Piotr "Peter" Nowak (; born 5 July 1964) is a Polish professional football manager and former player. He was most recently in charge of Ekstraklasa club Jagiellonia Białystok.
Nowak played in Europe for Polish clubs such as Zawisza Bydgoszcz and Widzew Łódź, before going on to play in Turkey, Switzerland and Germany. He was voted one of the best players in the Bundesliga for the 1995–96 season while playing with 1860 Munich. He moved to the United States in 1998 and played four years with Chicago Fire. Nowak played for the Poland national football team throughout the 1990s, earning 24 caps, serving as national captain for several years, and being voted Polish Footballer of the Year in 1996.
As a coach, he is a former assistant coach of the United States men's national soccer team under Bob Bradley, former head coach of United States U-23 men's national soccer team, and former head coach of D.C. United and Philadelphia Union of MLS. However, his reputation in the USA took a big hit after he was accused of seriously mistreating and physically abusing players whilst being coach of the latter; an arbitration and a federal case that followed supported the charges in the accusations.
He had a brief stint whilst still a player in the United States as chairman of Górnik Konin, but was hugely unpopular and widely blamed for the club's demise. Over a decade later, he became technical and personal advisor to the president of Caribbean Football Union and technical director and head coach to the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association.
Club playing career
Nowak was born in Pabianice, a small town in Poland. He signed his first professional contract at the age of 15. He played in Polish First Division for Zawisza Bydgoszcz and Widzew Lodz.
After playing at Bakirkoyspor (Turkey) and Young Boys Bern (Switzerland), Nowak moved to Germany to join Bundesliga side Dynamo Dresden. In 1994, he signed with fellow Bundesliga teams, first with 1. FC Kaiserslautern and later TSV 1860 Munich, where he played until 1998. During the 1995–96 season, Nowak was voted the Bundesliga ’s Best Playmaker, as well as the Polish Player of the Year. In the following season he advanced with 1860 Munich to UEFA Cup.
In 1998, Nowak moved to the United States and joined the Chicago Fire for the team ’s inaugural MLS season. He led the Fire to a MLS Cup (1998) and two US Open Cups (1998, 2000). He was elected three times to MLS All Star Team, three times as Chicago Fire MVP and three times as MLS Best XI including 1998 MLS Cup MVP. Nowak patrolled the Fire midfield for 114 league games, registering 26 goals and 48 assists. He played with Chicago for five seasons and retired in 2003. He was inducted as a first member of “Ring of Fire” Chicago Fire's Hall of Fame in 2004.
International playing career
Nowak made his debut in the Poland national team in 1990, but it was not until the middle of the decade that he began to regularly appear in the team, briefly becoming captain later on. His last match for the national team was against England played on 31 May 1997 as part of the 1998 World Cup qualifiers. Overall he played in 19 matches and scored three goals.
Chairman career
Whilst still playing for clubs in the United States, he became chairman of Polish club Górnik Konin in 1999. Manager Jerzy Kasalik was sacked by Nowak for unexplained reasons, Sakiewicz when he fired Novak referred to “philosophical differences” between the Union ownership and Nowak.
Lechia Gdańsk
In 2016, he became the manager of Lechia Gdańsk in Poland.
Administrative and advisory career
In February 2014, he was hired as a technical and personal advisor to the president of the Caribbean Football Union, which contains 31 countries as a part of CONCACAF. In September 2014, his duties were grown to include technical director and head coach of Antigua and Barbuda Football Association, overseeing all National Team Programs including FIFA Grass Roots and Female Programs.
Career statistics
:Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nowak goal.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Piotr Nowak
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
|-
| align="center"|1 || 6 May 1990 || Comiskey Park, Chicago, United States || || || align="center"|2–0 || Friendly
|-
| align="center"|2 || 25 April 1995 || Górnik Zabrze Stadium, Zabrze, Poland || || || align="center"|4–3 || UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
|-
| align="center"|3 || 7 June 1995 || Górnik Zabrze Stadium, Zabrze, Poland || || || align="center"|5–0 || UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
|}
Managerial statistics
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Managerial record by team and tenure
|-
!rowspan="2"|Team
!rowspan="2"|From
!rowspan="2"|To
!colspan="5"|Record
|-
!G!!W!!L!!D!!Win %
|-
|align=left|D.C. United
|align=left|2004
|align=left|2006
||94||42||27||25||
|-
|align=left|United States U-23
|align=left|2007
|align=left|2009
||||||||||
|-
|align=left|Philadelphia Union
|align=left|2010
|align=left|2012
||75||21||30||24||
|-
!colspan="3"|Total
! 169 !! 63 !! 57 !! 49 !!
|}
Legacy
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 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.
Honours
Chicago Fire
- MLS Cup: 1998
- U.S. Open Cup: 1998, 2000
Individual
- Piłka Nożna Polish Footballer of the Year: 1996
- MLS Best XI: 1998, 2000, 2001
- MLS All-Time Best XI
- MLS All-Star: 1999, 2000
See also
- List of MLS coaches