Homegrown coach back at Bulgarska street

In the case of Patryk Kniat, there is no doubt that the phrase ‘homegrown coach’ fits him perfectly. As a 2^nd-year university student, he started his coaching career at Lech. It was a dream come true; for a boy born in Poznan, the stadium was one of the most frequently visited places. As a die-hard fan, throughout the 14 years spent working for his beloved club, Kniat gave his everything both when working for youth teams, as well as the reserves team where he coached the likes of Linetty, Kownacki, Bednarek, and Kedziora. Kniat himself emphasized numerous times that the brilliant football stories of the mentioned players make him incredibly proud.

Life had prepared a surprising script for the coach – in the most recent league round, Wisla Plock coach was disqualified, hence the role of the team leader was naturally passed on to the assistant coach – Kniat. The former Lech employee first worked alongside Ojrzynski in the 2017/18 season when the latter was coaching Arka Gdynia. In the season 2018/19, Kniat moved on to Unia Swarzedz where he was appointed the first-team coach. “Just 6 months ago I was still managing a fourth-division side. With all due respect to the teams playing in the fourth league, it’s a different world when comparing to Ekstraklasa. I am enjoying the surprising script life has prepared for me,” said the coach.

“There are many people I know and recognize, starting at security guards, through players, coaches, all the way to marketing employees. I recall the years spent at Lech with a smile on my face. I still keep in touch with a number of people I used to work with, including Kikut and Bartkowiak, as well first team and reserves players. We also joked a bit with other Lech fans during my visit to the stadium,” mentioned Kniat with a smile on his face.

Following the final whistle, Kniat highlighted how impressed he was with the atmosphere in the stadium. Despite Wisla’s 0:4 loss, he praised Lech fans and the quality of their support. “The atmosphere was incredible; I’ll risk saying that maybe it was one of the reasons we lost the match. After all, my players were performing very well in recent games. However, today’s support coming from the stands simply lifted Lech and had an opposite effect on us. I think that if Lech continues to perform like that, with every game, the stands will be filled with more and more supporters,” added Kniat.