Tomasz Kuszczak

Tomasz Mirosław Kuszczak (born 20 March 1982) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

He is the current goalkeeping coach of the Poland national team.

He joined German club Hertha BSC in 2000, spending a year with their reserve team before being promoted to the first team in 2001.

He subsequently spent three seasons as the third-choice goalkeeper at the club, behind Gábor Király and Christian Fiedler, and failed to make a single appearance in the Bundesliga.

Born in Krosno Odrzańskie, Kuszczak previously played for Śląsk Wrocław in Poland, as well as for the German clubs KFC Uerdingen 05 and Hertha BSC, before moving in 2004 to England with West Bromwich Albion.

He was out of contract with Hertha when he was signed by West Bromwich Albion manager Gary Megson on 14 July 2004.

He made his debut for West Brom on 18 September 2004 in a Premier League match against Fulham at The Hawthorns, which ended in a 1–1 draw.

He then played in a League Cup match against Colchester United on 21 September 2004, Albion losing 2–1.

Kuszczak had only kept goal in one match in the Premier League before West Brom's game against Manchester United on the penultimate match day of the 2004–05 season, with the Baggies facing a tough relegation battle.

He put in a striking performance, having to step in front of the goal after the first choice keeper Russell Hoult was injured in the first half.

West Bromwich drew the match 1–1, with Kuszczak remaining unbeaten during his 68 minutes on the pitch.

This performance helped Kuszczak earn his first man of the match award in the Premier League.

The following week, in the season's last match against Portsmouth, Kuszczak had another impressive game, enabling West Bromwich to win 2–0, and hence stay up in the league.

In 2005–06, Kuszczak was supposed to be the reserve keeper behind Chris Kirkland.

With Kirkland injured, Kuszczak kept goal in his first Premier League match of the season on 30 October 2005, but could not prevent Newcastle United from winning 3–0.

His performances then improved, allowing him to become the first-choice keeper.

This continued despite Kirkland's return from injury.

During the summer of 2006 he transferred to Manchester United, where as backup goalkeeper to Edwin van der Sar he won three Premier League titles, two Football League Cups, three FA Community Shields, the FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Champions League.

He was a member of the nation's squad at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Kuszczak was born in Krosno Odrzańskie, Poland.

On 15 January 2006, Kuszczak had an impressive game against Wigan Athletic, making a match-winning save late on from Jason Roberts, with West Bromwich winning the game 1–0.

The save was voted "Save of the Season" by viewers of BBC TV's Match of the Day programme.

Nonetheless, his club were relegated at the end of the season.

On 7 July 2006, it was confirmed by West Bromwich Albion manager Bryan Robson that Manchester United had made a bid of around £2 million for Kuszczak.

On 3 August, West Brom rejected a £2.5 million bid for Kuszczak from United, citing that a one-year loan spell for United starlet Giuseppe Rossi would also have to be included along with the cash to result in a deal.

On 10 August 2006, Kuszczak joined Manchester United in a deal involving the transfers of England Under-18 goalkeeper Luke Steele and defender Paul McShane to West Brom.

When officially announcing the move, United failed to state the terms of the deal, leading to suggestions that it was a merely a loan deal.

Kuszczak made his debut against Arsenal on 17 September 2006, he conceded an early penalty but did redeem himself by saving the ensuing spot-kick from Gilberto Silva.

Despite saving the penalty, Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor scored a late goal which gave them a 1–0 win at Old Trafford, which was the club's first defeat of the season.

His first start came in a 2–1 away win over Crewe Alexandra in the League Cup on 25 October.

He had his name misspelled on the back of his shirt during this game, with it incorrectly reading "Zuszczak".

Although Kuszczak did not play enough Premier League games in the 2006–07 season, he received a winners medal by special application to the Premier League.

Chief executive David Gill clarified the situation, stating, "Tomasz will be a Manchester United player for the next four years, he has come to us on loan for the first year, and then will join us permanently in July 2007."

On 2 July 2007, Manchester United announced that the permanent transfer had been completed, for a fee of £2.125 million.

Due to Dutch keeper Edwin van der Sar's continued good form and Ben Foster's knee injury, Kuszczak was named Manchester United's number 2 for the 2007–08 season.

During an interview in May 2007 Kuszczak stated that he wanted one day to become the number 1 at Manchester United.

On 8 March 2008, in an FA Cup tie against Portsmouth, Kuszczak replaced the injured Van der Sar at half-time, only to receive a straight red card for a foul on Milan Baroš 30 minutes later.

In 2012 Kuszczak joined Brighton & Hove Albion, who released him at the end of the 2013–14 season.

After spending the latter part of the 2014–15 season with Wolverhampton Wanderers, he signed for Birmingham City in July 2015, playing for the club until his retirement in 2019.

Kuszczak made 14 appearances for the Poland under-21 side and was capped 11 times at senior level.