Lechia Gdańsk is a Polish rugby union team that plays in the Rugby Ekstraliga, the premier rugby union league in Poland. It is one of the oldest and most successful teams in Polish rugby.

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.

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.

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.

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, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14 Polish Championship Runners-up (11): 1963, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1981–82, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2009–10, 2015–16 Polish Championship 3rd place (15): 1962, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1973–74, 1976–77, 1980–81, 1987, 1988, 1998–99, 2003–04, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2014–15 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

League History

Season League Position Played W D L Pts F Pts A Pts1958I liga1018321368221241959I liga7115245771241960I liga114102211664361961I liga115140131145431962I liga3850312953181963I liga263036173121964I liga4712455103111965I liga410307108128161966I liga410406127144181967I liga312705137116261968I liga312615111118251969I liga31491417289331970I liga116150126384461971Puchar Polski2970215147231971–72I liga2201514278180511972–73I liga2201415528187491973–74I liga320938223204411974–75I liga42010010277253391975–76I liga614518144194251976–77I liga3141004248128341977–78I liga514608201287261978–79I liga514527269246251979–80I liga7144010155226221980–81I liga314905191140321981–82I liga2161105278173381983I liga614518255193251984I liga414806176167301985I liga21492320596341986I liga2181503360139481987I liga317917272216361988I liga3171403401156441989I liga514905269214321990I liga614617213209271991I liga212813272134291992I liga414428262211241993I liga2161123350176401994I liga1161501464117461995I liga1141202574171381996I liga1161303560199421997I liga2161105565262381998I liga110802369160261998–99I liga3141004536225341999–2000I liga1141202447123382000–01I liga1161501606194462001–02I liga1181512557196492002–03I liga4161006410324362003–04I liga3161114475238392004–05I liga416916426207352005–06I liga5181107490265402006–07I liga4181404425269442007–08I liga3181116565221592008–09I liga3181404684206702009–10I liga2141004348162502010–11I liga3141103496186542011–12I liga1141103613191552012–13I liga1141004549185522013–14I liga1141103545217522014–15I liga3198110517384322015–16I liga2141202603202602016–17I liga414707371295352018I liga4181008453391492019I liga99216168255112019–20 I liga68305187156172020–21I liga6187110454488422021–22I liga4181116499436592022–23I liga518801052750743

Notes

Rugby sevens

RC Lechia Gdańsk sevens is the rugby sevens section of Lechia Gdańsk formed in 1996. The team is one of the most successful in Polands Rugby 7's championships, finishing in the top 3 in every season they have participated.

The Lechia Gdańsk sevens team was created to take part in the newly formed Polish Rugby 7's Championships which took place in 1996. In the first championship Lechia performed strongly finishing in 3rd place, repeating the feat the following year. Despite Lechia starting strongly in the Polish championships first two seasons, the team was removed from the Lechia Rugby club from 1998 until returning in 2009. Upon Lechias return the team in 2009, the team once again showed their quality finishing as runners-up.

Lechia won their first Polish Rugby 7's championship the following year in 2010, beating AZS-AWF Warsaw in the final. This win saw the toppling of AZS-AWF Warsaw being Polands dominant team and saw Lechia rising to take their place. Lechia won 7 championships in a row from 2010–2016 until their domination came to an end with defeat to Posnania in the final in 2017. Lechia returned to the top of the sport the following year, winning a record equalling 8th championship (shared with AZS-AWF Warsaw) after a closely fought final with Posnania.

After their record equalling season, the Lechia sevens team were once again removed from the league system for the next three years, returning again in 2021 when they secured a third-place finish.

Honours

Polish Rugby Sevens Championship Winners (8): 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 Runners-up (2): 2009, 2017 Third place (3): 1996, 1997, 2021–22

See also Rugby union in Poland Rugby Ekstraliga

References

External links Official Club website Polish Rugby Association - Extraliga