Paweł Piotr Bochniewicz

Górnik Zabrze's Polish Cup win in 2025/26 was the club's first in more than 50 years, and Paweł Bochniewicz was part of it. The defender had come back to Zabrze after years abroad, and he had already spent two spells at the club before that.

His route started in Dębica. He played youth football at Wisłoka Dębica and Stal Mielec between 2010 and 2012, then moved to Italy and joined the Reggina academy in 2012. He signed a permanent contract there in 2013. A year later Udinese paid €1.2 million for him.

At Udinese he did not settle into the first team. He spent two seasons on loan at Granada B in Spain, from 2015 to 2017. In 2018 he went out on loan again, this time to Górnik Zabrze for the 2018–19 season. The club signed him permanently in 2019 for €0.2 million.

Bochniewicz then moved to the Dutch Eredivisie with SC Heerenveen. He signed a contract extension there in February 2023, which ran until 2026. A serious knee injury later kept him out for several months. He is left-footed and 194 cm tall, which suits a centre-back in the air and in build-up play.

For Poland he made his debut on 7 October 2020 in a friendly against Finland. He has won three caps and has not scored. After a three-year absence he was recalled to the national squad. He was named in Poland's 29-man preliminary squad for Euro 2024, but injury kept him out of the final 26. In the Ekstraklasa he has also been picked for the Team of the Week.

He is back at Górnik Zabrze in 2026.