Polish sportspeople in exile: Henryk Kasperczak
Photo: Henryk Kasperczak /pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Henryk Kasperczak is undoubtedly the most famous Polish football coach. Yet although he has successfully coached teams from France, African countries, Mali and Greece, he has never had the opportunity to coach the Polish national team. It is a shame because his successes with clubs and other national teams made him the perfect candidate.
Henryk Kasperczak (born 1946) began his footballing adventure as a teenager with Stal Zabrze. He went on to play for Stal Mielec in the second league. He did his military service with Legia Warsaw in the second half of the 1960s, from where he returned to Mielec. He made his debut in Poland’s top flight for Stal in the 1969/1970 season. At the end of the 1970s, he moved to France, where he played for FC Metz.
Photo: Forum 0447074189
Kasperczak played as a midfielder. He was called up to the national team by Kazimierz Górski, the legendary coach who was the first to back a player from Zabrze. Previous coaches, including those of the junior and youth teams, had refused to give him a chance. During the memorable World Cup in West Germany, where Poland finished third, Kasperczak was one of the team’s brightest stars and one of the best midfielders in the tournament. His best game came in the 2-1 win over Italy, eliminating a team that had been regarded as the best in the world a year earlier. The midfielder was also part of the national team that won silver at the Montreal Olympics. Domestically, the result was seen as a failure, which indirectly led to the resignation of coach Górski.
Kasperczak began his coaching career in France, where he won acclaim for leading FC Metz to the French Cup and two other teams to promotion to the top flight.
His success as a coach on the African continent is also well known to fans. Since 1993, he has coached Côte d’Ivoire (third at the African Cup of Nations), Tunisia (second in the same competition), Morocco and Mali.
He returned to Poland at the start of the 21st century. His name was often mentioned among the candidates for the position of coach of the country’s first national team. However, Kasperczak was never appointed. His best chance came in the autumn of 2009 when the Polish Football Association (PZPN) had to decide who would lead the national team at Euro 2012, which Poland was co-hosting. The majority of public opinion was in favour of Franciszek Smuda, and it was the recently deceased coach who was eventually given the honourable position.
He started his career in Poland in Kraków. His first club was Wisła, which finished in the top three for a dozen years (with the exception of the completely unsuccessful 2006/2007 season, when Zagłębie won the league) and was by far the best in many seasons. Under Kasperczak, Wisła won the championship and the Polish Cup in 2002/2003 and reached the last eight of the UEFA Cup. During this phase, they played a memorable two-legged tie against S.S. Lazio (3-3, 2-1). In the following league season, Wisła defended their national championship. Unable to reach an agreement with the board, Kasperczak left the club in 2005, but his period of dominance continued for a long time. By 2011, Wisła players had won the Polish championship on eight occasions, but not once during this period (popularly known as the ‘Cupiał era’ (after Bogusław Cupiał, Wisła’s owner from 1998 to 2016, who significantly financed and developed the club, leading it to its greatest successes in history) did the Kraków players manage to advance to the elite Champions League.
Kasperczak, meanwhile, returned to African football for a time. He was initially tipped to take charge of Egypt, but failed to reach an agreement with the country’s football federation and instead took charge of Senegal, with whom he reached the African Cup of Nations.
He returned to the country in 2008. He took over at Górnik, but it was an extremely unsuccessful period in his coaching career as the club was relegated to the second division. Kasperczak then returned to Wisła and won the Polish vice-championship. He resigned after the club failed to qualify for the Europa League in the 2010/2011 season.
He then decided to go abroad again. He worked in Greece for a while and then, between 2014 and 2017, he coached the national team of Mali (with whom he reached the African Cup of Nations) and Tunisia. In 2019, in a poll organised to celebrate the anniversary of the Polish Football Association, he was selected in the XI of the Century as a right midfielder.
Henryk Kasperczak does not remember the last few months very well. In June 2023, he had a serious accident. While mowing the grass on his property in France, a 30kg lawnmower crushed him. He was taken to hospital, where it was discovered that he had broken a bone in his left thigh. A long period of rehabilitation was required, but fortunately, the results were satisfactory. The well-known coach is now feeling much better, although he has not yet regained his full fitness.
Krzysztof Szujecki
Polish sports historian, specializing in the history of the contemporary sports movement. Author of books, m.in. the several-volume “History of Sport in Poland”, “Encyclopedia of Olympic Games” or “Sports Life in the People’s Republic of Poland”
