Rafał Grzelak (; born 24 June 1982) is a Polish former 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 lea ...

who played as a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Career

Born in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

, Grzelak made his

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 ...

debut on 22 May 1999 for

ŁKS Łódź ŁKS Łódź (''Łódzki Klub Sportowy Łódź''; ) is a Polish sports club based in Łódź. They are best known for their football club but are represented in many sports such as basketball, volleyball, boxing, and in the past ice hockey, ...

against

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, ...

. He spent the 2006–07 season on loan at Boavista from Pogon Szczecin. In June 2007, he signed a three-year deal with the Portuguese club. He transferred to Greek side

Skoda Xanthi Xanthi Football Club () is a Greek Association football, football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace. They play their home matches at Skoda Xanthi Arena Founded in 1967, Xanthi is well set up in terms of their financial support and youth set ...

in January 2008. On 30 June 2009, it was reported that Steaua București have signed the Polish midfielder from

. On 23 July 2009, he scored his first goal for Steaua București in a

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 ...

match against

Újpest FC Újpest Football Club () is a Hungary, Hungarian professional association football, football club based in Újpest, Budapest, that competes in Nemzeti Bajnokság I. Formed in 1885, Újpest reached the first division of the Hungarian League in ...

; he scored the second goal in the 2–1 victory. On 2 August 2009, Grzelak played his first

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

match in Steaua's shirt against Ceahlăul Piatra Neamţ, Steaua won away with 2–0. In January 2010, Grzelak was demoted to the B squad. In August 2011, he joined

Ruch Chorzów Ruch Chorzów () is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. It is one of the most successful football teams in Poland, having won fourteen List of Polish football champions, Polish Championship ...

on a one-year contract. Grzela joined KP Starogard Gdański in July 2018.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Lech Poznań *

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 ...

: 2003–04 *

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 ...

: 2004 Poland U18 *

UEFA European Under-18 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-19, is an annual football competition, contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain is the most successful team in this competit ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Poland U16 *

UEFA European Under-16 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

runner-up:

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

References

External links

Rafał Grzelak's profile at SteauaFC.com
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grzelak, Rafal 1982 births Living people Footballers from Łódź Men's association football midfielders Polish men's footballers Poland men's youth international footballers Poland men's international footballers MSV Duisburg players Widzew Łódź players ŁKS Łódź players Arka Gdynia players Ruch Chorzów players Flota Świnoujście players Chojniczanka Chojnice players Boavista F.C. players Xanthi F.C. players FCSB players FCSB II players Polish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Polish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Polish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Polish expatriate sportspeople in Romania Polish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Primeira Liga players Liga I players Super League Greece players Ekstraklasa players I liga players III liga players 2. Bundesliga players 21st-century Polish sportsmen