Michał Probierz (born 24 September 1972) is a Polish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and former player who manages Poland U21. As a player, he played 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 ...

, spending most of his career with Górnik Zabrze. As a manager, he won both the Polish Cup and the

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 2021, the Polish Super Cup has been pl ...

twice, with Jagiellonia Białystok in 2010 and with

Cracovia Cracovia is the Latin name for the Polish city of Kraków (Cracow). It may refer to: * Cracovia SC, a football club in Australia * Cracovia (vodka) ''Cracovia'' is Polish brand of vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) ...

in 2020.

Managerial career

Early career and Jagiellonia Białystok

After brief stints at local club Polonia Bytom and also

Widzew Łódź RTS Widzew Łódź () is a Polish 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-white-reds). History ...

, Probierz was appointed manager of Ekstraklasa side Jagiellonia Białystok on 5 July 2008. He led Jagiellonia to the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the Polish Cup in the 2009–10 season, their second final appearance in their club history, beating Pogoń Szczecin 1–0 at the

Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium Zdzisław may refer to: People * Zdzisław (given name), a Slavic male given name Places * Zdzisław, Lubusz Voivodeship, a village in Poland * Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium Zdzisław may refer to: People * Zdzisław (given name), a Slavic ma ...

, hence winning their first major Polish trophy. By doing so, Jagiellonia Białystok also qualified for a European competition for the first time ever, entering the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round. At the start of the 2010–11 season, Probierz guided Jagiellonia Białystok to the

following a 1–0 victory over

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

. However, Jagiellonia's European adventure was short-lived as they were eliminated in the third qualifying round by Greek side

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki
...

, losing 4–3 on aggregate. At the end of the season, he left his managerial role on 22 July 2011.

ŁKS Łódź

On 5 September 2011, Probierz was appointed as the new manager of ŁKS Łódź. His reign at the club lasted just 60 days and six matches, and Probierz announced his departure on 4 November 2011 to join Aris Thessaloniki.

Aris Thessaloniki

Probierz took over as manager of

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki
...

during the 2011–12 season, taking over after Sakis Tsiolis. Probierz's time there was short and following a string of poor results, he left the club by mutual consent on 5 January 2012.

Wisła Kraków

On 1 March 2012, Probierz moved back to Poland, agreeing to become manager of defending champions

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. It currently competes in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system. It ...

, replacing Kazimierz Moskal. He resigned on 1 October 2012, with Wisła near the bottom of the table.

GKS Bełchatów

Probierz joined struggling GKS Bełchatów, who were bottom of the Ekstraklasa on 14 November 2012. He only managed four games for them, failing to win any of them as they were eventually relegated, having had three different managers throughout the season, before leaving on 21 December 2012.

Lechia Gdańsk

On 4 June 2013, Probierz agreed to manage

Lechia Gdańsk Lechia Gdańsk () is a Polish football club based in Gdańsk. The club was founded in 1945 by people expelled from Lwów, who were supporters of Poland's oldest football team Lechia Lwów, founded in 1903. The club's name comes from Lechia, a ...

ahead of the 2013–14 season. He stayed until 26 March 2014, where he left the team before they secured a place in the Championship round of games and ended the campaign in fourth place, narrowly missing out on a European spot.

Return to Jagiellonia Białystok

A couple of weeks later after leaving Lechia, Probierz returned to former club Jagiellonia Białystok on 7 April 2014. In his first full season back in charge, he secured a third position in the league table, hence qualifying for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round. After a poor 2015–16 season, with Jagiellonia ending up in the relegation round, Probierz led the club to their best ever Ekstraklasa season in the 2016–17 season, finishing second behind champions

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 record 15 Ekstraklasa champions titles, a ...

. He unexpectedly quit on 4 June 2017.

Cracovia

On 21 June 2017, it was announced that Probierz had signed with Ekstraklasa side

. He led them to a tenth place in the 2017–18 season but still in the relegation round, Cracovia comfortably topped the group, avoiding relegation to I liga. The next season saw Probierz lead Cracovia to a fourth place in the championship round, and with 3rd placed

having won the

2018–19 Polish Cup The 2018–19 Polish Cup was the sixty-fifth season of the annual Polish football knockout tournament. It began on 7 August 2018 with the first matches of the preliminary round and ended on 2 May 2019 with the final at PGE Narodowy. Winners of t ...

, meant they qualified for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round. Whilst there, Cracovia exited the competition on away goals after drawing 3–3 on aggregate with Slovak team DAC Dunajská Streda. In 2020 Probierz led Cracovia to win the

2019–20 Polish Cup The 2019–20 Polish Cup was the sixty-sixth season of the annual Polish football knockout tournament. It began on 7 August 2019 with the first matches of the preliminary round and ended with the final at Arena Lublin. The 2019–20 edition of the ...

, which led to Cracovia qualifying for European cups for the second consecutive season. On 9 November 2021, he relinquished his roles as manager and vice president, and left the club by mutual consent.

Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza

On 6 January 2022, Probierz joined another Ekstraklasa club

Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza Klub Sportowy Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza, is a professional Polish football club based in Nieciecza, Poland. The team was established in 1922. The club was founded after Wo ...

, which were at the time last in the league table. He left the club two days later.

Poland U21

On 4 July 2022, he was announced as the new manager of the Poland under-21 national team, taking over after

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

Honours

Manager

Jagiellonia Białystok * Polish Cup: 2009–10 *

: 2010 Cracovia * Polish Cup: 2019–20 *

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Individual *

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

: 2010 * Jagiellonia Białystok all-time best coach: 2010

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Probierz, Michal 1972 births Living people Sportspeople from Bytom Polish footballers Ruch Chorzów players KFC Uerdingen 05 players SG Wattenscheid 09 players Górnik Zabrze players Pogoń Szczecin players Widzew Łódź players Ekstraklasa players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Polish football managers Polish expatriate football managers Polonia Bytom managers Widzew Łódź managers Jagiellonia Białystok managers ŁKS Łódź managers Aris Thessaloniki F.C. managers Wisła Kraków managers GKS Bełchatów managers Lechia Gdańsk managers MKS Cracovia managers Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza managers Men's association football midfielders