Jacek Ziober was one of the most exciting Polish footballers of the late 1980s and early 1990s, a quick, long-haired left winger from Łódź who became a hero at ŁKS Łódź, a cult figure at Montpellier and a 46-cap Poland international. He was named Polish Footballer of the Year by the weekly Piłka Nożna in 1990. He died early on the morning of 6 October 2026, aged 60, after a long and serious illness.
Ziober was born in Łódź on 18 November 1965. A PE teacher, Leszek Miazek, first gave him a love of sport, and the ŁKS youth coach Włodzimierz Tylak spotted him on a school pitch and brought him to the club. In 1983 he won the Polish junior championship with ŁKS in a side that also included Jarosław Bako and Juliusz Kruszankin. A year later he won bronze with Poland at the 1984 UEFA European Under-18 Championship in the Soviet Union under coach Mieczysław Broniszewski.
The demanding ŁKS coach Leszek Jezierski handed him a first-team debut in the top division when he was just 16. Ziober later called Jezierski a sporting father, although he also said the punishing training of those years caught up with his body later in life. He spent eight seasons with ŁKS from 1982 to 1990, played more than 200 league matches, scored 26 league goals and rose to become club captain, a fans' favourite on the wing at the stadium on aleja Unii.
He made his debut for Poland in 1988 in a 1-1 friendly against Northern Ireland in Belfast under Wojciech Łazarek. His first international goal came in a 1989 qualifier in Albania, a late winner he loved to retell because the legendary Kazimierz Górski, then president of the Polish football association, had teased him at half time about when he would finally score. In 1990 he scored a long solo goal in a 1-1 friendly against Belgium, a run he himself compared to Diego Maradona, and the performance settled his transfer abroad. He also scored and set up a goal for Roman Kosecki against the United States that year.
In the summer of 1990 Ziober joined Montpellier HSC in France, where he played for Henryk Kasperczak alongside the Colombian star Carlos Valderrama. On 19 September 1990 his volley beat PSV Eindhoven 1-0 in the European Cup Winners' Cup, making him the first player to score a European goal for Montpellier at La Mosson. Montpellier went on to reach the quarter-finals before losing to Alex Ferguson's Manchester United. Over his time in Montpellier he scored 22 goals in 110 matches, won the Coupe de la Ligue in 1991-92 and remained the club's top scorer in European competition. Midi Libre wrote that the La Mosson crowd would rise to applaud him every time he was substituted.
In 1993 he moved to CA Osasuna in Spain. In his first Primera División season he scored 10 goals in 31 matches, including a late goal against Johan Cruyff's Barcelona on 3 October 1993, but Osasuna were relegated in 1994 and he stayed with the club in the Segunda División until 1996. His international career ended in the autumn of 1993 after a qualifier against Turkey. He had played 46 times and scored eight goals for Poland between 1988 and 1993, but because Poland failed to reach a major tournament in that period, he never played at a World Cup or European Championship.
Back in Poland he played for Amica Wronki, then finished his career in Major League Soccer with the Tampa Bay Mutiny in 1998. Injuries brought an early end to his playing days. He moved into coaching and became closely linked with beach soccer, leading the Poland national beach soccer team from 2003 to 2007. He also coached lower-league clubs including Górnik Łęczyca, Laktoza Łyszkowice and KS Orzeł Kazimierz, as well as the Zgoda Chodecz beach team, and worked as a television pundit and commentator, including for Polsat Sport and Onet.
In later years Ziober spoke openly about his poor health, describing liver and oesophagus problems, dangerous spikes of ammonia in his blood and painful legs that limited his walking. He said his biggest regret was not being able to play football with his grandson. Jacek Bogusiak, the keeper of ŁKS traditions, announced his death to the Polish Press Agency on 6 October 2026, saying he had died that morning after being seriously ill. The City of Łódź wrote that he had lost his most important match after a long and difficult fight with illness. He would have turned 61 on 18 November 2026.
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