Jan Urban

This article is about the Polish football manager. For the Czech journalist and politician, see Jan Urban (journalist).

Jan Urban (Polish pronunciation: [ˈjan ˈurban]; born 14 May 1962) is a Polish professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is currently the manager of the Poland national team.

Jan Urban

Urban in 2025 as manager of Poland
Personal information
Date of birth	(1962-05-14) 14 May 1962 (age 63)
Place of birth	Jaworzno, Poland
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Poland (manager)
Youth career
1980–1981	Victoria Jaworzno
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1981–1985	Zagłębie Sosnowiec	113	(23)
1985–1989	Górnik Zabrze	124	(54)
1989–1994	Osasuna	156	(45)
1994–1995	Valladolid	21	(3)
1995–1996	Toledo	33	(6)
1996–1997	Oldenburg	19	(3)
1997–1998	Górnik Zabrze	11	(1)
Total		489	(138)
International career
1985–1991	Poland	57	(7)
Managerial career
1999–2003	Osasuna (youth)
2003–2005	Osasuna B
2004–2005	Poli Ejido
2007–2010	Legia Warsaw
2008	Poland (assistant)
2010	Polonia Bytom
2011	Zagłębie Lubin
2012–2013	Legia Warsaw
2014–2015	Osasuna
2015–2016	Lech Poznań
2017–2018	Śląsk Wrocław
2021–2022	Górnik Zabrze
2023–2025	Górnik Zabrze
2025–	Poland
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

His professional career was closely associated with Górnik Zabrze and Osasuna, and he coached both clubs in later years.

Urban represented Poland at the 1986 World Cup.

Club career

Urban was born in Jaworzno, being one of six children in an underprivileged mining family.^[1] In his country he played for Zagłębie Sosnowiec and Górnik Zabrze, winning three Ekstraklasa championships in a row with the latter to which he contributed with a combined 38 goals, including a career-best 17 in 1987–88.

In the summer of 1989, Urban moved to Spain and joined CA Osasuna, going on to be one of the Navarre team's most important players of the following decade. He scored 13 goals in 34 games in his second season to help the club finish in a best-ever fourth position in La Liga, thus qualifying to the UEFA Cup;^[2] this included a hat-trick against Real Madrid on 30 December 1990, in a 4–0 away win.^[3]

Urban started the 1994–95 campaign with Osasuna in the second division, but returned to the top flight with Real Valladolid in the winter transfer window.^[4] He closed out his career at 36 after one-season stints with CD Toledo (also Spain, second level), VfB Oldenburg (Germany) and former side Górnik.

International career

Urban earned 57 caps for Poland over six years, netting seven goals in the process. He was selected to the 1986 FIFA World Cup squad, appearing in all four matches (three starts) as the national team reached the round of 16 in Mexico.^[5]

Managerial career

Beginnings in Spain

Urban settled in Pamplona after retiring, and begun his coaching career in the city, being in charge of Osasuna's youth academy and Poli Ejido. He then worked with the reserves of Osasuna in division three, moving to the offices after two seasons and leaving the club in June 2007.^[6]

Legia Warsaw and Poland's assistant coach

In the summer of 2007, Urban took over as head coach of Legia Warsaw, being responsible for signing three Osasuna players to the team, including Iñaki Astiz.^[7] During the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament, he served as an assistant for the Poland national team.^[8] On 14 March 2010, Urban was sacked by Legia.^[9]

Polonia Bytom, Zagłębie Lubin and return to Legia

Urban took charge of Polonia Bytom on 29 October 2010. He then signed with fellow league club Zagłębie Lubin on 10 March 2011. On 30 May 2012, he returned for a second spell with Legia,^[10] which lasted until 19 December of the following year.

Return to Osasuna

Urban returned to Osasuna after seven years, being appointed first-team manager on 3 July 2014 after their top-flight relegation.^[11] He was dismissed the following 28 February, with the side 16th after four consecutive losses.^[12]

Lech Poznań

Urban as manager of Lech Poznań in 2015

In October 2015, Urban returned to Poland's top tier, taking over Lech Poznań.^[13] He was the cup runner-up and Super Cup winner in 2016, but was sacked on 29 August that year.^[14]

Śląsk Wrocław

Urban was hired by Śląsk Wrocław on an 18-month deal on 5 January 2017.^[15] On 18 February 2018, he was shown the door after losing eight of the last 13 games, and was replaced by Tadeusz Pawłowski.^[16]

Górnik Zabrze

On 27 May 2021, it was announced that Urban would take over as manager of Ekstraklasa club Górnik Zabrze immediately, replacing Marcin Brosz for the 2021–22 season.^[17] On 14 June 2022, it was announced he would be leaving the club the following day.^[18]

Despite a tumultuous exit from Górnik, he was reinstated as manager on 18 March 2023.^[19] In spite of a limited budget and frequent sales of well-performing players, he guided the club to sixth and fifth-place finishes in the league, leading Urban to be linked with a return to Legia Warsaw and taking over the Poland national team.^[20][21] On 15 April 2025, with the club sitting in 7th after three consecutive losses, Urban was sacked by Górnik.^[22]

Poland national team

On 16 July 2025, Urban was appointed as manager of the Poland national team, succeeding Michał Probierz.^[23]

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Poland	1985	10	0
	1986	11	0
	1987	10	2
	1988	10	0
	1989	8	2
	1990	1	0
	1991	7	3
Total		57	7

Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Urban goal.

List of international goals scored by Jan Urban^[24][5]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	18 March 1987	Municipal Stadium, Rybnik, Poland	Finland	1–0	3–1	Friendly
2	24 March 1987	Olympic Stadium, Wrocław, Poland	Norway	3–1	4–1
3	7 February 1989	Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica	Costa Rica	4–2	2–4
4	12 April 1989	Polish Army Stadium, Warsaw, Poland	Romania	2–1	2–1
5	17 April 1991		Turkey	2–0	3–0	Euro 1992 qualifying
6	14 August 1991	Municipal Stadium, Poznań, Poland	France	1–0	1–5	Friendly
7	16 October 1991		Republic of Ireland	3–3	3–3	Euro 1992 qualifying

Managerial statistics

As of match played 11 April 2025

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nation	From	To	Record					Ref
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Osasuna B		1 July 2003	30 June 2005	76	22	27	27	028.95	[25]
Legia Warsaw		3 June 2007	14 March 2010	112	65	24	23	058.04	[26]
Polonia Bytom		29 October 2010	10 December 2010	5	2	1	2	040.00	[27]
Zagłębie Lubin		10 March 2011	30 October 2011	25	7	8	10	028.00	[28]
Legia Warsaw		30 May 2012	19 December 2013	80	46	16	18	057.50	[29]
Osasuna		3 July 2014	28 February 2015	27	8	6	13	029.63	[30]
Lech Poznań		12 October 2015	29 August 2016	44	21	8	15	047.73	[31]
Śląsk Wrocław		5 January 2017	19 February 2018	41	14	9	18	034.15	[32]
Górnik Zabrze		27 May 2021	14 June 2022	38	15	9	14	039.47	[33]
Górnik Zabrze		18 March 2023	15 April 2025	75	35	14	26	046.67
Poland		16 July 2025	Present	0	0	0	0	!—
Total				523	235	122	166	044.93	—

Honours

Player

Górnik Zabrze

• Ekstraklasa: 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88
• Polish Super Cup: 1988

Individual

• Ekstraklasa Hall of Fame: 2025^[34]

Manager

Legia Warsaw

• Ekstraklasa: 2012–13
• Polish Cup: 2007–08, 2012–13
• Polish Super Cup: 2008

Lech Poznań

• Polish Super Cup: 2016^[35]

Individual

• Polish Coach of the Year: 2013^[36]
• Ekstraklasa Coach of the Season: 2012–13^[37]
• Ekstraklasa Coach of the Month: November 2012,^[38] May 2023,^[39] March 2024,^[40] April 2024^[41]

See also

• List of foreign La Liga players