Kozubal scores his first goal for Lech

When considering the post-World War period, Kozubal has ranked himself fourth in the category of youngest goal scorers. At the very moment when his follow-up shot hit the back of the net, he was 17 years and 10 days old. It makes him the youngest footballer to score for Lech in the Polish Cup but when it comes to all competitions, there were three other players who found the back of the net before their 17^th birthday.

Mateusz Olszak leads the rank. His name might sound unfamiliar to a majority of Lech Poznań fans. In 2008, as a 16-year-old, he joined Lech from Wisła Puławy, being labelled as a future star. The talented youngster played mainly in the so-called Young Ekstraklasa. Meanwhile, the senior team competed on many fronts – not only in the league, but also Polish Cup, UEFA Cup group phase, and Ekstraklasa Cup. The two latter competitions weren’t considered important by coach Franciszek Smuda hence he’d usually let the B-team and youth play. On December 10^th, 2008 – a week before a key international game against Feyenoord in UEFA Cup – the team from Poznań faced Arka Gdynia at home, in the Ekstraklasa Cup. The hosts lost 1:4 and Olszak – who was 16 years, 4 months and 2 days old at the time – scored the only goal for Lech. It was his only appearance for the senior squad from Poznań. Olszak never made his way into top-level football.

The situation is much different when it comes to the two other players who are on the podium. Filip Marchwiński, who scored his debut goal for Lech against Zagłębie Sosnowiec (6:0) at the age of 16 years, 11 months and 6 days, was just 24 hours older than Dawid Kownacki when the latter first found the back of the net (against Pogoń Szczecin, 1:5). Marchwiński is still a part of Lech’s A-team whereas Kownacki went on to win the Polish Championship with Lech before moving to Sampdoria Genoa.

Therefore, Olszak is the record holder. However, we have only considered the post-War period since the figures from the years prior are incomplete. Dawid Gościak recently uncovered an interesting fact – Edmund Białas from the famous ABC trio, was just 15 years and 243 days old when he scored his debut goal for Lech on April 14^th, 1935 (against Ostrovia, 4:1).