Grzegorz Lato
Lato in 1979
Senator of Rzeszów
In office
2001–2005
Preceded byJózef Frączek
Succeeded byWładysław Ortyl
25th President of the PZPN
In office
30 October 2008 – 26 October 2012
Preceded byMichal Listkiewicz
Succeeded byZbigniew Boniek
Personal details
Born (1950-04-08) 8 April 1950
Malbork, Poland
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Occupation
Association football career
Position(s) Winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1966–1980 Stal Mielec 295 (117)
1980–1982 Lokeren 64 (12)
1982–1984 Atlante 45 (16)
Total 404 (145)
International career
1971–1984 Poland 100 (45)
Managerial career
1988–1990 North York Rockets
1991–1993 Stal Mielec
1993–1995 Olimpia Poznań
1995–1996 Amica Wronki
1996–1997 Stal Mielec
1997 AO Kavala
1999 Widzew Łódź
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Poland
FIFA World Cup
Third place1974 West Germany
Third place1982 Spain
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1972 Munich Team
Silver medal – second place 1976 Montreal Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
Copy of G.Lato medal and autograph in Sports Star Avenue in Dziwnów

Grzegorz Bolesław Lato (Polish pronunciation: [ˈɡʐɛɡɔʐ ˈlatɔ]; born 8 April 1950) is a Polish former professional football player and manager who played as a winger. He was a member of Poland's golden generation of football players who rose to fame in the 1970s and early 80s. Over a decade, he represented Poland at five major tournaments starting with gold at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich and ending with a third-place finish at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. He reached the peak of his career at the 1974 World Cup, where he was the leading scorer and the only Pole to-date to have won the honor. After retiring from his playing career he had a brief stint as manager in several clubs in and out of Poland.

Lato, as a member of Democratic Left Alliance, was a Polish Senator for the Rzeszów region, between 2001 and 2005.

On 30 October 2008, he was elected president of the Polish Football Association (PZPN). As president of the PZPN he oversaw the Euro 2012 tournament, which was co-hosted by Poland. He was succeeded by Zbigniew Boniek on 26 October 2012.

Club career

Stal Mielec

Lato was born in Malbork. He arrived at Stal Mielec as a teenager in 1966. Over the next 14 years, he led Stal from the Second Division to the top tier of Polish football and its most successful era in its history. During his time there, the club would go on to win the Ekstraklasa—the Polish First-Division—twice, in 1973 and 1976, as well as be regular participants in European competitions. This era of success culminated with their appearance at the quarter-finals of the 1975-76 UEFA Cup. He inspired the club's good form with his prolific goal scoring, amassing 111 goals in 272 appearances. He was the top scorer of the Ekstraklasa during the 1972–73 and 1974–75 seasons.

Later career

In 1980, having turned 30, Lato was finally free to leave Poland to pursue his career abroad. Despite his age, his international performances had garnered him interest. Lato ended up receiving a personal invitation from Pelé to play for the New York Cosmos. However, he ultimately decided on settling in Belgium playing for K.S.C. Lokeren, scoring 12 goals over 2 seasons. By 1982, Lato decided to move on, signing for Atlante F.C. in Mexico where he amassed 15 goals. In 1984, he played in Canada in one match in the National Soccer League.[1] He spent the rest of the 1980s playing amateur football in Hamilton, Ontario for Polonia Hamilton—a club founded by Polish immigrants.[2] In 1991 he decided to retire from football.

International career

Lato represented the Poland national team for 13 years during the 1970s and 80s earning a total of 100 caps. He won his first cap under legendary Poland coach Kazimierz Górski in a qualifying game for the 1972 European Championships against West-Germany. The game ended as 1–3 loss. He was able to translate his prolific domestic goal-scoring record onto the international stage, where he became renowned for his striking prowess, especially in big games.

World Cup

1974 World Cup

Lato (left) at the 1974 World Cup during a match against Brazil

The highpoint of Lato's professional career came during the 1974 World Cup in West Germany. Poland had a tough first round, having been seeded in Group 4, along with Argentina and Italy as well as Haiti. Lato went on to have immediate impact. In Poland's first game against Argentina, he scored 2 goals leading Poland to a historic 3–2 win. Buoyed, Poland hammered Haiti in the next game 7–0, with Lato adding another 2 goals. Finally Poland beat Italy 2–1, to end the group-stage as undefeated winners of Group 4.

In the second round, Poland were seeded into Group B with West Germany, Sweden and Yugoslavia. Lato continued his great form as the tournament progressed. Poland defeated Sweden 1–0 and Yugoslavia 2–1, with Lato contributing the winning goals in both games. Poland's final game of the group of was against West Germany. The Germans had also defeated Sweden and Yugoslavia, tying both teams on points. Thus, the game would prove decisive in deciding who would finish Group B 1st or 2nd—the winner would go to the final, the loser would go to the third-place play-off. Poland played a strong game, often threatening the West-German goal. However, Lato was unable to score and Poland succumbed to a 1–0 defeat—their only loss of the tournament.

Poland's final game of the tournament was the third-place playoff against holders Brazil. In a tight game, Lato again proved to be the difference, scoring the only goal and leading the Poland national team to a Bronze finish. He ended the tournament as top goalscorer, having scored 7 goals.

1978 World Cup

Lato had arguably had been Poland's best player at the 1974 World Cup. However, by the time of the 1978 tournament in Argentina he was unable to replicate his great form. In the first round, Poland were seeded in Group 2 with West Germany, Mexico and Tunisia. Poland did well, winning the group by drawing 0–0 with West Germany, and winning against Tunisia and Mexico, 1–0 and 3–1 respectively. Lato, however, was only able to score one goal, albeit a decisive one against Tunisia.

In the second round, Poland found themselves in the "group of death" against Argentina and Brazil—both tournament favorites—and Peru. Lato, unfortunately, couldn't resurrect his form from four years prior, only mustering a single goal against Brazil. Poland ultimately finished third place having been beaten by both the hosts Argentina and Brazil 0–2 and 1–3 respectively. Poland managed to beat Peru 1–0 but that wasn't enough to secure 2nd place in Group B and they were duly eliminated. Having played in all of Poland's 6 games, Lato ended the tournament with only 2 goals.

1982 World Cup

Lato was 32 by the time Poland qualified for the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. His age was getting the better of him and he lacked the electrifying pace that defined his earlier career. Lato was still a first team player, but during Poland's 7 games at the tournament he managed only a solitary goal in Poland's 5–1 thrashing of Peru in the first round. However, several players had risen in a new generation of great Polish players, chief among them Zbigniew Boniek—who scored a hat-trick against Belgium—were able to fill the void. Despite his lack of goals Lato still contributed to the team play and played and important role. In the end, Poland reached the third-place playoff against France. They went on to win 3–2 and Lato added another Bronze World Cup medal to his collection.

Olympic Games

Lato won medals at two Summer Olympics football competitions: a gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics.

His final game before retirement was on 17 April 1984, a friendly against Belgium. He was subbed off in the 85th and Poland lost the game 0–1. Lato amassed 45 goals and the third highest goal scoring total in Poland national team history, second only to that of Robert Lewandowski and Włodzimierz Lubański. He also had an impressive goal scoring record of 0.43 goals per game. He was the first Polish player to reach a century of caps.

Managerial career

In 1996 he graduated from the School of Coaches of the Polish Football Association. After finishing his football career, he became a coach. Initially, he coached in Canada where he became manager of North York Rockets(1988–1990). He then returned to his old club Stal Mielec (1991–1993 and 1996–1997) before coaching several other Polish clubs: Olimpia Poznań (1993–1995) and Amica Wronki (1995–1996). He had a brief stint in Greece as manager of AO Kavala (1997) before he finally returned to Poland and eventually retired from managing with Widzew Łódź (1999).

After football

Lato, as a member of Democratic Left Alliance, was a Polish Senator for the Rzeszow region, between 2001 and 2005.

In October 2008, he was elected President of the Polish FA (PZPN). In an 2011 interview, Lato said that if Poland didn't progress to the Euro 2012 quarterfinals he would hand in his resignation from the position of President of the Polish FA. After Poland's 0–1 defeat by the Czech Republic on 16 June 2012—which officially knocked them out of Euro 2012 in the group stages—he refused to resign. He did not seek reelection and was replaced by Zbigniew Boniek, in October 2012.

Playing style

Blessed with remarkable acceleration, the talented right-winger consistently lived up to the high expectations placed upon him at the international level. Lato was not renowned as a crowd pleaser, but rather as a consistent team player. His great awareness on the pitch, coupled with his flexibility—he often played as a forward—allowed him to achieve success at the international and club levels.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[3]
Club Season League Total
Apps Goals
Stal Mielec 1969–1970 I liga 186
1970–1971 Ekstraklasa 2611
1971–1972 Ekstraklasa 2311
1972–1973 Ekstraklasa 2413
1973–1974 Ekstraklasa 3013
1974–1975 Ekstraklasa 2919
1975–1976 Ekstraklasa 3014
1976–1977 Ekstraklasa 299
1977–1978 Ekstraklasa 256
1978–1979 Ekstraklasa 298
1979–1980 Ekstraklasa 277
Total 295117
KSC Lokeren 1980–1981 Belgian Pro League 336
1981–1982 Belgian Pro League 316
Total 6412
Atlante 1982–1983 Liga MX 3615
1983–1984 Liga MX 51
Total 4116
Polonia Hamilton 5220
Career total452165

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Poland 197120
197210
197363
19741411
1975108
1976105
1977125
1978135
1979103
1980114
198130
198271
198300
198410
Total10045

International goals

Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lato goal.
List of international goals scored by Grzegorz Lato
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
119 August 1973Varna, Bulgaria Bulgaria1-02–0Friendly
22-0
326 September 1973Chorzów, Poland Wales2-03–0FIFA World Cup 1974 qualifying
415 May 1974Warsaw, Poland Greece2–0Friendly
515 June 1974Stuttgart, West Germany Argentina1-03–21974 FIFA World Cup
63-0
719 June 1974Munich, West Germany Haiti1-07–01974 FIFA World Cup
87-0
926 June 1974Stuttgart, West Germany Sweden1-01–01974 FIFA World Cup
1030 June 1974Frankfurt, West Germany Yugoslavia2-12–11974 FIFA World Cup
116 July 1974Munich, West Germany Brazil1-01–01974 FIFA World Cup
121 September 1974Helsinki, Finland Finland2-12–1UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying
134 September 1974Warsaw, Poland East Germany1–3Friendly
149 October 1974Poznań, Poland Finland3-03–0UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying
1526 March 1975Poznań, Poland United States7–0Friendly
16
1728 May 1975Halle, East Germany East Germany2–1Friendly
1824 June 1975Seattle, United States United States4–0Friendly
196 July 1975Montreal, Canada Canada8–1Friendly
20
21
2210 September 1975Chorzów, Poland Netherlands1-04–1UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying
2325 July 1976Montreal, Canada North Korea5–01976 Summer Olympics
24
2531 July 1976Montreal, Canada East Germany1–31976 Summer Olympics
2616 October 1976Porto, Portugal Portugal1-02–0FIFA World Cup 1978 qualifying
272-0
2815 May 1977Limassol, Cyprus Cyprus3–1FIFA World Cup 1978 qualifying
2929 May 1977Buenos Aires, Argentina Argentina1–3Friendly
3012 June 1977La Paz, Bolivia Bolivia2–1Friendly
317 September 1977Volgograd, Soviet Union Soviet Union1–4Friendly
3221 September 1977Chorzów, Poland Denmark4–1FIFA World Cup 1978 qualifying
335 April 1978Poznań, Poland Greece5–2Friendly
3426 April 1978Warsaw, Poland Bulgaria1-01–0Friendly
356 June 1978Rosario, Argentina Tunisia1-01–01978 FIFA World Cup
3621 June 1978Mendoza, Argentina Brazil1-11–31978 FIFA World Cup
376 September 1978Reykjavík, Iceland Iceland2-02–0UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying
3821 March 1979Algiers, Algeria Algeria1-01–0Friendly
394 April 1979Chorzów, Poland Hungary1–1Friendly
4029 August 1979Warsaw, Poland Romania3–0Friendly
4126 March 1980Budapest, Hungary Hungary1–2Friendly
424 April 1980Brussels, Belgium Belgium1–2Friendly
4322 June 1980Warsaw, Poland Iraq3–0Friendly
4429 June 1980São Paulo, Brazil Brazil1–1Friendly
4522 June 1982A Coruña, Spain Peru2-05–11982 FIFA World Cup

Honours

Lato's star in Władysławowo, pictured in 2006

Stal Mielec

Atlante F.C.

Lokeren SC

Poland

Individual

See also

References

  1. ↑ Koep, Bob (23 December 1987). "Polish soccer star to coach Rockets". Toronto Star. p. B4.
  2. ↑ "HISTORY". HAMILTON POLONIA F.C. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  3. ↑ Grzegorz Lato at National-Football-Teams.com
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