Ireneusz Jeleń (; born 9 April 1981) is 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 plays as a right-winger or striker for CKS Piast Cieszyn.

Club career

Jeleń was born in

Cieszyn Cieszyn ( , ; ; ) 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 inhabitants ( and lies opposite Český Těšín in the Czech Repu ...

. From 2002 to 2006, he played for

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 ...

side Wisła Płock. In four seasons, he scored 45 goals in 100 appearances in the Polish top league. On 28 June 2006, Jeleń moved to French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

. On 9 September 2006, Jeleń scored his first league goal for Auxerre against

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

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

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

. 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 monthly 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 exclus ...

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 with Jeleń in the line up, 0–5 at

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

on 6 February 2010. Jeleń signed a contract as a free agent with

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

at the end of August, after his contract with Auxerre expired. After refusing to move to

Stade Brest Stade Brestois 29, commonly known as Stade Brestois or simply Brest,''Stade Brest'', used by some English-speaking media outlets and journalists, is not a grammatically correct name for the club. is a French professional football club based in ...

, he was soon left without a club. He returned to Poland and signed for

side Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała 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 association football, football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning ...

, 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 Cieszyn at amateur level, where he also serves as the club's chairman.

International career

As of October 2011, Jeleń has 28

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

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 touring cars for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles wer ...

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

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

in their 2–0 defeat. His

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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

:''Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Jeleń goal.''

Honours

Beskid Skoczów *

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 ...

(Skoczów regionals): 2001–02 Wisła Płock *

: 2005–06; runner-up: 2002–03 CKS Piast Cieszyn * Klasa A Skoczów: 2020–21 * Klasa B Skoczów: 2019–20

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jelen, Ireneusz 1981 births Living people Footballers from Cieszyn Poland men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Polish men's footballers Wisła Płock players AJ Auxerre players Lille OSC players Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała players Górnik Zabrze players Ekstraklasa players III liga players Ligue 1 players Polish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Polish expatriate sportspeople in France 2006 FIFA World Cup players Polish sports executives and administrators Polish football executives 21st-century Polish sportsmen