The organising of the cup was to give the players an opportunity to show off their skills, and with a more relaxed competition compared to the league would provide the Polish team with the best possible preparation to perform well at the Olympics.

On their way to a 5th-place finish in the league, their highest at that point, they beat strong teams at the time such as ŁKS Łódź, Lech Poznań, Zagłębie Sosnowiec, and the 1955 Polish champions Legia Warsaw.

This caused the team to finish second from bottom, being 4 points from safety, and were relegated from the Ekstraklasa with Lech Poznań, ending their 9 season long spell of continuous top division football.

While some of Lechia's important players remained at the club after their relegation, including long serving players such as; Bogdan Adamczyk, Jerzy Apolewicz, Janusz Charczuk, Roman Korynt, Czesław Nowicki, Zbigniew Żemojtel, and the return of Henryk Gronowski after the club's relegation, the squad struggled to adapt to falling down a division.

This followed the trend of Lechia not scoring many, but being set up well defensively, with the high number of extra points picked up from draws helping them to finish clear of the bottom 4.

The change did not initially impact the club, with Lechia finishing in 3rd place, missing out on promotion by a single point for the second successive season.

Lechia also went on a cup run, playing Gryf Słupsk, Wielim Szczecinek, Widzew Łódź, and Unia Tarnów on their way to reaching the quarterfinals.

6th and 7th-placed finishes in seasons where Lechia nearly won, drew and lost the same number 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 club's fortunes and was irreplaceable for the team on the pitch.

[14][15] The Lechia home game against Juventus was not only a sporting spectacle, but proved to be a place of mass demonstration for the Solidarity movement, which many fans were part of.

After the 2001–02 season Lechia–Polonia dissolved, resulting newly formed Lechia becoming the continuation of the original club, while Polonia Gdańsk having already reformed in the sixth tier in 1999.

The newly formed independent Lechia Gdańsk team had a lot of initial success, winning the league in its first year in the 6th tier in 2001–02 season.

Both players came on as substitutes in the 4–0 win over Pogon, with Wiśniewski scoring the final goal of the game, and Bąk made an important save to keep a clean sheet for the team.

For the third season in a row Lechia once again missed out on qualification for the Europa League by a single position, this time due to their main rivals Arka Gdynia getting the place from winning the 2016–17 Polish Cup.

During this time Lechia also went on a cup run beating Wisła Kraków, Resovia Rzeszow and Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza to reach the quarterfinals.

Lechia's good fortunes in the cup also continued after the restart, beating Górnik Zabrze in the quarterfinals, Raków Częstochowa in the semifinal, meeting Jagiellonia Białystok in the final.

[23] Two goals from Lukáš Haraslín and one from Jarosław Kubicki meant that Lechia were 3-0 up in the final before a late consolation for Piast from Patryk Sokołowski.

[38] Key players that left included; Lukáš Haraslín, Artur Sobiech, Daniel Łukasik, Rafał Wolski and Sławomir Peszko with Błażej Augustyn training with the Lechia II team until arrangements could be made.

[43] This run coincided with the meeting of Lech Poznań in the Polish Cup semi-final, against whom Lechia beat 4–3 in penalties after the game finished 1–1.

[45] Lechia eventually struggled with a Covid outbreak of their own, with Jaroslav Mihalík being the first confirmed case in the club on 10 October,[46] getting the virus while on international duty.

[48] After the winter break Lechia's poor form returned with defeats to Jagiellonia in the league and Puszcza Niepołomice in the Polish Cup, with some fans questioning the role of Stokowiec as the team's manager.

During this unbeaten run of games, Lechia convincingly beat teams such as their wins against Górnik Łęczna and the current Polish champions, Legia Warsaw.

Despite Lech being the dominant team for much of the game, a late goal from 17 year old Filip Koperski secured a 1–0 win against their league rivals,[52] and keeping themselves in touching distance of a top 3 finish.

[54] The penultimate game of the season saw them face off against Pogoń Szczecin knowing that a draw would secure 4th place in the league and the chance to play in Europe.

[56] Led by their new manager Szymon Grabowski, Lechia contested the first round of the 2023–24 I liga against Chrobry Głogów with a matchday squad consisting of 8 youth players with no prior senior team playing experience.

[57] The club was also facing financial and organizational issues, including delayed staff payments and having to use placeholder kits in the early stages of the season.

[58] Following change of ownership in August,[59] the arrival of foreign players such as Ivan Zhelizko, Maksym Khlan, Rifet Kapić and the record signing of Camilo Mena, Lechia found their footing in the second division.

The official and unofficial fan groups can be found in the towns of; Braniewo, Bytów, Chojnice, Czersk, Dzierzgoń, Frombork, Gdynia, Gniew, Kartuzy, Kościerzyna, Kwidzyn, Lębork, Malbork, Mława, Miłobądz, Nowe, Nowy Dwór Gdański, Nowy Staw, Nowy Targ, Pelplin, Pisz, Pruszcz Gdański, Prabuty, Przodkowo, Pszczółki, Rumia, Sierakowice, Skarszewy, Skórcz, Smętowo, Sopot, Starogard Gdański, Sztum, Tczew, Tuchom, Ustka, Władysławowo, Wejherowo, Zblewo and Żukowo, with the club also having a fan group in England.

[63] This included Lech Wałęsa, a fan of Lechia Gdańsk who was at the front of the Solidarity movement and became the first elected President of Poland after the fall of communism.

[65] Police made arrests in the days after the match, with the Mayor of Gdańsk stating that taxpayer money would not be used to help the refurbishing of the bar.