Lechia Gdańsk ( Polish pronunciation: [ˈlɛxʲa ˈɡdaj̃sk] ) is a Polish football club based in Gdańsk . They compete in Ekstraklasa in the 2024–25 season after winning the 2023–24 I liga .
229-516: The club was founded in 1945 by people expelled from Lwów , who were supporters of Poland's oldest football team Lechia Lwów , founded in 1903. The club's name comes from Lechia , a poetic name for Poland, and is a continuation of the name used by the club based in Lwów. In their early years, Lechia enjoyed some success, most notably finishing third in the Polish top division , before spending decades in
458-416: A 13th-place finish, in a season where they scored 21 goals in 30 games. In 2012–13 there were more positives for Lechia, again finishing in a mid-table 8th. The team once again struggled at home, winning only three games. With the relegation of Polonia Warsaw (who finished the season in sixth) due to financial issues, Lechia effectively finished seventh, and secured their highest finish since their return to
687-401: A bar in the city, destroying the bar and leaving three United fans injured. While the reports after the attack were unconfirmed as to whether the fans were those of Lechia, the fans chanted "Lechia Gdańsk" as they were leaving the scene. Polish population transfers (1944%E2%80%931946) The Polish population transfers in 1944–1946 from the eastern half of prewar Poland (also known as
916-441: A competitive setting. Stoczniowiec won the first derby between the two clubs 2–1, in a derby that would go on to be played often over the next two decades. At the end of the season, the long serving forward who had three spells with Lechia, Bogdan Adamczyk , retired from playing football. Adamczyk was the last remaining player who had featured for the club during their "Golden Years" the decade before. Although one club legend retired,
1145-483: A difficult one for Lechia. In the 26 games that season, they only managed to win 6, drawing 3, with the side losing 17, scoring only 20 goals, and conceding 48. This caused the team to finish second from bottom, being 4 points from safety, and were relegated from the Ekstraklasa with Lech Poznań, ending their 9 season long spell of continuous top division football. While some of Lechia's important players remained at
1374-752: A fortified stronghold between the Warta and Cybina rivers on what is now Ostrów Tumski . Mieszko I , the first historically recorded ruler of the West Polans and of the early Polish state which they dominated, built one of his main stable headquarters in Poznań. Mieszko's baptism in AD 966, seen as a defining moment in the Christianization of the Polish state, may have taken place in Poznań. Following
1603-608: A four-year term. The current council members were elected in 2023. The council consists of 37 members. The Chairman of the Poznań City Council is Grzegorz Ganowicz (KO), and the Vice-Chairpersons are Przemysław Alexandrowicz (PiS), Agnieszka Lewandowska (KO), and Halina Owsianna. The council members collaborate within 14 permanent committees. The office of the President of Poznań is held by Jacek Jaśkowiak , with
1832-583: A goal each from Pohl and Słaboszowski seeing them finish as runners-up in the cup, and only the second team formed after the Second World War to feature in the Polish Cup final. In the league, the 1956 season was more successful than the year prior, seeing Lechia finish on the podium for the first time, with the club also becoming the first formed after the war to finish in the top three. Despite only scoring 25 goals in 22 games, Lechia finished
2061-494: A high of 4th place. The effects of the coronavirus were again felt by the team, with the match against Wisła Kraków being postponed due to an outbreak in the Wisła team. Lechia eventually struggled with a Covid outbreak of their own, with Jaroslav Mihalík being the first confirmed case in the club on 10 October, getting the virus while on international duty. In early November the club had an outbreak affecting 13 players and 7 members of
2290-441: A mini league, and once in a playoff game to formalise the final standings. Over these years where Lechia struggled, some of the players who were important in the club's rise during the early and mid 1950s started to move away or retire. Henryk Gronowski initially left in 1961, but later returned over the summer in 1963, his brother, and one of Lechia's most important forwards for Lechia during this era, Robert Gronowski, left in 1960,
2519-440: A new 43,000 capacity stadium in 2011. In Lechia's 3rd season back in the top flight, it was another season of consolidating their Ekstraklasa status. In the 2010–11 season the team once again finished in 8th place. It was, however, a more positive season that showed progression for the team as a whole. It was the first time since their promotion back to the top league that Lechia had won more games than they had lost, finished with
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#17327880455302748-418: A point, 8th in 1961 , scoring the joint second least in the league but surviving more comfortably by 5 points, and finishing 9th again in 1962 . The 1962 saw a change in the league format, with the season changing from a summer league (playing from spring-autumn) to it becoming a winter league (playing autumn-spring). The league for that season was therefore shorter, with teams playing a total of 13 games, 12 in
2977-514: A positive goal difference, and Lechia player Abdou Traoré finished joint runner up for most goals that season. And for the second season in a row Lechia reached the semi-finals of the 2010–11 Polish Cup , before losing 5–0 to Legia over the two legs. This was the last season in which Lechia played at the MOSiR Stadium , the stadium in which Lechia had played all of their home games since their formation in 1945. The last game to be played at
3206-410: A run to climb the table, including a 4–3 win over rivals Arka Gdynia. This run coincided with the meeting of Lech Poznań in the Polish Cup semi-final, against whom Lechia beat 4–3 in penalties after the game finished 1–1. This led Lechia into their second Polish Cup final in successive years. Lechia finished the season in 4th place and played Cracovia in the Polish Cup final, losing the final 3–2 after
3435-407: A similar format to the cup, with the teams being split into two groups, with the two winners playing each other to decide on that years champions. Lechia finished the disruptive season in 7th place, ensuing they remained in the league for the following season. The 1953 season returned to normality with one league and each team playing each other twice. The season saw Lechia struggle and finish bottom of
3664-467: A single duke, but at other times these constituted separate duchies. In about 1249, Duke Przemysł I began constructing what would become the Royal Castle on a hill on the left bank of the Warta . Then in 1253, Przemysł issued a charter to Thomas of Gubin for the founding of a town under Magdeburg law , between the castle and the river. Thomas brought a large number of German settlers to aid in
3893-450: A single point for the second successive season. Lechia also went on a cup run, playing Gryf Słupsk , Wielim Szczecinek, Widzew Łódź , and Unia Tarnów on their way to reaching the quarterfinals. Lechia lost in the quarterfinals to eventual runners-up Wisła Kraków . Lechia's fortunes in the II liga did start to change, and after narrowly missing out on promotion in four of the last five seasons,
4122-426: A single point. This was a trend which was to continue for Lechia. While the team improved to finish 6th in the 1959 season, the team only managed to score 19 goals in their 22 games, with only one team scoring fewer, Stal Sosnowiec , who finished bottom of the league. The next three seasons saw the team flirting with relegation, finishing 9th in 1960 , scoring the joint fewest in the league and surviving relegation by
4351-461: A space of 650,000 square metres it attracted around 4.5 million visitors. In the 1930s, the fair ranked as European fourth largest organiser of international trade events. The city's boundaries were again expanded in 1925 to include Główna, Komandoria , Rataje , Starołęka, Dębiec , Szeląg and Winogrady , and in 1933: Golęcin and Podolany . During the German occupation of 1939–1945, Poznań
4580-521: A sports club for the BOP workers. BOP Baltia's first game came on 2 September 1945, in which they lost the game 6–4 against Milicyjny Klub Sportowy z Wrzeszcza (Militia Sports Club from Wrzeszcz) in a friendly. BOP Baltia's first league game was a week later and played against WKS 16 Dywizji (Military Sports Club of the 16th Division). Due to the disruption of football in Poland due to the war the first season back
4809-477: A unit of administrative division and local government. However, in 1815, following the Congress of Vienna , the region was returned to Prussia, and Poznań became the capital of the semi-autonomous Grand Duchy of Posen . Around 1820, Poznań had over 20,000 inhabitants, 70% of whom were Poles, 20% Jews, and 10% Germans. The city continued to expand, and various projects were funded by Polish philanthropists, such as
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#17327880455305038-423: A vast improvement from the team, winning 16 of their 30 games, and losing only 6. The club also improved in goals scored, while also being the joint best team defensively. Tomasz Korynt, Leonard Radowski , and Zdzisław Puszkarz each managed 8 goals in the league that season as Lechia went on to finish in 2nd place, only 2 points of the league winners Widzew Łódź . This season also saw Zdzisław Puszkarz called up to
5267-635: Is a city on the River Warta in west Poland , within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's Fair ( Jarmark Świętojański ), traditional Saint Martin's croissants and a local dialect . Among its most important heritage sites are the Renaissance Old Town, Town Hall and Gothic Cathedral . Poznań
5496-594: Is difficult to establish the exact number of Poles expelled from Lviv, but it was estimated as between 100,000 and 140,000. In contrast to actions in the Ukrainian SSR, the communist officials in the Byelorussian SSR did not actively support deportation of Poles. Belarusian officials made it difficult for Polish activists to communicate with tuteishians – people who were undecided as to whether they considered themselves Polish or Belarusian. Much of
5725-405: Is home to over 1 million inhabitants. The complex infrastructure, population density, number of companies and gross product per capita of Poznań suburbs may be only compared to Warsaw suburbs. Many parts of closer suburbs such as Tarnowo Podgorne , Komorniki , Suchy Las , and Dopiewo produce more in terms of GDP per capita than the city itself. The relocation of Poznań from the right to
5954-543: Is not unusual to see anti-communist slogans on banners in the stadium. A phrase often used by the club and the fans is "We're creating history" ( Polish : My tworzymy historię ), which can be associated to the role Lechia fans have had on the fall of communism in Poland, and with the club's increasing competitiveness in recent years, such as winning the Polish Cup , the Polish Super Cup and finishing third in
6183-479: Is the fifth-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland . As of 2023, the city's population is 540,146, while the Poznań metropolitan area ( Metropolia Poznań ) comprising Poznań County and several other communities is inhabited by over 1.029 million people. It is one of four historical capitals of medieval Poland and the ancient capital of the Greater Poland region, currently the administrative capital of
6412-427: Is within the transition zone between a humid continental and oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb to Dfb although it just fits in the second in the 0 °C isotherm) and with relatively cold winters and warm summers. Snow is common in winter, when night-time temperatures are typically below zero. In summer temperatures may often reach 30 °C (86 °F). Annual rainfall is more than 500 mm (20 in), among
6641-488: The 2009–10 Polish Cup losing in the semi-final to eventual cup winners Jagiellonia . In January 2009 the members of Lechia Gdańsk (OSP) signed a document forming Lechia Gdansk S.A. (Spółka Akcyjna = Stock Corporation). It was during this season that Gdansk was chosen to be one of the host cities of the UEFA Euro 2012 championships in Poland and Ukraine, meaning the team would be moving from their current MOSiR Stadium to
6870-605: The Ekstraklasa all in 2019. Famous Lechia fans include; Lech Wałęsa , the leader of the Solidarity trade union which helped to bring an end to communist rule in Poland and Poland's second President . Donald Tusk , former Polish prime minister and President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019 is also a Lechia fan. Paweł Adamowicz , the mayor of Gdańsk from 1998–2019 until his assassination in 2019,
7099-625: The Jesuits ' college, founded in the city in 1571 during the Counter-Reformation , had the right to award degrees from 1611 until 1773, when it was combined with the academy. In the second half of the 17th century and most of the 18th, Poznań was severely affected by a series of wars, attendant military occupations, lootings and destruction – the Second and Third Northern Wars, the War of
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7328-721: The Main Commission to Investigate Crimes Against the Polish Nation in 1997 amounted to a grand total of 320,000 persons deported. Sociologist Tadeusz Piotrowski argues that various other smaller deportations, prisoners of war and political prisoners should be added for a grand total of 400,000 to 500,000 deported. By 1944, the population of ethnic Poles in Western Ukraine was 1,182,100. The Polish government in exile in London affirmed its position of retaining
7557-591: The NKVD arrested 772 Poles in Lviv (where, according to Soviet sources, on 1 October 1944, Poles represented 66.75% of population), among them 14 professors, 6 doctors, 2 engineers, 3 artists, and 5 Catholic priests. The Polish community was outraged about the arrests. The Polish underground press in Lviv characterized these acts as attempts to hasten the deportation of Poles from their city. Those arrested were released after they signed papers agreeing to emigrate to Poland. It
7786-565: The Poland national team to play against East Germany, despite Lechia playing in the second division. The following season was a good season for the Tricity region with the 4 teams in the league from the region all finishing in the top 5 places. Once again Lechia had a strong season, this time only losing 4 games, but again finished in 2nd place, this time 3 points behind rivals Arka Gdynia. 1976–77
8015-775: The Polish AK and Ukrainians escalated into the Massacres of Poles in Volhynia , led by the nationalist Ukrainian groups including the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army . Although the Soviet government was trying to eradicate these organizations, it did little to support the Polish minority; and instead encouraged population transfer. The haste at which repatriation
8244-410: The Polish Cup for Lechia, the second time in their history they won the competition. After the cup triumph, the championship group was a disappointment in comparison. After losing only four games in the previous 30, Lechia lost four of the seven championship games. Despite the disappointing end, it was a historic campaign for Lechia after winning the Polish Cup for the second time, and finishing third in
8473-523: The Polish local government reforms of 1999, Poznań again became the capital of a larger province entitled Greater Poland Voivodeship . It also became the seat of a powiat Poznań County , with the city itself gaining separate powiat status. Post-communism infrastructural developments include the opening of the Pestka Fast Tram route in 1997, and Poznań's first motorway connections in 2003 as Poland's east–west A2 highway runs south of
8702-643: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , Poznań was the seat of a voivodeship . The city's importance began to grow in the Jagiellonian period, due to its position on trading routes from Lithuania and Ruthenia to western Europe. It would become a major center for the fur trade by the late 16th century. Suburban settlements developed around the city walls, on the river islands, and on the right bank, with some (Ostrów Tumski, Śródka , Chwaliszewo, Ostrówek) obtaining their own town charters. However,
8931-778: The Poznań International Fair , the biggest industrial fair in Poland and one of the largest fairs in Europe. The city's other renowned landmarks include the National Museum , Grand Theatre , Fara Church and the Imperial Castle . Poznań is classified as a Gamma−global city by Globalization and World Cities Research Network . According to several rankings it is one of the most business-friendly cities in Poland. It also ranks highly in safety and healthcare quality . The city of Poznań has also, many times, won
9160-564: The Prussian Settlement Commission founded in 1886. Germans accounted for 38% of the city's population in 1867, though this percentage would later decline somewhat, particularly after the region returned to Poland. Another expansion of Festung Posen was planned, with an outer ring of more widely spaced forts around the perimeter of the city. Building of the first nine forts began in 1876, and nine intermediate forts were built from 1887. The inner ring of fortifications
9389-577: The Raczyński Library and the Bazar hotel. The city's first railway, running north-west to Stargard , opened in 1848. Due to its strategic location, the Prussian authorities intended to make Poznań into a fortress city, building a ring of defensive fortifications around it. Work began on the citadel with Fort Winiary in 1828, and in subsequent years the entire set of defenses called Festung Posen
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9618-881: The Russian people ". The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War of 1917-1922 brought an end to the Russian Empire. According to Ukrainian sources from the Cold War period, during the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 the Polish population of Kyiv was 42,800. In July 1917, when relations between the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR) and Russia became strained, the Polish Democratic Council of Kyiv supported
9847-592: The Second Partition of Poland , Poznań came under the control of the Kingdom of Prussia , becoming part of (and initially the seat of) the province of South Prussia . The Prussian authorities expanded the city boundaries, making the walled city and its closest suburbs into a single administrative unit. Left-bank suburbs were incorporated in 1797, and Ostrów Tumski, Chwaliszewo, Śródka, Ostrówek and Łacina (St. Roch) in 1800. The old city walls were taken down in
10076-514: The Tricity Derby . Lechia won the first ever meeting between the two clubs with the game finishing 2–1. The club also saw in improvement the following year by finishing in 6th for the 1965–66 season. While these seasons were an improvement on their first season back in the second tier, Lechia never found themselves more than 4 points clear from relegation, the equivalent of 2 wins during that period. This shows that while Lechia were finishing in
10305-592: The Union of Lublin in 1569, when most of the territory became part of the newly established Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . From 1657 to 1793, some 80 Roman Catholic churches and monasteries were built in Volhynia alone. The expansion of Catholicism in Lemkivshchyna , Chełm Land , Podlaskie , Brześć land , Galicia , Volhynia and Right bank Ukraine was accompanied by the process of gradual Polonization of
10534-502: The baptism , construction began of Poznań's cathedral , the first in Poland. Poznań was probably the main seat of the first missionary bishop sent to Poland, Bishop Jordan . The Congress of Gniezno in 1000 led to the country's first permanent archbishopric being established in Gniezno (which is generally regarded as Poland's capital in that period), although Poznań continued to have independent bishops of its own. Poznań's cathedral
10763-568: The 18th century, resulted in the expulsions of ethnic Poles from their homes in the east for the first time in the history of the nation. Some 80,000 Poles were escorted to Siberia by the Russian imperial army in 1864 in the single largest deportation action undertaken within the Russian Partition . "Books were burned; churches destroyed; priests murdered;" wrote Norman Davies . Meanwhile, Ukrainians were officially considered "part of
10992-692: The 1939 borders. Nikita Khrushchev , however, approached Stalin personally to keep the territories gained through the illegal and secret Molotov–Ribbentrop pact under continued Soviet occupation. The residents of the Western Ukraine and Byelorussia, as well as those of the Wilno district, which had been annexed to the Soviet Union under the Ribentrop-Molotov pact of 23 August and 28 September 1939, had all been under German occupation for between two and half to three years, and were finally annexed to
11221-496: The 1993–94 seasons finishing in 8th before their highest finish of 6th since being relegated. During this period there was a greater rivalry with the three major Tricity clubs, Lechia representing Gdańsk , with Arka and Bałtyk from Gdynia . The 1993–94 season was an important season for the Tricity teams. Bałtyk Gdynia finished highest in the league for the 3rd season in a row, while both Lechia and Arka faced each other for
11450-580: The 1995–96 season Lechia–Olympia Gdańsk was renamed as Lechia Gdańsk, promoting the team from the 3rd division to the 2nd. The new Lechia team failed to capitalize on the return to the second division by being relegated to the 3rd division straight away. The 1997–98 season was a better season for Lechia with the team finishing in 3rd place in the III liga. Before the 1998–99 season Lechia had their 2nd merger within 3 years, this time merging with Polonia Gdańsk to create Lechia-Polonia Gdańsk taking Polonia's place in
11679-457: The 2nd division. This merger lasted 3 years, with the team's fortunes slowly deteriorating, finishing 7th in 1998–99, 14th in 1999–2000, and 19th in the 2000–01 season, and thus suffering another relegation to the 3rd division. In the 2001–02 season Lechia–Polonia competed in the 3rd division, while a newly formed Lechia Gdańsk team was formed in the 6th division. After the 2001–02 season Lechia–Polonia dissolved, resulting newly formed Lechia becoming
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#173278804553011908-681: The Allied leaders Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom, Franklin D. Roosevelt of the U.S., and Joseph Stalin of the USSR, during the conferences at Tehran and Yalta. The Polish transfers were among the largest of several post-war expulsions in Central and Eastern Europe , which displaced a total of about 20 million people. According to official data, during the state-controlled expulsion between 1945 and 1946, roughly 1,167,000 Poles left
12137-532: The Bogdanka, and Rusałka , an artificial lake formed in 1943 further down the Bogdanka river. The latter two are popular bathing places. Kiekrz lake is much used for sailing , while Malta is a competitive rowing and canoeing venue. The city centre – including the Old Town , the former islands of Grobla and Chwaliszewo, the main street Święty Marcin and many other important buildings and districts – lies on
12366-595: The Bolshevik and nationalist terror campaigns of the new war triggered the flight of Poles and Jews from Soviet Russia to newly sovereign Poland. In 1922 Bolshevik Russian Red Army , with their Bolshevik allies in Ukraine overwhelmed the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic , including the annexed Ukrainian territories into the Soviet Union . In that year, 120,000 Poles stranded in the east were expelled to
12595-597: The Championship Round Lechia once again finished fifth, and narrowly missed out on qualification for the Europa League Qualifiers. Grzegorz Kuświk who joined Lechia from Ruch during the summer finished the season with 11 goals, and was one of the top goal scorers that season. 2016–17 saw the improvements that fans had been anticipating. With players such as Haraslín as well as the internationally experienced players who joined
12824-631: The Deputy Presidents being Mariusz Wiśniewski, Jędrzej Solarski, and Natalia Weremczuk. The position of City Treasurer is occupied by Barbara Sajnaj, while Stanisław Tamm serves as the City Secretary. Administrative services for citizens are managed by 30 departments and equivalent organizational units of the City of Poznań Office. Additionally, the city operates 328 municipal organizational units to fulfill various public tasks. Throughout
13053-421: The Ekstraklasa stopped for the winter break. After the break Lechia's inconsistent form continued, seeing a convincing win against Śląsk, before being convincingly beaten against Cracovia. Lechia's third game of the league's return was against the league leaders Lech Poznań, with the club needing a positive result to keep up the pace with the teams in the top 3 places. Despite Lech being the dominant team for much of
13282-441: The Ekstraklasa, overtaking Miroslav Radović as the highest scoring foreigner in the top league of Poland. Lechia went on to win the next two games while managing to keep clean sheets in both games. The 3 match winning run was ended after a 3–0 defeat against Jagiellonia Białystok. It was announced a few days after the game, on 17 December, that the players and staff had not been played by the club since September and had failed to pay
13511-550: The European giants in the home leg of the competition. The Lechia home game against Juventus was not only a sporting spectacle, but proved to be a place of mass demonstration for the Solidarity movement, which many fans were part of. In the 40,000 crowd was Lech Wałęsa , with the crowds chants of "Solidarność! Solidarność! Solidarność!" causing the second half to be delayed by 6 minutes and with broadcasters resulting to mute
13740-420: The Grand Duchy of Poznań , and Polish Theatre opened in 1875. It became a national stage for the inhabitants of the province of Posen, and even in whole Greater Poland region , acting as a mainstay of polish tradition and culture, and as a sign of resistance against the restrictive policies of the Prussian partition authorities. However, the authorities made efforts to Germanize the region, particularly through
13969-411: The Główna, flowing through the neighbourhood of the same name in north-east Poznań; and the Rose Stream (Strumień Różany) flowing east from Morasko in the north of the city. The course of the Warta in central Poznań was formerly quite different from today: the main stream ran between Grobla and Chwaliszewo, which were originally both islands. The branch west of Grobla (the Zgniła Warta – "rotten Warta")
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#173278804553014198-419: The II liga was a year of transition and the team initially struggled finishing 6th out of 10 teams, and finding themselves way off the pace for an immediate return to the top division. The league format of the II liga was changed for the 1951 season, where in the previous season the division was split into two groups with both winners being promoted, the 1951 season saw the II liga being split into four groups with
14427-528: The Latin nominative case as Posnania in 1236 and Poznania in 1247. The phrase in Poznan appears in 1146 and 1244. The city's full official name is Stołeczne Miasto Poznań (The Capital City of Poznań), in reference to its role as a centre of political power in the early Polish state under the Piast dynasty . Poznań is known as Posen in German , and was officially called Haupt- und Residenzstadt Posen (Capital and Residence City of Poznań) between 20 August 1910 and 28 November 1918. The Latin names of
14656-411: The Lithuanian SSR was signed on 22 September). The document specified who was eligible for the resettlement (it primarily applied to all Poles and Jews who were citizens of the Second Polish Republic before 17 September 1939, and their families), what property they could take with them, and what aid they would receive from the corresponding governments. The resettlement was divided into two phases: first,
14885-415: The Marshal of Greater Poland. Poznań, which holds the status of both a municipality and a county city, is home not only to the local authorities of Poznań but also to the authorities of the Poznań County . Additionally, the city hosts the[Union of Polish Cities and the Association of Municipalities and Counties of Greater Poland . The Poznań City Council is the legislative and supervisory body, elected for
15114-417: The Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland . The second wave of expulsions resulted from the retaking of Poland from the Wehrmacht by the Red Army . The USSR took over territory for its western republics . The postwar population transfers were part of an official Soviet policy that affected more than one million Polish citizens, who were removed in stages from the Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union . After
15343-422: The Poland internationals who were already at the club, saw the arrivals of Ariel Borysiuk , Sławomir Peszko , Jakub Wawrzyniak , Grzegorz Wojtkowiak , as well as former Serbian international Miloš Krasić . Despite the new players Lechia struggled at the start of the season and hovered above the relegation zone until the winter break. The team managed to reach seventh place by the end of the regular season. During
15572-401: The Polish intelligentsia . It is estimated that about 150,000 to 250,000 people were deported from Belarus. Similar numbers were registered as Poles but forced by the Belarusian officials to remain in Belarus or were outright denied registration as Poles. In response, Poland followed a similar process in regards to the Belarusian population of the territory of the Białystok Voivodeship , which
15801-411: The Polish Cup and the Super Cup, before suffering relegation to I liga in 2023. The club was founded on 7 August 1945 in Gdańsk and was originally named "BOP Baltia Gdańsk" . The club was first established by the "Port Reconstruction Office" ( Polish : Biuro Odbudowy Portów ). The BOP's purpose was to help rebuild Polish sea ports which were destroyed during World War II, and saw it best to create
16030-411: The Polish Cup to reach the semi-finals, leaving only 2 wins to retain the cup. Announcements were made over the following days and weeks, with the Ekstraklasa, I liga and Polish Cup fixtures all being suspended until 26 April at the earliest. At the time of the league's suspension Lechia were in 7th place with 4 games left to play in the regular season. After a difficult restart to the season Lechia went on
16259-433: The Polish Succession , the Seven Years' War and the Bar Confederation . During the Deluge , Poznań's Jewish community was accused of collaborating with the invading Swedish enemy , and as a result suffered pogroms carried out by both the city's non-Jewish residents and units of the Polish Crown Army . It was also hit by frequent outbreaks of plague , and by floods, particularly that of 1736, which destroyed most of
16488-526: The Polish government into actions that would cause a loss of support for the more moderate Ukrainian politicians ready to negotiate with the Polish state. OUN directed its violence not only against the Poles but also against Jews and other Ukrainians who wished for a peaceful resolution to the Polish–Ukrainian conflict. The 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland during World War II was subsequently accompanied by
16717-490: The Relegation Round in 13th place, two places and three points above the relegation zone. Marco and Flávio had a huge contribution to Lechia staying up, with 16 goals from Marco and 10 for Flávio. At the end of the season Sebastian Mila retired from football, after having had two spells with Lechia. [REDACTED] Piotr Stokowiec was in place for the final few games of the disappointing 2017–18 season and
16946-649: The Restorer in 1039, but the capital was moved to Kraków , which had been relatively unaffected by the troubles. In 1138, by the testament of Boleslaus III , Poland was divided into separate duchies under the late king's sons, and Poznań and its surroundings became the domain of Mieszko III the Old , the first of the Dukes of Greater Poland . This period of fragmentation lasted until 1320. Duchies frequently changed hands; control of Poznań, Gniezno and Kalisz sometimes lay with
17175-637: The Soviet Union in 1944. The speedy exodus of Poles from these regions was meant to erase their Polish past and to confirm the fact that the regions were indeed part of the Soviet Union. The document regarding the resettlement of Poles from the Ukrainian and Belorussian SSRs to Poland was signed 9 September 1944 in Lublin by Khrushchev and the head of the Polish Committee of National Liberation Edward Osóbka-Morawski (the corresponding document with
17404-640: The Soviets forcibly deporting hundreds of thousands of Polish citizens to distant parts of the Soviet Union: Siberia and Central Asia. Five years later, for the first time, the Supreme Soviet formally acknowledged that the Polish nationals expelled after the Soviet invasion were not Soviet citizens, but foreign subjects. Two decrees were signed on 22 June and 16 August 1944 to facilitate the release of Polish nationals from captivity. After
17633-401: The USSR, was a deliberate distortion, as deported peoples were leaving their homeland rather than returning to it. It is also sometimes referred to as the 'first repatriation' action, in contrast with the 'second repatriation' of 1955–1959. In a wider context, it is sometimes described as a culmination of a process of de- Polonization of these areas during and after the world war. The process
17862-559: The Ukrainian side in its conflict with Petrograd . Throughout the existence of UNR (1917–21), there was a separate ministry for Polish affairs, headed by Mieczysław Mickiewicz ; it was set up by the Ukrainian side in November 1917. In that entire period, some 1,300 Polish-language schools were operating in Galicia, with 1,800 teachers and 84,000 students. In the region of Podolia in 1917, there were 290 Polish schools. Beginning in 1920,
18091-569: The Warta. Other tributaries of the Warta within Poznań are the Junikowo Stream (Strumień Junikowski) , which flows through southern Poznań from the west, meeting the Warta just outside the city boundary in Luboń ; the Bogdanka and Wierzbak, formerly two separate tributaries flowing from the north-west and along the north side of the city centre, now with their lower sections diverted underground;
18320-416: The away leg 2–1, with Lechia's goal coming from Flávio Paixão, the game went to extra time. Brøndby scored early in extra time, and with Lechia pushing for an equalizer, scored again late on meaning Lechia lost the tie 5–3 on aggregate. The start of the 2019–20 season proved to be difficult for Lechia, with new signing Žarko Udovičić receiving a four match ban after being sent off in the team's first game of
18549-489: The border regions to resettle the area with ethnic Russians and Ukrainians, but Stalin had them deported to the far reaches of Siberia and Central Asia. In 1935 alone 1,500 families were deported to Siberia from Soviet Ukraine. In 1936, 5,000 Polish families were deported to Kazakhstan . The deportations were accompanied by the gradual elimination of Polish cultural institutions. Polish-language newspapers were closed, as were Polish-language classes throughout Ukraine. Soon after
18778-475: The building and settlement of the city – this is an example of the German eastern migration ( Ostsiedlung ) characteristic of that period. The city, which covered the area of today's Old Town neighbourhood, was surrounded by a defensive wall, integrated with the castle. The royal chancery and the university ensured a first flourishing of Polish literary culture in the city. In reunited Poland, and later in
19007-470: The centre. Older residential and commercial districts include those of Wilda, Łazarz and Górczyn to the south, and Jeżyce to the west. There are also significant areas of forest within the city boundaries, particularly in the east adjoining Swarzędz , and around the lakes in the north-west. For more details on Poznań's geography, see the articles on its five main districts: Stare Miasto , Nowe Miasto , Jeżyce , Grunwald , and Wilda . The climate of Poznań
19236-447: The chance to win the title up until the final game the season before. However, any optimism of a repeat was short-lived. Lechia spent most of the season in the bottom half of the table and finished the regular season in 14th, one place and one point above the relegation zone. This was the first season Lechia had featured in the Relegation Round. Wins against Termalica Nieciecza , Arka Gdynia and Piast Gliwice ensured that Lechia finished
19465-536: The city are Posnania and Civitas Posnaniensis . Its Yiddish name is פּױזן , or Poyzn . In Polish, the city's name has masculine grammatical gender . For centuries before the Christianization of Poland (an event that essentially is credited as the creation of the very first Polish state, the Duchy of Poland ), Poznań was an important cultural and political centre of the Western Polans . It consisted of
19694-409: The city centre it divides into two branches, flowing west and east of Ostrów Tumski Cathedral island, and meeting again further north. The smaller Cybina river flows through eastern Poznań to meet the east branch of the Warta, which is also called Cybina – its northern section was originally a continuation of that river, while its southern section has been artificially widened to form a main stream of
19923-613: The city centre, serving also as a bypass. In 2006 country's first F-16 Fighting Falcons came to be stationed at the 31st Air Base in Krzesiny in the south-east of the city. Poznań continues to host regular trade fairs and international events, including the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2008. It was one of the host cities for UEFA Euro 2012 . Poznań covers an area of 261.3 km (100.9 sq mi), and has coordinates in
20152-438: The city in 1974. Another infrastructural change, which was completed in 1968, was the rerouting of the river Warta to follow two straight branches either side of Ostrów Tumski. The most recent expansion of the city's boundaries took place in 1987, with the addition of new areas mainly to the north, including Morasko , Radojewo and Kiekrz . The first free local elections following the fall of communism took place in 1990. With
20381-487: The city's development was hampered by regular major fires and floods. On 2 May 1536 a fire destroyed 175 buildings, including the castle, the town hall, the monastery, and the suburban settlement called St. Martin. In 1519, the Lubrański Academy had been established in Poznań as an institution of higher education, but without the right to award degrees, which was reserved to Kraków's Jagiellonian University . However,
20610-497: The city), and around 40% were Germans (over 65,000 German inhabitants of the city). Other nationalities accounted for 1-2% of the population (mainly Jews). Germans tended to settle in the newer western part of the city, the Kaiserviertel or Kaiser district, Poles in the older east side. And while there was tension between the two major populations there was also some overlap between them, particularly in cultural events. At
20839-548: The city, particularly the Old Town, in ruins. Many monuments were also destroyed, including Gutzon Borglum 's statue of Woodrow Wilson in Poznan. Due to the expulsion and flight of German population Poznań's post-war population became almost uniformly Polish. The city again became a voivodeship capital. In 1950, the size of Poznań Voivodeship was reduced, and the city itself was given separate voivodeship status. This status
21068-546: The city. The German population increased from around 5,000 in 1939 (some 2% of the inhabitants) to around 95,000 in 1944. The Jewish community's history in the city dates back to the 13th century. In the past, the Jewish council in Poznan became one of the oldest and most important Jewish councils in Poland. The pre-war Jewish population of at least about 2,000 were mostly murdered in the Holocaust . A concentration camp
21297-456: The club after their relegation, including long serving players such as; Bogdan Adamczyk , Jerzy Apolewicz , Janusz Charczuk , Roman Korynt , Czesław Nowicki , Zbigniew Żemojtel , and the return of Henryk Gronowski after the club's relegation, the squad struggled to adapt to falling down a division. That season Lechia lost more games than they managed to win, and were only able to secure a 10th-placed finish out of 16 teams. Lechia did adapt to
21526-526: The club also having a fan group in England . In the 1980s many of the club's fans were active in the Solidarity movement which was fighting the communist regime in Poland . This included Lech Wałęsa , a fan of Lechia Gdańsk who was at the front of the Solidarity movement and became the first elected President of Poland after the fall of communism. Due to Gdańsk's role with the Solidarity movement, it
21755-411: The club competitive upon their return to the league. Their first season back, 1955 , was at the time the club's most successful season in their history. On their way to a 5th-place finish in the league, their highest at that point, they beat strong teams at the time such as ŁKS Łódź , Lech Poznań , Zagłębie Sosnowiec , and the 1955 Polish champions Legia Warsaw . The season also provided the chance for
21984-424: The club found themselves slipping down into mid-table finishes the next two seasons. 6th and 7th-placed finishes in seasons where Lechia nearly won, drew and lost the same number of games each time saw the club looking far less competitive and saw the departure of talismanic midfielder Zdzisław Puszkarz in 1981. It was evident in 1981–82 that Puszkarz, a lifelong Lechia fan and a player who had been seen as too good for
22213-439: The club were once again raised, and could be seen as a reason for the club's poor performance, however these concerns were soon quashed and the situation was not as bad as first feared. Despite these concerns, Lechias form improved, with the club going on to win 5 of the next 7 games, and with Raków Częstochowa winning the Polish Cup , 4th place would be good enough for Lechia to secure European football. One game of note in this run
22442-572: The club where he had started his professional career 14 years earlier. The Polish international became Lechia's captain for the remainder of the season, and helped the club to an eighth-placed finish for the regular season. During the Championship Round, Lechia managed to finish in fifth, once again just missing out on qualifying for the Europa League . 2015–16 saw an intent for progression for Lechia. Joining Mila and Łukasik ,
22671-482: The club's first piece of silverware by reaching the Polish Cup final for the first time. Lechia's route in the Polish Cup ( Polish : Puchar Polski ) to the final saw them beating Sandecja Nowy Sącz , Wisła Kraków , Odra Opole and Gwardia Warsaw . The final saw Lechia play Legia Warsaw at the Polish Army Stadium , Legia's home stadium. Lechia lost the game 5–0 after a hat-trick from Kempny , and
22900-465: The club's future financial situation key players on high wagers were told they could leave during the winter break. Key players that left included; Lukáš Haraslín , Artur Sobiech , Daniel Łukasik , Rafał Wolski and Sławomir Peszko with Błażej Augustyn training with the Lechia II team until arrangements could be made. Although key players were missing and there being a greater emphasis on playing
23129-535: The club's history. On 1 September 2021 it was announced that the Pogoń Szczecin assistant manager Tomasz Kaczmarek was to become the new Lechia manager. Lechia under Kaczmarek initially performed well in the league, going on a nine-game unbeaten run in the league under the manager, a run of 10 games in total with Stokowiec's last game in charge being included. During this unbeaten run of games, Lechia convincingly beat teams such as their wins against Górnik Łęczna and
23358-434: The coaching staff. After a month with no games due to the team's outbreak the Lechia team returned to play Śląsk Wrocław, winning the game 3–2. After this initial success after the team's isolation, Lechia lost the following four games without scoring a goal. Going into the final game before the winter break the team found themselves in the bottom half of the table, but a 3–0 win over Cracovia helped them to rise up to 8th. After
23587-642: The communist party and secret police headquarters, where they were repulsed by gunfire. Riots continued for two days until being quelled by the army; 67 people were killed according to official figures. A monument to the victims was erected in 1981 at Plac Mickiewicza. The post-war years had seen much reconstruction work on buildings damaged in the fighting. From the 1960s onwards intensive housing development took place, consisting mainly of pre-fabricated concrete blocks of flats , especially in Rataje and Winogrady , and later Piątkowo , following its incorporation into
23816-447: The competitiveness of the team in their early years to play in the top division, it was not a season to be enjoyed by Lechia in terms of on field performances, winning only 4 games all season and losing an incredible 15 times out of 22 games, finishing bottom of the league as a result. Due to suffering relegation in their first Ekstraklasa season the club found themselves back in the second tier of Polish football in 1950. Their first year in
24045-417: The continuation of the original club, while Polonia Gdańsk having already reformed in the sixth tier in 1999. The newly formed independent Lechia Gdańsk team had a lot of initial success, winning the league in its first year in the 6th tier in 2001–02 season. This form continued finishing first in the 2002–03 season in the 5th tier, as well as winning the 2003–04 season in the 4th tier, and also finishing first
24274-552: The country, despite not always being successful. Most of the support comes from Gdańsk and the Pomeranian region. The biggest supporters group is the "Lions of the North" group ( Polish : Lwy Północy ) who organise displays in the stadium as well as travel to away games. Outside of Gdańsk the club have 24 official fan groups linked to the club, with more unofficial fan groups. The official and unofficial fan groups can be found in
24503-475: The course of the season. Despite the club's decent away form, it proved by the end of the season that their home form had massively helped Lechia in the league, with Lechia finishing the 2007–08 season as champions, and as a result, secured promotion back to the Ekstraklasa . For the 2008–09 season Lechia returned to the Ekstraklasa for the first time since being relegated after the 1987–88 Ekstraklasa season. Lechia struggled in their first season of being back in
24732-608: The cup also continued after the restart, beating Górnik Zabrze in the quarterfinals, Raków Częstochowa in the semifinal, meeting Jagiellonia Białystok in the final. The final was played on 2 May 2019 at the National Stadium in Warsaw. After a close game Flávio Paixão scored for Lechia in the 85th minute, before it was disallowed by the VAR . Artur Sobiech scored the winning goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time, winning
24961-464: The cup was to give the players an opportunity to show off their skills, and with a more relaxed competition compared to the league would provide the Polish team with the best possible preparation to perform well at the Olympics. The cup ran from April – July and initially saw two groups where each team played each other twice, with the top three teams in each group going through to the playoffs to decide
25190-408: The current Polish champions, Legia Warsaw . This good form saw Lechia closing in on the leaders Lech, and going on to fight for a few weeks with Raków for the second and third places. The impressive run came to a disappointing end with a 5–1 defeat to Pomeranian rivals Pogoń which saw Lechia's run of form drastically change, going on to lose 3 of the next 4 games, and being in 5th place in the league as
25419-543: The curriculum of pre-war Poland . Overnight this allowance was discontinued, and all Polish schools were required to teach the Soviet Ukrainian curriculum, with classes to be held only in Ukrainian and Russian. All males were told to prepare for mobilization into labor brigades within the Red Army . These actions were introduced specifically to encourage Polish emigration from Ukraine to Poland. In January 1945,
25648-452: The division as they now had to win the league, where as before finishing as runners-up was good enough for promotion to the I liga. Lechia finished 4th in the league, in what was generally an average season for the team, but due to the top 3 teams taking so many points from the lower placed teams in the league Lechia recorded a high finish, with players such as Tomasz Korynt and Andrzej Głownia having standout seasons. The 1974–75 season saw
25877-420: The early 19th century, and major development took place to the west of the old city, with many of the main streets of today's city center being laid out. In the Greater Poland uprising of 1806 , Polish soldiers and civilian volunteers assisted the efforts of Napoleon by driving out Prussian forces from the region. The city became a part of the Duchy of Warsaw in 1807, and was the seat of Poznań Department –
26106-444: The early 20th century its population was around 40% Polish, 30% Jewish and 20% Russian and Belarusian, with only about 2–3% self-declared Lithuanians. The government considered the rural Polish population important to the agricultural economy, and believed those people would be relatively amenable to assimilation policies ( Lithuanization ). But the government encouraged expulsion of Poles from Vilnius, and facilitated it. The result
26335-746: The eastern lands. Social and ethnic conflicts arose regarding the differences in religious practices between the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox adherents during the Union of Brest in 1595-96, when the Metropolitan of Kyiv-Halych broke relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church and accepted the authority of the Roman Catholic Pope and Vatican. The partitions of Poland , toward the end of
26564-415: The eligible citizens were registered as wishing to be resettled; second, their request was to be reviewed and approved by the corresponding governments. About 750,000 Poles and Jews from the western regions of Ukraine were deported, as well as about 200,000 each from western Belarus and from Lithuanian SSR each. The deportations continued until 1 August 1946. Toward the end of World War II , tensions between
26793-517: The end of World War I , the final Greater Poland Uprising in 1918–1919 brought Poznań and most of the region back to newly reborn Poland, which was confirmed by the Treaty of Versailles . The local German populace had to acquire Polish citizenship or leave the country. This led to a wide emigration of the ethnic Germans of the town's population – the town's German population decreased from 65,321 in 1910 to 5,980 in 1926 and further to 4,387 in 1934. In
27022-442: The end of the season, Tadeusz Foryś, who saw Lechia's rise from the II liga to being a challenger for the top places in the I liga, left Lechia to manage Arka Gdynia . Following the departure of Foryś who made Lechia defensively strong, the team's fortunes declined from the season with one notable difference from the previous season being the number of goals the team conceded. The side fell to 8th place, just surviving relegation by
27251-429: The ever present defenders Hubert Kusz and Czesław Lenc left in 1960 and 1962, and Roman Rogocz, who scored more than 100 goals for Lechia during his 15-year career at the club, retired in 1962. Each of these players made more than 100 appearances in the I liga for Lechia, leaving Lechia without the quality and experience these players provided. This loss of quality was evident during the 1962-63 season which ended up being
27480-530: The expulsions of Poles from the Kresy macroregion ), were the forced migrations of Poles toward the end and in the aftermath of World War II . These were the result of a Soviet Union policy that had been ratified by the main Allies of World War II . Similarly, the Soviet Union had enforced policies between 1939 and 1941 which targeted and expelled ethnic Poles residing in the Soviet zone of occupation following
27709-420: The fact that of the 4 league defeats that season, 3 of them came in Lechia's first 4 league games. After finding themselves in the second division Lechia performed well and comfortably finished above the relegation zone in 7th place, winning and losing 9 games each over the season, and drawing 12, of which 8 were 0–0 draws. This followed the trend of Lechia not scoring many, but being set up well defensively, with
27938-423: The final game of the season Lechia was in fourth place, two points behind Legia who were top, Lechia knew that with a win away to Legia they had a great chance of winning their first-ever Ekstraklasa title. The game finished 0–0, and due to Lech and Jagiellonia drawing with each other, Lechia did not gain any positions and finished fourth with the same points as Lech and Jaga who finished in second and third. For
28167-446: The final. They beat Widzew Łódź 5–4 on penalties, after drawing 1–1, Śląsk Wrocław 3–0 in the round of 16, Zagłębie Sosnowiec 1–0 in the quarter-finals, and Ruch Chorzów in the semi-finals 4–3 on penalties. The final saw them playing Piast Gliwice who were in the second tier. They won the final 2–1 with goals from Krzysztof Górski and Marek Kowalczyk to win their first-ever piece of silverware. In 1983–84 Lechia were again in
28396-513: The first round of the 2023–24 I liga against Chrobry Głogów with a matchday squad consisting of 8 youth players with no prior senior team playing experience. The club was also facing financial and organizational issues, including delayed staff payments and having to use placeholder kits in the early stages of the season . Following change of ownership in August, the arrival of foreign players such as Ivan Zhelizko , Maksym Khlan , Rifet Kapić and
28625-511: The first time in history in the 1993–94 Polish Cup, with Arka winning the match 1–0. The season was another difficult one for Lechia, in which they finished 14th, 1 place above the relegation zone. The struggles for Lechia reached a devastating end by the end of the 1994–95 season, with the team, ultimately being relegated to the 3rd Division, along with fellow rivals Arka Gdynia. The 1995–96 season saw Lechia merge with Olimpia Poznań , becoming Olimpia-Lechia Gdańsk . Olimpia-Lechia Gdańsk played in
28854-620: The following round. They ended their Polish Cup journey in the round of 16, losing the penalty shootout to Legia, who went on to win the competition. Most notably however, the White-Greens were relegated after losing at home to Zagłębie Lubin in the 31st matchday on 6 May 2023, ending their fifteen-year stint in the top flight. Following relegation, many of the key players left the club, such as Łukasz Zwoliński , Jarosław Kubicki , Michał Nalepa and Flávio Paixão , among others. Led by their new manager Szymon Grabowski , Lechia contested
29083-539: The following season saw the introduction of Zdzisław Puszkarz , a youngster from the Lechia academy, who would one day become a club legend himself. The season didn't go as planned for Lechia, with the team finishing in 5th, and seeing their rivals Arka top the league. Over the next three years however Lechia maintained a consistent challenge on fighting for the league title. The 1968–69 season saw Lechia finishing in 3rd place, conceding only 18 in 30 league games, and keeping an impressive 18 clean sheets. Lechia were still off
29312-508: The game strongly the contest fizzled out to a 0–0 draw. This was enough for Lechia to secure their place in the following seasons Europa Conference League , only their third time of playing European football in their history. The following 2022–23 season was very unsuccessful for Lechia. In the Conference League qualifiers , after beating Akademija Pandev in the first round, they got eliminated from European football by Rapid in
29541-429: The game went into extra-time. Lechia went into the 2020–21 season celebrating their 75th anniversary, but with the fans and team knowing they had lost some key players from previous seasons. Filip Mladenović joined rivals Legia Warsaw while Lukáš Haraslín made the permanent move to U.S. Sassuolo . Lechia struggled at the start of the season, losing two of their first three games, before finding some form and moving to
29770-432: The game, a late goal from 17 year old Filip Koperski secured a 1–0 win against their league rivals, and keeping themselves in touching distance of a top 3 finish. The win against Lech proved to be a blip, with the club failing to win any of the next three games including losing against Radomiak Radom who were also trying to reach the top 3, and only drawing with relegation candidates Wisła Kraków. Financial struggles around
29999-402: The game, becoming the youngest ever Lechia player to start a competitive game, and the youngest ever player to start a game in the Ekstraklasa. On 10 March it was announced that all games would be played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic . After the announcement Polish football would be played without fans present, Lechia went on to beat Piast Gliwice 2–1 in an empty stadium in
30228-545: The government's agreement with Poland, many individuals were threatened with either arrest or having to settle outstanding debts if they chose repatriation. Soviet authorities persecuted individuals connected to the Polish resistance ( Armia Krajowa and Polish Underground State ). In the end, about 50% of the 400,000 people registered for relocation were allowed to leave. Political scientist Dovilė Budrytė estimated that about 150,000 people left for Poland. Pozna%C5%84 Poznań ( Polish: [ˈpɔznaɲ] )
30457-473: The government. The overall number of settlers in the east was negligible as compared to the region's long-term residents. For instance in the Volhynian Voivodeship (1,437,569 inhabitants in 1921), the number of settlers did not exceed 15,000 people (3,128 refugees from Bolshevist Russia , roughly 7,000 members of local administration, and 2,600 military settlers ). Approximately 4 percent of
30686-400: The group winners playing each other in a mini playoff league with the top two being promoted to the Ekstraklasa. Lechia won their group which was the most diverse group at the time, playing against teams in Poznań and Wrocław who were both across the country from Gdańsk. The team advanced to the playoff league and came up against OWKS Kraków , Górnik Wałbrzych and Gwardia Warsaw , winning
30915-511: The high number of extra points picked up from draws helping them to finish clear of the bottom 4. The 1973–74 season saw a change of format in the II liga, which was originally just a single league of 16 teams. From this season the division was split into two leagues of 16 teams each and 32 teams in total, a Northern group and a Southern group, with Lechia being placed in the Northern group. This change made it harder for teams to gain promotion from
31144-413: The interwar Second Polish Republic , the city again became the capital of Poznań Voivodeship . Poznań's university, today called Adam Mickiewicz University , was founded in 1919, and in 1924 the Poznań International Fair began. In 1929, the fair site was the venue for a major National Exhibition ( Powszechna Wystawa Krajowa , popularly PeWuKa ) marking the tenth anniversary of independence; organized on
31373-417: The league structure, increasing the teams from 16 to 18 and scrapping the championship and relegation leagues at the end of the season, seeing all teams playing 34 league games a season instead of the previous 37. The 2021–22 season started relatively well for Lechia losing only one of their first six games and securing 9 points in the process. Lechia dropped points against Radomiak Radom in their sixth game of
31602-400: The league the team did see a player scoring the club's first hat-trick in the top division, with Bronisław Szlagowski scoring 3 in a 5–0 win over Zagłębie Sosnowiec . While defensively the team wasn't as strong as in 1956, the 29 goals they conceded, which was still among the better sides in the division, ensured the team finished in the top half of the league for a third successive season. At
31831-421: The league themselves. Lechia did not have to wait long however to win the league for themselves and make a return to the II liga. In the 1971–72 season Lechia won 22 of their 30 games, clearly winning the league with having a 9-point gap to Stoczniowiec in 2nd place, having the second best attack in the league, and by far the best defence in the league conceding only 13 goals and keeping 21 clean sheets, this despite
32060-489: The league, and were again relegated from the top division finding the increased level of competitiveness difficult to deal with over the course of a full season. Being back in the II liga Lechia once again found themselves to be competitive. While the club struggled more so than the teams around them in terms of scoring goals, Lechia were the best team defensively in the league, shown by their ability to keep clean sheets, having 12 clean sheets in their 20 games. The team finished
32289-468: The league, their joint highest finish in the league which was last achieved in 1956. Lechia started the season with the 2019 Polish Super Cup playing against Polish Champions Piast Gliwice . Two goals from Lukáš Haraslín and one from Jarosław Kubicki meant that Lechia were 3-0 up in the final before a late consolation for Piast from Patryk Sokołowski . Lechia won the Polish Super Cup for
32518-408: The league. After this run Lechia's form once again dropped, winning only 6 points from the final 7 games of the season. The team went into the final game of the season knowing that a win would be enough to secure European football for the following season, but a defeat to Jagiellonia on the final day of the season saw the side slump to a disappointing 7th-place finish. The 2021–22 season saw changes in
32747-571: The left bank of the Warta River occurred in the mid-13th century, during the height of the Gothic architecture . This significant urban shift led to the preservation of numerous Gothic structures, both religious and secular, on both sides of the Warta River, within the area of the former chartered town. The Gothic style in Poznań flourished from approximately the mid-13th century to the end of
32976-419: The lower divisions finishing top of their district championships in both the 1946–47 and 1947–48 seasons. For Lechia to be promoted to the top division they needed to win additional qualifying rounds against the other district champions, playing a series of games in playoff games, before a final playoff league with four teams of five being promoted. In the playoffs for the 1946–47 season Lechia finished bottom of
33205-543: The lowest in Poland. The rainiest month is July, mainly due to short but intense cloudbursts and thunderstorms. The number of hours of sunshine are among the highest in the country. The warmest temperature was recorded on 11 July 1959 at 38.7 °C (101.7 °F) The city of Poznań, serving as the administrative center of the Greater Poland Voivodeship , houses both the Voivode of Greater Poland and
33434-425: The mid-table, they were only one bad season, or one bad run of games from finishing in the relegation zone. This possibility of a bad run of games leading to Lechia being relegated became a reality in the 1966–67 season, which saw a winless run of 8 games, including a run of 5 straight defeats without scoring a goal in this run. Lechia were relegated by a single point at the end of the season, and were to be playing in
33663-419: The most successful season in the club's history up to that point, with the team winning both cup competitions it participated in despite not being in the top division. Lechia's stay out of the Ekstraklasa wasn't to last long, however, with the team winning the 1983–84 II Liga season, and as a result were promoted back to the Ekstraklasa. A division they had narrowly missed out of playing in many seasons before, and
33892-524: The much better organised clubs in the first division. Upon Lechias return to the Ekstraklasa, the players involved during these years and the initial success of the team upon their return to the I liga, were therefore seen as being the club's "golden years" of their early history. Players such as Bogdan Adamczyk , Henryk Gronowski , Robert Gronowski , Roman Korynt , Hubert Kusz , Czesław Lenc , Czesław Nowicki , and Roman Rogocz , all of whom had long playing careers with Lechia, were all important in making
34121-448: The new division better than Lech Poznań however who suffered back to back relegations, showing the rise in competitiveness since the last time Lechia were in the II liga. From their second season Lechia had adapted to the league and increased their competitiveness, finding themselves in 7th for the 1964–65 season. This season saw Lechia playing Arka Gdynia for the first time, with the two clubs quickly becoming fierce rivals and leading to
34350-635: The newly arrived settlers lived on land granted to them. The majority either rented their land to local farmers, or moved to the cities. Tensions between the Ukrainian minority in Poland and the Polish government escalated. On 12 July 1930, activists of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), helped by the UVO , began the so-called sabotage action , during which Polish estates were burned, and roads, rail lines and telephone connections were destroyed. The OUN used terrorism and sabotage in order to force
34579-439: The number of deported Polish citizens at 1,500,000 and some Polish estimates reach 1,600,000 to 1,800,000 persons, historians consider these evaluations as exaggerated. Alexander Guryanov calculated that 309,000 up to 312,000 Poles were deported from February 1940 to June 1941. According to N.S. Lebedeva the deportations involved about 250,000 persons. The most conservative Polish counts based on Soviet documents and published by
34808-490: The number of people wanting to leave gradually increased, and they signed papers for the People's Republic of Poland State Repatriation Office representatives. The Lithuanian communist party was dominated by a nationalist faction which supported the removal of the Polish intelligentsia, particularly from the highly contested Vilnius region . The city of Vilnius was considered a historical capital of Lithuania; however, in
35037-603: The old division into five districts called dzielnica is used – although they ceased to be governmental units in 1990. These are: Many citizens of Poznań thanks to the strong economy of the city and high salaries started moving to suburbs of the Poznań County ( powiat ) in the 1990s. Although the number of inhabitants in Poznań itself was decreasing for the past two decades, the suburbs gained almost twice as many inhabitants. The Poznań metropolitan area Metropolia Poznań comprising Poznań County and several other communities
35266-685: The option of resettlement in Siberia or Poland, and most chose Poland. The Polish government-in-exile in London directed their organizations (see Polish Secret State ) in Lwów and other major centers in Eastern Poland to sit fast and not evacuate, promising that during peaceful discussions they would be able to keep Lwów within Poland. In response, Khrushchev introduced a different approach to dealing with this Polish problem . Until this time, Polish children could be educated in Polish, according to
35495-485: The outright highest scorer in the fixture) Lechia lost a 2–0 lead and finished the game 2–2, with Udovičić again being sent off, this time receiving a two-month ban. After the game against Arka, Lechia failed to win any of the next three games, losing two, placing the team in 9th place at the mid-way point of the regular season. For the start of the second round of fixtures Lechia beat ŁKS Łódź 3–1, with Flávio Paixão scoring two goals. These two goals put Paixão on 68 goals in
35724-399: The pace needed to mount a challenge for a title, but the club had seen improvements since the previous season. The next season Lechia had improved to a 2nd-placed finish, losing only 3 games all season, including losing to eventual champions Lech Poznań, and finishing only 1 point behind Lech, meaning the loss to Lech in the penultimate game of the season may have cost Lechia's chance of winning
35953-408: The patrons of the cathedral. Martin of Tours – the patron of the main street Święty Marcin – is also regarded as one of the patron saints of the city. The name Poznań probably comes from a personal name Poznan , which was in turn derived from the Polish participle poznan(y) – "one who is known/recognized", and would mean "Poznan's town". It is also possible that the name comes directly from
36182-479: The players their bonuses for winning the Polish Cup in May. Due to the players having not been paid for months they would have been legally be able to apply for a termination of their contract, and leading to the possibility of many important players leaving during the next transfer window. After the finances had been resolved, Lechia lost the final game of the autumn round 3-0 going into the winter break in 7th. To help with
36411-419: The playoff league, being the only team not to advance to the top division. Lechia's fortunes changed the following season however and achieved promotion at the end of the 1947–48 season when they finished top of the promotion playoffs league. In 1949 Lechia played in the top flight for the first time (at this time the top division was called the "I liga" ). While it was a historic year for the club, and showed
36640-542: The playoffs group on goal difference and being promoted back to the I liga with OWKS Kraków. The 1952 season was an unusual one due to the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. The start of the league was delayed due to the preparation of forming a team to go to the Olympics. As a result of this the Young Leaders Rally Cup was organised, and was the first League Cup in Polish football. The organising of
36869-451: The present-day area of the city; these boundaries were retained after the war. Poznań was captured by the Red Army , assisted by Polish volunteers, on 23 February 1945 following the Battle of Poznań , in which the German army conducted a last-ditch defense in line with Hitler's designation of the city as a Festung . The Citadel was the last point to be taken, and the fighting left much of
37098-484: The prize awarded by " Superbrands " for a very high quality city brand. In 2012, the Poznań's Art and Business Centre " Stary Browar " won a competition organised by National Geographic Traveler and was given the first prize as one of the seven "New Polish Wonders". Companies headquartered in the city include energy provider Enea , e-commerce company Allegro and convenience store chain Żabka . The official patron saints of Poznań are Saint Peter and Paul of Tarsus ,
37327-410: The province called Greater Poland Voivodeship . Poznań is a centre of trade, sport, education, technology and tourism. It is an important academic site, with about 130,000 students and Adam Mickiewicz University , the third largest Polish university. The city serves as the seat of the oldest Polish diocese , now being one of the most populous Catholic archdioceses in the country. The city also hosts
37556-422: The qualifying rounds of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League due to Zawisza Bydgoszcz winning the 2013–14 Polish Cup . The 4th-place finish meant that Lechia had achieved their highest finish since the 1956 season, in which Lechia finished third. 2014–15 saw Lechia struggling towards the lower end of the table by the time the winter break took place. During the mid-season transfer window Sebastian Mila rejoined
37785-454: The range 52°17'34''–52°30'27''N, 16°44'08''–17°04'28''E. Its highest point, with an altitude of 157 m (515 ft), is the summit of Morasko hill within the Morasko meteorite nature reserve in the north of the city. The lowest altitude is 60 m (197 ft), in the Warta valley. Poznań's main river is the Warta , which flows through the city from south to north. As it approaches
38014-410: The record signing of Camilo Mena , Lechia found their footing in the second division. On 11 May 2024, they were promoted back to Ekstraklasa at their first attempt, after a 4–3 win over Wisła Kraków . They later became I liga champions on 19 May, following a 2–1 Tricity Derby win over Arka Gdynia . Lechia Gdańsk is the most supported club in northern Poland, and is one of the most supported clubs in
38243-572: The region, the Soviet secret police (NKVD) accompanying the Red Army murdered Polish prisoners of war . From 1939 to 1941 the Soviets also forcibly deported specific social groups deemed "untrustworthy" to forced labor facilities in Kazakhstan and Siberia. Many children, elderly and sick died during these journeys, in cargo trains, which lasted weeks. Whereas the Polish government-in-exile put
38472-401: The relegation playoffs in the Ekstraklasa were scrapped. After relegation from the Ekstraklasa, Lechia found themselves back in the II liga. During the 1988–89 season Lechia struggled to adapt to the new league, finishing 10th out of 16. Things failed to improve for Lechia during the next two seasons, finishing both 11th and 12th. The situation slightly improved for Lechia during the 1991–92 and
38701-453: The relegation zone by a single point, and seeing local rivals Bałtyk Gdynia getting relegated a place below. Lechia was lucky that season, with the team finishing 3rd from bottom, with four teams normally getting relegated. However, a change to the division below saw only 2 teams going down that season. 1986–87 saw the team once again fighting relegation. For the 3rd season in a row, Lechia only managed 23 goals in their league 30 games, however,
38930-447: The relegation zone, for that season though there was a relegation playoff, with 14th playing 11th, and 13th playing 12th. Lechia played Olimpia Poznań in the relegation playoff and lost over both legs 3–2 on aggregate. This saw Lechia being relegated with Zagłębie Lubin , the other team who would otherwise have normally been safe also suffered relegation after they lost both legs 4–3 to Górnik Wałbrzych on aggregate. The following season
39159-481: The rural population, who usually had no official identity documents, were denied the "right" of repatriation on the basis that they did not have documents stating they were Polish citizens. In what was described as a "fight for the people", Polish officials attempted to get as many people repatriated as possible, whereas the Belarusian officials tried to retain them, particularly the peasants, while deporting most of
39388-417: The season after having been 2–0 up to draw the game 2–2. While the season looked more promising, and they play from the squad looked better than the previous season, this kind of collapse in Lechia games was becoming too common under Stokowiec's reign. Shortly after the game with Radomiak it was announced that Piotr Stokowiec had officially left the club, Stokowiec being Lechia's second longest serving manager in
39617-447: The season after in the 2004–05 3rd tier. After 4 seasons of being an independent club after failed mergers with Olimpia and Polonia, Lechia found itself back in the second tier of Polish football. Back in the II liga Lechia finished the 2005–06 in 10th, comfortably above the automatic relegation zone, and clear of the relegation playoffs. With Lechia making more improvements during the 2006–07 season finishing in 5th. The 2007–08 season
39846-407: The season against Pogoń Lechia celebrated the careers of Piotr Wiśniewski and Mateusz Bąk . Both players had played over 10 years for Lechia, while Lechia was the only professional club Wiśniewski played for. Both players came on as substitutes in the 4–0 win over Pogon, with Wiśniewski scoring the final goal of the game, and Bąk made an important save to keep a clean sheet for the team. Going into
40075-483: The season against ŁKS Łódź . Lechia went on to only win one of their first six games, which was against Wisła Płock . After the difficult start Lechia then went on a five match winning run which put them top of the league after beating Legia Warsaw away 2–1. After their winning run was ended by Zagłębie Lubin , the team had the Tricity Derby the following game. After goals from Artur Sobiech and Flávio Paixão (this being Paixão's seventh goal against Arka, making him
40304-404: The season before had now settled into the club. New arrivals such as twins Marco Paixão and Flávio Paixão , as well as Rafał Wolski arriving from Fiorentina and Dušan Kuciak from Hull City . The regular season saw Lechia winning all but three of their home games, and were top of the table at the end of 10 of the game weeks. Lechia ended the regular season in fourth. In the last home game of
40533-418: The season came away to Wisła Kraków after the international break, before losing a 3–0 lead and drawing 3–3 with Zagłębie Lubin in the game after. After a difficult September, Lechia went on a 13-game unbeaten run, including wins over rivals Arka Gdynia and beating Lech Poznań away in Poznań for the first time in 52 years. The unbeaten run lead to Lechia leading the Ekstraklasa when the league broke up for
40762-434: The season in 3rd place. The club relied heavily on their defence that season keeping 10 clean sheets and conceding only 21, the second lowest in the league that season, while their highest goal scorer was Rogocz who scored only 7 for the club that season in the league. The achievement of 3rd place happened under the guidance of Tadeusz Foryś , arguably Lechia's greatest manager in their earlier years, seeing them promoted from
40991-416: The season on 28 points, the same as Stal Sosnowiec who ended up winning the league, but found themselves finish in second place due in part to Stal scoring 10 more goals than Lechia and having a much better goal difference. The immediate promotion and return to the I liga showed that at the time the club were in a position where they were competitive, but too good for the second division, yet struggled against
41220-407: The season, among the highest in the league. While Lechia were close to winning the league, it was once again not enough, with the club being a single point from winning the league. From the 1978–79 season the leagues were changed from a Northern and Southern group to Eastern and Western groups. The change didn't initially impact the club, with Lechia finishing in 3rd place, missing out on promotion by
41449-432: The second and third tiers. In the early 1980s, Lechia won the Polish Cup , the Polish Super Cup , and played in a European competition for the first time. After having two mergers with other teams in the 1990s the club had to restart from the sixth tier in 2001. In May 2008 the club was promoted again to the Ekstraklasa , with the club's most recent success coming in 2019, finishing third in the league and again winning both
41678-497: The second tier (west group), and qualified for the Polish Super Cup ( Polish : SuperPuchar Polski ) due to winning the Polish Cup the season before. It was the first-ever season of the Super Cup, and saw the cup winning team play the Ekstraklasa champions, resulting in Lechia playing Lech Poznań . Despite Lech being heavy favourites Lechia won the Super Cup with a late goal from Jerzy Kruszczyński . This resulted in 1983 being
41907-407: The second tier for many years, hugely contributed to the club's fortunes and was irreplaceable for the team on the pitch. Lechia fell to 14th after winning only 6 of their 30 games, scored only 19 goals, and ended up 7 points from safety. Lechia were relegated to the third tier, this time without any star players or big names to help the club out. [REDACTED] Although Lechia found themselves in
42136-475: The second tier, taking them to a cup final, and achieving their highest finish of 3rd place. The following season saw Lechia remaining competitive, but with the defensive side of the team not performing as well for the team as they went on to finish in 5th place. Once again the team only scored 25 goals in 22 games, the joint second lowest in the league, and the only team to not score more than 25 goals to not be relegated. Despite only scoring 25 goals that season in
42365-462: The second time in their history by winning 3–1. Another challenge for Lechia to face early in the season was playing in a European competition for only the second time in their history. Lechia were to play in the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League , with the team being drawn against Brøndby IF . The first game went well, with Lechia winning 2–1 at home, with goals from Flávio Paixão and Patryk Lipski . The second leg however went Brøndby's way. After finishing
42594-544: The secret Molotov–Ribbentrop pact in 1939 between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, Germany invaded Western Poland. Two weeks later, the Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland . As a result, Poland was divided between the Germans and the Soviets (see Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union ). With the annexation of the Kresy in 1939, modern-day Western Ukraine was annexed to Soviet Ukraine , and Western Belarus to Soviet Belorussia , respectively. Spreading terror throughout
42823-421: The stadium was the final game of the season against Zagłębie Lubin , a game in which Lechia lost 2–1. The 2011–12 season saw Lechia move into their new stadium , the first game to be played there saw Lechia playing against Cracovia , a game which finished 1–1. Lechia struggled during their first season inside the new and much larger stadium, winning only three of their home games that season. Lechia slumped to
43052-419: The suburban buildings. The population of the conurbation declined from 20,000 around 1600 to 6,000 around 1730, and Bambergian and Dutch settlers ( Bambers and Olęders ) were brought in to rebuild the devastated suburbs. In 1778, a "Committee of Good Order" ( Komisja Dobrego Porządku ) was established in the city, which oversaw rebuilding efforts and reorganized the city's administration. However, in 1793, in
43281-456: The team once again stayed up finishing in 11th. The team were once more fighting a relegation battle during the 1987-88 season. Lechia legend Puszkarz rejoined the team after having left 5 seasons prior. It had always been his dream to play for Lechia in the top flight, and this was the season where he achieved this accomplishment however it didn't go according to plan. Despite the team finishing in 12th, which would normally be one position above
43510-541: The third season in a row Lechia once again missed out on qualification for the Europa League by a single position, this time due to their main rivals Arka Gdynia getting the place from winning the 2016–17 Polish Cup . Marco Paixão finished the season as the top scorer in the league with 18 goals, an award which was jointly shared with Marcin Robak . There was much anticipation for the 2017–18 season after having
43739-476: The third tier for the 1982–83 season, it turned out to be a historic year for the club, and was seen as the club's 'rebirth'. The team finished top of their division, going on to concede only 9 goals in their 26 games. Due to Lechia being in the third tier they joined the Polish Cup in the second round. The first game of the competition saw them play Start Radziejow, who they narrowly beat 3–2 on penalties. The cup saw them playing 4 Ekstraklasa teams on their route to
43968-609: The third tier for the first time in their history. Lechia will have expected to be competitive following their fall to the III liga , and the team proved that they could be. Their first season saw them finishing in 2nd, however they were clear behind Arkonia Szczecin , and although they did finish in 2nd place, only the league winners from the four groups of the third division were promoted. The 1967–68 season also saw Lechia's first Gdańsk Derby with Stoczniowiec Gdańsk , despite both teams being formed in 1945 it took 22 years before they met in
44197-463: The top division, while the continuation of the Lechia Gdańsk team played in the 3rd division, with the Lechia Gdańsk side being used as the team's official second team . By the end of the 1995–96 Ekstraklasa season Lechia-Olimpia Gdańsk finished 16th, and were ultimately relegated. The second team (Lechia Gdańsk) also narrowly miss relegation, finishing just above the relegation places. At the end of
44426-405: The top flight of Polish football with the team losing 16 of the 30 games that season. They ended the season three points above the relegation zone, and stayed in the league mostly due to their home form (having 7 of their 9 wins that season from their home games). Lechia fared better during the 2009–10 season finishing in eighth, while also enjoying a cup run that took the team to the semi-finals of
44655-474: The top flight. There were major changes made for the 2013–14 Ekstraklasa season with the introduction of a Championship Round (teams who finish 1st–8th) and a Relegation Round (teams who finish 9th–16th). This took the overall games played in a season from 30 to 37. As ever Lechia finished eighth after the 30-game season qualifying for the Championship Round. Lechia finished the first-ever Championship Round in fourth place and just missing out on qualification for
44884-491: The towns of; Braniewo , Bytów , Chojnice , Czersk , Dzierzgoń , Frombork , Gdynia , Gniew , Kartuzy , Kościerzyna , Kwidzyn , Lębork , Malbork , Mława , Miłobądz , Nowe , Nowy Dwór Gdański , Nowy Staw , Nowy Targ , Pelplin , Pisz , Pruszcz Gdański , Prabuty , Przodkowo , Pszczółki , Rumia , Sierakowice , Skarszewy , Skórcz , Smętowo , Sopot , Starogard Gdański , Sztum , Tczew , Tuchom , Ustka , Władysławowo , Wejherowo , Zblewo and Żukowo , with
45113-411: The verb poznać , which means "to get to know" or "to recognize", so it may simply mean "known town". The earliest surviving references to the city are found in the chronicles of Thietmar of Merseburg written between 1012 and 1018: episcopus Posnaniensis (" bishop of Poznań ", in an entry for 970) and ab urbe Posnani ("from the city of Poznań", for 1005). The city's name appears in documents in
45342-538: The war, following Soviet demands laid out during the Tehran Conference of 1943, Kresy was formally incorporated into the Ukrainian, Belarusian and Lithuanian republics of the Soviet Union . This was agreed at the Potsdam Conference of Allies in 1945, to which the Polish government-in-exile was not invited. The ethnic displacement of Poles (and also of ethnic Germans ) was agreed between
45571-551: The wave of deportations, the Soviet NKVD orchestrated the Polish Operation . The Polish population in the USSR had officially dropped by 165,000 in that period according to the official Soviet census of 1937–38; Polish population in the Ukrainian SSR decreased by about 30%. Amidst several border conflicts, Poland re-emerged as a sovereign state in 1918 following Partitions of Poland . The Polish-Ukrainian alliance
45800-504: The west and the Second Polish Republic . The Soviet census of 1926 recorded ethnic Poles as being of Russian or Ukrainian ethnicity, reducing their apparent numbers in Ukraine. In the autumn of 1935, Stalin ordered a new wave of mass deportations of Poles from the western republics of the Soviet Union. This was also the time of his purges of different classes of people, many of whom were killed. Poles were expelled from
46029-422: The west side of the Warta. Opposite it between the two branches of the Warta is Ostrów Tumski, containing Cathedral and other ecclesiastical buildings, as well as housing and industrial facilities. Facing the cathedral on the east bank of the river is the historic district of Śródka . Large areas of apartment blocks, built from the 1960s onwards, include Rataje in the east, and Winogrady and Piątkowo north of
46258-489: The westernmost republics of the Soviet Union, less than 50% of those who registered for population transfer. Another major ethnic Polish transfer took place after Stalin's death, in 1955–1959. The process is variously known as expulsion , deportation , depatriation , or repatriation , depending on the context and the source. The term repatriation , used officially in both the Polish People's Republic and
46487-601: The whole second half of the TVs broadcast. The Lechia manager, Jerzy Jastrzębowski , said of the event; "We were in the dressing room during half-time when we heard it and it sent shivers down our spines, the whole ground singing 'Solidarnosc'." For the 1984–85 Ekstraklasa season, a season in which all teams struggled for goals (an average of 1 goal a game), Lechia finished 12th having scored 23 goals, and with only 2 of their wins that season coming from scoring 2 more goals than their opponents. The season after Lechia finished just above
46716-524: The winner and the final standings. Lechia finished 3rd in their group and thus played against Lech Poznań who also finished 3rd in their group to play in the 5th placed playoff. Lech won the game 2–1, meaning Lechia finished in 6th place overall in the Young Leaders Rally Cup. After the Olympics, in which Poland were knocked out in the first round, the league officially started, around five months later than it usually would. The league took
46945-422: The winter break Lechia's poor form returned with defeats to Jagiellonia in the league and Puszcza Niepołomice in the Polish Cup, with some fans questioning the role of Stokowiec as the team's manager. After a poor run of results which saw 6 defeats in 7 games, Lechia picked up form and gained some momentum in the league, winning 5 of the next 8 games, losing only one, and mounting a threat to the top three places in
47174-469: The winter break. During this time Lechia also went on a cup run beating Wisła Kraków , Resovia Rzeszow and Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza to reach the quarterfinals. After the break Lechia continued their good form losing only 2 of the 11 games after the restart. After losing the final game of the regular season to Cracovia 4–2, they found themselves in the first place due to goal difference, having +3 goals more than Legia Warsaw . Lechia's good fortunes in
47403-450: The year, the departments of the City of Poznań Office and municipal administrative units issue approximately 565,000 administrative decisions. Poznań is divided into 42 neighbourhoods called osiedle , each of which has its own elected council with certain decision-making and spending powers. The first uniform elections for these councils covering the whole area of the city were held on 20 March 2011. For certain administrative purposes,
47632-457: The youth players in the first game back after the winter break, the team started the second half of the season drawing 2–2 with a Championship chasing Śląsk Wrocław team. During the game it was clear to see the club's current situation with their finances with the entire bench being made up of teenagers from the U23's team. Lechia won the following game 1–0 against Piast with Kacper Urbański starting
47861-523: Was a life Lechia fan. He used his role as mayor of the city to help the club during its reformation in 2001. As with most football clubs during their history, both in the sport in general and in Poland, Lechia Gdańsk have had their own issues relating to the club's fans. On 25 May 2021 Gdańsk hosted the Europa League Final match between Villarreal and Manchester United . The night before the match saw Manchester United fans being attacked at
48090-478: Was a little blip in Lechia's run of high finishing seasons, managing 5th in the league, and their lowest finish since the league split into two groups. Lechia resumed their title fight from the following season, being the clear best team in the league along with Gwardia Warsaw , with both teams recording over 20 wins and losing only 2 games all season, and finishing nearly 20 points clear of Bałtyk Gdynia in 3rd place. Krzysztof Matuszewski also recorded 15 goals over
48319-484: Was a rapid depolonization and Lithuanization of the city (80% of the local Polish population left Vilnius ). Furthermore, the Lithuanian ideology of " Ethnographic Lithuania " declared that many people who identified as Polish were in fact "polonized Lithuanians". The rural population was denied the right to leave Lithuania, due to their lack of official pre-war documentation showing Polish citizenship. Contrary to
48548-412: Was against Warta Poznań , with Flávio Paixão scoring both goals in a 2–0 win, and in the process scoring Lechia's 1000th Ekstraklasa goal, and becoming the first foreign player to score 100 goals in the Ekstraklasa. The penultimate game of the season saw them face off against Pogoń Szczecin knowing that a draw would secure 4th place in the league and the chance to play in Europe. Despite both teams starting
48777-731: Was completed. A Greater Poland Uprising during the Revolutions of 1848 was ultimately unsuccessful, and the Grand Duchy lost its remaining autonomy, Poznań becoming simply the capital of the Prussian Province of Posen . It would become part of the German Empire with the unification of German states in 1871. Polish patriots continued to form societies such as the Central Economic Society for
49006-439: Was decided that the name of the club should be changed. The team became known as "Sports Club for the Port Reconstruction Office Lechia Gdańsk" ( Polish : Klub Sportowy Biura Odbudowy Portów Lechia Gdańsk ), 'Lechia' coming from Lechia Lwów , as a majority of the workers at BOP and those who studied at the Gdańsk University of Technology had been expelled from Lwów at the end of WW2. Lechia fared well in its early years in
49235-476: Was done was such that the Polish leader Bolesław Bierut was forced to intercede and approach Stalin to slow down the deportation, as the post-war Polish government was overwhelmed by the sudden great number of refugees needing aid. The Soviet "population exchanges" of 1944-1946 ostensibly concerned [in the legal sense, nominal] citizens of prewar Poland, but in fact Poles and Jews were sent west, whereas Ukrainians had to stay in Soviet Ukraine . The real criterion
49464-419: Was filled in late in the 19th century, and the former main stream west of Chwaliszewo was diverted and filled in during the 1960s. This was done partly to prevent floods, which did serious damage to Poznań frequently throughout history. Poznań's largest lake is Kiekrz in the north-west end of the city. Other large lakes include Malta , an artificial lake formed in 1952 on the lower Cybina river, Strzeszyn on
49693-410: Was focused on regional qualifying for leagues to reformat the Polish football leagues. In the Gdańsk regional qualifying Lechia won all 6 games including both games in their first Gdańsk Derby games against Gedania Gdańsk , winning the group and being promoted to the A Klasa (A Class, the second division in Poland at the time). Towards the end of February 1946, BOP officials had a meeting, in which it
49922-429: Was in place ready for the 2018–19 Ekstraklasa season. The first game of the 2018-19 season saw Lechia beating Jagiellonia Białystok , with Sławomir Peszko receiving a straight red. After the game Peszko received a three-month ban for a dangerous kick at Arvydas Novikovas . The season started well, with Lechia winning five of their first seven games, while also holding Legia to draw in Warsaw. Lechia's first defeat of
50151-404: Was incorporated into the Nazi Germany as the capital of Reichsgau Wartheland . Many Polish inhabitants, even children as young as 10, were executed, arrested, expelled to the General Government or used as forced labour . Polish children were also kidnapped and deported to an infamous camp for Polish children in Łódź . At the same time, many Germans and Volksdeutsche were settled in
50380-427: Was lost in the 1975 reforms, which also significantly reduced the size of Poznań Voivodeship. The Poznań 1956 protests are seen as an early instance of discontent with communist rule. In June 1956, a protest by workers at the city's Cegielski locomotive factory developed into a series of strikes and popular protests against the policies of the government. After a protest march on 28 June was fired on, crowds attacked
50609-672: Was now considered obsolete and came to be mostly taken down by the early 20th century, although the citadel remained in use. This made space for further civilian construction, particularly the Prussian Royal Residence Palace ( Zamek ) which was completed in 1910, and other grand buildings around it, including today's central university buildings and the opera house. The city's boundaries were also significantly extended to take in former suburban villages: Piotrowo and Berdychowo in 1896, Łazarz, Górczyn, Jeżyce and Wilda in 1900, and Sołacz in 1907. In 1910, Poznań had 156,696 inhabitants, of which nearly 60% were Poles (over 91,000 Polish inhabitants of
50838-524: Was one of ethnicity, not citizenship. The [exclusively] ethnic criterion was applied to everyone in Volhynia, Ukrainians forced to stay despite their prewar Polish citizenship, Poles and Jews forced to leave despite their ancient traditions in the region. Jewish survivors of the Holocaust and Polish survivors of the ethnic cleansing were generally willing to depart. The history of Volhynia, as an ancient multi-confessional society, had come to an end. The Poles in southern Kresy (now Western Ukraine) were given
51067-455: Was partially retained by Poland after World War II. It sought to retain some of the Belarusian people. The resettlement of ethnic Poles from Lithuania saw numerous delays. Local Polish clergy were active in agitating against leaving, and the underground press called those who had registered for repatriation traitors . Many ethnic Poles hoped that a post-war Peace Conference would assign the Vilnius region to Poland. After these hopes vanished,
51296-402: Was planned and carried out by the communist regimes of the USSR and of post-war Poland . Many of the deported Poles were settled in historical eastern Germany ; after 1945, these were referred to as the " Recovered Territories " of the Polish People's Republic. The history of ethnic Polish settlement in what is now Ukraine and Belarus dates to 1030–31. More Poles migrated to this area after
51525-489: Was set up in Fort VII , one of the 19th-century perimeter forts. The camp was later moved to Żabikowo south of Poznań. Also the Stalag XXI-D German prisoner-of-war camp for Allied POWs of various nationalities was based in the city. The Polish resistance was active in Poznań with various organizations and activities, and even an underground Polish parliament was established in the city. The Nazi authorities significantly expanded Poznań's boundaries to include most of
51754-417: Was the place of burial of the early Piast monarchs, among them Mieszko I, Bolesław I the Brave , Mieszko II Lambert , Casimir I , and later of Przemysł I and Przemysł II . The pagan reaction that followed Mieszko II's death (probably in Poznań) in 1034 left the region weak, and in 1038, Duke Bretislaus I of Bohemia sacked and destroyed both Poznań and Gniezno. Poland was reunited under Casimir I
51983-556: Was the team's 20th season outside of the top flight, having to come from two failed mergers, and working their way back into the 2nd division. During the season the MOSiR Stadium became a fortress, with Lechia winning 14 of the 17 games at home, losing only once at home, against Odra Opole . Lechia struggled more away from home, winning 6 of their 17 away games. Lechia was helped during the season with goal-scoring contributions from Maciej Rogalski , Paweł Buzała , and Piotr Cetnarowicz , with all three players scoring more than 10 goals over
52212-454: Was their first time back in the top tier for 21 seasons. That season Lechia also qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup due to winning the Polish Cup the season before. In the first round, Lechia was drawn to Italian footballing giants, Juventus . The first game was played in Turin, Italy, with Juventus easily winning 7–0. With the team knowing they were all but knocked out already the team put on an inspiring performance scoring 2 goals against
52441-477: Was unsuccessful, and the Polish-Soviet war continued until the Treaty of Riga was signed in 1921. The Soviet Union did not officially exist before 31 December 1922. The disputed territories were split in Riga between the Second Polish Republic and the Soviet Union representing Ukrainian SSR (part of the Soviet Union after 1923). In the following few years in Kresy , the lands assigned to sovereign Poland, some 8,265 Polish farmers were resettled with help from
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