Włodzimierz Lubański

Copy of W. Lubański medal and autograph in Avenue Sport Stars in Dziwnów

Włodzimierz 'Włodek' Leonard Lubański (Polish pronunciation: ; born 28 February 1947) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the second-highest all-time goal scorer for the Poland national team, behind Robert Lewandowski, and the youngest-ever player to appear for Poland, making his debut at the age of 16 years and 188 days. For his national team, Lubański amassed 75 caps between 1963 and 1980, scoring 48 goals.

Life and career Born in Gliwice in 1947, he started his football career at the age of ten in Sośnica Gliwice's junior team. Between 1958 and 1962, he was part of the GKS Gliwice's junior squad and in 1963 he started playing football professionally in Górnik Zabrze. He won the Polish Championship seven times with Górnik Zabrze in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1971 and 1972. Lubański is the youngest scorer in the history of the European Cup (now known as the UEFA Champions League), scoring against Czech side Dukla Prague in the leg of their tie in the first round of the competition on 13 November 1963, aged 16 years and 258 days.

Between 1975 and 1982, he played for Belgian side Lokeren before moving to French outfit Valenciennes FC in 1982, where he remained for a year.

He won the gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in the men's football team competition with Poland.

In 1972, he was awarded the title of Merited Master of Sport of the USSR.

He participated at the 1978 FIFA World Cup, finishing fifth with his national team.

Lubański was vice-chairman of Polonia Warsaw for three months.

In 1997, he received the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta 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.

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 Club

International

Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lubański goal. + List of international goals scored by Włodzimierz Lubański No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 4 September 1963 Florian Krygier Stadium, Szczecin, Poland 3–0 9–0 Friendly 2 27 September 1964 Mithatpaşa Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey 1–0 3–2 Friendly 3 25 October 1964 Dalymount Park, Dublin, Republic of Ireland 1–0 2–3 Friendly 4 24 October 1965 Florian Krygier Stadium, Szczecin, Poland 1–0 7–0 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification 5 2–0 6 3–0 7 6–0 8 1 November 1965 Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy 1–5 1–6 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification 9 3 May 1966 Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland 1–1 1–1 Friendly 10 21 May 1967 Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland 1–0 3–1 UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying 11 2–0 12 4 August 1967 Central Lenin Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union 1–2 1–2 1968 Summer Olympics qualification 13 24 April 1968 Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland 2–0 8–0 Friendly 14 3–0 15 7–0 16 15 May 1968 Dalymount Park, Dublin, Republic of Ireland 1–0 2–2 Friendly 17 9 June 1968 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway 6–1 6–1 Friendly 18 30 October 1968 Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland 1–0 1–0 Friendly 19 20 April 1969 Municipal Stadium, Kraków, Poland 1–0 8–1 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification 20 2–0 21 3–0 22 7–1 23 8–1 24 30 April 1969 19 Mayıs Stadium, Ankara, Turkey 1–0 3–1 Friendly 25 27 August 1969 ŁKS Stadium, Łódź, Poland 1–0 6–1 Friendly 26 5–0 27 7 September 1969 Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland 2–1 2–1 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification 28 12 October 1969 Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg 4–1 5–1 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification 29 2 September 1970 10th-Anniversary Stadium, Warsaw, Poland 1–0 5–0 Friendly 30 14 October 1970 Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland 2–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying 31 5 May 1971 Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland 4–1 4–2 Friendly 32 22 September 1971 Municipal Stadium, Kraków, Poland 2–0 5–1 UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying 33 4–0 34 5–1 35 16 April 1972 Lokomotic Stadium, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria 1–0 1–3 1972 Summer Olympics qualification 36 30 August 1972 Jahnstadion, Regensburg, West Germany 1–0 4–0 1972 Summer Olympics 37 8 September 1972 Frankenstadion, Nuremberg, West Germany 2–0 5–0 1972 Summer Olympics 38 20 March 1973 ŁKS Stadium, Łódź, Poland 1–0 4–0 Friendly 39 2–0 40 4–0 41 13 May 1973 10th-Anniversary Stadium, Warsaw, Poland 1–0 2–2 Friendly 42 16 May 1973 Olympic Stadium, Wrocław, Poland 1–0 2–0 Friendly 43 2–0 44 6 June 1973 Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland 2–0 2–0 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification 45 1 May 1977 Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark 1–0 2–1 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification 46 2–1 47 22 March 1978 Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg 3–1 3–1 Friendly 48 24 September 1980 Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland 1–1 1–1 Friendly

Honours Górnik Zabrze Ekstraklasa: 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1970–71, 1971–72 Polish Cup: 1964–65, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72

Poland Summer Olympics: 1972

Individual Ekstraklasa top scorer: 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69 European Cup Winners' Cup Top Scorer: 1969–70, 1970–71 World XI: 1968, 1969, 1972, 1973 Merited Master of Sport of the USSR: 1972 Order of Polonia Restituta: 1997 UEFA Poland's Golden Player: 2004 Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland: 2015 Polish Football Association National Team of the Century: 1919–2019