Piotr Nowak
Personal information
Full name	Piotr Nowak
Date of birth	July 5, 1964 (1964-07-05) (age 45)
Place of birth	Pabianice, Poland
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Philadelphia Union (Manager as of 2010)
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1979–1983 1983–1984 1984–1985 1985–1986 1987–1990 1990–1992 1992–1993 1993–1994 1994–1998 1998–2002	Włókniarz Pabianice GKS Bełchatów Zawisza Bydgoszcz Widzew Łódź Zawisza Bydgoszcz Bakırköyspor BSC Young Boys 1.FC Dynamo Dresden 1860 Munich Chicago Fire	010 0(2) 030 0(9) 054 (16) 042 0(4) 023 0(2) 093 (15) 114 (26)
National team
	Poland	024 0(3)
Teams managed
2004–2006 2007–2009 2007–2009 2010–	DC United United States U-23 United States (assistant) Philadelphia Union
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Piotr (Peter) Nowak (born July 5, 1964 in Pabianice) is a retired Polish football player, and current Team Manager of Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer. He is a former assistant coach of the United States men's national soccer team under Bob Bradley, and former head coach of United States U-23 men's national soccer team.

[edit] Club career

Nowak began playing professional football at the age of 15, when he debuted in 1979 for Włókniarz Pabianice in his native Poland, with whom he played his first four years. Nowak would go on to play for Zawisza Bydgoszcz, Motor Lublin, and Widzew Łódź before leaving Poland for Bakırköyspor of the Turkish first division in 1990. Nowak then played for Young Boys Berne of Switzerland and Dynamo Dresden before moving to the Bundesliga in 1994 by signing with FC Kaiserslautern. After that, Nowak moved to 1860 Munich, where he would play until 1998, and with whom he was voted the best playmaker of the Bundesliga for the 1995-96 season, as well as Polish player of the year in 1996.

In 1998, Nowak moved to the United States to play in Major League Soccer for the Chicago Fire. In their inaugural season, Nowak led the Fire to a victory in the MLS Cup, and was soon recognized as one of the best players in the league. He also led the Fire to two US Open Cup victories, playing 114 league games for the team, registering 26 goals and 48 assists. Nowak played with the Fire until 2002, when, due to salary cap constraints, he was traded to the New England Revolution, which immediately spurred his retirement.

[edit] International career

Nowak was also an important player for the Polish national team, which he captained for three years, and for whom he played 24 games and scored three goals.

[edit] Coaching career

[edit] D.C. United

After a year off, Nowak was appointed as head coach of D.C. United starting in the 2004 season. He quickly pulled the team together and led D.C. to their fourth MLS Cup.

[edit] United States

On December 20, 2006, the Washington Post reported that Nowak would be leaving United to act as assistant to Bob Bradley with the United States Men's national team, and the Under-23 Men's national team,^[1] which competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

[edit] Philadelphia Union

On May 28, 2009, Nowak resigned from his position with the United States Men's National Team.^[2] Subsequently, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Nowak would be the first head coach of the MLS' Philadelphia Union when it begins play in 2010.^[3]

On Friday, May 29, 2009 Nowak was introduced to the media as the first Team Manager of the Philadelphia Union.

[edit] Honors

In 2003, Nowak was named the first member of the Ring of Fire, the highest honor the Chicago Fire bestows, and his name and number 10 are displayed high at midfield at their stadium, Toyota Park. In 2005, Nowak was named to the MLS All-Time Best XI.

For his contribution to promotion of Poland abroad and achievements as a coach, he received the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland in 2005.^[4]

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Manager

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	L	D	Win %
D.C. United		2004	2006	94	42	27	25	44.68
United States U-23		2007	2009
Philadelphia Union		2010	Present
Total				94	42	27	25	44.68

Updated on 29 May 2009.

[edit] References

1. ^ Nowak to Leave D.C. for U.S. Team - washingtonpost.com
2. ^ Nowak Resigns from Men's National Team Staff
3. ^ Nowak hired as first head coach of Philadelphia Union - The Philadelphia Inquirer
4. ^ washingtonpost.com

[edit] External links

• Profile at TFF.org

v • d • e United States squad – 2008 Summer Olympics 1 Seitz • 2 Wynne • 3 Orozco • 4 Bradley • 5 McCarty • 6 Edu • 7 Holden • 8 Szetela • 9 Davies • 10 Feilhaber • 11 Adu • 12 Altidore • 13 Ianni • 14 Rogers • 15 Parkhurst • 16 Kljestan • 17 McBride • 18 Guzan • Coach: Nowak