Leonard Piontek
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leonard Franciszek Piątek | ||
| Date of birth | 13 October 1913 | ||
| Place of birth | Królewska Huta, German Empire | ||
| Date of death | 1 July 1967 (aged 53) | ||
| Place of death | Chorzów, Poland | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| AKS Chorzów | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1926–1947 | AKS Chorzów/Germania Königshütte | ||
| National team | |||
| 1936–1939 | Poland | 17 | (11) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1947–1950 | TS Pogoń Katowice (player-manager) | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Leonard Franciszek Piątek (born Leonard Franz Piontek, 13 October 1913 in Królewska Huta – 1 July 1967 in Chorzów) was a Polish football player who played in the interwar period. His son is Sepp Piontek, who coached the famous Danish Dynamite team.
A hard-working and ambitious forward, Piontek was the top scorer for Polish first division vice-champions AKS Chorzów in 1937 and went on to lead the league the following season with 21 goals.
He represented Poland on the country's national side in 16 games from 1937 to 1939, scoring 11 goals. He scored twice in Poland's 4:0 win over Yugoslavia in a World Cup qualifier and took part in the legendary 1938 FIFA World Cup match against Brazil in (Strasbourg, France on 5 June 1938 (5:6 Brazil). Piontek also scored a goal in the last international match played in Poland before the outbreak of World War II, a 4:2 victory over Hungary on 27 August 1939.
Piontek signed the Volksliste (German Nationality List) after the Nazi invasion of Poland which allowed him to continue his footballing career. His club AKS Chorzów was now playing as Germania Königshütte and with Piontek as their key player the team dominated the first division Gauliga Schlesien – part of the German football league system – throughout the early 1940s far outperforming state-supported rivals 1. FC Katowice.[1]
After World War II, Piontek had changed his last name to Piątek (a Polonized version). He played at AKS Chorzów until the end of 1947-season and moved to Pogoń Katowice and played there 1947-1950.
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