Robert Wulnikowski

Born in Bydgoszcz, Wulnikowski began with football in his hometown at the Polish club Zawisza Bydgoszcz. In 1990, he entered the youth division of the FC Schalke 04. In 1997, he was promoted to the second team of the club and played in the Oberliga Westfalen. In 1999, he joined the third division team 1. FC Union Berlin. At Union, Wulnikowski was initially a back-up goalkeeper behind Kay Wehner until his departure in 2000, and Sven Beuckert until 2002. In 2001, Union was promoted to the 2. Bundesliga without Wulnikowski playing a single league match. In the 2000–01 DFB-Pokal quarter-final against VfL Bochum, Wulnikowski came on after 30 minutes for an injured Beuckert. Union Berlin won that match and succeeded in reaching the final (lost 0–2 against Schalke 04). After the dismissal of longtime coach Georgi Vasilev in October 2002 and the appointment of Mirko Votava, Wulnikowski became first-choice goalkeeper for Union. By the end of the 2003–04 season, after the club finished second-last and was relegated, Wulnikowski had completed a total of 54 second-division games for the club. Wulnikowski then moved to Rot-Weiss Essen for an undisclosed fee. At the beginning of the season, Wulnikowski was in the starting squad, but made an error in the first match. From matchday three onwards, coach Jürgen Gelsdorf replaced him with René Renno. At the end of the season, Rot-Weiss was relegated, and the contract with the goalkeeper cancelled. In 2005, Wulnikowski subsequently joined VfR…