 Frankowski in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1974-08-16)16 August 1974 (age 51) | ||
| Place of birth | Białystok, Poland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1991–1993 | Jagiellonia Białystok | 12 | (1) |
| 1993–1996 | Strasbourg | 21 | (2) |
| 1996 | Nagoya Grampus Eight | 0[1] | (0) |
| 1996–1997 | Poitiers | 32 | (22) |
| 1997–1998 | Martigues | 19 | (5) |
| 1998–2005 | Wisła Kraków | 173 | (115) |
| 2005–2006 | Elche | 14 | (8) |
| 2006–2007 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 16 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | →Tenerife (loan) | 19 | (3) |
| 2008 | Chicago Fire | 17 | (2) |
| 2009–2013 | Jagiellonia Białystok | 120 | (52) |
| Total | 450 | (211) | |
| International career | |||
| 1999–2006 | Poland | 22 | (10) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Tomasz Frankowski (Polish pronunciation:[ˈtɔmaʂfraŋˈkɔfskʲi]; born 16 August 1974) is a Polish former professionalfootballer who played as astriker. With 168 goals in 302 matches in PolishEkstraklasa he is the league's third all-time scorer and was top league goalscorer four times.
Frankowski achieved his greatest success atWisła Kraków of Poland, where he helped fire them to a collection of domestic honours. He also played in France, Japan, Spain, England, and the United States.
He wascapped 22 times for thePoland national team, scoring ten goals. After his retirement, he was elected to theEuropean Parliament for theCivic Platform in2019.
As a native ofBiałystok, Frankowski began his career with his home town teamJagiellonia Białystok in 1991, before heading for France to play forRC Strasbourg (1993–1996), followed by a brief stint atNagoya Grampus Eight of Japan (1996). He then returned to France to play forCFP Poitiers (1996–1997) andFC Martigues (1997–1998), before returning to his home country to play forWisła Kraków.
His time at Wisła brought him his greatest successes, he helped the club win five Polish Championship titles (in 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005), twoPolish Cups (in 2002 and 2003), and aPolish Super Cup in 2001. He was also the league's top scorer three times: with Wisla in 1999, 2001, and 2005 and with Jagiellonia in 2011.
In August 2005, SpanishSegunda División clubElche CF signed Frankowski. NeighboursLevante UD complained that they had secured him, and that Elche should pay them a €6 million release clause.[2] He made his debut on 11 September as a 71st-minute substitute in a 1–0 loss at precisely that team.[3] A week later, in his first home game, he opened the scoring in a 2–0 win overPolideportivo Ejido.[4] He totalled eight goals in 14 games during his time at theEstadio Manuel Martínez Valero, including ahat-trick on 8 December in a 4–1 win overNumancia.[5]
On 25 January 2006, Frankowski signed a 21⁄2-year deal atWolverhampton Wanderers, four points off the play-off places in England'sFootball League Championship. He signed for £1.4 million fee after being tracked by managerGlenn Hoddle, and Elche president Ramón Suárez resigned after losing the striker.[6]
In August 2006, having not scored for Wolves, Frankowski was loaned back to Spain's second tier atTenerife for the 2006–07 season.[7] He scored three times in 18 games, including the opener on his home debut on 17 September in a 3–2 win overHércules.[8]
Upon returning toMolineux for training, he was challenged by managerMick McCarthy to 'earn his transfer' to another club after no offers arrived for the striker with a year still remaining on his contract.[9] However, he suffered a knee injury in pre-season training and was unable to attempt any action. By mutual consent, the club terminated his contract on 31 August 2007.[10]
After a period of inactivity, Frankowski headed to join up with theChicago Fire, finally signing a deal on 19 February 2008. He scored his first – and only – two goals for the club on 3 April during their home opener against theNew England Revolution. However, as the season continued, his playing time greatly diminished, and he was regularly not even listed in the team's bench lineup. A possible cause of this was his critique of Fire Head CoachDenis Hamlett and his coaching style. On 26 November, Frankowski was released to help free up their salary cap after being one of the highest paid players on the team in the 2008 season.[11]
On 23 December 2008, Jagiellonia Białystok announced that Frankowski would rejoin his hometown team on a two-year contract. On 28 March 2010, he scored two goals in the 2–0 win overArka Gdynia, surpassingFriedrich Scherfke and becoming Ekstraklasa's 9th all-time top scorer with 132 goals, the most for any active player.
On 1 August 2010, Frankowski won his second Polish Super Cup with Jagiellonia, scoring the only goal of a win againstLech Poznań. In the 2010–11 season, he was the top scorer for the fourth in his career by scoring 14 goals. On 30 March 2013, he scored his 167th goal in top Polish tier, following up with his 168th goal on 6 April in his 295th game, thereby becoming Ekstraklasa's third all-time scorer, exceeding 167 goals mark set in 1950s byGerard Cieślik. He retired after the 2012–13 season.
Frankowski scored ten goals in 22 appearances for thePoland national team.[12] He made his senior international debut on 28 April 1999 in a 2–1 win over theCzech Republic and netted his first international goal the following year, againstIceland.
He was Poland's top scorer in their qualifying campaign for the2006 World Cup in Germany, but his poor form for Wolves in 2006 meant that he was omitted from the tournament squad. He called managerPaweł Janas a backstabber and criticised his indirectness, as he andJerzy Dudek had learned of their omissions from journalists and not the manager.[13] He returned to the international fold after this, under new coachLeo Beenhakker, but won only two further caps.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 15 November 2000 | Polish Army Stadium,Warsaw,Poland |  Iceland | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 2. | 9 October 2004 | Ernst-Happel-Stadion,Vienna,Austria |  Austria | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3. | 13 October 2004 | Millennium Stadium,Cardiff,Wales |  Wales | 1–1 | 3–2 | |
| 4. | 26 March 2005 | Polish Army Stadium, Warsaw, Poland |  Azerbaijan | 1–0 | 8–0 | |
| 5. | 4–0 | |||||
| 6. | 5–0 | |||||
| 7. | 4 June 2005 | Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium,Baku,Azerbaijan | Azerbaijan | 1–0 | 3–0 | |
| 8. | 12 October 2005 | Old Trafford,Manchester,England |  England | 1–1 | 1–1 | |
| 9. | 15 August 2005 | Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium,Kyiv,Ukraine |  Serbia and Montenegro | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2005 Valeriy Lobanovskyi Memorial Tournament |
| 10. | 3–1 |
Strasbourg
Wisła Kraków
Jagiellonia Białystok
Individual
Frankowski is a member ofCivic Platform led byDonald Tusk. InEuropean Parliament election in 2019 he was elected from the first place inPodlaskie and Warmian-Masurian constituency.[18] In 2021, he voiced his opposition to the plannedEuropean Super League and to holding the World Cup every two years.[19]
  Currentmembers of the European Parliament fromPoland (2019–2024) | |
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