GKS Katowice (; GKS stands for , "Miners Sporting Club") is a Polish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

club based in

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popu ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. The club currently plays in the I liga, after having won promotion in 2021.

History

In 1963 in

a special organizational committee was called with the purpose of uniting all the clubs and sporting organizations of the city into one large club which would encompass many disciplines. In mid-1963 Rapid Welnowiec and Orzeł Welnowiec merged, creating Rapid/Orzeł. In 1964 Rapid/Orzeł, Górnik Katowice, Koszutka Katowice, Katowicki Klub Łyżwiarski (Katowice Skating Club), Katowicki Klub Sportowy Górnik, Górniczy Klub Żeglarski Szkwał (a sailing club) amongst other clubs from Katowice merged creating GKS Katowice. Four years later on the 9 August 1968, Dąb Katowice also amalgamated with GKS Katowice. GKS Katowice made its debut in Polish football's top league (now call the

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 ...

) on 8 August 1965 when GKS Katowice took on local rivals

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning the second-most Po ...

. GKS Katowice's debut season in the top flight was in the season of 1965–66. The new team quickly gained experience and ability. A bad patch for the club came in 1971 when Katowice was relegated to the 2nd Division. The club's problems were quickly overcome, and GKS returned to the top flight where they played with pride and passion. From 1982 the club consistently found itself up the top end of the ladder, as well as playing off in several

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...

finals. In 1985 GKS Katowice played in its first Polish Cup final but lost in a penalty shootout to

Widzew Łódź RTS Widzew Łódź () is a Polish football club based in Łódź. The club was founded in 1910. Its official colours are red and white, hence their nicknames ''Czerwona Armia'' (Red Army) and ''Czerwono-biało-czerwoni'' (Red-white-reds). Histor ...

. The following year GKS played off in a memorable final at Stadion Śląski against Górnik Zabrze; GKS triumphed 4–1. From that moment the city of

began to live and breathe football. The next year GKS finished third and the two following years they were runners-up. In 1989 GKS again came third, and in 1991 GKS were runners-up. From 1986 to 1995 to GKS Katowice were four times runners-up in the league, twice the winners of the Polish Supercup and three-time Polish Cup winners. The biggest moments for the club and fans were always when the team took part in European cups. The first time GKS faced European opposition was in 1970, in the now defunct

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup ( ...

, GKS took on the might of Barcelona in a two-legged tie. Katowice didn't lose by much (2-4 on aggregate), the fans were proud of their club. The second time GKS took part in European football they showed more and played better football. In the first round of the 1986–1987

UEFA Cup Winners Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

GKS defeated Iceland's Fram Reykjavík but in the second round, they lost to Switzerland's Sion. For the next 10 years, GKS Katowice took part in European football. Over the years fans of GKS got to witness their team take on the likes of Sportul Studentsc Bucharest, Rangers,

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

, Galatasaray, Benfica, Aris, Girondins Bordeaux and twice

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

. GKS's record in European football stands at 10 wins, 7 draws, and 19 losses. GKS Katowice again fell on hard times during the mining crisis. In 1999 the team was relegated from the Ekstraklasa, but was back in the topflight only a year later. Piotr Dziurowicz became president who, despite growing debts and financial troubles, kept the team in the top flight. In 2003 the team even managed to qualify for the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

by finishing third in the league under coach Jan Żurek. This was hailed as one of the biggest surprises ever in the history of the Ekstraklasa. Despite the success, the debts under Piotr Dziurowicz began to grow to a significant sum. From March 27, 2003 to June 11, 2004, the club played under the name of its main sponsor Dospel Katowice; this was not taken well by the fans of the club. GKS Katowice Sportowa Spółka Akcyjna finished its reins at the helm of the club in the summer of 2005 after the disastrous 2004–2005 season where GKS finished 14th (and last) in the Ekstraklasa and was relegated to the second Division. Then to make matters worse the team had to drop to the 4th Division due to legal and financial problems. After the drop to the 4th division, a group of dedicated fans known as the "Stowarzyszenie Sympatyków Klubu GKS Katowice" (which loosely translates into Society of Well Wishers Club of GKS Katowice) took over the helm at the club. In June 2006 the club was promoted to the 3rd division, and in June 2007 the team again won promotion this time to the 2nd Division, which in 2008 was renamed the 1st Division ( I Liga). The team continues to play, balancing between the I liga (2nd tier) and

II liga II liga (Druga Liga, ), currently named eWinner II liga due to sponsorship reasons by eWinner, is a Polish football league that sits at the third tier of the Polish football league system. Until the end of the 2007–08 season ''II Liga'' refer ...

(3rd tier).

Major achievements

National

titles (3): 1986, 1991, 1993 :Polish Cup final: 1985, 1987, 1990, 1995, 1997 :

Polish Supercup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2021, the Polish Super Cup has been ...

titles (2): 1991, 1995 :Polish

Runner Up: 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994 :Polish Ekstraklasa Third Team: 1987, 1990, 1995, 2003

International

:Round of 16 –

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

(2x) – 1986/87, 1991/92 :Round of 16 –

(1x) – 1994/95

Youth Team

*Polish U-19 Bronze Medal: 1995, 2002

GKS in Europe

Current team

Notable players

Jan Furtok Jan Furtok (born 9 March 1962) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Career Born in Katowice, Furtok played for a few clubs, including GKS Katowice (Polish cup winner in 1986) and Hamburger SV and Eintracht Frankf ...

* Piotr Piekarczyk * Roman Szewczyk * Moussa Yahaya * Andrzej Rudy *

Piotr Świerczewski Piotr Jarosław Świerczewski (; born 8 April 1972) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. During his 20-year professional career, he played for clubs such as Lech Poznań, GKS Katowice, AS Saint-Étienne (France) ...

Janusz Jojko Janusz Andrzej Jojko (born 20 April 1960, in Chorzów) is a Polish football coach and former professional footballer who played for Ruch Chorzów, GKS Katowice and KSZO Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski in the Polish Ekstraklasa. He is currently the go ...

Marek Koniarek Marek Krzysztof Koniarek (born 29 May 1962) is a retired Polish football striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible ...

* Mirosław Kubisztal *

Marek Świerczewski Marek Świerczewski (born 2 March 1967) is a Polish former professional footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, Ame ...

* Mirosław Sznaucner * Sławomir Wojciechowski * Adam Ledwoń * Admir Adžem * Gija Guruli * Bartosz Karwan *

Paweł Brożek Paweł Łukasz Brożek (; born 21 April 1983) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Brozek previously represented various youth squads for Poland. He made his Poland national football team debut in 2005, scored over ...

* Kazimierz Węgrzyn * Mirosław Widuch * Dariusz Rzeźniczek

Managers

Antoni Brzeżańczyk Antoni Brzeżańczyk (19 January 1919 – 26 May 1987) was a Polish footballer and football manager. He played for Podgórze Kraków, Dąb Poznań, Lechia Gdańsk, Odra Opole, AKS Chorzów, Lech Poznań and Stal Mielec where he began his coa ...

(1964–65) * Jerzy Nikiel (1965–66) * Tibor Kemény (1966–67) * Tadeusz Foryś * Augustyn Dziwisz * Stanisław Oślizło (1979–80) * Władysław Jan Żmuda (1980–81) * Jerzy Nowok (1981–83) * Jacek Góralczyk (1983) *

Zdzisław Podedworny Zdzisław Podedworny (born 13 April 1941 in Żabińce) is a Polish football coach. Career Coaching career He managed Górnik Zabrze, Olimpia Poznań, GKS Katowice, Ruch Chorzów, Espérance de Tunis, Polonia Warsaw Polonia Warsaw ( pl, Pol ...

(1984–85) * Alojzy Łysko (1985–87) * Władysław Jan Żmuda (1987–90) *

Orest Lenczyk Orest Lenczyk (; born 28 December 1942, in Sanok) is a Polish football manager and former player. Player career He also was a player, in lower divisions teams, such as Sanoczanka Sanok, Stomil Poznań, Sleza Wrocław, and Moto-Jelcz Olawa. At th ...

(1990–91) * Alojzy Łysko (1991–92) * Adolf Blutsch (1992–93) * Piotr Piekarczyk (1993–94) * Jacek Góralczyk (1995) *

(1995–96) * Piotr Piekarczyk (1996–98) *

(1998–99) * Paweł Kowalski (2000) * Bogusław Kaczmarek (2000–01) * Janusz Białek (2001–02) * Jan Żurek (2002–03) * Edward Lorens (2003) * Jan Żurek (2003–04) * Lechosław Olsza (2004) * Wojciech Borecki (2004) * Mieczysław Broniszewski (2004) *

(2005) * Lechosław Olsza (2005) * Henryk Górnik (2005–06) * Piotr Piekarczyk (2006–08) * Adam Nawałka (2008–09) * Robert Moskal (2010) *

Dariusz Fornalak Dariusz Fornalak (born 15 October 1965) is a Polish football midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known ...

(2010) *

Wojciech Stawowy Wojciech Stawowy (born 28 January 1966) is a Polish football manager. From 2020 to 2021 he served as the manager of ŁKS Łódź ŁKS Łódź (''Łódzki Klub Sportowy Łódź''; ) is a Polish sports club based in Łódź. They are best kno ...

(2010–11) * Rafał Górak (2011–13) * Kazimierz Moskal (2013–14) * Artur Skowronek (2014–15) * Piotr Piekarczyk (2015) *

Jerzy Brzęczek Jerzy Józef Brzęczek (; born 18 March 1971) is a Polish professional football manager and former player. In a professional career which spanned nearly 20 years and brought 42 caps with the Poland national team, Brzęczek played for clubs in ...

(2015–17) *

(2017) * Piotr Mandrysz (2017–18) * Jacek Paszulewicz (2018) * Jakub Dziółka (2018) *

Dariusz Dudek Dariusz Dudek (born 8 April 1975 in Knurów) is a Polish football manager and former player, currently in charge of I liga club Zagłębie Sosnowiec. Career Dudek is a former player of such a teams like GKS Katowice, Widzew Łódź, Odra Wodzis ...

(2018–2019) * Rafał Górak (2019-)

References

External links

GKS Katowice – Official website

GKS Katowice
at 90minut.pl
Official facebookTwitterInstagram
{{Authority control Football clubs in Katowice Association football clubs established in 1964 1964 establishments in Poland Organisations based in Katowice