Grzegorz Lato
| Grzegorz Lato | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lato in 2010
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| Senator of Rzeszów | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In office 2001–2005 |
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| Preceded by | Józef Frączek | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Władysław Ortyl | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 25th President of the PZPN | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In office 30 October 2008 – 26 October 2012 |
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| Preceded by | Robert Zawłocki | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Zbigniew Boniek | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
8 April 1950 Malbork, Poland |
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| Nationality | Polish | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation |
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Association football career
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| Playing position | Winger | ||
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| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1966–1980 | Stal Mielec | 295 | (117) |
| 1980–1982 | Lokeren | 64 | (12) |
| 1982–1984 | Atlante | 45 | (16) |
| 1984–1991 | Polonia Hamilton | 52 | (20) |
| Total | 404 | (144) | |
| National team | |||
| 1971–1984 | Poland | 100 | (45) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1988–1990 | North York Rockets | ||
| 1991–1993 | Stal Mielec | ||
| 1993–1995 | Olimpia Poznań | ||
| 1995–1996 | Amica Wronki | ||
| 1996–1997 | Stal Mielec | ||
| 1999 | Widzew Łódź | ||
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Honours
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| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Grzegorz Bolesław Lato (born 8 April 1950 in Malbork) is a retired Polish footballer and manager. He was the leading scorer at the 1974 World Cup. Lato's playing career coincided with the golden era of Polish football, which began with Olympic gold in Munich in 1972 and ended a decade later with third place at the 1982 World Cup in Spain, a repeat of the Poles' impressive finish in 1974 in Germany. He is the only Polish player ever to win the Golden boot at a World Cup.
From 2001 to 2005 Lato, as a member of Democratic Left Alliance, was a senator in Poland. On 30 October 2008, he was elected president of Polish Football Association (PZPN), serving for nearly four years before being succeeded by Zbigniew Boniek on 26 October 2012.
For Poland, Lato has been capped a record 100 times between 1971 and 1984; he scored 45 goals, which is second-best in national history behind Włodzimierz Lubański. Other than the 1974 World Cup, where he scored seven goals, he also participated in the 1978 and 1982 tournaments. In the 1974 World Cup, he won the Golden Shoe after scoring 7 goals throughout the tournament. In a difficult Group 4, the Poles made an early impression, defeating Argentina by a score of 3–2, with two goals from Lato, the first being scored after just seven minutes of play. Buoyed by that success, Poland then posted the tournament's second largest win with a 7–0 defeat of Haiti (the largest being Yugoslavia's 9–0 demolition of Zaire), with Lato weighing in with another two strikes. In the second round, the Stal Mielec-based striker was even more instrumental, scoring winning goals against Group B rivals Sweden (1–0) and Yugoslavia (2–1). And while even Lato was powerless to prevent an agonising 1–0 defeat by Germany in Frankfurt the in-form marksman was able to propel his team to third place courtesy of the only goal in the play-off victory over Brazil. He was then known as Poland's favorite player. While playing for Poland, he helped them win several titles.
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