Bartosz Białkowski

Bartosz Białkowski
Personal information
Full name Bartosz Marek Białkowski[1]
Date of birth (1987-07-06) 6 July 1987
Place of birth Braniewo, Poland
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 12 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
Ipswich Town
Number 33
Youth career
2002 Olimpia Elbląg
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2003 Olimpia Elbląg
2003–2006 Górnik Zabrze 7 (0)
2006–2012 Southampton 22 (0)
2009Ipswich Town (loan) 0 (0)
2009Barnsley (loan) 2 (0)
2012–2014 Notts County 84 (0)
2014– Ipswich Town 37 (0)
National team
2005–2007 Poland U20 6 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 3 February 2016.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 8 January 2014

Bartosz Marek Białkowski (Polish pronunciation: [ˈbartɔʂ bʲawˈkɔfski]; born 6 July 1987 in Braniewo, Poland), is a Polish footballer who currently plays as goalkeeper for Ipswich Town.

Career

Early career

Białkowski made his Polish league debut on 30 October 2004 for Olimpia Elbląg.

Southampton

On 9 January 2006, Białkowski signed for Southampton. His debut game was against Crystal Palace on 25 January 2006, which resulted in a 0–0 draw. He also appeared for the first time in the FA Cup, in the 1–0 win against Leicester City on 28 January 2006.

Białkowski was injured for the end of the 2005–06 season and for the early part of the 2006–07 season, having fallen awkwardly trying to collect the ball in a 5th round FA Cup tie against Newcastle on 18 February 2006. George Burley could not substitute him as the manager had used three substitutes already. Dexter Blackstock replaced Białkowski and prevented Albert Luque from scoring his first Newcastle goal.

After waiting for his chance after returning to fitness, Białkowski returned to Southampton's starting line-up against Colchester United on 16 March 2007 as a result of a three-match suspension for Kelvin Davis. He retained his place after Davis became available again by turning in some strong performances.

Białkowski was replaced by Davis at the beginning of the 2007–08 season when Southampton lost 4–1 to Crystal Palace in the Championship and 2–1 to Peterborough United in the League Cup.

On 17 March 2009 Białkowski joined Ipswich on loan until the end of the season.[2][3][4] In his first appearance for Ipswich reserves, Bialkowski was red-carded for handling the ball outside the area.[5] He didn't make an appearance for the Tractor Boys and returned to Southampton at the end of the season.

On 28 September 2009 Białkowski joined Championship strugglers Barnsley on a week-long emergency loan.[6] He played in two Championship matches, then returned to Southampton in League One. On 24 November he made his first league appearance for Southampton in over two years, replacing the injured Kelvin Davis in the 61st minute of the match against Hartlepool. He started the following six matches until Davis recovered from his injury. With Bialkowski's contract set to expire in June, Southampton offered him an extension in May 2010.[7]

In June 2010, Białkowski was reported to have signed for Portuguese side S.C. Braga[8] but on 25 June he denied this, saying "I will be back at Southampton for the start of the season and I am hoping to stay with them."[9] On 5 August, Bialkowski signed a two-year contract extension with Southampton, with the option to extend it another two years.[10]

Białkowski made his only league appearance of the 2011–12 season in a 2–2 draw with Blackpool. He was released at the end of the season after the club decided to release eleven players. Before his release, Bialkowski was Southampton's longest serving player in the current squad.[11][12]

Notts County

On 15 June 2012 Białkowski signed for Notts County on a three-year contract, where he was named as Notts County's first-choice keeper.[13][14] He made his Notts County début on 11 August 2012 in a League Cup tie at home to Bradford City.[15] He kept his first clean sheet for the club in a 2–0 win over Hartlepool. Bialkowski was praised by Notts County manager Keith Curle after he made an impressive start to the season, Curle described his performance against Sheffield United as "exceptional" and he believed Bialkowski to be "one of the best goalkeepers in the division".[16]

Białkowski kept his fifth clean sheet of the season in a 4–0 victory over Carlisle.[17] His 10th clean sheet of the season came against Oldham, as Notts beat them 1–0. In his next game against Leyton Orient Bialkowski was involved in a collision with Charlie MacDonald, he was carried off the field and taken to hospital where he was treated for concussion and a deep cut to the forehead.[18] Bailkowski made his return to action in a 1–1 draw with Walsall. Bialkowski was praised by the Notts County management team in their 0–0 draw with Swindon as he made a number of vital saves. “I spoke with Pilks after the game and he said that it was the best game I’ve had for Notts County so I’m really pleased. I felt unbeatable, especially in the second half where I made a few saves and I just kept saying 'try and beat me', because I was so confident.”[19] In his first season for the club Bartosz played 40 league games and kept 14 clean sheets.

Ipswich Town

On 15 July 2014, Białkowski signed a two-year deal with Ipswich Town.[20] He marked his Town League debut with a clean sheet in a 2–0 win at Blackpool on 1 November 2014. He kept his place for the majority of the season as Town reached the League Play-Offs, but was left out of the team for compassionate reasons following the death of his father in August 2015. Fellow goalkeeper Dean Gerken's form kept him out of the team until he was injured in early 2016 and Bialkowski returned with a string of impressive performaces which saw him win consecutive player of the month awards and then the Supporters' Player of the Year for 2015–16.[21]

Honours

Club

Southampton

Individual

References

  1. "List of Players – 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  2. "Bialkowski in Ipswich switch". Sky Sports. 18 March 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
  3. "Bartosz on loan to Ipswich". Southern Daily Echo. 18 March 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  4. "Trading keepers". Ipswich Town F.C. 18 March 2009. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
  5. "Bialkowski Off as Reserves Lose at Luton". Archived from the original on 9 April 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
  6. "Białkowski to solve Keeper crisis". barnsleyfc.co.uk (Barnsley Football Club). 28 September 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
  7. "Southampton to release 13 players". BBC. 15 May 2010. Archived from the original on 18 May 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
  8. Queiros, Eugenio (24 June 2010). "Bialkowski está seguro para precaver as saídas". Record (newspaper). Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  9. Simpson, Gordon (25 June 2010). "Goalkeeper Bart wants to stay a Saint". Southern Daily Echo. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
  10. "Keeper signs". Southampton FC. 5 August 2010. Archived from the original on 6 August 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  11. "Four Join First Team, But Eleven Released". Southampton F.C. 19 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  12. "Southampton release Lee Holmes, David Connolly and Radhi Jaidi". BBC Sport. 19 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  13. "Notts Complete Bialkowski Signing". Notts County FC. 15 June 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  14. "Bartosz Bialkowski joins Notts County from Southampton". BBC Sport. 15 June 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  15. "Notts County 0-1 Bradford". BBC Sport. 2012-08-11. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  16. "Notts keeper 'the best in the division'". Nottingham Post. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  17. "Carlise 0 Notts County 4". BBC Sport. 13 October 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  18. "Teenage wonder Fabian Spiess – I hope I proved a point". Nottingham Post. 28 January 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  19. "No Sleep, Cramp and a Clean Sheet". Notts County F.C. 24 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  20. "Ipswich Town Sign 'Keeper Bialkowski". Ipswich Town FC. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  21. 1 2 "Białkowski Wins Player of the Year". twtd.co.uk (Those Were The Days). 9 April 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, May 04, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.