Taras Romanczuk

Taras Wiktorowycz Romanczuk ( also spelled Romanchuk, Тарас Вікторович Романчук; born 14 November 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Ekstraklasa club Jagiellonia Białystok, which he captains. Born in Ukraine, he plays for the Poland national team.

Club career
After starting his youth career for MFK Kovel and BRW-BIK (both Volhynian youth clubs) at Ukrainian Youth Football League, Romanczuk played for Ukrainian mini-football club Apperkot Kovel, making his debut in 2010.

Legionovia Legionowo
In February 2013, Romanczuk joined Legionovia Legionowo in the fourth division in 2013. He made He his debut on 13 April 2013 in a league match against Zawisza Rzgów, when in the 46th minute he replaced Łukasz Prusik on the pitch. He scored his first goal on 5 June 2013 in a 3–0 league win against GKP Targówek. Legionovia finished that season as the winner of their group, thus ensuring the promotion to the II liga.

Jagiellonia
On 21 July 2014, Romanczuk joined Polish Ekstraklasa club Jagiellonia Białystok on a one-year contract with the option of extending for another two years. He made his debut on 15 August 2014, replacing Jonatan Straus in the 46th minute of the league match against Legia Warsaw. His first goal for Jagiellonia recorded on 9 November 2014 during a 5–2 loss against Ruch Chorzów.

On 2 July 2015, Romanczuk made his European debut in a 1–0 win against Kruoja Pakruojis in the UEFA Europa League. In the summer of 2016, Turkish side Konyaspor had a bid rejected for the player. He became vice-captain to the captain Rafał Grzyb.

During the 2016–17 Ekstraklasa season, Romanczuk aided Jagiellonia as they finished the campaign as runners-up for the first time in their history in the Ekstraklasa, two points behind the winners Legia Warsaw. and at the beginning of January 2017 he was honoured with the award of the best defensive midfielder of Ekstraklasa in 2016. During the 2017–18 Ekstraklasa, Jagiellonia achieved a second-place finish for the second season running, after finishing three points behind Legia yet again.

On 20 April 2024, Romanczuk played the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 away win over Zagłębie Lubin; it was his 300th Ekstraklasa appearance for Jagiellonia, and he became the first player in the club's history to achieve such feat. As the club's captain, he led them to their first-ever Ekstraklasa title in May 2024.

International career
Romanczuk received Polish citizenship on 15 March 2018 making him eligible for the Poland national team. Taras was called up for friendly's against Nigeria and South Korea subsequently making his debut against South Korea, playing 61 minutes before being subbed for Arkadiusz Milik.

In May 2018, he was a surprise omission from the initial 35 man preliminary Poland squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

In March 2024, he received his first call-up in almost six years for UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying play-off matches against Estonia and Wales to be played on 21 and 26 March. He made an appearance in the latter, coming on as a substitute at the start of the second half of extra-time.

On 29 May 2024, Romanczuk was named the 29-man preliminary squad for UEFA Euro 2024. He then scored his first international goal in a friendly against his ancestral Ukraine on 7 June 2024, before leaving the pitch with an injury in the 60th minute. Later that day, he was confirmed to have made the squad for the tournament.

Personal life
Romanczuk was born and raised in Ukraine, but has spent all of his professional career in Poland. He also has Polish roots on one side of his family: his great-grandfather was a farmer from Sobibór and his grandmother was born in Włodawa (1939).

He received Polish citizenship in March 2018.

International

 * Scores and results list Poland goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Romanczuk goal

Honours
Legionovia Legionowo
 * III liga, group A: 2012–13

Jagiellonia Białystok
 * Ekstraklasa: 2023–24