LKS Pogoń Lwów is ńLwóa former Polish professional sports club which was located in Lwów, Lwów Voivodeship (now Lviv in Ukraine), and existed from 1904 until the outbreak of World War II in 1939. It was the second oldest Polish football club behind other teams from Lwów – Czarni and Lechia. With numerous departments, among them football, ice hockey and track and field, Pogoń was a major force of Polish sports in the interbellum period; its football team was never relegated from the elite Polish Football League. The club ceased to exist in September 1939, following German and Soviet aggression on Poland. On 2 July 1939, Pogoń played last pre-war official home game, drawing 1–1 with AKS Chorzów. The last pre-war game of the Pogoń's football team took place in Warsaw on 20 August 1939. Lwów's side lost 1–2 to Polonia Warsaw, scorer of the last goal was the 20-year-old forward Piotr Dreher. A club under the same name wishing to continue its traditions was formed in 2009.
Honours
Football honours
4 times Polish Champions: 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926. 3 times Polish Vice-Champions: 1932, 1933, 1935. junior Vice-Champions of Poland: 1937 (see: Football Junior Championships of Poland)
Honours in other sports
Ice hockey – Champion of Poland 1933 (together with Legia Warsaw), vicechampion of Poland (1929, 1930), third place in Polish championships (1927).
History
From founding to 1914
The history of the club dates back to the spring of 1904, when a Sports-Gymnastics Club at Lwów's (the city, known then as Lemberg, belonged at the beginning of the 20th century to Austria-Hungary) Fourth High School was founded by a group of students, inspired by their gymnastics teacher, doctor Eugeniusz Piasecki. The organisation was based on several minor students teams, which had existed in the city since 1900, and which had played several football games with opponents from other high schools. The team of Fourth High School went together with players of Czarni Lwów in May 1906 to Kraków, where they tied with local students 1:1. The visit of Lwów's students is regarded as the event which spurred their Kraków's colleagues into founding their own teams, thus Cracovia and Wisła Kraków were created soon afterwards. In late September 1906, Kraków's team came to Lwów, beating the locals 1:0.
In 1907 the name was changed to Pogoń ("Pogoń" is Polish name of Pahonia; the new name was proposed by Maksymilian Dudryk of Lechita Lwów). The new team was a merger of the two sides – Sports-Gymnastics Club of the Fourth Gymnasium, and Lechita Lwów. Hues reflected the merger, as Sports-Gymnastics Club players wore red – blue jerseys, and Lechita's footballers white – red. Players of the new team wore white – red jerseys and blue shorts. The change accelerated the club's growth, as soon afterwards it found a rich sponsor, Ludwik Kuchar, who was the owner of several cinemas located in Lwów and Kraków. Next the statutes of Pogoń were established, based on statutes of English sports organizations. Pogoń was a co-founder of the PZPN (Polish Football Association) (1919), as well as a founding member of the Polish Football League, which started in the spring of 1927. Pogoń's first manager was doctor Eugeniusz Piasecki, who remained on this post until 1909.
During the first years of existence, Pogoń played games against other local teams, and in 1907 its lineup consisted of the following footballers: Rysiak, Marion, Kawecki, Harasymowicz, Spanring, Rzadki, Pirozynski, Kleban, Dudryk, Karasinski, Zausner. In April and May 1908, Pogoń went to Kraków, tying with Cracovia 1:1, and losing to Wisła 0:2. The first international game took place in May 1909, when Pogoń went to Košice, losing 0:5 to the champion of northern Hungary, Kassai AC. In September 1909, the Hungarians visited Lwów, winning 4:1. In 1910, Pogoń joined the Austrian Football Association, which enabled the club to make contacts with several teams of the Austrio-Hungarian Empire. In 1911, Pogoń sensationally beat 6:1 the team of Vienna. Other scores of that year were: 1:3 and 1:4 with Victoria Vienna, 3:0 and 4:2 with the Hungarian side Ungvari, 4:2 with the German team Diana Kattowitz, 2:3 and 2:3 with Budapesti FAC, 4:6 with Kassai AC, 0:4 and 1:4 with ASV Hertha Vienna, 1:5 and 1:1 with 1. Simmeringer SC.