Timothée Kolodziejczak

Timothée Christian Kolodziejczak (French pronunciation: [timɔte kolodʒezak]; born 1 October 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defender and captains Ligue 2 club Paris FC. He can play as either a centre or left-back.

Timothée Kolodziejczak

Kolodziejczak with Saint-Étienne in 2020
Personal information
Full name	Timothée Christian Kolodziejczak[1]
Date of birth	(1991-10-01) 1 October 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth	Arras, France
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Paris FC
Number	15
Youth career
1999	Saint-Maurice Loos
1999–2000	Avion
2000–2008	Lens
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2009	Lens	0	(0)
2008–2009	→ Lyon (loan)	1	(0)
2009–2012	Lyon	11	(0)
2010–2012	Lyon B	23	(4)
2012–2014	Nice	71	(2)
2014–2017	Sevilla	52	(1)
2017	Borussia Mönchengladbach	1	(0)
2017–2020	Tigres UANL	6	(0)
2018–2020	→ Saint-Étienne (loan)	51	(3)
2020	→ Saint-Étienne B (loan)	1	(0)
2020–2022	Saint-Étienne	54	(2)
2022–2023	Schalke 04	1	(0)
2023–	Paris FC	27	(2)
International career
2007	France U16	1	(0)
2007–2008	France U17	15	(1)
2008–2009	France U18	6	(0)
2009–2010	France U19	14	(2)
2010–2012	France U20	18	(4)
Medal record Men's football Representing  France UEFA European Under-17 Championship Runner-up 2008 Turkey
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:47, 11 January 2025 (UTC)

Kolodziejczak is a French youth international and has competed at all levels. He played on the under-19 team that won the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. Due to the difficulty of pronouncing his surname, he is a commonly referred to as Kolo.^[3]

Early life

Kolodziejczak was born on 1 October 1991 in Arras, France, to a Polish father and a Martiniquais mother.^[4][5][6]

Club career

Early career

Kolodziejczak began his career at the age of seven playing for local club US Saint-Maurice Loos-en-Gohelle. In July 1999, he moved to hometown club Avion where he spent a year. In June 2000, Kolodziejczak joined the professional club of Lens.^[3] While in the club's youth academy, he trained alongside youth and international teammate Gaël Kakuta at the Centre de Préformation de Football in nearby Liévin, a training center exclusively for players brought up in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. He spent two years at the center training there during the weekdays and playing with Lens on the weekends. One of his trainers at the facility was former Polish international Joachim Marx.^[5]

After graduating from the club's youth academy, he was offered a five-year professional contract as Lens were attempting to tie down the defender who was being scouted by several prominent European clubs, most notably Manchester United.^[7] Kolodziejczak turned down the offer with hopes of signing elsewhere stating he had no confidence in the club.^[3] Following negotiations, it was announced on 21 August 2008 that Kolodziejczak agreed to join seven-time Ligue 1 champions Lyon on a season-long loan with a view to a permanent deal with Lens demanding at least €3 million in compensation for the player.^[8]

Lyon

Upon his arrival to the club, Kolodziejczak was given the number 12 shirt on the first-team. However, due to signing late in the transfer window, he missed Lyon's entire pre-season campaign and was placed on the club's Championnat de France Amateur team in the fourth division by manager Claude Puel. He made his reserve debut on 13 September 2008 in the derby match against Saint-Étienne's reserve team. The match resulted in a 2–1 victory with Kolodziejczak playing the entire match picking up a yellow card.^[9] Two months later, Kolodziejczak was called up to the first team for a league match against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on 23 November 2008 to serve as the backup left back. In the match, he made his professional debut coming on as a substitute for the severely injured Anthony Réveillère in the 11th minute. Lyon lost the match 1–0 with Kolodziejczak being penalized with a yellow card late in the second half.^[10] Following the season, Lyon signed Kolodziejczak on a permanent deal with the player agreeing to a four-year deal and the transfer fee being priced at €2.5 million.^[11][12]

For the 2009–10 season, Kolodziejczak's playing time was limited. On 29 September 2009, he made his UEFA Champions League debut in the team's 4–0 victory over Hungarian club Debrecen appearing as a substitute for starting left back Aly Cissokho.^[13] Four days later, Kolodziejczak made another substitute appearance in a 2–0 win against his former club Lens.^[14] On 21 November, he made his first professional start playing 76 minutes in a 1–1 draw against Grenoble.^[15]

Nice

In the summer of 2012, Kolodziejczak moved to fellow Ligue 1 club Nice on a four-year contract.^{[16][citation needed]}

Sevilla

Kolodziejczak joined Sevilla on 27 August 2014, signing a three-year contract on a transfer fee of €3 million.^[17] On 18 September he made his first appearance, as the club defeated Feyenoord 2–0 in the UEFA Europa League.^[18] He debuted in La Liga six days later, playing the entirety of a 1–0 home win against Real Sociedad.^[19] On 2 October, he was shown a straight red card in a Europa League match at HNK Rijeka for conceding a penalty on Andrej Kramarić. This was converted for the first equaliser in an eventual 2–2 draw.^[20]

He scored his first goal on 29 October, opening a 6–1 win at CE Sabadell in the first leg of the Copa del Rey round of 32.^[21] He made nine appearances as they won the Europa League in his first season,^{[citation needed]} including the 3–2 win over Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the final in Warsaw.^[22]

Borussia Mönchengladbach

On 4 January 2017, Kolodziejczak signed for German club Borussia Mönchengladbach.^[23][24]

Tigres UANL

On 4 September 2017, Kolodziejczak joined Liga MX club Tigres UANL.^[25]

Saint-Étienne

In August 2018, Kolodziejczak joined Ligue 1 club Saint-Étienne on loan with an option to buy.^[26] On 22 August 2019, Kolodziejczak was loaned again at Saint-Étienne for another season.^[27] Saint-Étienne exercised their option to purchase Kolodziejczak in the summer of 2020 for €4.5m.^[28]

Schalke 04

On 21 October 2022, Kolodziejczak signed for Schalke 04 on a contract until the end of the season.^[29]

International career

Kolodziejczak has featured for all of France's national youth teams beginning with the under-16 team. He made his debut with the team in the team's last match against Germany at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin on 30 May 2006. Germany won the match 1–0 with Felix Kroos scoring the lone goal.^[30] With the under-17 team, Kolodziejczak was a regular and made his debut in the team's opening match against Switzerland in a 4–0 victory.^[31] In qualification for the 2008 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship, he appeared in both rounds of qualification with the team finishing the Elite Round portion unbeaten, which led to qualification to the UEFA-sanctioned tournament. At the tournament, Kolodziejczak scored his first youth international goal against Turkey in the semi-finals. The goal came in the 69th minute with France trailing 1–0. The team later won the match 4–3 on penalties.^[32] In the final, France were defeated 4–0 by Spain.^[33][34]

Kolodziejczak made his debut in France national under-18 football team's opening match against Ukraine.^[35] He only made six appearances with the team. With the under-19 team, Kolodziejczak was again called upon by coach Francis Smerecki making his first appearance with the team on 9 October 2009 in 4–2 defeat to the Netherlands. After consistently appearing with the team for the campaign, on 7 June 2010, he was named to Smerecki's 18-man squad to participate in the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. Kolodziejczak played in all five of the team's matches including the final match against Spain, which France won 2–1. The title is the country's second UEFA Under-19 championship.^[36]

Following France's victory at the UEFA Under-19 championship, the nation qualified for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, which merited under-20 team appearances for Kolodziejczak. He made his debut with the team on 7 October 2010 in a friendly match against Portugal, which ended 3–3.^[37] Kolodziejczak, subsequently, appeared in four matches for the team during the 2010–11 campaign and, on 10 June 2011, was named to the 21-man squad to participate in the U-20 World Cup. He made his debut in the competition on 30 July 2011 in the team's 4–1 defeat to the hosts Colombia.^[38]

Kolodziejczak is also eligible to represent Poland at international level through his father.^[39] At the age of 15, he was issued a proposal by the Polish Football Association (PZPN) who sought for him to play for the country's youth international teams. However, due to not having Polish citizenship, Kolodziejczak would have been unable to play in an official match for Poland, which led to his father rejecting the opportunity, and instead deciding that it would be better to wait a few years until coming to a decision.^[5]

Career statistics

As of match played 11 January 2025^[40]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Lyon (loan)	2008–09	Ligue 1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Lyon	2009–10	Ligue 1	2	0	0	0	1[a]	0	0	0	3	0
	2010–11	Ligue 1	8	0	0	0	1[a]	0	0	0	9	0
	2011–12	Ligue 1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		11	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	14	0
Lyon B	2010–11	CFA	12	3	—		—		—		12	3
	2011–12	CFA	11	1	—		—		—		11	1
	Total		23	4	—		—		—		23	4
Nice	2012–13	Ligue 1	37	0	2	0	—		2[b]	1	41	1
	2013–14	Ligue 1	34	2	3	0	2[c]	0	2[b]	1	41	3
	Total		71	2	5	0	2	0	4	2	82	4
Sevilla	2014–15	La Liga	18	1	5	1	9[c]	0	—		32	2
	2015–16	La Liga	29	0	8	0	13[d]	1	—		50	1
	2016–17	La Liga	5	0	2	0	2[e]	0	0	0	9	0
	Total		52	1	15	1	24	1	0	0	91	3
Borussia Mönchengladbach	2016–17	Bundesliga	1	0	0	0	1[c]	0	—		2	0
Tigres UANL	2017–18	Liga MX	6	0	1	0	1[f]	0	0	0	8	0
Saint-Étienne (loan)	2018–19	Ligue 1	36	3	2	0	—		0	0	38	3
	2019–20	Ligue 1	15	0	4	1	6[c]	1	1[b]	0	26	2
	Total		51	3	6	1	6	1	1	0	64	5
Saint-Étienne B (loan)	2019–20	National 2	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
Saint-Étienne	2020–21	Ligue 1	24	0	1	0	—		—		25	0
	2021–22	Ligue 1	30	2	3	0	—		—		33	2
	Total		54	2	4	1	—		—		122	7
Schalke 04	2022–23	Bundesliga	1	0	0	0	—		—		1	0
Paris FC	2023–24	Ligue 2	11	1	1	0	—		1[g]	0	13	1
	2024–25	Ligue 2	16	1	1	0	—		0	0	17	1
	Total		27	2	2	0	—		1	0	30	2
Career total			299	14	33	2	36	2	6	2	374	20

1. Appearances in the UEFA Champions League
2. Appearance(s) in the Coupe de la Ligue
3. Appearances in the UEFA Europa League
4. Six appearances in the Champions League; seven appearances and a goal in the Europa League
5. One appearance in the UEFA Super Cup and one in the Champions League
6. Appearance in the CONCACAF Champions League
7. Appearance in the Ligue 2 promotion play-offs

Honours

Sevilla

• UEFA Europa League: 2014–15,^[22] 2015–16^{[citation needed]}

UANL

• Liga MX: Apertura 2017^{[citation needed]}

Saint-Étienne

• Coupe de France runner-up: 2019–20^[41]

Individual

• UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2014–15^[42]

References

1. "Acta del Partido celebrado el 24 de enero de 2016, en Madrid" [Minutes of the Match held on 24 January 2016, in Madrid] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Retrieved 17 November 2019.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
2. "Timothée Kolodziejczak" (in German). FC Schalke 04. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
3. "Thimothée Kolodziejczak: "Une grande fierté"". Lyon Capitale (in French). 22 August 2008. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
4. "Timothée Kolodziejczak: "Je viens à Nice pour m'épanouir"" [Timothée Kolodziejczak: "I'm joining Nice in order to develop"] (in French). Nice Matin. 26 June 2012. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012.
5. "Koscielny nie jest jeszcze spalony". Polish Football Association (in Polish). 15 July 2010. Archived from the original on 17 July 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
6. "Kolodziejczak, un nom à retenir". Radio Monte Carlo. 28 July 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
7. "United linked to Lyon target". Sky Sports. 18 August 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
8. "Lyon snap up Lens starlet Kolodzieczak". Union of European Football Associations. 21 August 2008. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
9. "Lyon B v. Saint-Etienne B Match Report". Foot National (in French). 13 September 2008. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
10. "PSG v. Lyon Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel (in French). 23 November 2008. Archived from the original on 26 March 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
11. http://www.actusnewswire.com/documents/ACTUS-0-3288-OL-DDR-0809-GB.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
12. "L'OL aime et ne compte pas". Sports.fr (in French). 19 July 2009. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
13. "Debrecen floored by early Lyon blitz". Union of European Football Associations. 29 September 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
14. "Lens v. Lyon Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel (in French). 3 October 2009. Archived from the original on 4 January 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
15. "Grenoble v. Lyon Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel (in French). 21 November 2009. Archived from the original on 7 April 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
16. "KOLODZIEJCZAK SIGNE POUR 4 ANS" (in French). ogcnissa.com. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
17. "El francés Kolodziejczak fichará tres campañas por el Sevilla" [The Frenchman Kolodziejczak will sign for Sevilla for three seasons]. Marca (in Spanish). 27 August 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
18. "Quick-fire Sevilla catch Feyenoord cold". UEFA. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
19. "Sevilla 1-0 Real Sociedad". Goal.com. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
20. "Rijeka 2-2 Sevilla: Mbia rescues a point for 10-man Rojiblancos". Goal.com. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
21. "El Sevilla engrasa la máquina" [Sevilla tunes machine up]. Marca (in Spanish). 29 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
22. Rose, Gary (27 May 2015). "Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 2–3 Sevilla". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
23. "Borussia verpflichtet Timothée Kolodziejczak". Borussia Mönchengladbach (in German). 4 January 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
24. "Borussia Monchengladbach sign Sevilla defender Kolodziejczak". ESPN.com. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
25. "OFICIAL: Timotheé Kolodziejczak es nuevo jugador de Tigres". Goal (in Spanish). 4 September 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
26. "OFFICIAL | ST ÉTIENNE SIGN TIMOTHÉE KOLODZIEJCZAK ON LOAN FROM TIGRES". getfootballnewsfrance.com. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
27. "Timothée Kolodziejczak is coming back". Saint-Étienne. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
28. "ST ÉTIENNE ACTIVATE €4.5M OPTION TO BUY TIMOTHÉE KOLODZIEJCZAK". getfootballnewsfrance.com. 9 May 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
29. "FC Schalke 04 sign centre-back Timothée Kolodziejczak". FC Schalke 04. 21 October 2022.
30. "Courte défaite (1-0)" (in French). French Football Federation. 30 May 2007. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
31. "Reprise réussie pour les Tricolores (4-0)" (in French). French Football Federation. 2 October 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
32. "France oust hosts after shoot-out". Union of European Football Associations. 13 May 2008. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
33. "Stupendous Spain win U17 crown". Union of European Football Associations. 16 May 2008. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
34. "L'Espagne réalise le doublé" (in French). French Football Federation. 16 May 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
35. "Défaite pour les Tricolores (1-3)" (in French). French Football Federation. 30 September 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
36. "France fight back to claim U19 crown". Union of European Football Associations. 30 July 2010. Archived from the original on 1 August 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
37. "France 3–3 Portugal". French Football Federation. 7 October 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
38. "Colombia 4–1 France". Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 30 July 2011. Archived from the original on 19 September 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
39. "La mode polonaise atteint l'Olympique Lyonnais". Foot Mercato (in French). 14 August 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
40. Timothée Kolodziejczak at Soccerway. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
41. "Mbappé suffers ankle injury as PSG beat 10-man Saint-Étienne to lift French Cup". The Guardian. 24 July 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
42. "Experts' UEFA Europa League squad of the season". UEFA. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2020.

External links

• Timothée Kolodziejczak – French league stats at LFP – also available in French (archived)
• Timothée Kolodziejczak at L'Équipe Football (in French)
• Timothée Kolodziejczak at Liga MX (archive) (in Spanish)