Gustav Lechner

{{Infobox football biography

|name = Gustav Lechner

|image =

|fullname =

|birth_date = {{birth date|1913|2|17|df=y}}

|birth_place = Osijek, Austria-Hungary

|death_date = {{death date and age|1987|2|5|1913|2|17|df=y}}

|death_place = Zagreb, SFR Yugoslavia

|height =

|position = Midfielder

|youthyears1 =

|youthclubs1 =

|years1 = 1930–1935

|clubs1 = Slavija Osijek

|caps1 =

|goals1 =

|years2 = 1935–1941

|clubs2 = BSK Belgrade

|caps2 =

|goals2 =

|years3 = 1941–1945

|clubs3 = Građanski Zagreb

|caps3 =

|goals3 =

|years4 = 1945–1949

|clubs4 = Proleter Osijek

|caps4 =

|goals4 =

|totalcaps =

|totalgoals =

|nationalyears1 = 1931–1940

|nationalteam1 = Yugoslavia

|nationalcaps1 = 44

|nationalgoals1 = 0

|nationalyears2 = 1941–1944

|nationalteam2 = Croatia

|nationalcaps2 = 12

|nationalgoals2 = 0

|manageryears1 = 1945–1949

|managerclubs1 = Proleter Osijek (player-manager)

|manageryears2 =

|managerclubs2 = Metalac Osijek

|manageryears3 =

|managerclubs3 = Dinamo Pančevo

|manageryears4 = 1953–1957

|managerclubs4 = Vojvodina

|manageryears5 = 1957–1958

|managerclubs5 = Dinamo Zagreb

|manageryears6 = 1959–1960

|managerclubs6 = Velež

|manageryears7 =

|managerclubs7 = Slavonija Požega

|manageryears8 = 196x–1966

|managerclubs8 = NK Zagreb

}}

Gustav Lechner (17 February 1913 – 5 February 1987) was a football player and coach. At international level he represented both the Yugoslavian and Croatian national sides.{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/double-caps.html|title=Players Appearing for Two or More Countries|access-date=17 April 2008|publisher=Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation}}

Club career

Born in Osijek, Austria-Hungary and nicknamed Lembika,[http://www.reprezentacija.rs/index.php/sr/statistika/najvise-utakmica/1229 Gustav Lehner] at Reprezentacija.rs he spent his early career with Slavija Osijek and BSK Belgrade; while playing with the latter he won 3 Yugoslav titles and graduated from law school. In 1941 he and teammate Ernest Dubac joined Građanski Zagreb. At the end of the war, he became player-manager of Proleter Osijek.

International career

Lechner made his debut for Yugoslavia in an August 1931 friendly match against Czechoslovakia and earned a total of 44 caps scoring no goals. He then played 12 matches under the flag of the Independent State of Croatia, a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany. His final international was an April 1944 friendly against Slovakia.{{cite web|url=https://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=11987|title=Player Database|accessdate=8 October 2022|website=EU-football}}

Coaching career

After retiring as a player in 1949, Lechner became a coach and managed Metalac Osijek, Dinamo Pančevo, Vojvodina Novi Sad, Dinamo Zagreb, Velež Mostar, Slavonija Požega and NK Zagreb.

Death

Lechner died on 5 February 1987 in Zagreb, and was buried on 11 February at the Saint Anne Cemetery in his hometown of Osijek.{{Cite web |title=Gustav Lehner |url=https://ukop-osijek.hr/trazilica-pokojnika/ |access-date=14 October 2022}}{{Cite web |title=Proslavljeni asovi i igračke legende NS Osijek − Lembika |url=http://www.nsosijek.hr/info.html |access-date=15 October 2022 |publisher=Nogometno središte Osijek |language=hr |quote=Umro je 1987. u Zagrebu, a pokopan na Aninom groblju u rodnom gradu.}}