Adam Kokoszka (, born 6 October 1986) is a Polish former 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 played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. Besides Poland, he has played in Italy and Russia.

Club career

His debut for

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, ...

came on 4 August 2006 against

Arka Gdynia Morski Związkowy Klub Sportowy Arka Gdynia () is a professional football club based in Gdynia, Poland, that plays in the Ekstraklasa after winning the 2024–25 I liga. The club was founded as Klub Sportowy Gdynia in 1929. History The h ...

. On 28 July 2008, he signed a five-year contract with

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

, using the

Webster ruling The Webster ruling is a test case in association football law involving Andy Webster, a defender formerly with Heart of Midlothian football club in Edinburgh, Scotland. In September 2006 he became the first player to exploit the updated transf ...

to leave Wisla. Wisla brought the matter to

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

but in October the organization cleared Kokoszka to play for Empoli. He debuted for his new club in a 4-0 win over

U.S. Sassuolo Calcio Unione Sportiva Sassuolo Calcio, commonly referred to as Sassuolo (), is an Italian professional football club based in Sassuolo, Emilia-Romagna. Their colours are black and green, hence the nickname ''Neroverdi'' (literally "black and greens", ...

on 28 October. On 19 January 2011, a half-year loan transfer to

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 ...

was announced. In July 2014, Kokoszka signed a three-year contract with

Torpedo Moscow Football Club Torpedo Moscow (, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. The club will return to the Russian Premier League in the 2025–26 season. Their c ...

, however in April 2015, Kokoszka left Torpedo Moscow having not been paid by the club for four months.

International career

Although he had made only a few appearances for his club, he was noticed by

Leo Beenhakker Leo Beenhakker (; 2 August 1942 – 10 April 2025) was a Dutch football player and coach. Nicknamed "Don Leo" for his role in Spanish football, he had an extensive and successful career both at club and international level. After his amateur pl ...

and debuted for the Poland national team a short while later, in a friendly away to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

on 6 December 2006. In the next friendly match against

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

he scored his first goal for Poland. He was called up for

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

and made one appearance, in Poland's final match against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

International goals

Honours

Wisła Kraków *

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 ...

: 2007–08 Unia Tarnów * IV liga Lesser Poland East: 2020–21

Notes

External links

*
National team stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kokoszka, Adam 1986 births Living people People from Andrychów Footballers from Lesser Poland Voivodeship Men's association football defenders Polish men's footballers Poland men's international footballers Wisła Kraków players Empoli FC players Polonia Warsaw players Śląsk Wrocław players FC Torpedo Moscow players Zagłębie Sosnowiec players Unia Tarnów (football) players UEFA Euro 2008 players Ekstraklasa players III liga players IV liga players Serie B players Russian Premier League players Polish expatriate men's footballers Polish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Polish expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Russia 21st-century Polish sportsmen