Hubert Kostka

Hubert Kostka

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Personal information
Full name	Hubert Jerzy Kostka
Date of birth	(1940-05-27) 27 May 1940
Place of birth	Ratibor, Nazi Germany
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1960–1973	Górnik Zabrze	221	(0)
International career
1962–1972	Poland	32	(0)
Managerial career
1976–1977	Górnik Zabrze
–	Szombierki Bytom
1983–1986	Górnik Zabrze
1988–1989	FC Aarau
1994	Górnik Zabrze
1994–1995	Wisła Płock
1995–1996	Lechia Gdańsk
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Hubert Jerzy Kostka (born 27 May 1940 in Ratibor) is a retired Polish (German descended) soccer goalkeeper, who represented both Górnik Zabrze, and the Polish National Team. Kostka participated in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, where Poland won gold medal. Kostka is not only a successful player, he also coached several teams and graduated as a mining engineer from the Silesian Polytechnic in Gliwice.

His career began in a small club of LZS Markowice, but soon he was purchased by Unia Racibórz, and in the fall of 1960 he moved - this time to Górnik Zabrze, a powerhouse of Polish soccer. There he spent 14 years, playing altogether in 301 games. With Górnik, he was 8 times champion of Poland as well as a runner-up of the Cup of Winners Cup (Vienna, 29 April 1970 vs. Manchester City).

Kostka also was the starter in the Polish National Team. In the 1972 Summer Olympics he won gold medal in the soccer tournament, but soon afterwards the aging goalie was replaced by another star, Jan Tomaszewski. Altogether, between 1962 and 1972 he played in 32 international matches, in 4 of them he was the captain.

After retiring from playing, he started coaching. Firstly he worked with Górnik's junior teams, in 1976 he took up the post of coach of Górnik's first team. Later, he worked with Szombierki Bytom, winning in 1980 Championships of Poland. In mid-1980s Kostka returned to Zabrze, winning Championships of Poland twice (1985, 1986). Also, in the 1970s he helped Kazimierz Górski, Jacek Gmoch and Antoni Piechniczek with World Cup preparations of the national team.