RC Lechia Gdańsk

Lechia Gdańsk is a Polish rugby union team playing in the Rugby Ekstraliga. It is one of the oldest and most successful teams in Polish rugby.

For more sports teams that use the Lechia Gdańsk name, see Lechia Gdańsk (sports club).
Lechia Gdańsk
Nickname(s)Gdańskie Lwy (Gedanian Lions)
Pasiaki (The stripes)
Władcy Północy (Rulers of the North)
Biało-Zieloni (White-Greens)
Lechiści (Lechistas)
Founded1956 as "BKS Lechia", 1954 as "TWF" (unofficial)
LocationGdańsk, Poland
Ground(s)Gdańsk Athletics and Rugby Stadium (Capacity: 924)
Chairman Bogdan Jancen
Coach(es) Paweł Lipkowski
League(s)Rugby Ekstraliga
1st kit
2nd kit
Active departments of Lechia Gdańsk
Football Football
(II team)		 Football
(women's)
Rugby Rugby
(women's)		 Athletics
Cycling

History

In early days of Polish rugby in 1950's Gdańsk was one of the epicentres of the sport, mainly of interest among students. The very first 2 teams were "AZS Politechnika", the team representing the Gdańsk Polytechnic and the "Technikum Wychowania Fizycznego" team, the team of the Technical Sports College, abbreviated to "TWF". The main driving force behind the TWF team was a man named Henryk Hodiak. When in 1955 rugby became recognised by the Minister of Sport and a national rugby federation was set up, it allowed the start registration process of teams. When "AZS Politechnika" became one of the first teams to register, Hodiak started to look to register his own team in one of the local sports clubs. Thanks to Sławomir Zieleniewski, an activist at BKS Lechia and a lecturer at TWF, and Stanisław Michowski, the headmaster of TWF, talks began with Stefan Kowalski, the director of Lechia.[1]

The club was officially set up on 1 May 1956. The bulk of team was composed of TWF students, strengthened by Lechia players from other sections of the club. The first match was against the aforementioned Politechnic. The friendly match took place on 21 September 1956 with a disputed result of 14:0 win over AZS, which was disputed due to claims that no one was keeping score.[2]

Poland's first ever rugby season was in 1956 between September and December. There was no national league but only 5 regional divisions which were meant to determine who shall play in the top flight which was to be established later on. Lechia's first official match was played against Stal Gdańsk on 16 September 1956 and finished in a 6:6 draw. Few days later on 1 November Lechia won their first official match 6:3, away against Goplania Inowrocław.[3]

After that Lechia began to play in national competitions, and whereas most other teams quickly folded after the initial first few seasons, Lechia went to win numerous titles, and remain to this day the only team never to have been relegated from the top division.

Honours

Senior
  • Polish Championship Winners (13): 1960, 1961, 1970, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2012, 2013, 2014
  • Polish Championship Runners-up (12): 1963, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2010, 2016
  • Polish Championship 3rd place (15): 1962, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1981, 1987, 1988, 1999, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015
  • Polish Cup Winners (12): 1977, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2013

Junior
  • Polish Championship Winners: 1960, 1967, 1980, 1998
  • Polish Championship Runners-up: 1959, 1961, 1962, 1976, 2012
  • Polish Championship 3rd place: 1988, 1991, 1992, 1996

Rugby Sevens
  • Polish Championship Winners: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
  • Polish Championship Runners-up: 2009
  • Polish Championship 3rd place: 1996, 1997

League History
Season League Position Played W D L Pts F Pts A Pts
1958I liga101832136822124
1959I liga711524577124
1960I liga11410221166436
1961I liga11514013114543
1962I liga385031295318
1963I liga26303617312
1964I liga471245510311
1965I liga41030710812816
1966I liga41040612714418
1967I liga31270513711626
1968I liga31261511111825
1969I liga3149141728933
1970I liga11615012638446
1971Puchar Polski297021514723
1971–72I liga220151427818051
1972–73I liga220141552818749
1973–74I liga32093822320441
1974–75I liga4201001027725339
1975–76I liga61451814419425
1976–77I liga314100424812834
1977–78I liga51460820128726
1978–79I liga51452726924625
1979–80I liga714401015522622
1980–81I liga31490519114032
1981–82I liga216110527817338
1983I liga61451825519325
1984I liga41480617616730
1985I liga2149232059634
1986I liga218150336013948
1987I liga31791727221636
1988I liga317140340115644
1989I liga51490526921432
1990I liga61461721320927
1991I liga21281327213429
1992I liga41442826221124
1993I liga216112335017640
1994I liga116150146411746
1995I liga114120257417138
1996I liga116130356019942
1997I liga216110556526238
1998I liga11080236916026
1998–99I liga314100453622534
1999–2000I liga114120244712338
2000–01I liga116150160619446
2001–02I liga118151255719649
2002–03I liga416100641032436
2003–04I liga316111447523839
2004–05I liga41691642620735
2005–06I liga518110749026540
2006–07I liga418140442526944
2007–08I liga318111656522159
2008–09I liga318140468420670
2009–10I liga214100434816250
2010–11I liga314110349618654
2011–12I liga114110361319155
2012–13I liga114100454918552
2013–14I liga114110354521752
2014–15I liga319811051738432
2015–16I liga214120260320260
2016–17I liga41470737129535
2018I liga418100845339149
2019I liga9921616825511
2019–20 [lower-alpha 1]I liga6830518715617

Notes

  1. The 2019–20 season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic after 8 games.

See also

References
  1. http://lechiarugby.pl/Zarys_50_lat_RC_Lechia.pdf
  2. http://lechiarugby.pl/Zarys_50_lat_RC_Lechia.pdf
  3. http://lechiarugby.pl/Zarys_50_lat_RC_Lechia.pdf
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