Ryszard Kulesza (born September 28, 1931 in Warsaw, died May 19, 2008 in Warsaw) was a Polish footballer, coach and official, one of managers of the Poland national football team. His father was killed during Warsaw Uprising, and Kulesza himself, who was 13, was very lucky to survive, as a German soldier threw him under a passing tank. After the uprising, he was forcibly taken to Germany as OST-Arbeiter, but escaped and returned to Poland on foot.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position(s) | Striker, Manager | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Okęcie Warszawa | |||
| Polonia Warszawa | |||
| Polonia Bydgoszcz | |||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1972–1974 | Lechia Gdańsk | ||
| 1978–1980 | Poland | ||
| 1981–1983 | Tunisia | ||
| 1986–1987 | Club Sportif Sfaxien | ||
| 1987–1988 | Club Athlétique Bizertin[1] | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
After the war, Kulesza played in such teams, as Okęcie Warszawa, Polonia Warszawa, and Polonia Bydgoszcz. He ended footballers' career in 1961, and began working as a coach. In 1972-1974, Kulesza coached Lechia Gdańsk, and since 1974, he worked with several national teams of Poland, such as U-21 (1974-1975), and U-23 (1975-1978). In 1976, Kulesza co-worked with Kazimierz Górski, and later with Jacek Gmoch (1976-1977 and 1978). In October 1978, after Gmoch's resignation, he took the post of general manager of Polish national team, but was dismissed in December 1980, as a result of the Okęcie Airport Incident, and replaced with Antoni Piechniczek.
In the 1980s, Kulesza worked in Tunisia and Morocco, returning to Poland in late 1980s. He became an activist of the Polish Football Federation (PZPN), founding the school of football coaches, which was popularly called kuleszówka. He actively fought corruption, and in 1993, he supported stripping Legia Warszawa of its championship title, after Warsaw's team routed Wisła Kraków 6-0 in Kraków, in a scandalous game. Kulesza died in a hospital, suffering from Alzheimer disease. He was buried on May 29, 2008, at Warsaw's Czerniaków Cemetery.