Arkadiusz Jerzy Onyszko (born 12 January 1974) 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He serves as the goalkeeping coach of the Poland U15 national team.

Club career

Onyszko was born in

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

. He began his career in 1989 with

KS Lublinianka KS Lublinianka is a Polish professional football club based in Lublin. It was founded in 1921 as WKS Lublin (Wojskowy Klub Sportowy Lublin, English: Military Sports Club) and was supported by the Lublin garrison of the Polish Army. In 1923, WKS L ...

. In 1998, he moved to

Viborg FF Viborg Fodsports Forening (), also known as Viborg FF or VFF for short, is a Danish professional association football, football club based in the Central Denmark Region, Central Jutland city of Viborg, Denmark, Viborg. They compete in the Danish ...

from

Widzew Łódź RTS Widzew Łódź () is a Polish football (soccer), football club based in Łódź. The club was founded in 1910. Its official colours are red and white, hence their nicknames ''Czerwona Armia'' (Red Army) and ''Czerwono-biało-czerwoni'' (Red-wh ...

, and established himself as Viborg's number one goalkeeper. In 2003, he was transferred to

Odense Boldklub Odense Boldklub (; also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city of Odense, in southern Denmark. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play ...

, where he spent the next six years as OB's first choice goalkeeper. Between 1998 and 2009, he played 363 games in the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

, which makes him the fifth most capped player and the most capped foreigner. After a turbulent time in Denmark, Onyszko returned to Poland and signed a short-term contract with Odra Wodzislaw on 13 January 2010. The club came last in the league this season and were relegated, but Onyszko's displays were impressive enough to earn him a two-year contract with

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 ...

, which he signed in May 2010. However, in June 2010 Onyszko was diagnosed with kidney failure. On 6 January 2013, Onyszko had a kidney transplant in Szczecin.

International career

Onyszko was a member of the Poland national team that won the silver medal at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain.

Controversies

In June 2009, Onyszko was convicted on charges of assaulting his former wife and sentenced to three months imprisonment, of which two months would be suspended. His club fired him the very same day. A few days later, he signed a contract with Danish club

FC Midtjylland Football Club Midtjylland (, "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Superliga, which they ...

. He was fired on 2 November after the release of his autobiography, which contained attacks on homosexuals and female sport reporters. In his native Poland, he was criticised for his homophobic statements and for sparking anti-Polish sentiment.

Honours

Legia Warsaw *

Polish Super Cup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2024, the Polish Super Cup has been ...

: 1994 Viborg *

Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...

: 1999–2000 *

Danish Super Cup The Danish Super Cup was played for by the Football in Denmark, Danish Danish Superliga, League champions and the Danish Cup, Danish Cup Winners. Winners Titles by club References Defunct football cup competitions in Denmark, ...

: 2000 Odense * Danish Cup: 2006–07 Poland Olympic *

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

silver medal:

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

Poland U16 *

UEFA European Under-16 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

third place:

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Onyszko, Arkadiusz 1974 births Living people Footballers from Lublin Polish men's footballers 21st-century Polish criminals Men's association football goalkeepers Poland men's youth international footballers Poland men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Poland Olympic silver medalists for Poland Olympic medalists in football Footballers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics KS Lublinianka players Zawisza Bydgoszcz players Legia Warsaw players Polonia Warsaw players Warta Poznań players Lech Poznań players Widzew Łódź players Viborg FF players FC Midtjylland players Odense Boldklub players Odra Wodzisław Śląski players Ekstraklasa players I liga players Danish Superliga players Polish expatriate men's footballers Polish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Association football goalkeeping coaches Sportspeople convicted of crimes 20th-century Polish sportsmen