Marek Leśniak

Marek Sebastian Leśniak (born 29 February 1964) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker.^[1] A prolific goalscorer, he was successful in his country in the 1980s, and then had a career in Germany which spanned nearly 20 years, broken by a half-year stint in Switzerland.

Marek Leśniak

Personal information
Full name	Marek Sebastian Leśniak
Date of birth	(1964-02-29) 29 February 1964 (age 60)
Place of birth	Goleniów, Poland
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	FV Wiehl (youth) (manager)
Youth career
1974–1982	Pomorzanin Nowogard
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1982–1988	Pogoń Szczecin	150	(65)
1988–1992	Bayer Leverkusen	117	(19)
1992–1995	SG Wattenscheid 09	96	(25)
1995	1860 Munich	15	(2)
1996	KFC Uerdingen	17	(3)
1996–1997	Neuchâtel Xamax	41	(12)
1997–1999	Fortuna Düsseldorf	52	(16)
1999–2002	Preußen Münster	90	(30)
2002–2005	SSVg Velbert	81	(44)
2005–2006	Hilden-Nord
International career
	Poland U20
1986–1994	Poland	20	(10)
Managerial career
2002–2005	SSVg Velbert (player-coach)
2005–2006	Germania Ratingen
2007–2009	Schwarz-Weiß Rehden
2009–2010	SSVg Velbert
2010	SG Wattenscheid 09
2011–2013	TuSpo Richrath
2015–2018	SpVg Olpe
2018–2020	SV Frielingsdorf
2021–	FV Wiehl (youth)
2022	FV Wiehl (caretaker)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Poland FIFA World Youth Championship 1983 Mexico
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Leśniak was born in Goleniów. He started his professional career with Pogoń Szczecin, topping the Ekstraklasa goal charts in 1986–87, for a final runner-up position. In 1988, he moved abroad, with German side Bayer Leverkusen, starting his stint of well by scoring three Bundesliga goals in his first six games.

After a couple of solid seasons, Leśniak lost his importance in the side after the arrival of Ulf Kirsten, eventually leaving in 1992 to SG Wattenscheid 09, totalling 25 goals in three seasons. He continued to play in the country until 2006, aged 42, in various levels. From 2002 to 2005, he also acted as player-coach for SSVg Velbert.

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Poland	1986	3	0
	1987	7	5
	1988	0	0
	1989	1	0
	1990	0	0
	1991	0	0
	1992	0	0
	1993	7	5
	1994	2	0
Total		20	10

International goals

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

List of international goals scored by Marek Leśniak

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	18 March 1987	Stadion Miejski, Rybnik, Poland	Finland	2–0	3–1	Friendly
2	2 September 1987	Zawisza Bydgoszcz Stadium, Bydgoszcz, Poland	Romania	1–0	3–1	Friendly
3				3–0
4	23 September 1987	Polish Army Stadium, Warsaw, Poland	Hungary	3–1	3–2	UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
5	11 November 1987	Makario Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	Cyprus	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
6	13 April 1993	Stadion Radomiaka Radom, Radom, Poland	Finland	1–0	2–1	Friendly
7				2–0
8	19 May 1993	Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino	San Marino	1–0	3–0	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
9				2–0
10	17 November 1993	Stadion Miejski, Poznań, Poland	Netherlands	1–1	1–3	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Poland U20

• FIFA World Youth Championship third place: 1983^[2]

Individual

• Polish Newcomer of the Year: 1983^[3]
• Piłka Nożna Polish Footballer of the Year: 1993^[3]
• Ekstraklasa top scorer: 1986–87^[2]

References

1. "Marek Lesniak". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 3 March 2019.
2. "Marek Leśniak". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 29 February 2024.
3. "Laureaci". pilkanozna.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 16 July 2024.

External links

• Marek Leśniak at fussballdaten.de (in German)
• Marek Leśniak at Soccerway
• Marek Leśniak at National-Football-Teams.com