Henryk Gronowski (9 March 1928 – 10 May 1977) was a Polish professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and manager. He spent the majority of his career with

Lechia Gdańsk Lechia Gdańsk () is a Polish football club based in Gdańsk. 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 ...

, before going on to have brief spells in management. His brother,

Robert Gronowski Robert Gronowski (13 May 1926 – 24 February 1994) was a Polish professional association football player and manager. He spent the majority of his career with Lechia Gdańsk, with whom he also managed for a brief spell after retiring from p ...

was also a former professional footballer who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Early years

Having been born in

Gliwice Gliwice (; german: Gleiwitz) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional cap ...

in 1928, which was then in Germany, Henryk was born as Henryk Gruner. He later changed his last name in 1949 to the more Polish sounding Gronowski.

Senior career

After World War 2 Gronowski joined the newly established football team of his birth city Piast in Gliwice, which had now been integrated into Poland. In 1949 Gronowski joined

with his elder brother, Robert. Gronowski spent a total of 12 seasons at Lechia, playing over 200 games in all competitions. In 1961 Gronowski moved to Australia to play for Polonia Melbourne and Polonia Sydney, Football teams which had been created by Polish nationals who had moved to Australia. After the two seasons away Gronowski once again returned to

and spent a further 6 years with the club. In total Gronowski spent 18 seasons at Lechia and made 273 appearances in all competitions.

International career

In 1957 Gronowski played for Poland, in what turned out to be his only international appearance. He played against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in a 4-0 win, keeping a clean sheet for his country.

Managerial career

After his playing career had finished Gronowski fully went into management. He took charge firstly of Wisła Tczew, before going on to manage Gedania Gdańsk.

Personal life

Gronowski is commemorated by a star at the MOSiR Stadium in Gdańsk. The "Avenue of Stars" commemorates the efforts and success of former players and coaches.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gronowski, Henryk 1928 births 1977 deaths Footballers from Gliwice Lechia Gdańsk players Piast Gliwice players Lechia Gdańsk managers Polish men's footballers Poland men's international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Polish football managers Western Eagles FC players