| Clubname: | Lech Poznań |
| Upright: | 0.6 |
| Fullname: | Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A.[1] |
| Nickname: | Kolejorz (The Railwayman) Pyry (Greater Poland potatoes) KKS Duma Wielkopolski (The Pride of Greater Poland) Poznańska Lokomotywa (The Poznań Locomotive) |
| Founded: | (as KS Lutnia Dębiec) |
| Ground: | Enea Stadion |
| Capacity: | 42,837[2] |
| Owner: | Piotr Rutkowski (66,66%)[3] Maja Rutkowska (33,33%)[4] |
| Chrtitle: | Co-chairmen |
| Chairman: | Karol Klimczak Piotr Rutkowski |
| Mgrtitle: | Head coach |
| Manager: | Niels Frederiksen |
| League: | Ekstraklasa |
| Season: | 2023–24 |
| Position: | Ekstraklasa, 5th of 18 |
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| Current: | 2024–25 Lech Poznań season |
| Website: | http://www.lechpoznan.pl/ |
Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (pronounced as /pol/), is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division.
The club was established on 19 March 1922 as KS Lutnia Dębiec, later changing its name several times. Until 1994, the club was closely linked to Polish State Railways (PKP). As a result, its popular nickname is Kolejorz pronounced as /pl/, which means The Railwayman in local slang. The club's debut in the Polish top division took place in the year 1948. The brightest era of Lech was in the early 1980s and early 1990s. Lech has won the Polish league a total of eight times, most recently in 2022, and is the most popular football club in the Greater Poland region.[5]
| Years | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| 1920–1922 | Lutnia Dębiec | |
| 1922–1925 | Liga Dębiec | |
| 1925–1930 | TS Liga Poznań | |
| 1930–1933 | Poznań Dworzec | |
| 1933–1945 | KS KPW Poznań | |
| 1945–1948 | Poznań | |
| 1948–1949 | Poznań | |
| 1949–1957 | Kolejarz Poznań | |
| 1957 | KS Lech Poznań | |
| 1957–1994 | KKS Lech Poznań | |
| 1994–1998 | Lech Poznań | |
| 1998–2006 | Lech Poznań | |
| 2006– | KKS Lech Poznań |
In August 1920, a group of young teenagers from the Catholic Youth Association decided to split off and form their own football team. The founders of the club were: Jan Nowak, Antoni Dyzman, Jan Dyzman, Leon Nowicki, Józef Magdziak, Kazimierz Zmuda, Stanisław Nowicki, Stefan Fiedler, Józef Gośliński, Leon Stachowski, Józef Blumreder and Jan Wojtek. The origin of Lech can be traced back to 19 March 1922, when it was officially registered as a football club.[6] The club's first official name was Towarzystwo Sportowe Liga Dębiec. In September 1922 the club gained a football pitch on Grzybowa street. The first match for the club was played in May 1922 against Urania Starołęka, which ended in a 1–1 draw. The club started its foundation in a low tier league, which at the time was the Class C.
The club achieved promotion in 1928 to the Class B after six years of being in Class C. In 1932 the club was promoted to Class A where the biggest teams of the region played. From there they could get promoted to the First National Division, but the club would not achieve that goal before the outbreak of World War II. In autumn of 1933 the Klub Sportowy Kolejowego Przysposobienia Wojskowego Poznań ("Poznań Military Training Railway Sports Club") was founded or KPW. In 1945, shortly after the war ended, sporting officials made Lech the first club from the city.
In 1947, the Polish Football Association (PZPN) decided to create the first national division (Ekstraklasa). At first, the club was not admitted to the top flight, but the Kolejorz ("the railwayman", the popular nickname of the club) filed an appeal and the PZPN decided, in a special meeting, to extend the First Division to 14 teams, including the KKS (at that time called Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Poznań) and Widzew Łódź. The first match was against Widzew Łódź, lost 3–4.
The club changed its name again in January 1957, this time to Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań and in December to Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań, which lasted throughout the history of the team. That same year turned out to be one of the worst for the club, since it finished last and was relegated to the second division. Lech only gained twelve points in 22 games, despite having striker Teodor Anioła, the club's top scorer, with 141 goals and top scorer of the Polish championship in three consecutive editions (1949–1951).[7] Along with Edmund Białas and Henryk Czapczyk, Anioła formed the famous trio known as ABC. During that period, the club managed to finish third in the top division twice, as the best result, before its relegation to second division.
Lech managed to return to the top division in 1961, but after two seasons with poor results, the blue team was relegated again in 1963. The club was even demoted to the third division, then known as the Interprovincial Division (Liga międzywojewódzka), in one of the biggest sports crisis of the organization. In 1972 the club returned to the first division, in which they had to fight again to avoid relegation every season. Coach Jerzy Kopa, who arrived from Szombierki Bytom, was responsible for reviving Lech spectacularly. He took over the team in 1976, when they were bottom of the table. Kopa gathered players at a training camp in Błażejewko, saved the team from relegation and twelve months later qualified for the first time to play in Europe after finishing third in the league, just two points behind the champion, Wisła Kraków. Therefore, this transformation became known as The Miracle of Błażejewko.[8] The club's first participation in the UEFA Cup in 1978–79 was brief, as they were eliminated in the first round by MSV Duisburg.
The arrival of coach Wojciech Łazarek in 1980 at the club was key to overcome third place and European participation. That year the team reached the final of the Polish Cup for the first time, losing 0–5 to Legia Warsaw in Częstochowa. Two years later, the club managed to win the first title in its history, the Polish Cup, by defeating Pogoń Szczecin 1–0 in Wrocław.The league championships of 1983 and 1984 went down in history as they were the first two league titles of the Kolejorz and for winning on such tight margins against Widzew Łódź. The first league championship for Lech was a point of advantage (39) over Widzew (38). The 15 goals scored by the top scorer of the tournament, Mirosław Okoński and the participation of other players like Krzysztof Pawlak and Józef Adamiec were very important to win their first league championship. Meanwhile, the championship of the following season both teams staged an exciting tournament and tied at 42 points. Lech defended championship by having a better difference of goals than Widzew to break the tie. That season was historic for the blue team, as they got their first double by becoming champions of the Polish Cup, after winning in the final at Wisła Kraków (3–0).
As Polish champions, Lech participated for the first time in the European Cup, although they could not pass the first round in the two seasons. In its first season it was eliminated by Athletic Club. In the first leg in Poland, Mariusz Niewiadomski and Mirosław Okoński scored the first two Lech goals in the tournament and the team won 2–0. However, the return match in San Mamés was a nightmare for the Poles and the Spanish team qualified by winning 4–0. The following season the team faced the current champion, Liverpool F.C., who won by a 5–0 aggregate.
In 1988, Lech won another Cup by beating Legia in Łódź in the penalty shootout. In the second round of the European Cup, Lech faced Barcelona, coached by Johan Cruyff. After finishing the two games in a 1–1 draw, Barcelona, in the end the tournament, could only eliminate Lech in the penalty shootout.
Jerzy Kopa returned to Lech in 1990 along with Andrzej Strugarek and Kolejorz returned to be proclaimed league champions for the third time. Andrzej Juskowiak was the top scorer of the tournament with 18 goals and his team finished with 42 points, two more than the runner-up, Zagłębie Lubin. Henryk Apostel, however, was the coach who led Lech to two new championships in 1992 and 1993. The first one was achieved with a win over GKS Katowice, while the second one tied in points with the second team, Legia, and only won because Legia was penalized for disputed match fixing.
In the autumn of 1990, Lech played one of the most spectacular qualifiers of the last decade in the European Cup. At Bułgarska street stadium the Polish club defeated Olympique Marseille 3–2 in the first leg of the second round. The return match at the Stade Vélodrome, the French team, thrashed Lech 6–1, in a match in which most of the Polish players complained of food poisoning. Since 1993 the club entered into a major financial crisis and had to sell its most important players to continue in professional football.
Lech managed to stay in the middle of the table and their best result was fourth place in 1999, which allowed him to play in the 1999–00 UEFA Cup, where they eliminated Liepājas Metalurgs in the qualifying round and were defeated by IFK Göteborg in the first round. However, just a few months later, in 2000, Lech was relegated to the second division after 28 years of presence in the top flight. Lech's first season in the second division was a disaster, as they were very close to falling to the third division. It was only with a great effort that the club was saved from relegation and even won the promotion the next season to the first division.In their first year of the return to the I league (2002–03) Lech focused on ensuring permanence. The following season began with a very negative dynamic for the Kolejorz. After five days, the club hired a new coach, Czesław Michniewicz.[9] The unexpected appointment of the young coach turned out to be a shock, since Lech finished the season in sixth position. Most important, however, was the conquest of a Polish Cup by defeating their great rival, Legia Warsaw, in the final two games in 2004. Several days later, the fans in Poznań celebrated the victory of Lech in the Super Cup against Wisła Kraków. Although the next two seasons did not bring any success of that proportion, Lech managed to finish at the top of the table of each season with coach Franciszek Smuda.
Smuda formed a strong team with the arrival at the club of players like Robert Lewandowski, Hernan Rengifo, Semir Štilić, Marcin Zając and Rafał Murawski. In the Ekstraklasa 2008–09 season, Lech had a great season and finished in third place and qualified for the UEFA Europa League thanks, in part, to the 14 goals scored by Robert Lewandowski. On 19 May 2009, Lech won the Cup for the fifth time by beating Ruch Chorzów with a solo goal by Sławomir Peszko at Stadion Śląski.
The following season, Jacek Zieliński replaced Franciszek Smuda, who was hired as the manager of the Poland national team. With many of the players who achieved third place and the cup last season, Zieliński managed to lead Lech to the sixth championship in their history in the 2009–10 season. The striker Robert Lewandowski returned to be a reference in attack and was top scorer of the championship with 18 goals. In their participation in the 2010–11 Champions League, they were eliminated by Sparta Prague in the third round and without Lewandowski, who was transferred to Borussia Dortmund. One of their most successful European appearance was in the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, in which they eliminated Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk to enter the group stage of the tournament for the first time. Lech finished second in their group with Manchester City, leaving Juventus and FC Salzburg out of the tournament. However, they were eliminated by S.C. Braga, runner-up of the tournament months later, in the round of 32 after winning in Poland (1–0) and losing in Portugal (2–0).
In the 2021–22 season, during which Lech celebrated its 100th anniversary, the team led by Maciej Skorża finished runners-up in the Polish Cup, losing 3–1 against Raków Częstochowa,[10] and won the club's eighth championship, their first in seven years.[11]
Skorża left the team shortly after, citing personal reasons, and was replaced by Dutchman John van den Brom for the 2022–23 season. Lech crashed out of the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round after losing to Azerbaijani side Qarabağ 1–5 on aggregate.[12] The team went on to have a successful UEFA Europa Conference League campaign, reaching second place in the group stage which included Villarreal, Austria Wien and Hapoel Be'er Sheva,[13] then eliminating Nordic teams of Bodø/Glimt, 1–0 on aggregate, and Djurgårdens IF, 5–0 on aggregate, to reach the quarter-finals.[14] Their successful run ended there, after facing the Italian side Fiorentina and losing 4–6 on aggregate.[15] They were the first Polish team to win a knockout phase round of a European competition that took place after the winter break since Legia Warsaw in 1991, and the first to move through two post-winter rounds since Górnik Zabrze in 1970.[16]
The following 2023–24 campaign was marked by disappointment. Lech failed to progress past the third qualifying round of the Europa Conference League, losing to Slovak side Spartak Trnava 3–4 on aggregate, despite winning the first game at home 2–0.[17] In December 2023, trailing in the league by eight points by the winter break, van den Brom was dismissed and replaced with Mariusz Rumak,[18] returning to the role after nine-and-a-half years. Lech's form did not improve under Rumak; they were unable to take the lead in the table, lost to lower-placed teams Puszcza Niepołomice and Ruch Chorzów,[19] [20] and were eliminated from the 2023–24 Polish Cup after conceding in the 119th minute of a quarter-final match against Pogoń Szczecin.[21] Still in title contention with three games to go,[22] Lech finished the season in 5th after losing at home to Korona Kielce on 25 May, hours after their reserve team was demoted to the fourth division,[23] allowing Korona to stay in the top-flight in lieu of Lech's neighbors Warta.[24] [25]
Lech Poznań has played over 150 matches in European competition since 1978. Among the most memorable games in the club's history were the clashes against Barcelona in the 1988–89 season of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round. After both matches ended with 1–1 draw, Lech Poznań lost the penalty shoot-out 4–5. Barcelona eventually went on to win the tournament.
During the 1983–84 European Cup season, Lech earned a 2–0 win at home against Spanish champions Athletic Bilbao. During the 1990–91 season, Lech eliminated the Greek champions Panathinaikos in the first round, with a 5–1 score on aggregate. In the next tie Lech was knocked out by Marseille but won the first leg 3–2 at home.
During the 2008–09 UEFA Cup season, Lech made it to the group stage of the competition after knocking out higher seeded teams of Grasshopper (notching its greatest margin of victory with a 6–0 win at home) and Austria Wien (scoring the decisive goal in the last minute of extra-time). In the group stage, Lech finished third-placed ahead of Nancy and Feyenoord to secure a place in the Third Round, where it was knocked out by the Italian side Udinese.
Their home ground Stadion Poznań has been totally rebuilt and completed in September 2010 for UEFA Euro 2012, during which it is expected to host 3 games in Group C.
The 2010–11 European campaign saw Lech not only qualify for the group stage of the Europa League, but also progress from the group stage ahead of Italian giants Juventus, before losing at the Round of 32 to eventual finalists Braga. In the 2022–23 season, Lech reached their first ever European quarter-final at the Conference League, losing to Italian club Fiorentina.
| Competition | App | Games | Won | Drawn | Lost | GF | GA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 29 | 43 | ||
| 2 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 7 | ||
| 14 | 80 | 33 | 17 | 30 | 116 | 94 | ||
| 2 | 22 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 43 | 23 | ||
| 6 | 30 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 52 | 40 | ||
| Overall | 32 | 166 | 73 | 32 | 61 | 250 | 207 |
See also: UEFA coefficient. As of 31 October 2023.[26]
| Rank | Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 75 |  Royal Antwerp | 21.000 | |
| 76 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 21.000 | |
| 77 |  Lech Poznań | 20.500 | |
| 78 | SC Freiburg | 19.000 | |
| 79 | Ludogorets Razgrad | 19.000 |
| Season | Achievement | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| European Cup/UEFA Champions League | |||
| 1990–91 | Round of 16 | lost to  Marseille 3–2 in Poznań, 1–6 in Marseille | |
| UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | |||
| 1982–83 | Round of 16 | lost to Aberdeen 0–2 in Aberdeen, 0–1 in Poznań | |
| 1988–89 | Round of 16 | lost to  Barcelona 1–1 in Barcelona, 1–1 (a.e.t., 4–5 pen) in Poznań | |
| UEFA Conference League | |||
| 2022–23 | Quarter-final | lost to  Fiorentina 1–4 in Poznań, 3–2 in Florence | |
Hieronim Barczak, 367 (1973–86) Teodor Anioła, 138 (1948–61) Jerzy Podbrożny, 25 (1992–93)
Luis Henríquez, 50 for Panama| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Manager | Niels Frederiksen |
| Assistant manager | Sindre Tjelmeland |
| Assistant coaches | Dariusz Dudka Hubert Wędzonka |
| Goalkeeping coach | Dominik Kubiak |
| Fitness coaches | Antonin Čepek Karol Kikut |
| Match analyst | Hubert Barański |
| Head of medical department | Rafał Hejna |
| Team doctor | Patryk Buliński Tomasz Jaśkowiak |
| Physiotherapists | Bartosz Górecki Marcin Lis Maciej Łopatka Maciej Smuniewski |
| Dietician | Patryk Wiśniewski |
| Team manager | Mariusz Skrzypczak |
| Kit manager | Sławomir Mizgalski |
| Cook | Artur Dzierzbicki |
