Polonia Bytom

For the ice hockey section of the club, see TMH Polonia Bytom.
Polonia Bytom
Full name Klub Sportowy Polonia Bytom Spółka Akcyjna
Nickname(s) "Blue & Reds", "Queen of Silesia"
Founded 4 January 1920
Ground Stadion Edwarda Szymkowiaka
Ground Capacity 5,500[1]
Chairman Radosław Nowakowski
Manager Ireneusz Kościelniak
League II liga
2014–15 1st Opolsko-Śląska (promoted)

Polonia Bytom (Polish pronunciation: [pɔˈlɔɲja ˈbɨtɔm]) is a Polish football club founded on 4 January 1920 in the Upper Silesian city of Bytom, during the hectic months of the Silesian Uprisings. In late 1922, however, as a result of the Upper Silesia plebiscite, Bytom became part of Germany and the club ceased to exist.

In May 1945, numerous players and officials of one of the most famous Polish clubs, Pogoń Lwów, arrived in Bytom and decided to revive Polonia. On 17 May 1945, the team played its first game in over two decades, defeating Warta Poznań 3–2.

Polonia is considered the continuation of Pogoń Lwów; its logo is in fact very similar to the logo of Lwów's most famous Polish team as well as their colours, red-blue.

Polonia Bytom's most famous player is goalkeeper Edward Szymkowiak. Its stadium is named after him and has a capacity of 5,500 spectators.

Polonia has won the Polish championship twice, in 1954 and 1962. In 1952, 1958, 1959 and 1961 Bytom was the vice-champion of Poland. In June 2007 Polonia Bytom, after many years, returned to the Polish Ekstraklasa. However, in 2011, the club was relegated to the I liga after finishing bottom of the table with just six wins all season.[2]

Honours

Domestic

Continental

Youth Teams

Supporters

Polonia Bytom supporters were the first organised fan-club in Poland. They have introduced scarfs, flags and organised chants. Many of the other supporters groups were travelling to Bytom only to watch how Polonia's fans are cheering their club and behaving on the stadium.

The fans have friendships with fans of Arka Gdynia which dates back to 1974, one of the longest friendships in supporter history which has survived to date;[3] and with fans of Odra Opole.

Polonia biggest rivals are local teams Górnik Zabrze, Ruch Radzionków, Ruch Chorzów (The Oldest Silesian Derby) and Szombierki Bytom (Derby of Bytom). The other groups which are not very welcome in Bytom are fans from Zaglebie Sosnowiec, Legia Warszawa and Lechia Gdansk.

Polonia Bytom firm is commonly known as Desperados.

League participations[4]

Ekstraklasa: 1948–1949 (2 seasons), 1951–1955 (5 seasons), 1957–1976 (20 seasons), 1977–1980, 1986–1987, 2007–2011

First League: 1950, 1956, 1976–1977, 1980–1986, 1987–2001, 2005–2007, 2011–2013

Second League: 2001–2005, 2013–2014, 2015–

Third League: 2014–2015

Current squad

As of 22 September 2015.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Poland GK Marcin Michalak
11 Poland MF Adrian Krysian
12 Poland GK Andrzej Wiśniewski
13 Poland MF Wojciech Mróz
14 Poland FW Sebastian Paczko
16 Poland DF Daniel Kutarba
17 Poland MF Patryk Stefański
18 Poland MF Łukasz Grube
20 Poland MF Kamil Zalewski
21 Poland MF Bartlomiej Setlak
23 Poland MF Marcin Lachowski
24 Poland DF Lukasz Rylukowski
25 Poland FW Michał Zieliński
No. Position Player
30 Poland DF Norbert Radkiewicz
Poland GK Adrian Olszewski
Slovakia DF Peter Jánošík
Poland DF Michał Szal
Poland DF Mateusz Słodowy
Poland DF Wojciech Jurek
Poland DF Aleksander Januszkiewicz
Poland MF Seweryn Pielichowski
Poland MF Dariusz Zapotoczny
Poland MF Łukasz Zakrzewski
Poland FW Andrzej Piecuch
Poland FW Arkadiusz Kowalczyk
Poland FW Daniel Ciechański

Polonia in Europe

Season Competition Round Club Score
1958/59 European Cup Q Hungary MTK Budapest 0–3, 0–3
1962/63 European Cup Q Greece Panathinaikos FC 2–1, 4–1
1R Turkey Galatasaray S.K. 1–4, 1–0

References

External links

Coordinates: 50°21′27.21″N 18°53′55.38″E / 50.3575583°N 18.8987167°E / 50.3575583; 18.8987167

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 18, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.