Andrzej Woźniak (born 23 October 1965) is a Polish goalkeeping coach and former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent most of his career with ŁKS Łódź and Widzew Łódź, and also had a short spell in the Portuguese top flight. Known as one of the best goalkeepers in his country at the time, he made 20 appearances for the Poland national team.[1]

Andrzej Woźniak
Personal information
Date of birth (1965-10-23) 23 October 1965 (age 59)
Place of birth Konin, Poland
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
Widzew Łódź (goalkeeping coach)
Youth career
Górnik Konin
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1978–1983 Górnik Konin
1984–1988 Widzew Łódź 0 (0)
1986–1987 → Orzeł Łódź (loan)
1988–1989 GKS Bełchatów 39 (0)
1989–1994 ŁKS Łódź 155 (0)
1994–1996 Widzew Łódź 65 (0)
1996–1997 Porto 7 (0)
1997–1998 Braga 15 (0)
1998–1999 Lech Poznań 13 (0)
1999–2002 Widzew Łódź 8 (0)
International career
1994–1997 Poland 20 (0)
Managerial career
2000–2002 Widzew Łódź (goalkeeping coach)
2002–2005 Korona Kielce (assistant)
2005–2006 Pogoń Szczecin (assistant)
2006–2008 Lech Poznań (goalkeeping coach)
2008–2010 Pogoń Szczecin (goalkeeping coach)
2011–2014 Widzew Łódź (goalkeeping coach)
2013–2014 Widzew Łódź (assistant)
2014 Widzew Łódź (goalkeeping coach)
2015 Dolcan Ząbki (goalkeeping coach)
2015–2018 Lechia Gdańsk (goalkeeping coach)
2018 Widzew Łódź (goalkeeping coach)
2018–2021 Poland (goalkeeping coach)
2021– Widzew Łódź (goalkeeping coach)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

edit

Starting at his hometown team of Górnik Konin, Woźniak spent much of his playing career in Łódź; first at ŁKS[2] and then at Widzew,[3] enjoying three separate spells at the club. It was with Widzew that Woźniak enjoyed his greatest success by winning the league title in the 1995–96 season. Not only did he have the joint best record in terms of goals conceded, the team remained undefeated throughout the successful campaign.

In 1996, Woźniak moved to Portuguese giants Porto, but appearances were limited at the club.[2] He moved to Braga, but soon returned to Poland, first with Lech Poznań and then with Widzew Łódź once more.[2]

International career

edit

Woźniak represented Poland 20 times at the international level.[4] His moment of glory came in the 1996 European Championship qualifying match in Paris against France. With the score at 1–1, Woźniak saved a penalty by Bixente Lizarazu, as well as Vincent Guerin's rebound, earning himself a nickname 'The Prince of Paris'.

International statistics

edit
Appearances, conceded goals and clean sheets by national team
Team Year Apps Conceded
goals
Clean
sheets
Poland 1994 7 6 3
1995 5 6 2
1996 4 9 1
1997 4 7 1
Total 20 28 7

Coaching career

edit

Between 2018 and 2021, Woźniak was employed by the Poland national team as a goalkeeping coach.[5] Prior to this appointment, he held the same role with several Polish clubs, with Widzew Łódź, Korona Kielce, Pogoń Szczecin, Lech Poznań, Dolcan Ząbki and Lechia Gdańsk among them.[2] Woźniak also worked as an assistant manager at some of the teams highlighted above including Widzew, Korona and Pogoń, before choosing to focus more on goalkeeping coaching. In February 2021, he was appointed goalkeeper coach at Widzew once more.[6][2]

Honours

edit

Widzew Łódź

Porto

References

edit
  1. ^ "Andrzej Woźniak". PZPN. Retrieved 2008-10-13. [dead link]
  2. ^ a b c d e "Widzew. Andrzej Woźniak nowym trenerem bramkarzy czterokrotnego mistrza Polski". February 2021.
  3. ^ "Andrzej Woźniak". www.90minut.pl. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  4. ^ "Andrzej Woźniak Profile". Bonuscodes. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  5. ^ "Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej". www.pzpn.pl. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  6. ^ "Andrzej Woźniak trenerem bramkarzy Widzewa".
  7. ^ a b "Andrzej Woźniak". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 4 December 2023.
edit