Jerzy Brzęczek
Polish footballer
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Jerzy Józef Brzęczek (Polish pronunciation: [ˈjɛʐɨ ˈjuzɛv ˈbʐɛnt͡ʂɛk];[A] born 18 March 1971) is a Polish professional football manager and former player. He currently manages the Poland national under-21 team.
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Brzęczek in 2015 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Jerzy Józef Brzęczek | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 18 March 1971 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Truskolasy, Poland | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Poland U21 (manager) | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1987–1988 | Raków Częstochowa | ||||||||||||||||
| 1988–1992 | Olimpia Poznań | 108 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
| 1992–1993 | Lech Poznań | 29 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 1993–1994 | Górnik Zabrze | 46 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 1994–1995 | GKS Katowice | 15 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 1995–1998 | Tirol Innsbruck | 85 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| 1998–1999 | LASK | 33 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Maccabi Haifa | 47 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| 2000–2002 | Tirol Innsbruck | 62 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Sturm Graz | 35 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | FC Kärnten | 13 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2007 | Wacker Tirol | 79 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Górnik Zabrze | 42 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | Polonia Bytom | 9 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 602 | (66) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| Poland Olympic | |||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1999 | Poland | 42 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2014 | Raków Częstochowa | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Lechia Gdańsk | ||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2017 | GKS Katowice | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Wisła Płock | ||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2021 | Poland | ||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Wisła Kraków | ||||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Poland U21 | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
In a professional career which spanned nearly 20 years and brought 42 caps with the Poland national team, Brzęczek played for clubs in Poland, Austria and Israel. From 2018 to 2021, he was the head coach for the Poland national team.
Club career
During his career, Brzęczek played for Raków Częstochowa, Olimpia Poznań, Lech Poznań, Górnik Zabrze (two spells), GKS Katowice, Tirol Innsbruck (later Wacker Tirol), LASK Linz, Maccabi Haifa, Sturm Graz, FC Kärnten and Polonia Bytom, retiring in 2009 at age 38. Brzęczek picked up championship medals in both Poland (with Lech Poznań in 1993) and Austria (with Tirol Innsbruck in 2001 and 2002).
International career
With 42 caps for the Poland national team to his credit, Brzęczek also represented the national team at the 1992 Summer Olympics, winning silver.
Managerial career
Clubs
On 17 November 2014, Brzęczek became the coach of Lechia Gdańsk, and was sacked on 1 September 2015. Then, from the end of September 2015, he was a manager for GKS Katowice. On 20 May 2017, after losing a game against MKS Kluczbork and losing the chances of promotion to the Ekstraklasa, he resigned.[1] On 11 July 2017, Brzęczek became the coach of Wisła Płock.[2]
Poland
On 12 July 2018, Brzęczek was announced as the new head coach of the Poland national team.[3]
His tenure didn't start off well, with Poland finishing last in their 2018–19 UEFA Nations League A group, following two losses and two draws. Poland's UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying was more impressive, with the team managing to win four opening matches without conceding a goal. However, after a 2–0 away defeat to Slovenia and a home draw to Austria, Brzęczek faced heavy pressure from the fans calling for his dismissal. Despite this, he managed to keep the team on track with two final wins over Latvia and North Macedonia, eventually qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2020 from the top spot in their group.[4]
Brzęczek was sacked on 18 January 2021,[5] five months before Poland's first match at the UEFA Euro 2020 and succeeded by the Portugal's Paulo Sousa.[6]
Wisła Kraków
On 14 February 2022, Brzęczek was appointed head coach of Wisła Kraków, replacing Adrián Guľa.[7] Achieving only one win in 13 league games, he was not able to save Wisła from relegation to I liga, their first since they returned to the top division in 1996.[8] With five wins and two draws in 12 games at the start of Wisła's 2022–23 league campaign, Brzęczek left the club.[9]
Poland U21
On 8 August 2025, Brzęczek became the new manager of the Poland national under-21 team.[10]
Personal life
Brzęczek's nephew is a footballer, winger Jakub Błaszczykowski, who has most notably represented Wisła Kraków, Borussia Dortmund and VfL Wolfsburg. His sister, Błaszczykowski's mother, was murdered by her husband which caused family separation.
Career statistics
International
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poland | 1992 | 7 | 0 |
| 1993 | 11 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 5 | 1 | |
| 1995 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1996 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 7 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 6 | 1 | |
| Total | 42 | 4 | |
- Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Brzęczek goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 March 1993 | Ribeirão Preto, Brazil |  Brazil | 1–0 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 2 | 17 May 1994 | Katowice, Poland |  Austria | 2–2 | 3–4 | Friendly |
| 3 | 10 October 1998 | Warsaw, Poland |  Luxembourg | 1–0 | 3–0 | UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying |
| 4 | 27 March 1999 | London, England |  England | 1–2 | 1–3 | UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying |
Managerial statistics
- As of match played 31 March 2026
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
 Raków Częstochowa |
9 February 2010 | 4 November 2014 | 171 | 57 | 50 | 64 | 33.33 |
| Lechia Gdańsk |
17 November 2014 | 1 September 2015 | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 36.67 |
| GKS Katowice |
28 September 2015 | 20 May 2017 | 56 | 25 | 14 | 17 | 44.64 |
| Wisła Płock |
11 July 2017 | 11 July 2018 | 38 | 17 | 6 | 15 | 44.74 |
| Poland |
12 July 2018 | 18 January 2021 | 24 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 50.00 |
| Wisła Kraków |
14 February 2022 | 3 October 2022 | 27 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 25.93 |
| Poland U21 |
8 August 2025 | Present | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Total | 354 | 137 | 93 | 124 | 38.70 | ||
Honours
Player
Lech Poznań
Tirol Innsbruck
Poland Olympic
Manager
Individual
- Ekstraklasa Coach of the Month: September 2017,[12] December 2017,[12] April 2018[13]