Czesław Michniewicz (; born 12 February 1970) is a Polish professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

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who most recently managed Botola Pro side AS FAR. He managed the Poland national team in 2022.

Managerial career

Early years

In September 2003, Michniewicz was appointed as the manager of

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division. ...

. He led the side to the 2003–04

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

and

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 ...

titles. He left the club in June 2006. In October 2006, he was appointed manager of

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 ...

side

Zagłębie Lubin Zagłębie Lubin S.A. () is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Lubin. Founded in 1945 as ''OMTUR Lubin'', the club competes in the Ekstraklasa. History The football team was founded in 1945 as OMTUR Lubin by lo ...

, leading the club to the 2006–07 league title. In October 2007, he was relieved of his duties. From 8 July 2008 to 12 April 2009 he managed Arka Gdynia in the Ekstraklasa. From 15 November 2010 until 30 June 2011, he managed

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 ...

. On 22 July 2011, he was appointed as the manager of Jagiellonia Białystok, but left the position on 22 December 2011 by mutual consent. On 28 March 2012, Michniewicz was named as the new coach of

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 led until 8 May 2012. From 22 March to 22 October 2013, he managed Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała. After a year and a half pause, he was hired as the coach of Pogoń Szczecin. Michniewicz's side finished the league at sixth place in the 2015–16 season. Despite the best result in years, his contract was not renewed and he left the club on 30 June 2016. From 1 July 2016 to 22 March 2017, he was in charge of Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza in Ekstraklasa.

Poland national under-21 football team

On 7 July 2017, he was appointed as the coach of the Poland under-21 national team. After defeating

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in the play-offs, Poland under his leadership qualified for the first time since 1994 for the final tournament of the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. On 15 October 2020, he was replaced by

Maciej Stolarczyk Maciej Stolarczyk (born 15 January 1972 in Słupsk) is a Polish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a Defender (association football), defender. He was most recently in c ...

Legia Warsaw

On 21 September 2020, he was appointed as the coach of

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

. In his debut Legia won 2–0 over

FC Drita Football Club Drita (), commonly known as Drita, is a professional football club based in Gjilan, Kosovo. The club plays in the Football Superleague of Kosovo. The club's home ground is the Gjilan City Stadium. It was built in 1947 when the clu ...

at the

2020–21 UEFA Europa League The 2020–21 UEFA Europa League was the 50th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 12th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Villarreal defeated Manchester United i ...

qualifiers. On 18 October 2020, he made his

debut, as Legia won 2–1 over

. On 11 December 2020, he was named Ekstraklasa's Coach of the Month after Legia's successful run in November. He was awarded the same distinction for March 2021, as his team completed the campaign in the above-mentioned month without any defeat. On 28 April 2021, Michniewicz won his second Polish Championship after 0–0 draw between Jagiellonia Białystok and

Raków Częstochowa Robotniczy Klub Sportowy Raków Częstochowa Spółka Akcyjna (commonly referred to as Raków Częstochowa, or simply Raków) is a Polish professional football club, based in Częstochowa, that competes in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of natio ...

(as the latter team had already lost mathematical chances of catching up with Legia), with three games to spare. On 26 August 2021, Legia led by Michniewicz defeated

SK Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional association football, football football team, club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are ...

, and for the first time in five years qualified for the group stages of a European cup. They would face

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

and

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * ...

in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

group stage. Although Legia led their

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

after wins against

and

, they struggled in the league. After four consecutive defeats, managing nine points in ten fixtures and sitting 15th in the table, Michniewicz was dismissed on 25 October 2021.

Poland national team

On 31 January 2022, Michniewicz was named as the new manager of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, signing a deal until 31 December 2022 with an extension option, following the previous manager

Paulo Sousa Paulo Manuel Carvalho de Sousa (; born 30 August 1970) is a Portuguese football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is the current manager of UAE Pro League club Shabab Al Ahli. Starting his career ...

's decision to join

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

three months before Poland's first 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification play-offs game. He was scheduled to make his debut against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, prior to the disqualification of Russia. On 24 March, Poland played their first match under Michniewicz, a 1–1 draw in a friendly against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. On 29 March 2022, Michniewicz led Poland to a 2–0 victory over

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in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

qualification play-off final. On 30 November 2022, Poland advanced to the knockout stage of the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

for the first time since

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

under the lead of Michniewicz. On 22 December 2022, following criticism of the national team's defensive tactics and style of play under Michniewicz by the media, a turmoil regarding bonuses for national team players and staff, Michniewicz blocking several journalists on Twitter before deleting his account, and reportedly shouldering part of the blame for the media fallout on team manager Jakub Kwiatkowski, it was announced Michniewicz's contract would not be extended and he was to leave his post on 31 December 2022.

Abha

On 12 June 2023, Michniewicz was announced as the new manager of Saudi club

Abha Abha (, ') is the capital of Asir, Asir Province in Saudi Arabia. It is situated above sea level in the fertile Asir Mountains of south-western Saudi Arabia, near Asir National Park. Abha's mild climate makes it a popular tourist destination fo ...

. Following a good start to his stint, Abha suffered four straight league defeats in September, which led to Michniewicz's dismissal on 1 October 2023.

AS FAR

On 13 July 2024, Michniewicz became the head coach of Moroccan side AS FAR. On 22 September that year, he led the club to successfully qualify for the

2024–25 CAF Champions League The 2024–25 CAF Champions League, officially the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, was the 61st season of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the 29th ...

, marking their return to the competition after 17 years of absence. On 15 October, with a record of four wins, three draws and two losses across all competitions, Michniewicz and AS FAR agreed to mutually part ways.

Personal life

Michniewicz was born in Byarozawka, then in the

Byelorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

(present-day

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

), while his mother was visiting her family; but grew up in Biskupiec, Poland. On 20 June 1998, he married Grażyna Rzewuska, with whom he has two sons: Mateusz (born 22 January 2001) and Jakub (born 13 August 2003).

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Amica Wronki *

: 1998–99, 1999–2000 *

: 1999

Manager

Lech Poznań *Polish Cup: 2003–04 *Polish Super Cup: 2004 Zagłebie Lubin *

: 2006–07 *Polish Super Cup: 2007 Legia Warsaw *Ekstraklasa:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Individual * Polish Coach of the Year: 2018, 2022 * Ekstraklasa Coach of the Month: May 2011, November 2020, March 2021

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Michniewicz, Czeslaw 1970 births Living people Footballers from Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship People from Lida district People from Nowe Miasto County Polish men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Bałtyk Gdynia players SKS Stoczniowiec Gdańsk players Amica Wronki players Ekstraklasa players I liga players II liga players Polish football managers Lech Poznań managers Zagłębie Lubin managers Arka Gdynia managers Widzew Łódź managers Jagiellonia Białystok managers Polonia Warsaw managers Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała managers Pogoń Szczecin managers Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza managers Legia Warsaw managers Poland national football team managers Abha Club managers AS FAR managers Ekstraklasa managers Saudi Pro League managers Botola managers 2022 FIFA World Cup managers Polish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Polish expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Morocco Polish expatriate sportspeople in Morocco