Lech Poznań

Football club infobox
clubname = Lech Poznań


fullname = KKS Lech Poznań
nickname = "Kolejorz"
founded = 19 March 1922
(as "KS Lutnia Dębiec")
ground = Stadion Miejski, Poznań, Poland
capacity = 24,000 (upgrading to 46,000) | chairman = flagicon|Poland Andrzej Kadziński
coach = flagicon|Poland Franciszek Smuda
league = Orange Ekstraklasa
season = 2007/2008
position = 4th

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Lech Poznań ( IPA2|ˈlɛx ˈpɔznaɲ ), is a Polish football club based in Poznań, Poland. The club is named after Lech, the legendary founder of Poland.

It originates from the established in 1922 Lutnia Poznań, which since then changed its name several times. From 1933 until 1994 club has been linked closely to Polish State Railways (PKP). That is why its popular nickname is "Kolejorz", which means "The Railwayman" in local slang. The club's debut in Polish First League took place in March 1948. The brightest era of Lech were the early 1980s and early 1990s. Lech Poznań is the most popular football club in the Greater Poland region.

Achievements

* Polish League (5x): 1983, 1984, 1990, 1992, 1993*
* Polish Cup (4x): 1982, 1984, 1988, 2004 (finalist: 1980)
* Polish SuperCup (3x): 1990, 1992, 2004 (finalist: 1983, 1988)

-* Finished in 3rd place, title awarded by Polish FA after Legia Warsaw and LKS Lodz were accused of match fixing.

UEFA participations

Lech Poznań has played total of 40 games in the European Cups during the years 1978–2008. The most memorable games in the club's history were the clashes against FC Barcelona in the 1988/1989 season of Cup Winners' Cup second round. After both matches ended with 1-1 draw, Lech Poznań lost the penalty shoot-out with 4-5. FC Barcelona finally won Cup Winners' Cup that season.Few years earlier, during the 1983/1984 season Lech made quite a big surprise with a 2-0 win at home against current Spanish champions, Athletic Bilbao.

So far, the biggest success of Lech Poznań in European Cups is passing through the Greek champion Panathinaikos in the 1990/1991 season of European Cup first round, with 5-1 on aggregate. In the next round Lech was knocked out by Olympique de Marseille, but achieved a good result at home with a 3-2 win.Recently, Lech made it to the group stage of the UEFA Cup 2008–09 after knocking out higher seeded teams of Grasshopper-Club Zürich and FK Austria Wien.

List of European matches

Records

* Highest victory, First league: 11-1 vs. Szombierki Bytom, 27 August 1950
* Highest loss, First league: 0-8 vs. Wisła Kraków, 30 May 1976
* Highest attendance: circa 65.000 vs. Zawisza Bydgoszcz, 25 June 1972
* Highest attendance at Stadion Miejski: circa 45.000 vs. Widzew Łódź, 8 April 1984
* Most appearances, First league: 367, Hieronim Barczak 1973–1986
* Most goals scored, First league: 141, Teodor Anioła 1948–1961

Current squad

"Accurate as of July 5 2008"

(Players with senior international caps are in bold)

Transfers 2008/2009

;In:

;Out:

Notable players

* Teodor Anioła, striker, the best all-time scorer in club's history with 141 goals in the First league (1948-1957).
* Jarosław Araszkiewicz, midfielder/striker, won all five championship titles with Lech Poznań. Finished his career in the age of 38.
* Jarosław Bako - the goalkeeper of Poland national football team in early 90's
* Hieronim Barczak, defender, 367 league appearances for Lech.
* Jacek Bąk, defender, played in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2006 FIFA World Cup, former player of French clubs Olympique Lyonnais and Racing Club de Lens.
* Edmund Białas, striker, along with Anioła and Henryk Czapczyk, created an offensive trio called A-B-C, which was very successful in the 1950s.
* Bartosz Bosacki, defender, played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup scoring two goals against Costa Rica. Played also in Bundesliga for 1.FC Nurnberg.
* Jerzy Brzęczek, midfielder, silver medalist with Poland in the 1992 Summer Olympics, former Polish national team captain.
* Jimmy Conrad, defender, USA national team member in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
* Henryk Czapczyk
* Jacek Dembiński, striker, played in German Bundesliga with Hamburger SV, currently plays for Lech.
* Czesław Jakołcewicz
* Roman Jakóbczak, midfielder, Polish national team member in the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
* Andrzej Juskowiak, striker, silver medalist with Poland in the 1992 Summer Olympics, former player of Sporting Clube de Portugal, Olympiacos, Borussia Mönchengladbach and VfL Wolfsburg.
* Mirosław Justek, defender, Polish national team member in the 1978 FIFA World Cup.
* Jerzy Kasalik
* Jerzy Kruszczyński
* Waldemar Kryger, defender, former player of German club VfL Wolfsburg.
* Janusz Kupcewicz, midfielder, bronze medalist in the 1982 FIFA World Cup
* Damian Łukasik
* Henryk Miłoszewicz
* Piotr Mowlik
* Mariusz Niewiadomski
* Mirosław Okoński, striker, one of the club's icons, especially loved by the fans, after winning with Lech two consecutive championships in 1983 and 1984, transferred to Hamburger SV, played also for Greek side AEK.
* Bogusław Pachelski
* Krzysztof Pawlak, defender, played in the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
* Zbigniew Pleśnierowicz
* Jerzy Podbrożny, played also in M.L.S. with the Chicago Fire.
* Arkadiusz Radomski, began his career with an episode for Lech, then moved to Dutch side SC Heerenveen, now plays for FK Austria Wien. Made his appearance in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
* Piotr Reiss, striker, still active for Lech, played also for Hertha BSC Berlin and MSV Duisburg.
* Marek Rzepka
* Dariusz Skrzypczak
* Józef Szewczyk
* Piotr Świerczewski, midfielder, silver medalist with Poland in the 1992 Summer Olympics, played in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, former Sporting Club de Bastia, AS Saint-Étienne and Olympique de Marseille player.
* Mirosław Trzeciak, striker, played in Spanish clubs CA Osasuna and Polideportivo Ejido.
* Artur Wichniarek, striker, currently in Arminia Bielefeld.
* Maciej Żurawski, striker, played in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2006 FIFA World Cup, after playing for Lech, transferred to Wisła Kraków, after that to Celtic F.C.. Currently he is a AE Larissa player.

See also

* Football in Poland
* List of football teams
* Champions' Cup/League
* UEFA Cup

External links

* [http://www.lech.poznan.pl Official website] pl icon
* [http://www.lechpoznan.net/index_eng.php Unofficial website)]
* [http://www.lechpoznan.com/ Unofficial website] pl icon
* [http://www.kkslech.com/ Unofficial website]
* [http://naszaliga.pl/lech_poznan.php/ NaszaLiga team profile] pl icon
* [http://www.fotokolejorz.info/ Website with photos from club matches]
* [http://www.youtube.pl/bulgarska BULGARSKA - Ultras video from club matches]
* [http://dmoz.org/World/Polska/Sport/Sporty_pi%c5%82ki_i_siatki/Pi%c5%82ka_no%c5%bcna/Kluby_polskie/Zawodowe/Lech_Pozna%c5%84/ Open directory to club links]
* [http://www.fanatical.hu/category/lech-poznan/ Ultras videoblog]