Career
He first started playing at Olimpia Poznań, where he played from 1992 until 1994, when he joined Widzew Łódź. He remained there for five and a half years, when he left to join Wisła Krakow in the middle of the 2000-2001 season. In January 2005, he joined the Turkish club Trabzonspor.
He has been extremely impressive in his time for Trabzonspor, displaying a level of passion that is not expected from new arrivals in a foreign country.
In his first six months at Trabzonspor he scored nine goals in fifteen starts, and integrated himself into the team so well that by the end of the season he was already regarded as a successful signing. His qualities lie in his wide ranging abilities that enable him to not only operate in a defensive capacity, but to run the play through midfield and to join in the attacking too.
He displays an extremely capable passing game but has recently developed into an extremely efficient finisher too. As well as playing for Trabzonspor, Szymkowiak has appeared 31 times and scored three goals for Poland.
He was selected to the 23-men squad that competed at the 2006 finals in Germany.
A lot of fans from different clubs likes him because he was not arrogant. He has recently announced that he retired from football. Szymkowiak is working now as a pitch reporter for Canal+ Poland.
His debut as a reporter was an Ekstraklasa game between GKS Bełchatów and Zagłębie Lubin on 5 April 2007.
He also owns two beauty salons in KrakóWest