Leszek Wrona (born September 20, 1955) is a retired Polish

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

defender who played professionally in Poland, Germany and the United States. After his retirement, he remained in the United States where he coached in the

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

and

USL PDL USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

Biography

In 1972, the seventeen-year-old Wrona debuted for

Garbarnia Kraków K.S. Garbarnia Kraków is a Polish football and sports club from Ludwinów, a historical district of the city of Kraków. The club's name comes from the nearby tannery () of the Dłużyński brothers, which was the original club sponsor. Garbarni ...

. In 1976, he moved to

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning record 15 Ekstraklasa champions titles, a ...

where he spent most of two seasons with the club's reserve team. He played one league cup game against

Stal Mielec Stal Mielec () is a Polish football club based in Mielec, Poland. The club was established on April 10, 1939. Historically, the club has enjoyed great successes within Poland's Ekstraklasa, winning the title twice (in 1973 and 1976) but had under ...

on June 8, 1976. In 1979, he moved to second division

Hutnik Kraków Hutnik Kraków (Polish pronunciation: ) is a Polish football club based in Kraków, Poland. History The club was founded in 1950. Hutnik have played seven seasons in the Polish Ekstraklasa (Polish first division). The team's greatest success is ...

where he tied for the league scoring lead that season. In 1980, he signed with

Ruch Chorzów Ruch Chorzów () is a Polish association football club based in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. It is one of the most successful football teams in Poland: fourteen-time national champions, and three-time winners of the Polish Cup. Currently the team play ...

. In 1984, Wrona moved to Germany where he joined TuS Schloß Neuhaus. In 1985, the team merged with TuS Paderborn-Neuhaus to form

SC Paderborn 07 Sport-Club Paderborn 07 e.V., commonly known as simply SC Paderborn 07 () or SC Paderborn, is a German association football club based in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has enjoyed its greatest successes since the turn of the mille ...

. Wrona remained with the renamed team for two more seasons before briefly spending time with the

New Jersey Eagles The New Jersey Eagles were an American soccer team founded in 1987 as the Cosmopolitan Eagles. In 1988, they entered the third American Soccer League as the New Jersey Eagles. They folded following the 1990 American Professional Soccer League s ...

during the

1988 American Soccer League The 1988 American Soccer League was the first season of the third American Soccer League which took place during the summer of 1988. History The third American Soccer League owed its creation to several events in the early 1980s. In 1983, the s ...

season. He then returned to Ruch Chorzów where he was part of the club's 1989 Polish championship. He left the team after the championship and moved to the United States. He played for Garfield Vistula. In 1990, Wrona became a player-coach with

Gremio Lusitano Gremio Lusitano is an amateur soccer team from Ludlow, Massachusetts. Founded in 1922 in a garage on Franklin Street, the team had competed for several seasons during the 1930s in the New England Division of the American Soccer League, but for m ...

, taking the team to the 1991 LASA league championship. In 1992, he moved to the Polonia Falcons where he took them to the 1992 CSSA Cup Championship. In 1993, the expansion

Connecticut Wolves The Connecticut Wolves were an American soccer club that was founded by the Clifton Onolfo, the Onolfo Family, and several investors including Tony DiCicco. The Club's inaugural match was attended by 5,200 plus fans and competed in the United Socc ...

of the

hired Wrona as the team's first head coach. He both coached and played for the Wolves until resigning in June 1995. During that time, he also played and coached for

Bridgeport Vasco da Gama Bridgeport Vasco da Gama is an American soccer club founded in the 1940s and based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The club plays in the Connecticut Soccer League. The team is notable for making the finals of the 1978 National Challenge Cup and 1992 ...

. After leaving Wolves, Wrona spent the rest of the 1995 season playing for the

Albany Alleycats The Albany Alleycats is a premier soccer club based out of Albany, New York, with teams competing in the USYS National League, EDP, and CDYSL. Staff * John Bramley – Managing Director Coaches * John Bramley (1995) * Leszek Wrona Leszek W ...

. That year, he also became the head coach of the

Plainville High School Plainville High School is a public high school in Plainville, Connecticut. It is the only high school in the town of Plainville, Connecticut. History Plainville High School was previously located on East Street from the 1920s through the 1950 ...

boys’ team, a position he held until 1999. In 2000, he became the head coach of the Plainville girls’ team. In 1996, Wrona briefly coached the Albany Alleycatsteam, then became the head coach for the 1997 season. In 1997, Gremio Lusitano founded the

Western Mass Pioneers Western Mass Pioneers is an American soccer team based in Ludlow, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1998, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at Lusitano Stadium, ...

to compete in the

USISL D-3 Pro League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

. In October 1997, the team named Wrona as head coach. Wrona took the Pioneers to the 1998 league championship. He left the team in 2000, returned in 2004, left the team in 2006 and returned in 2008. He left the team for the third time in June 2010. Wrona now runs a youth soccer academy out of an indoor soccer facility in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. Leszek Wrona's Soccer Academy aims to give young players coaching, aiming to improve their ball skills as well as their "soccer IQ".

External links

*
Historia Legii Warszawa: Leszek Wrona

Leszek Wrona's Soccer Academy

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wrona, Leszek Living people 1955 births Albany Alleycats players Connecticut Wolves players Garfield Vistula players Gremio Lusitano players Hutnik Kraków players Legia Warsaw players SC Paderborn 07 players Polish men's footballers Polish expatriate men's footballers Polish football managers Ruch Chorzów players USISL coaches USISL players USL Second Division players Footballers from Kraków Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders