Waldemar Fornalik (born 11 April 1963) is a Polish professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of I liga club Ruch Chorzów. A one-club man, he spent his entire playing career with Ruch. 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 in charge of Górnik Zabrze and Odra Wodzisław in the early 2000s. He won the bronze medal with Ruch Chorzów in the 2009–10 Ekstraklasa season. In the 2011–12 season, he led Ruch to second place, the highest placement since winning the title in 1989.
In July 2012, Fornalik became the coach of the Poland national 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.
On 6 August 2025, Fornalik returned to Ruch Chorzów for his third stint as manager.
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenureTeamFromToRecordGórnik Zabrze10 May 200131 October 2001Górnik Zabrze12 January 20024 April 2004Odra Wodzisław20 June 200528 August 2006Polonia Warsaw23 October 200629 October 2007Widzew Łódź2 June 20089 January 2009Ruch Chorzów27 April 200923 April 2012Poland10 July 201216 October 2013Ruch Chorzów7 October 201423 April 2017Piast Gliwice19 September 201727 October 2022Zagłębie Lubin29 November 202223 September 2024Ruch Chorzów6 August 2025PresentCareer total
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
See also List of one-club men in association football
References