Piotr Reiss (; born 20 June 1972) is a Polish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. He is widely regarded as a

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation' ...

all-time favourite and achieved legendary status among fans, having captained them for many years and being an ardent fan of the club himself.

Club career

Born in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central 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 ...

, Reiss is one of

's most notable players ever. He had a spell in German clubs but he claimed that it was so that he could help out

financially through the transfer fee they received for him, as at the time the club was struggling financially. He captained Lech for many years after he returned from Germany, becoming one of

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 cl ...

's most renowned and best players. Towards the end of his career, wanting to stay in his hometown, he went to play for Poznań's second professional team,

I liga I liga ( pl, Pierwsza liga, ), currently named Fortuna I liga due to its sponsorship by Fortuna, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga vi ...

side

Warta The river Warta ( , ; german: Warthe ; la, Varta) rises in central Poland and meanders greatly north-west to flow into the Oder, against the German border. About long, it is Poland's second-longest river within its borders after the Vistula, a ...

, scoring 35 goals, before returning to Lech in order to enjoy a farewell season with his favourite club in 2012. On 21 April 2013, at the age of 40 years and 305 days, he became the oldest recorded goalscorer in

's history after scoring in a 3–1 home win against

Zagłębie Lubin Zagłębie Lubin S.A. () is a Polish professional football club based in Lubin. Founded in 1945 as ''OMTUR Lubin'', the club competes in the Ekstraklasa. History The football team was founded in 1945 as OMTUR Lubin by local members of the ''Yo ...

. He retired at the end of the season, with a total of 109 goals in Polish top division.

International career

Reiss featured for the Poland national team. Reiss' debut for Poland took place on 10 November 1998 in an away game against

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, scoring the opening goal. In total, he earned four caps and one goal.

Post-playing career

After retiring from football, he became a youth coach, establishing a youth football academy called Akademia Reissa, which trains hundreds of children and co-operates with Lech's youth system.

Honours

Lech Poznań *

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...

: 2004–05, 2008–09 *

Polish Super Cup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2021, the Polish Super Cup has been pl ...

: 2004 Individual *

top scorer: 2009–10

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reiss, Piotr 1972 births Living people Footballers from Poznań Polish footballers Association football forwards Lech Poznań players Amica Wronki players Hertha BSC players MSV Duisburg players SpVgg Greuther Fürth players Warta Poznań players Poland international footballers Ekstraklasa players I liga players II liga players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Polish expatriate footballers Polish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany