Alex Cisak

Aleksander Cisak (born 19 May 1989) is a retired footballer who last played as a goalkeeper for A-League club Sydney FC. Born in Poland, he has represented the Australia national under-20 team.

Alex Cisak
Cisak playing for Leyton Orient in 2015
Personal information
Full name Aleksander Cisak[1]
Date of birth (1989-05-19) 19 May 1989[1]
Place of birth Kraków, Poland
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[2]
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
2004 South Hobart
2005–2007 Leicester City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2010 Leicester City 0 (0)
2007 → Oxford United (loan) 0 (0)
2008 → Tamworth (loan) 16 (0)
2010–2011 Accrington Stanley 21 (0)
2011–2013 Oldham Athletic 48 (0)
2012 → Portsmouth (loan) 1 (0)
2013–2015 Burnley 1 (0)
2014–2015 → York City (loan) 10 (0)
2015 → Leyton Orient (loan) 19 (0)
2015–2017 Leyton Orient 71 (0)
2017–2019 Sydney FC 0 (0)
Total 187 (0)
National team‡
2008–2009 Australia U20 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 February 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 February 2019

Early life

Cisak was born in Kraków, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland and moved to Hobart, Tasmania, Australia at the age of two.[3]

Club career

Leicester City

Cisak played for South Hobart in 2004 before signing for English club Leicester City in their youth system as a scholar in 2005.[4][5] With his young age his family left their family home in Glenorchy, Tasmania to accompany him in Leicester.[3] Cisak was a member of the team that won the 2006–07 FA Premier Academy League.[6]

Cisak signed his first professional contract with Leicester on 5 May 2007, signing a one-year deal alongside Andy King, Max Gradel, Carl Pentney and Eric Odhiambo.[7] He joined Oxford United on loan on 25 September 2007, as a replacement for Chris Tardif.[8][9] However, on 22 October 2007 he returned to Leicester having failed to make a first team appearance for Oxford.[10]

On 10 January 2008 he moved on loan again joining Tamworth on loan until the end of the season.[11]

Cisak was named in the match squad for the first time as Leicester beat Crewe Alexandra 2–1 at the Walkers Stadium, however he was an unused substitute.[12]

On 8 June 2009 Cisak signed a six-month contract extension at Leicester keeping him at the club until December 2009.[13] At the end of the 2009–10 season, Cisak was released by Leicester, along with seven other players[14]

Accrington Stanley
Cisak playing for Accrington Stanley in 2011

Cisak joined Accrington Stanley in July 2010 on a two-year contract after being released by Leicester at the end of the 2009–10 season. He made his debut for the club in a League Cup match on 10 August against Doncaster Rovers.[15] His Football League debut came on 23 October 2010 when he played the full match against Hereford United.[16] While at Accrington Stanley, Cisak battled it out with Ian Dunbavin over a first choice goalkeeper throughout the season and at first, he was the second choice goalkeeper, but eventually regained his place in the second half of the season. He would quickly become a fans' favourite. He won the ESPN PFA Fans' League Two Player of the Month Award for March 2011.[17] In the League Two play-offs, Cisak played twice in the match against Stevenage but lost in both matches. After the matches, Cisak believed the club could bounce back from the play-off defeat.[18] His good performance at the club, led Cisak's future at doubt and was offered a new deal.[19][20]

Oldham Athletic

On 6 July 2011, Cisak signed a two-year contract at Oldham Athletic. Oldham agreed a compensation package with Accrington because, though Cisak was out of contract, they were entitled to some recompense as he was under the age of 24.[21] He made his club debut on the first day of the 2011–12 season, starting the Football League match against Sheffield United.[22] Since then, Cisak established himself in the first team and made 43 appearance in the first team. On 5 November 2011, Cisak received his first straight red card of his career in a 2–0 loss against Bury after he brought down Andy Bishop in early minutes.[23] After the match, manager Paul Dickov felt his position has got to be better.[24] Despite his sending off, he played in the next match against Rochdale. In the third of the FA Cup, he played against Liverpool in a 5–1 loss.[25] In a 2–1 win over Walsall on 14 February 2012, Cisak was the hero when he saved a penalty in injury time from Alex Nicholls.[26] In late March, Cisak suffered a shoulder injury in a match against Leyton Orient after he collied on the post and was out for a month.[27] Even though injured, Dickov refused to call up Cisak and James Wesolowski before the end of the season because he risked another injury.[28] After playing five matches in the early of the season, Cisak was replaced by Dean Bouzanis due to a breakdown in his contract. Cisak spoke of his disappointment in Oldham's handling of the saga shortly after having been recalled from his loan at Portsmouth.[29]

Cisak finished his second season with Oldham Athletic as very much the second-choice goalkeeper with Dean Bouzanis established as first-choice goalkeeper for the club, with Cisak only making 11 appearances for the club by the end of the season. On 6 June 2013 after two years at Oldham Athletic, Cisak's contract at Latics was terminated as the club chose not to take up the option to extend his deal for a further year. He left the club having played 59 matches.[30]

Portsmouth (loan)

On 22 November 2012, Cisak joined fellow League One club Portsmouth on a one-month loan, along with Jake Jervis.[31] He made several key saves in his debut in a 1–1 draw against Coventry City, giving the club their first point in eight matches.[32] After the match, Cisak stated that he could not have asked for a better start in his time at Portsmouth and that he had hopes to replicate the form of his Pompey predecessors such as David James and Asmir Begović.[33] However, after just one appearance, Cisak was recalled by Oldham after Dean Bouzanis was sent off for violent conduct in a 1–0 loss against Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday and leading Paul Dickov to invoke a 24-hour recall clause, leaving back-up goalkeeper Simon Eastwood as their only goalkeeper at Portsmouth.[34] After being recalled, Cisak spoke of his loan spell, expressing his disappointment of the loan deal being cut early, but that he had hopes for a return to Portsmouth in the future.[29]

Burnley
Cisak playing for York City in 2014

Following his release by Oldham, Cisak signed for Championship club Burnley, joining fellow new keepers Tom Heaton and Nick Liversedge. He made his Burnley debut in a 2–0 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion on 24 August 2013, replacing Keith Treacy in the 57th minute following Tom Heaton's red card. He made his first start for Burnley three days later, keeping a clean sheet in their 2–0 League Cup win against Lancashire rivals Preston North End.

Cisak joined League Two club York City on 24 October 2014 on a one-month loan[35] and made his debut one day later in a 1–1 home draw against Mansfield Town.[36] Having conceded just three goals in four matches his loan was extended until 4 January 2015.[37] He was recalled by Burnley when the loan expired, having made 10 appearances for York.[38]

Leyton Orient

Cisak signed for League One club Leyton Orient on 2 February 2015 on a one-month loan.[39]

On 27 July 2015, Cisak signed for Leyton Orient permanently on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee.[40] He was released at the end of 2016–17.[41]

Sydney FC

On 27 July 2017, Cisak signed a two-year contract with Sydney FC in the A-League.[42] On 1 December, Cisak made his first appearance for Sydney FC in the Y-League where he conceded three goals against rivals Western Sydney Wanderers youth[43]

Cisak made his competitive debut for Sydney in a win over Rockdale City Suns in the 2018 FFA Cup, coming on as a late substitute after Andrew Redmayne suffered an injury.[44]

Following his release from Sydney, Cisak returned to Tasmania and retired from professional football.[45]

International career

Cisak was eligible to play for either Poland or Australia due to holding dual citizenship.

On Monday 6 October 2008 Cisak made his debut for Australia U20 in their 3–1 victory over China playing the full 90 minutes.[46] On 21 July 2009, Cisak was again called into the Australia U20 squad by manager Jan Versleijen for the match against Argentina U20.[47] He has since gone on to make an additional three appearances for the Under 20s and was named in the squad for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt.[48]

On 19 August 2015, Cisak was named in a 23-man squad for Australia ahead of two 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Bangladesh and Tajikistan.[49]

Career statistics
Cisak playing for York City in 2014
As of match played 6 May 2017
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Leicester City 2007–08[50] Championship 000000—00
2008–09[51] League One 0000000000
2009–10[52] Championship 0000000000
Total 0000000000
Oxford United (loan) 2007–08[53] Conference Premier 00———00
Tamworth (loan) 2007–08[54] Conference North 160——4[lower-alpha 1]0200
Accrington Stanley 2010–11[55] League Two 21000103[lower-alpha 2]0250
Oldham Athletic 2011–12[56] League One 38040104[lower-alpha 3]0470
2012–13[57] League One 100101000120
Total 480502040590
Portsmouth (loan) 2012–13[57] League One 10———10
Burnley 2013–14[58] Championship 100010—20
2014–15[36] Premier League 000000—00
Total 100010—20
York City (loan) 2014–15[36] League Two 100———100
Leyton Orient (loan) 2014–15[36] League One 190———190
Leyton Orient 2015–16[59] League Two 430201000460
2016–17[60] League Two 28010001[lower-alpha 4]0300
Total 900301010950
Sydney FC 2017–18 A-League 0000—0000
2018–19 A-League 0010—0010
Total0010000010
Career total 187080501202120
  1. Appearances in FA Trophy
  2. One appearance in Football League Trophy, two in League Two play-offs
  3. Appearances in Football League Trophy
  4. Appearance in EFL Trophy
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References
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