Paweł Kieszek (; born 16 April 1984) is a Polish 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 plays 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 starting out at

Polonia Warsaw Polonia Warsaw (, ), founded on 19 November 1911, is the oldest existing sports club in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, best known for its Association football, football and basketball teams. It also has track and field, Swimming (sport), swimm ...

he went on to spend most of his career in Portugal, signing in 2007 with

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

. He also played three years in the Spanish

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

, with Córdoba and

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

Club career

Born in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, Kieszek began his professional career at local

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 ...

. In January 2006 he was loaned to Greek club

Egaleo FC Egaleo Football Club () is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Aigaleo, a suburban town in the Athens#Athens Urban Area, Athens urban area, Greece. Founded in 1946, it uses all documents of previous club (Ierapolis ...

, where he remained until the end of the year; he returned to Polonia, which had been relegated to the second division in his absence, for 2006–07, playing only a few games before getting injured and missing the rest of the season. Kieszek signed with S.C. Braga in Portugal in June 2007, on a free transfer. He made his debut for his new team on 21 February 2008 in a 0–1 home loss to

SV Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

in the

round of 32 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, first appearing in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

three days later against

S.L. Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...

(1–1). In January 2009, Kieszek joined

Vitória F.C. Vitória Futebol Clube (), popularly known as Vitória de Setúbal, is a Portuguese professional Association football, football club based in Setúbal that used to compete in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system ...

on loan until the end of the campaign, being relatively used during his spell as the '' Sadinos'' managed to retain their top-flight status. Upon his return to

, he was a backup to Portuguese international

Eduardo Eduardo is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the male name Edward. Another version is Duarte. It may refer to: Association football * Dudu (footballer, born 1992) (Eduardo Pereira Rodrigues), Brazilian footballer * Eduardo (footballer, born 1 ...

. In July 2010, after an uneventful 2009–10 with Braga – the side finished second, but he only appeared in three matches in that season's

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

, conceding four goals – Kieszek signed a four-year contract with

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

, with Braga retaining 50% of his economic rights. In August of the following year, after only four official appearances, he was loaned to

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; ), shortly as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or simply Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. The c ...

from the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. On 16 June 2014, after two years with former team Setúbal, Kieszek agreed to a two-year deal with

G.D. Estoril Praia Grupo Desportivo Estoril Praia (), commonly known as Estoril, is a Portuguese professional sports club from Estoril, Cascais, Lisbon. Founded on 17 May 1939, its Association football, football team currently plays in Primeira Liga and hold home g ...

. On 13 July 2016, after 62 competitive matches, he switched clubs and countries again, joining Spanish

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Córdoba, Andalusia, Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1954 after the dissolution of RCD Córdoba. Currently it plays ...

. On 31 August 2018, as Córdoba's financial situation prevented his registration, Kieszek terminated his contract and moved to

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

in the same league. He returned to Portugal and its top tier 11 months later, agreeing to a two-year deal at Rio Ave FC. Kieszek was announced at

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, ...

in August 2021 on a one-year contract, with the option of an extension.

Career statistics

Honours

Porto *

2010–11 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 ...

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

Individual *Primeira Liga Fair Play Award: 2019–20

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kieszek, Pawel 1984 births Living people 21st-century Polish sportsmen Polish men's footballers Footballers from Warsaw Men's association football goalkeepers Ekstraklasa players I liga players Polonia Warsaw players Wisła Kraków players Super League Greece players Egaleo F.C. players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Liga 3 (Portugal) players S.C. Braga players Vitória F.C. players FC Porto players G.D. Estoril Praia players Rio Ave F.C. players U.D. Leiria players Eredivisie players Roda JC Kerkrade players Segunda División players Córdoba CF players Málaga CF players Poland men's youth international footballers Polish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Polish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Polish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Polish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Polish expatriate sportspeople in Spain