Fixtures

Poland Ekstraklasa 04/01 13:00 26 Stal Mielec vs Lech Poznan - View
Poland Ekstraklasa 04/07 13:00 27 Lech Poznan vs Pogon Szczecin - View
Poland Ekstraklasa 04/13 15:30 28 Puszcza Niepolomice vs Lech Poznan - View
Poland Ekstraklasa 04/20 16:00 29 LKS Lodz vs Lech Poznan - View
Poland Ekstraklasa 04/27 16:00 30 Lech Poznan vs Cracovia Krakow - View
Poland Ekstraklasa 05/04 16:00 31 Ruch Chorzow vs Lech Poznan - View

Results

Poland Ekstraklasa 03/15 19:30 25 [4] Lech Poznan v Warta Poznan [13] W 2-0
Poland Ekstraklasa 03/09 19:00 24 [7] Gornik Zabrze v Lech Poznan [5] D 0-0
Poland Ekstraklasa 03/03 16:30 23 [6] Rakow Czestochowa v Lech Poznan [4] L 4-0
Poland Cup 02/27 19:30 3 Lech Poznan v Pogon Szczecin L 0-1
Poland Ekstraklasa 02/24 16:30 22 [4] Lech Poznan v Slask Wroclaw [2] D 0-0
Poland Ekstraklasa 02/17 16:30 21 [1] Jagiellonia Bialystok v Lech Poznan [4] W 1-2
Poland Ekstraklasa 02/10 19:00 20 [4] Lech Poznan v Zaglebie Lubin [9] W 2-0
Europe Friendlies 01/25 15:00 - Shakhtar Donetsk v Lech Poznan L 3-1
Europe Friendlies 01/25 11:00 - Lech Poznan v NK Maribor W 3-0
Europe Friendlies 01/18 14:00 - LASK Linz v Lech Poznan L CANC
Poland Ekstraklasa 12/16 19:00 19 [9] Radomiak Radom v Lech Poznan [3] D 2-2
Poland Ekstraklasa 12/10 11:30 18 [3] Lech Poznan v Piast Gliwice [13] L 0-1

Stats

 TotalHomeAway
Matches played 49 26 23
Wins 25 15 10
Draws 13 6 7
Losses 11 5 6
Goals for 80 48 32
Goals against 60 25 35
Clean sheets 18 11 7
Failed to score 9 4 5

Wikipedia - Lech Poznań

Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (Polish pronunciation: [lɛx ˈpɔznaj̃]), 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 [kɔˈlɛjɔʂ], 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.

History

Formation and early years (1920–1945)

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. 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.

Historic Ty51 steam locomotive with the Lech Poznań crest, representing the club's traditions, by the stadium in Poznań

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.

Downfall and the Miracle of Błażejewko (1947–1979)

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). 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. 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.

Golden age of Lech (1980–1993)

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 striker Andrzej Juskowiak, top goalscorer and champion in the Ekstraklasa in 1990 with 18 goals.

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.

New disappointments and successes (1994–present)

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.

Robert Lewandowski scored 32 goals in 58 matches with Lech Poznań (2008–2010).

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. 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, and won the club's eighth championship, their first in seven years.

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. 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, then eliminating Nordic teams of Bodø/Glimt, 1–0 on aggregate, and Djurgårdens IF, 5–0 on aggregate, to reach the quarter-finals. Their successful run ended there, after facing the Italian side Fiorentina and losing 4–6 on aggregate. 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 (Legia then managed to beat holders Sampdoria in the quarter-finals of the 1990-91 European Cup Winners Cup), and the first to move through two rounds since Górnik Zabrze in 1970 (again only counting rounds that took place after the winter break; Wisla Kraków managed to knock three different sides out of the 2002-03 UEFA Cup, but these rounds all took place before the winter break).

Lech Poznan is a professional soccer team based in Poznan, Poland. The team was founded in 1922 and has a rich history of success in Polish soccer. Lech Poznan has won the Polish league title seven times, most recently in 2015, and has also won the Polish Cup six times. The team plays its home matches at the INEA Stadion, which has a capacity of over 43,000 spectators. Lech Poznan is known for its passionate fan base, who are known as Kolejorz, and are known for their colorful displays and unwavering support for the team. The team's colors are white and green, and its crest features a stylized eagle, which is a symbol of the city of Poznan. Lech Poznan is one of the most successful and popular soccer teams in Poland, and is known for its attacking style of play and commitment to developing young talent.