, on a contract until 30 June 2016 as their third keeper behind Christian Mathenia and Patrick Platins.

Pogoń Szczecin

On 9 June 2017, he signed a contract with

Pogoń Szczecin Pogoń Szczecin Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Pogoń Szczecin (), is a Polish professional football club based in Szczecin, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, which plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the national football league s ...

International career

Załuska was called up to the

squad for the first time in August 2008, following

's suspension, although he remained unused. He was called up again in November, with Boruc missing due to injury. He won his first international cap on 6 June 2009, against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Honours

Celtic *

: 2011–12,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

: 2013–14, 2014–15 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

References

External links

* * *
Łukasz Załuska
at Kicker * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaluska, Lukasz 1982 births Living people People from Wysokie Mazowieckie Footballers from Podlaskie Voivodeship Polish men's footballers Poland men's international footballers Polish expatriate men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Stomil Olsztyn S.A. players Legia Warsaw players Jagiellonia Białystok players Korona Kielce players Dundee United F.C. players Celtic F.C. players SV Darmstadt 98 players Wisła Kraków players Pogoń Szczecin players Miedź Legnica players Ekstraklasa players I liga players Scottish Premier League players Bundesliga players Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Polish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Polish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Association football goalkeeping coaches Wisła Kraków non-playing staff 21st-century Polish sportsmen