Lechia Gdańsk

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Lechia Gdańsk
Full name Klub Sportowy Lechia Gdańsk Spółka Akcyjna[1]
Nickname(s) Biało-zieloni (White-green), Lechiści
Founded 1945
Ground PGE Arena Gdańsk, ul. Pokoleń Lechii Gdańsk 1,
Gdańsk, Poland
Ground Capacity (43,615)[2]
Chairman Poland Bartosz Sarnowski
Manager Poland Michał Probierz
League Ekstraklasa
2012–13 8th
Home colours
Away colours
Current season

Lechia Gdańsk (Polish pronunciation: [ˈlɛxja ˈɡdaɲsk]) is a Polish football club based in Gdańsk, Poland. The club's name comes from Lechia, a poetic name for Poland. The club was founded by people expelled from Lwów, who were supporters of the oldest Polish football team Lechia Lwów, founded in 1903.[3] Founded in 1945, Lechia was a powerhouse in Polish football during the mid-1950s. Next decades were lean, the team returned to form in early the 1980s, winning a Cup of Poland, a Super Cup, and playing in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, where it lost to Juventus F.C.. In May 2008 the club was promoted again to the Polish top division.

Achievements

  • Ekstraklasa:
    • 3rd Place:: 1956
  • Polish Cup:
    • Winner:(1): 1983
    • Finalist:(1) 1955
    • Semi-Finalist:(2) 2010, 2011
  • Polish SuperCup:
    • Winner:(1): 1983
  • UEFA Cup Winners Cup:
    • 1st round: 1983-84

History

The club was founded in 1945 in Gdańsk named at the time "BOP Baltia Gdańsk". In 1946 the club name was changed to "Lechia". The first historic promotion to the Polish Ekstraklasa occurred in 1948.

  • Debut Match in Ekstraklasa: March 20, 1949, Cracovia - Lechia Gdańsk 5:1
  • 1st Win in Ekstraklasa: March 27, 1949, Lechia Gdańsk - Ruch Chorzów 5:3

After a season in the Polish Ekstraklasa, Lechia was relegated in 1949 to the Second Division. The club again changed its name to "Budowlani", advancing to the Polish Ekstraklasa in 1951 and being relegated again in 1953 for a season. In the 1956 season, Lechia finished 3rd in the Polish Ekstraklasa, which is the greatest achievement in the club's history so far. Lechia was relegated for the third time after the 1962-1963 season of the Polish Ekstraklasa, and then was relegatged from the Second Division in the 1966-1967 season. They returned to the Second Division in the 1972-1973 season, but was short lived as they were relegated after the 1981-1982 season.

In spite of that the 1980s have been regarded as the rebirth of the club. Lechia was promoted to the Polish 2nd Division in the 1982-1983 season. In 1983 the club achieved his biggest successes so far: first by winning the Polish Cup with a 2-1 victory over Piast Gliwice in the final and later by winning the Polish Supercup. In 1984 Lechia finally managed to get promoted to Ekstraklasa after 21 years of absence. The club played in the top league 4 years but in 1988 suffered a decline in form which resulted in another relegation to second division. Lechia normally relegated from West (Zachodnia) Group of second division bu merged with Olimpia Poznań, was Ekstraklasa club, and became Lechia/Olimpia Gdańsk in 1995 summer. Lechia/Olimpia Gdańsk relegated to second division in 1995-96 season and third division in 1996-97 one. After relegation to second division Olimpia left from the merger in 1996 but Lechia kept Lechia/Olimpia name. After end of 1997-98 season Lechia merged with Polonia Gdańsk, was second division club, and became Lechia/Polonia Gdańsk in 1998 summer. Lechia/Polonia merger was broken up after relegation to third division. Lechia began from Gdansk 4 Group of Klasa A, which was sixth level of Polish league in 2001-2002. Lechia promoted to second division in 2005 after successive four promotions as champions: To Group Gdansk 2 of Klasa okręgowa in 2002, Pomerania (Pomorska) Group of fourth league in 2003, Second Group (Grupa II) of Third League in 2004. Lechia finished second division (now First League) as 10th in 2005-2006 season and 5th in 2006-2007 one.

At the end of the 2007/08 season Lechia managed to get promoted to extraklasa again as champions.

On 28 January 2009 the members of OSP Lechia Gdańsk signed a document that formed the new Lechia Gdańsk S.A.

On 30 July 2013, Lechia draws for 2-2 against FC Barcelona; the Spanish team risks to lose the friendly match and it was also the debut match of the Brazilian Neymar.[4]

Goal Scorers:

Important matches

Date Competition Place Stadium Opponent Score
30.07.2013 Friendly match Poland Gdańsk PGE Arena Spain FC Barcelona 2-2
Road to the Ekstraklasa

Historic Club Names

  • 1945: Baltia Gdańsk
  • 1946: Klub Sportowy Lechia Gdańsk
  • 1950: Budowlani Gdańsk
  • 1955: Budowlany Klub Sportowy Lechia Gdańsk
  • 1992: FC Lechia (S.A.)
  • 1995: Lechia/Olimpia Gdańsk
  • 1996: Klub Sportowy Lechia Gdańsk
  • 1998: Lechia/Polonia Gdańsk
  • 2001: Ośrodek Szkolenia Piłkarskiego Lechia Gdańsk
  • 2009: Lechia Gdańsk (S.A.)

Managers

  • Poland Ryszard Koncewicz / Czech Republic Vaclav Kriżek (1949)
  • Poland Czesław Bartolik (1951–53)
  • Austria Ferdynand Fritsch (1953)
  • Poland Tadeusz Foryś (1953–57)
  • Leszek Goździk (1958)
  • Henryk Serafin (1959–60)
  • Piotr Nierychło (1960–61)
  • Hungary Lajos Szolar (1961)
  • Poland Edward Drabiński (1962)
  • Roman Rogocz (1963)
  • Poland Ryszard Kulesza (1972–74)
  • Poland Wojciech Łazarek (1974–75)
  • Poland Grzegorz Polakow (1976)
  • Poland Marian Geszke (1976–78)
  • Poland Janusz Pekowski (1978–79)
  • Wojciech Przybylski (1979–81)
  • Andrzej Bikiewicz (1997–98)
  • Witold Kulik / Poland Stanisław Stachura (1998–99)
  • Poland Jerzy Jastrzębowski (1999–00)
  • Poland Romuald Szukiełowicz (2000–01)
  • Tadeusz Małolepszy (2001–02)
  • Poland Jerzy Jastrzębowski (2003–04)
  • Poland Marcin Kaczmarek (May 22, 2004–June 16, 2006)
  • Poland Tomasz Borkowski (June 17, 2006–Aug 27, 2007)
  • Poland Tomasz Kafarski (2007)
  • Poland Dariusz Kubicki (Aug 30, 2007–July 22, 2008)
  • Poland Jacek Zieliński (July 23, 2008–April 5, 2009)
  • Poland Tomasz Kafarski (April 7, 2009–Nov 8, 2011)
  • Poland Rafał Ulatowski (Nov 9, 2011–Dec 14, 2011)
  • Poland Paweł Janas (Jan 1, 2012–May 24, 2012)
  • Poland Bogusław Kaczmarek (June 6, 2012–June 4, 2013)
  • Poland Michał Probierz (June 4, 2013–)

The Fans

Lechia's fans

In the 1980s many of the club's fans were active in the Solidarity movement which was fighting the communist regime in Poland. It is therefore not unusual to see anticommunist slogans or phrases like "we make history" on the stands.

They have a friendship with Śląsk Wrocław and Wisła Kraków fans (Three Kings of Great Cities, Polish: Trzej Królowie Wielkich Miast). Their biggest rival is Arka Gdynia, and the games between the two are known as the "Tricity Derby" (Derby Trójmiasta).

Stadium

Main article: PGE Arena Gdańsk

PGE Arena Gdańsk is the home stadium of Lechia Gdańsk. The PGE Arena Gdańsk, previously called the Baltic Arena, is a football stadium in Gdańsk, Poland. It is used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Lechia Gdańsk. The Stadium is located on ul. Pokoleń Lechii Gdańsk ("Generations of Lechia Gdańsk street") in the northern part of the city (Letnica district). The capacity of the stands is 43,615 spectators, all seated and roofed. PGE Arena Gdańsk is the largest arena in Ekstraklasa and the third largest in the country (after National Stadium and Silesia Stadium).

PGE Arena Gdańsk

Construction of the stadium started in 2008 and was completed mid-2011.[2] The opening match was between Lechia Gdańsk and Cracovia and ended with 1–1 draw. The first international match, Poland - Germany, took place on 6 September 2011 and ended 2-2. The match was relocated from Warsaw because the National Stadium was not ready. PGE Arena is used by Lechia Gdańsk since 'the White-and-Green' relocated there form MOSiR Stadium.

The stadium was also one of the designated venues for the finals of Euro 2012. It hosted four matches during the tournament. Three matches in Group C and one quarterfinal were played here. Since 2010 the official name of the stadium is PGE Arena Gdańsk on the basis of a sponsorship agreement with Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE Group).

Full interior of the PGE Arena Gdańsk. 
PGE Arena Gdańsk 
Ekstraklasa match between Lechia Gdańsk - Cracovia Kraków (08.14. 2011) ended in (1:1) draw. 

Current squad

As of 24 January, 2014.

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
2 Poland DF Rafał Janicki
5 Poland DF Krzysztof Bąk
6 Poland DF Jaroslaw Bieniuk
7 Poland DF Sebastian Madera
8 Poland MF Patryk Tuszyński
9 Poland FW Piotr Grzelczak
10 Poland MF Przemysław Frankowski
11 Poland MF Łukasz Kacprzycki
12 Poland GK Bartosz Kaniecki
13 Poland MF Wojciech Zyska
14 Poland FW Piotr Wiśniewski
15 Poland FW Adam Duda
17 Poland DF Marcin Pietrowski
19 Poland MF Przemysław Czerwiński
20 Poland FW Paweł Buzała
No. Position Player
21 Poland MF Mateusz Machaj
23 Poland FW Damian Kugiel
24 Poland GK Mateusz Bąk
25 Poland MF Bartlomiej Smuczynski
26 Brazil DF Deleu
27 Poland MF Paweł Dawidowicz
28 Democratic Republic of the Congo DF Christopher Oualembo
29 Poland FW Kacper Łazaj
30 Poland MF Maciej Kostrzewa
32 Poland DF Adam Pazio
40 Poland GK Kacper Rosa
87 Poland GK Sebastian Małkowski
Poland MF Maciej Makuszewski
Russia FW Zaur Sadayev

Lechia in Europe

Season Competition Round Club Score
1983/84 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1R Italy Juventus 0-7, 2-3

See also

References

  1. ↑ Spółka Akcyjna = Stock Corporation
  2. ↑ "Arena Gdansk". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 22 April 2012. 
  3. ↑ http://www.rsssf.com/tableso/oekrfound.html
  4. ↑ http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/football-substitute-neymar-denied-victory-barcelona-debut-212443344.html

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to BKS Lechia Gdańsk.

Coordinates: 54°22′4.59″N 18°37′15.79″E / 54.3679417°N 18.6210528°E / 54.3679417; 18.6210528

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