Lech Poznan

Lech Poznan (Polish pronunciation: [lɛx ˈpɔznaj̃]) is a Polish professional football club based in Poznan and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division. The club is named after Lech, the legendary founder of the Polish nation.

The club was established on 19 March 1922 as KS Lutnia Debiec, later changing its name several times. From 1930 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 seven times, most recently in 2015, 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 activists 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, Jozef Magdziak, Kazimierz Zmuda, Stanislaw Nowicki, Stefan Fiedler, Jozef Goslinski, Leon Stachowski, Jozef 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 Debiec. 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 Staroleka, 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. I

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