# Waldemar Fornalik

Waldemar Fornalik (born 11 April 1963) is a Polish professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Ekstraklasa club Zagłębie Lubin. He spent his entire playing career with Ruch Chorzów. From July 2012 to October 2013, he managed the Poland national team.

## Playing career

Fornalik won the 1988–89 Ekstraklasa with Ruch Chorzów.

## Managerial career

Following the end of his playing career, Fornalik began a managing career. He was manager in Górnik Zabrze and Odra Wodzisław. He won the bronze medal (3rd place) with Ruch Chorzów in the 2009–10 Ekstraklasa season. In the 2011–12 season he led Ruch Chorzow to second place, the highest placement since winning the title in 1989.
In July 2012, Fornalik became the coach of the Poland national football team after the dismissal of Franciszek Smuda. On 16 October 2013, after a 0–1 loss to Ukraine in Kharkiv, which confirmed that Poland would not be going to the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil, and a 0–2 loss to England at Wembley Stadium the previous night, PZPN sacked Fornalik due to not fulfilling his contract objectives.
On 19 September 2017, he became the manager of Piast Gliwice. Under Fornalik's rule, Piast turned into overachievers, consistently competing for spots in the upper half of the table, which resulted in winning the championship at the end of the 2018–19 season, finishing third two years later and two short-lived European campaigns. On 25 October 2022, following a poor start to the 2022–23 campaign, Fornalik left Piast and was replaced by Aleksandar Vuković two days later.
On 29 November 2022, Fornalik was announced as the new head coach of Zagłębie Lubin, agreeing to a contract until the end of the 2023–24 season. He extended his deal for a further year on 26 June 2024. On 22 September 2024, Zagłębie suffered a 1–5 away loss to Raków Częstochowa, leaving the club in relegation zone with eight points after nine rounds of the 2024–25 season. The following day, Fornalik was sacked by Zagłębie's board.

### Managerial statistics

    As of 23 September 2024.
Managerial record by team and tenure :
| Team | From | To | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Team | From | To | G | W | D | L | Win % |
| Górnik Zabrze | 2001 | 2004 | 84 | 29 | 29 | 26 | 034.52 |
| Odra Wodzisław | 2005 | 2006 | 41 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 034.15 |
| Polonia Warszawa | 2006 | 2007 | 39 | 24 | 7 | 8 | 061.54 |
| Widzew Łódź | 2008 | 2009 | 20 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 055.00 |
| Ruch Chorzów | 2009 | 2012 | 118 | 55 | 27 | 36 | 046.61 |
| Poland | 2012 | 2013 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 044.44 |
| Ruch Chorzów | 2014 | 2017 | 97 | 34 | 17 | 46 | 035.05 |
| Piast Gliwice | 2017 | 2022 | 205 | 88 | 50 | 67 | 042.93 |
| Zagłębie Lubin | 2022 | 2024 | 62 | 24 | 14 | 24 | 038.71 |
| Career totals | Career totals | Career totals | 684 | 287 | 166 | 231 | 041.96 |

## Honours
### Player

Ruch Chorzów
* Ekstraklasa: 1988–89

### Manager

Piast Gliwice
* Ekstraklasa: 2018–19
Individual
* Polish Coach of the Year: 2009, 2012, 2019
* Ekstraklasa Coach of the Season: 2011–12, 2018–19
* Ekstraklasa Coach of the Month: April 2011, November 2011, March 2012, March 2017, July 2018, September 2018, March 2019, April 2019, May 2019, July 2023