Waldemar Fornalik

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Full name Waldemar Fornalik
Date of birth (1963-04-11) 11 April 1963 (age 63)
Place of birth Myślenice, Poland
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Waldemar Fornalik
Fornalik in 2012
Personal information
Full name Waldemar Fornalik
Date of birth (1963-04-11) 11 April 1963 (age 63)
Place of birth Myślenice, Poland
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position Defender
Team information
Current team
Ruch Chorzów (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982–1994 Ruch Chorzów 233 (4)
Managerial career
1996 Polonia Bytom
2001 Górnik Zabrze
2002–2004 Górnik Zabrze
2005–2006 Odra Wodzisław
2006–2007 Polonia Warsaw
2008 GKS Bełchatów (ME)
2008–2009 Widzew Łódź
2009–2012 Ruch Chorzów
2012–2013 Poland
2014–2017 Ruch Chorzów
2017–2022 Piast Gliwice
2022–2024 Zagłębie Lubin
2025– Ruch Chorzów
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Waldemar Fornalik (born 11 April 1963) is a Polish professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of I liga club Ruch Chorzów. A one-club man, he spent his entire playing career with Ruch.[1] From July 2012 to October 2013, he managed the Poland national team.

Fornalik won the 1988–89 Ekstraklasa with Ruch Chorzów.

Managerial career

Following the end of his playing career, Fornalik began a managing career.[2] He was in charge of Górnik Zabrze and Odra Wodzisław in the early 2000s. He won the bronze medal with Ruch Chorzów in the 2009–10 Ekstraklasa season. In the 2011–12 season, he led Ruch to second place, the highest placement since winning the title in 1989.

In July 2012, Fornalik became the coach of the Poland national team after the dismissal of Franciszek Smuda.[3][4][5] On 16 October 2013, after a 0–1 loss to Ukraine in Kharkiv, which confirmed that Poland would not be going to the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil, and a 0–2 loss to England at Wembley Stadium the previous night, PZPN sacked Fornalik due to not fulfilling his contract objectives.[6]

On 19 September 2017, he became the manager of Piast Gliwice.[7] Under Fornalik's rule, Piast turned into overachievers, consistently competing for spots in the upper half of the table, which resulted in winning the championship at the end of the 2018–19 season, finishing third two years later and two short-lived European campaigns. On 25 October 2022, following a poor start to the 2022–23 campaign, Fornalik left Piast and was replaced by Aleksandar Vuković two days later.[8]

On 29 November 2022, Fornalik was announced as the new head coach of Zagłębie Lubin, agreeing to a contract until the end of the 2023–24 season.[9] He extended his deal for a further year on 26 June 2024.[10] On 22 September 2024, Zagłębie suffered a 1–5 away loss to Raków Częstochowa, leaving the club in relegation zone with eight points after nine rounds of the 2024–25 season. The following day, Fornalik was sacked by Zagłębie's board.[11]

On 6 August 2025, Fornalik returned to Ruch Chorzów for his third stint as manager.[12]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 27 April 2026
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
Górnik Zabrze 10 May 2001 31 October 2001 267109026.92
Górnik Zabrze 12 January 2002 4 April 2004 62242018038.71
Odra Wodzisław 20 June 2005 28 August 2006 41141314034.15
Polonia Warsaw 23 October 2006 29 October 2007 382378060.53
Widzew Łódź 2 June 2008 9 January 2009 201154055.00
Ruch Chorzów 27 April 2009 23 April 2012 120572835047.50
Poland 10 July 2012 16 October 2013 18846044.44
Ruch Chorzów 7 October 2014 23 April 2017 97331846034.02
Piast Gliwice 19 September 2017 27 October 2022 205885364042.93
Zagłębie Lubin 29 November 2022 23 September 2024 62241424038.71
Ruch Chorzów 6 August 2025 Present 2810108035.71
Career total 717299182236041.70

Honours

See also

References

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