Jerzy Józef Brzęczek (born 18 March 1971) is a Polish professional football manager and former player. 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.

Career statistics

International

International goals

Coaching career

Clubs

On 17 November 2014, he became the coach of Lechia Gdańsk, and he 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. On 11 July 2017, he became the coach of Wisła Płock.

Poland

On 12 July 2018 he was announced as the new head coach of the Poland national team. His tenure didn't start off well, with Poland getting relegated from the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League A, 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. Brzęczek was sacked on 18 January 2021, five months before Poland's first match at the UEFA Euro 2020 and succeeded by the Portugal's Paulo Sousa.

Wisła Kraków

On 14 February 2022, Brzęczek was appointed head coach of Wisła Kraków, replacing Adrián Guľa. 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. With five wins and two draws in 12 games at the start of Wisła's 2022–23 league campaign, Brzęczek left the club.

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.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Lech Poznań Tirol Innsbruck Poland Olympic

Manager

Individual