won, drew and lost the same amount of games each time saw the club looking far less competitive and saw the departure of talismanic midfielder Zdzisław Puszkarz in 1981. It was evident in 1981–82 that Puszkarz, a lifelong Lechia fan and a player who had been seen as too good for the second tier for many years, hugely contributed to the clubs fortunes and was irreplaceable for the team on the pitch. Lechia fell to 14th after winning only 6 of their 30 games, scored only 19 goals, and ended up 7 points from safety. Lechia were relegated to the third tier, this time without any star players or big names to help the club out. 'Rebirth', cup wins, and Ekstraklasa football (1982–1988) Although Lechia found themselves in the third tier for the 1982–83 season, it turned out to be a historic year for the club, and was seen as the club's 'rebirth'. The team finished top of their division, going on to concede only 9 goals in their 26 games. Due to Lechia being in the third tier they joined the Polish Cup in the second round. The first game of the competition saw them play Start Radziejow, who they narrowly beat 3–2 on penalties. The cup saw them playing 4 Ekstraklasa teams on their route to the final. They beat Widzew Łódź 5–4 on penalties, after drawing 1–1, Śląsk Wrocław 3–0 in the round of 16, Zagłębie Sosnowiec 1–0 in the quarter-finals, and Ruch Chorzów in the semi-finals 4–3 on penalties. The final saw them playing Piast Gliwice who were in the second tier. They won the final 2–1 with goals from Krzysztof Górski and Marek Kowalczyk to win their first-ever piece of silverware. In 1983–84 Lechia were again in the second tier (west group), and qualified for the Polish SuperCup () due to winning the Polish Cup the season before. It was the first-ever season of the Super Cup, and saw the cup winning team play the Ekstraklasa champions, resulting in Lechia playing Lech Poznań. Despite Lech being heavy favourites Lechia won the Super Cup with a late goal from Jerzy Kruszczyński. This resulted in 1983 being the most successful season in the club's history up to that point, with the team winning both cup competitions it participated in despite not being in the top division. Lechia's stay out of the Ekstraklasa wasn't to last long, however,