Władysław Jerzy Engel (; born 6 October 1952) is a Polish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Biography

Playing career

Engel began his career in football at an early age playing at local youth club Junak Włocławek, before being promoted to local senior team

Kujawiak Włocławek Kujawiak Włocławek was a Polish football and athletics club based in Włocławek, Poland. Its claim to fame is that the famous Polish singer Maryla Rodowicz and international javelin thrower Zygmunt Jałoszyński used to actively train at the ...

, which allowed him to move to the likes 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 ...

and several other clubs. Engel, nicknamed "Jurek", began playing in midfield or attack before, at the age of 22, being cruelly forced to cut his career short because of an injury.

Managerial career

First spells in club football

With spirits dampened only slightly, he immediately turned to coaching and took over at Polonia Warsaw's reserves in the 1975–76 season. After a spell with third division teams, he came to the fore once more with his involvement in Poland's third-place finish in the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national footbal ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, helping then national coach,

Antoni Piechniczek Antoni Krzysztof Piechniczek (born 3 May 1942) is a Polish former professional football manager and player. From 2007 to 2011 he was a senator. Playing career Piechniczek was born in Chorzów. He played for clubs such as Naprzód Lipiny, Legi ...

, choose the ideal

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

. In 1985, Engel took charge 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 ...

, leading them to two second-place finishes in the Polish top division in three seasons. Just as he was becoming well known, he made the strange decision to move to

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC (, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Division and has won the championship tit ...

, in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, an island he stayed on for seven years. He later returned to Legia before taking Polonia Warsaw to a runners-up spot in the 1998–99 season.

National team spell

He became manager of the Poland national team in 1999. After failing to achieve qualification for the

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

, was instrumental in securing Emmanuel Olisadebe's

naturalisation Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

as a Polish national. With the side lacking firepower when he took charge, Engel saw the qualities in

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

-born Olisadebe who was already playing league football in Poland. He asked the president to speed Olisadebe's papers through and as a result, had a talented forward available for World Cup qualifying. Olisadebe rewarded his coach with eight goals in ten

qualifying Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

matches. Engel steered Poland to their first World Cup finals tournament 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 ...

, when he oversaw their participation at the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The World Cup did not go well and Poland were eliminated in the first round. The opening two games provided two resounding defeats, losing to

and

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 ...

. After being knocked out of the tournament and now without any pressure to perform, Poland beat the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

3–1 in their final group game.

Second spell in club football

His most recent vocation was at

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, ...

where he was trainer until late-October 2005 and he has also been sports director of

. In December 2005, he moved back in Cyprus and headed the coaching team of

APOEL APOEL FC (; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") is a Cypriot professio ...

. He led the team into the third place of the Cypriot Championship, just two points from the top, and won the

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup, formally known as the Cypriot Coca-Cola Cup of First and Second Division () for sponsorship purposes, is a Cypriot knockout football club competition, hosted annually by the Cyprus Football Association. First held in 1934, it i ...

as well.

Directorial career

On 25 June 2015, "Polonia Warsaw Co." under the leadership of Jerzy Engel took over the senior team from the MKS Polonia Warsaw Academy, which helped to reinstate Polonia Warsaw back from nonexistence, to the bottom-half of the 4th tier (third league) of professional football in Poland. Under "Engel's Co." the club returned to the emblem from the Polish title winning season ( 1999–2000).

Honours

Manager

Polonia Warsaw *

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 ...

: 1999–2000 APOEL *

: 2005–06 Individual * Polish Coach of the Year: 2000, 2001

Personal life

He is the father of Jerzy Engel Jr.. In November 2017, he and his son achieved a notable betting record at the

Służewiec Służewiec is a neighbourhood, and an area of the City Information System, in the city of Warsaw, Poland, located within the district of Mokotów. Most of the neighbourhood consists of office buildings, which form one of the biggest complexes ...

horse racing track, where together they won 140,000 zł during the races, setting an all-time record for the venue.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Engel, Jerzy 1952 births Living people Sportspeople from Włocławek Footballers from Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Polish people of German descent Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Polish men's footballers Kujawiak Włocławek players Polonia Warsaw players Polish football managers Hutnik Warsaw managers Legia Warsaw non-playing staff Polonia Warsaw non-playing staff Polonia Warsaw managers Legia Warsaw managers Apollon Limassol FC managers APOP Paphos FC managers Nea Salamis Famagusta FC managers Aris Limassol FC managers Poland national football team managers Wisła Kraków managers APOEL FC managers 2002 FIFA World Cup managers Ekstraklasa managers I liga managers II liga managers Cypriot First Division managers Polish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Polish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Polish sports executives and administrators Polish football executives 20th-century Polish sportsmen