Dariusz Żuraw (born 14 November 1972) 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

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

who was most recently in charge of

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

club

Wisła Płock Wisła Płock Spółka Akcyjna (Wisła Płock S.A.), commonly referred to as Wisła Płock (), is a Polish professional football club based in Płock, Masovian Voivodeship. They will compete in the Ekstraklasa in the 2025–26 season after wi ...

. Besides Poland, he has played in Germany.

Club career

Born in

Wieluń Wieluń () is a town in south-central Poland with 21,624 inhabitants (2021). The town is the seat of the Gmina Wieluń and Wieluń County, and is located within the Łódź Voivodeship. Wieluń is a capital of the historical Wieluń Land. W ...

, Żuraw began his career in his native Poland, playing for a succession of lower league teams: LZS Ostrówek, LZS Rychłocice, WKS Wieluń,

Okocimski KS Brzesko Okocimski KS Brzesko is a Polish football club based in Brzesko, Poland. The club is currently playing in the eastern group of V liga Lesser Poland, the sixth division of Polish league football. In the 1994–95 season, they achieved their bes ...

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 ...

. He was spotted by

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

, then of 2. Bundesliga, and moved there on 24 October 2001, making his debut a month later on 28 November 2001 in a

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

tie against VfL Wolfsburg II. He immediately enjoyed success, as the club won promotion, comfortably finishing as champions. Żuraw's first game at the top level was also a memorable occasion as he scored after just 6 minutes against

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

. He was a regular fixture in defence during his seven seasons with Hannover 96; in 2004–05, he was just one game away from being an ever-present (as suspension ruled him out). In 2008, he transferred to the Polish

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 ...

club

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 a free transfer from Hannover 96.

International career

Żuraw made one appearance for the Poland national team, in a 3–1 friendly defeat to

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 ...

on 9 February 2005.

Managerial career

Ahead of the 2017–18 season, Żuraw took over as manager at

Znicz Pruszków Miejski Klub Sportowy Znicz Pruszków () is a football (soccer), football club based in Pruszków, Poland. They currently compete in the I liga, the second level of the Polish football league system. Players Current squad ...

, newly relegated to the third-tier

II liga II liga (Druga liga, ), currently named Betclic II liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is a Polish football league that sits at the third tier of the Polish football league system. Until the end of the 2007–08 season, ''II Liga'' referre ...

. From 31 March 2019 to 6 April 2021, he served as manager of

club

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. ...

. On 6 September 2022, he was appointed manager of second-tier side

Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała TS Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała () is a football club based in Bielsko-Biała, Poland. They currently compete in the II liga, after being relegated from the 2023–24 I liga. History The club was essentially founded on 11 July 1997, although ...

, signing a deal until June 2024. On 3 June 2023, during a press conference following a 4–3 comeback win against Resovia, which saw Podbeskidzie finish the season in 7th, one spot short of promotion play-offs, Żuraw announced he would be leaving the team with immediate effect. On 26 October 2023, Żuraw took charge of another I liga club

. After losing the last three games of the regular season and missing out on the

promotion play-offs Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

by two points, Żuraw left the club by mutual consent on 27 May 2024.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

Odra Opole * III liga Opole–Silesia: 2012–13 *

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 ...

(Opole regional level): 2012–13 Individual *

Coach of the Month: June 2020, July 2020

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zuraw, Dariusz Living people 1972 births People from Wieluń Footballers from Łódź Voivodeship Men's association football defenders Polish men's footballers Poland men's international footballers Ekstraklasa players I liga players III liga players IV liga players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Zagłębie Lubin players Hannover 96 players Arka Gdynia players Polish expatriate men's footballers Polish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Polish football managers Odra Opole managers Lech Poznań non-playing staff Znicz Pruszków managers Lech Poznań managers Zagłębie Lubin managers Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała managers Wisła Płock managers Ekstraklasa managers I liga managers II liga managers