Michael Władysław Klukowski is a Canadian soccer player who last played for APOEL in the Cypriot First Division and the Canadian national team. Klukowski has enjoyed a rapid rise since his move to Belgium in 2002. Born to Polish parents who had stopped in Austria while on their way to Canada, he is of Polish descent and holds Polish citizenship.
Club career
He began his career in Canada playing for the Oshawa Kicks and Scarborough Azzurri-Blues, before travelling across the Atlantic to link up with Dijon FCO in 1999. A move to Tourcoing FC followed the next year before his performances caught the attentions of Ligue 1 outfit Lille OSC whom he joined in 2001. He only played for their reserves team however so his time at the Stade Grimonprez-Jooris was equally fleeting though but he finally found his feet at La Louvière, making 72 league appearances over the next two-and-a-half seasons and growing in stature.
At La Louvière, he attracted interest from Club Brugge K.V. who signed the well-travelled youngster in a deal thought to be worth €900,000 during the winter break in January 2005. He initially had to bide his time at the Jan Breydel Stadium but did make six appearances towards the end of the campaign as Club Brugge sealed the title. Michael Klukowski was the number one left back for five seasons with Brugge. He replaced Peter Van Der Heyden, who suffered a knee injury, during the last season with Trond Sollied. Michael left Brugge with 178 official games including 26 European appearances and 2 Belgian Supercup Final appearances.
In mid-August Klukowski was transferred from his home of 5 season with Club Brugge to Ankaragücü in the Turkish League for an estimated value of €750,000 while signing a three-year deal. He made his debut for the club in a 1–1 home draw against Kayserispor on 27 August 2010. Michael scored his first goal in Turkey on 4 December 2010 in a 1–1 home draw against Sivasspor, he scored the opening goal in the 11th minute at the Ankara 19 Mayıs Stadium until Erman Kılıç tied it up with a goal in the 56th. In early April 2011 it was announced that Klukowski was leaving his Turkish club Ankaragucu over unpaid wages, the club was in the news earlier that year when former England internationalDarius Vassell was kicked out of his hotel room because the club failed to pay for his accommodation. In April 2011 Klukowski sued Ankaragucu for unpaid wages and compensation for the 2 years left on his contract for the amount of 1.5 M €. In July 2013 Klukowski won his case and Ankaragucu were forced to pay him 800 000 €.
In early June prior to the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup it was announced that Klukowski had signed for Manisaspor for the upcoming season. Canadian international Josh Simpson Manisaspor's leading goal scorer from the 2010–11 season played a major factor in Klukowski's decision to sign with the Western Turkish club. Klukowski made his debut for Manisaspor on 10 September in a 1–1 draw against Trabzonspor.
APOEL
On 20 July 2012, Klukowski signed a two-year contract with Cypriot side APOEL. At the end of the season he was crowned champion after winning the 2012–13 Cypriot First Division with APOEL. On 12 August 2013, APOEL unilaterally terminated Klukowski's contract because of serious breaches of discipline and breaches of contract and internal regulations of the club by the player. After the termination of his contract he took Apoel FC to court at Fifa. On June 20, 2015 he won his court case. Apoel were forced to pay him over 200 000 € in compensation.
International career
After representing Canada at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship in Argentina, Klukowski made the step up to the senior side in March 2003. He made his debut for Canada in a February 2003 friendly match against Libya. He has represented Canada in ten FIFA World Cup qualification matches. As of 13 June 2012, he has earned a total of 36 caps, scoring no goals. He managed to make the All-Tournament team of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup along with fellow Canadian Julian de Guzman.
