Włodzimierz 'Włodek' Leonard Lubański (
Polish pronunciation: ; born 28 February 1947 in
Gliwice-Sośnica) is a former Polish
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 ...
striker, the second all-time highest goal scorer for the
Polish national team. For his national team, Lubański amassed 75 caps between 1963 and 1980, scoring 48 goals and being the second highest goalscorer in Poland's football history behind
Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski (; born 21 August 1988) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Barcelona and captains the Poland national team. Recognised for his positioning, technique and finishing, Lewandowski is co ...
.
Life and career
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 1947, he started his football career at the age of ten in
Sośnica Gliwice
Sośnica Gliwice is a Polish women's handball team, based in Gliwice.
See also
* Handball in Poland
* Sports in Poland
Poland's sports include almost all sporting disciplines, in particular: football (the most popular sport), volleyball, ...
junior team. Between 1958–1962, he was part of the GKS Gliwice junior squad and in 1963 he started playing football professionally in
Górnik Zabrze
Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning the second-most Poli ...
. He won the Polish Championship seven tiems with Górnik Zabrze in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1971 and 1972.
Between 1975–1982, he played in
KSC Lokeren
Koninklijke Sporting Club Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen (; often simply called Sporting Lokeren or Lokeren) was a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Lokeren, in the province of East Flanders. The club was founded in 1923 but ce ...
and subsequently between 1982–1983 in
Valenciennes FC
Valenciennes Football Club (; commonly known as Valenciennes or USVA) is a French association football club based in Valenciennes. The club was founded in 1913 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. Valenciennes play ...
.
He won gold medal at the
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
in the
men's football team competition with Poland.
In 1972, he was awarded the title of
Merited Master of Sport of the USSR
Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR (russian: Единая Всесоюзная спортивная классификация) is a document which provided general Soviet physical education system requirements for both athletes an ...
.
He participated at the
1978 FIFA World Cup
The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June.
The Cup was won by t ...
finishing fifth with the Polish national team.
Lubański was vice-chairman at
Polonia Warszawa
Polonia Warsaw ( pl, Polonia Warszawa, ), founded on 19 November 1911, is the oldest existing Varsovian sports club, best known for its football and basketball teams. It also has track and field, swimming, chess, mountain biking, and contract ...
for three months.
Lubański is the youngest scorer in the history of the
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
(now known as the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
), netting for Polish outfit
Górnik Zabrze
Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning the second-most Poli ...
against Czech side
Dukla Prague
Dukla Prague ( cz, Dukla Praha) was a Czech football club from the city of Prague. Established in 1948 as ATK Praha, the club won a total of 11 Czechoslovak league titles and eight Czechoslovak Cups, and in the 1966–67 season, reached the semi ...
in the leg of their tie in the first round of the competition on 13 November 1963, aged 16 years and 258 days.
In 1997, he received the Officer's Cross of the
Order of Polonia Restituta
The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...
for his "outstanding contributions to the development of sport in Poland".
In 2015, he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the
Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
The Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Order Zasługi Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) is a Polish order of merit created in 1974, awarded to persons who have rendered great service to Poland. It is granted to foreigners or Poles resident ab ...
.
Personal life
In 1968, he married Grażyna (''née'' Loreto) with whom he has two children: a son Michał and a daughter Małgorzata.
Lubański is the subject of a number of books including ''Ja, Lubański'' by Krzysztof Wyrzykowski (1990), ''Włodek Lubański. Legenda polskiego futbolu'' by Włodzimierz Lubański and Przemysław Słowiński (2008) and ''Życie jak dobry mecz'' by Włodzimierz Lubański and Michał Olszański (2016).
Career statistics
Internationals goals
See also
*
Sport in Poland
Poland's sports include almost all sporting disciplines, in particular: football (the most popular sport), volleyball, motorcycle speedway, ski jumping, track and field, American football, handball, basketball, tennis, and combat sport. The firs ...
*
List of Polish football players
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lubanski, Wlodzimierz
1947 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Gliwice
Polish footballers
Poland international footballers
UEFA Golden Players
Górnik Zabrze players
K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen players
Valenciennes FC players
Footballers at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Olympic footballers of Poland
1978 FIFA World Cup players
Olympic gold medalists for Poland
Ekstraklasa players
Belgian First Division A players
Quimper Kerfeunteun F.C. players
Ligue 1 players
Ligue 2 players
Polish expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Belgium
Expatriate footballers in France
Olympic medalists in football
Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR
Polish football managers
K.R.C. Mechelen managers
K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen managers
Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Association football forwards
PAS Giannina F.C. managers