Callum James Rzonca (born 7 January 1997) is an English 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 ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or winger. Rzonca played in the youth teams at

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. ...

and Barnsley before started his senior career with

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

in 2015. He was loaned out to Stamford and

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...

before being released by York in 2017.

Career

York City

Rzonca was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

, West Yorkshire, and started his career with the youth systems of

and Barnsley. He started an apprenticeship with

in 2013, and signed a one-year professional contract with the club in May 2015. Rzonca made his first-team debut on 25 August 2015 as a 71st-minute substitute for

Vadaine Oliver Vadaine Aston James Oliver (born 21 October 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Bradford City. He has played in the English Football League for Crewe Alexandra, Mansfield Town, York City, Notts County, Mo ...

in York's 3–0 away defeat to

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

team

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ...

in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

second round. He joined

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division ...

Premier Division club Stamford on 15 March 2016 on a one-month

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

, making his debut the same day as a 75th-minute substitute in a 4–1 home defeat to

Darlington 1883 Darlington Football Club is an association football club based in Darlington, County Durham, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League North, at the sixth tier of English football. The club was founded in ...

. Rzonca made nine appearances as Stamford were

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

in 21st place in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. He finished the 2015–16 season with two appearances for York, as they were relegated into the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

in 24th place in League Two. He signed a new one-year contract in June 2016. Rzonca joined

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

club

on 20 January 2017 on a one-month loan. He made his debut on 28 January 2017 as a 71st-minute substitute in a 3–1 home defeat to

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gains ...

. This was Rzonca's only appearance for Harrogate before returning to York. He was released by York at the end of 2016–17.

Later career

Rzonca signed for newly relegated National League North club North Ferriby United on 28 July 2017 after a successful trial. In January 2018, Rzonca joined Polish side

Zagłębie Sosnowiec Zagłębie Sosnowiec () is a football club based in Sosnowiec, Poland. The club was established in 1906. It won Polish Cup four times (1962, 1963, 1977, 1978), and also was four times Polish runner up (1955, 1964, 1967, 1972). Apart from footbal ...

and was part of the side which achieved promotion to the

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 ...

. On 22 January 2019, after a year with Zagłębie, he joined

I liga I liga ( pl, Pierwsza liga, ), currently named Fortuna I liga due to its sponsorship by Fortuna, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga ...

side

GKS Katowice GKS Katowice (; GKS stands for , "Miners Sporting Club") is a Polish football club based in Katowice, Poland. The club currently plays in the I liga, after having won promotion in 2021. History In 1963 in Katowice a special organizational co ...

on a deal until the end of the season with the option of an additional year. He left the club at the end of the season.

Style of play

Rzonca plays a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Career statistics

Honours

Zagłębie Sosnowiec *

runner-up: 2017–18

References

External links

Callum Rzonca profile
at the Zagłębie Sosnowiec website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rzonca, Callum 1997 births Living people Footballers from Leeds English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football wingers Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players York City F.C. players Stamford A.F.C. players Harrogate Town A.F.C. players North Ferriby United A.F.C. players Zagłębie Sosnowiec players GKS Katowice players English Football League players Northern Premier League players National League (English football) players I liga players Ekstraklasa players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Poland English expatriate sportspeople in Poland