Czesław Lenc (14 April 1926 – 7 January 1998) was a 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 lea ...

who played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. Born in

Chojnice Chojnice (; or ; or ) is a town in northern Poland with 38,789 inhabitants, as of June 2023, near the Tuchola Forest. It is the capital of the Chojnice County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. Founded in , Chojnice is a former royal city of Poland ...

, Lenc started playing football with his local team Chojniczanka Chojnice in 1945, before moving to

Lechia Gdańsk Lechia Gdańsk () is a Polish football (soccer), football club based in Gdańsk. As of the 2025–26 Ekstraklasa, 2025–26 season, they compete in the Ekstraklasa. The club was founded in 1945 by people Polish population transfers (1944–1946 ...

in 1948 and spending 14 seasons with the club.

Biography

Lenc played three seasons with Chojniczanka, during which period he became an important player for the club. In 1948 he moved to

where in his first season he helped Lechia win promotion to the

I Liga I liga (, ), currently named Betclic I liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga via promotion/rel ...

by winning the league. Lenc was in the first Lechia team to play in the top division in 1949. During his time with Lechia he won the

II liga II liga (Druga liga, ), currently named Betclic II liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is a Polish football league that sits at the third tier of the Polish football league system. Until the end of the 2007–08 season, ''II Liga'' referre ...

, also finished as runners up once, reached the final of the

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

, finished as runners-up after losing 5–0 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 a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

, and was involved in Lechia's joint highest finish in the Polish league, 3rd, which was achieved in 1956 and has only been matched once in 2019. In total he played 232 games, scoring 4 goals in all competitions with Lechia. Lenc features highly on the list of all-time appearances made for Lechia, and is currently 3rd on the list for appearances made in the top division with 182.

Honours

Lechia Gdańsk *

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

third place:

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

runner-up: 1954–55 *

: 1951 (group I); runner-up: 1954

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lenc, Czesław 1926 births 1998 deaths People from Chojnice Footballers from Pomeranian Voivodeship Chojniczanka Chojnice players Polish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Lechia Gdańsk players Ekstraklasa players I liga players 20th-century Polish sportsmen