Ireneusz Jeleń (; born 9 April 1981) is a retired Polish

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 ...

who played as a right-winger or striker for the Poland national football team.

Club career

Jeleń was born in

Cieszyn Cieszyn ( , ; cs, Těšín ; german: Teschen; la, Tessin; szl, Ćeszyn) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town has 33,500 inhabitan ...

. From 2002 to 2006 he played for Wisła Płock in the

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 ...

. In four seasons he scored 45 goals in 100 appearances in the Polish top league. On 28 June 2006, Jeleń signed for Auxerre in Ligue 1. On 9 September 2006, Jeleń scored his first league goal for Auxerre against

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. On 20 October 2007, he grabbed his first hat-trick, after coming off the bench in the 71st minute against

FC Lorient Football Club Lorient Bretagne Sud (; commonly referred to FC Lorient or simply Lorient) is a French association football club based in Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in we ...

. In his first couple of seasons at Auxerre, Jeleń was plagued with recurring back problems. In October 2008 he suffered a broken collarbone. He returned to action in late January 2009. Auxerre's manager Jean Fernandez has described Jeleń as the player in his squad having the most ability in front of goal. Prior to his return, Auxerre was in 17th place, barely above the relegation zone. Upon his return, Jeleń scored 11 goals in 16 league matches, with Auxerre advancing to 8th in the table. Despite missing part of the season, Jelen tied for 4th in the Ligue 1 goalscoring charts. In May 2009, he was voted Auxerre's Player of the Season, garnering 79% of the votes. In July 2009,

France Football ''France Football'' is a French weekly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclusi ...

ranked him 4th among strikers and 15th overall among footballers playing in Ligue 1. In December 2009 he was voted Polish Player of the Year. During the 2009–10 season, he helped Auxerre to finish third in the league and win a place in the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League Play-off round. He finished fifth in the Ligue 1 goalscoring charts with 14 goals, despite missing some matches due to injury. Auxerre lost only once (at Grenoble 0–5) with Jeleń in the line up on 6 February 2010. Jeleń signed a contract as a free agent with

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...

at the end of August, after his contract with

Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...

expired. After refusing to go to Stade Brestois 29, he was soon left without a club. He returned to Poland and signed for

side

Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała TS Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała () is a football club based in Bielsko-Biała, Poland. They currently compete in the I liga, the second tier of Polish football. History The club was essentially founded on 11 July 1997, although it can trace i ...

but after a poor half of the season he was released. After a short stint at

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 Po ...

, where he left due to his father's illness he finished his career at the local club he started his career with, Piast Cieszyn, before eventually retiring in 2014. Since 2019, Jeleń has been playing for CKS Piast.

International career

As of October 2011, Jeleń has 28

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

with the Polish national team. He was selected for the 23-man squad that took part in the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

finals in Germany and played in all three of the

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles ...

games, almost scoring with an impressive left foot shot that hit the crossbar against

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

in their 2–0 defeat. His

trademarks A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...

are speed and acceleration. Jelen failed to make Poland's squad for their upcoming

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

campaign, however he was placed on standby.

Personal life

Jeleń was born the middle of three children, having an older sister and a younger brother. He and his wife, Anna, have a son, Jakub, born in 2003, and a daughter, Julia, born in January 2010.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

Honours

Club

Wisła Płock *

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. ...

: 2005–06; finalist 2002–03

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jelen, Ireneusz 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Silesian Voivodeship 2006 FIFA World Cup players Association football forwards Polish footballers Wisła Płock players AJ Auxerre players Lille OSC players Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała players Górnik Zabrze players Expatriate footballers in France Poland international footballers People from Cieszyn Ligue 1 players Polish expatriate footballers Ekstraklasa players