KS ROW 1964 Rybnik is a Polish

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club based in

Rybnik Rybnik (Polish pronunciation: ; ) is a city in southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, around 38 km (24 mi) southwest of Katowice, the region's capital, and around 19 km (11 mi) from the Czech Republic, Czech border. It i ...

. The club was formed in 2003 on the basis of RKS Energetyk Rybnik (founded in 1981) and traces its roots back to ROW Rybnik's football section, founded in 1964 and dissolved in the early 1990s. Although continuing the traditions of the original club, it is considered a new entity. The club was called Energetyk ROW Rybnik between 2003 and 2015. While KS ROW spent 7 seasons in the

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

(1968–69, 1970–71, 1972–77), were runners-up of the 1974–75

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

and played in the

Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was discon ...

(

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

), Energetyk ROW's biggest success to date has been the promotion to the

2013–14 I liga The 2013–14 I liga was the sixth season of the Polish I liga under its current title, and the sixty-sixth season of the second highest division in the Polish football league system. The season began on 27 July 2013 and concluded on 7 June 2014. ...

, the second tier in Polish league pyramid.

History

The history of football in Rybnik dates back to 1920, when a group of Polish activists, who participated in the

Silesian Uprisings The Silesian Uprisings (; ; ) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic at the time. Ethnic Polish and Polish-Silesian insurrectionists, seeking to have the area tran ...

, formed a sports organisation in Rybnik. ROW itself was not formed until 1964, when two sports clubs, Górnik Rybnik and Górnik 23 Chwałowice, from nearby Chwałowice, merged. In its heyday (1970s), ROW Rybnik had 13 departments, including the most popular: football and

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

. ROW Rybnik was officially created on 6 August 1964, upon the decision of local authorities. Its first manager was an influential coal magnate from

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

and chairman of Rybnik Union of Coal Industry, Jerzy Kucharczyk. ROW originally had 13 departments, including ski-jumping. Each department was financially supported by a different factory: ROW’s football team was sponsored by the Chwałowice Coal Mine. In the 1966–67 season of Upper Silesian Third Division, ROW emerged as a winner, and was promoted to the second division. In the summer of 1968, ROW won promotion to the

, finishing below

Zagłębie Wałbrzych Zagłębie Wałbrzych is a Polish multi-sports club in the south-western city of Wałbrzych. The club, based in the Biały Kamień neighbourhood, is the most famous for its football team, which competed in the Polish top division in the past. H ...

, but ahead of

Zawisza Bydgoszcz Zawisza Bydgoszcz () is a sports club from Bydgoszcz, Poland, founded in 1946. Its name commemorates a legendary Polish 15th-century knight, Zawisza Czarny (Zawisza the Black). The club holds many sections: football, track and field athletics, b ...

and

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division. ...

. After one year, the team was relegated, to once again win promotion to the first level of Polish football, after the 1969–70 season. Once again, ROW was relegated in the summer of 1971, to return to the Ekstraklasa in mid-1972 and remain there for five years. In the 1974–75 season, ROW managed to reach the final of the

, beating Metal Kluczbork,

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

Polonia Bytom Polonia Bytom () is a Polish football club based in Bytom. Founded in 1920, the team won two List of Polish football champions, championships, in 1954 Ekstraklasa, 1954 and 1962 Ekstraklasa, 1962. As of the 2025–26 I liga, 2025–26 season, th ...

, Lech Poznań and

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

in the semifinal. The final game against Stal Rzeszów ended in a draw, and after penalty shootout, Stal won the Polish Cup. ROW was relegated from the Ekstraklasa after the 1976–77 season, never to return to the top division. After several years at the second level of competition, the team was in 1983 relegated to the third division. In the early 1990s, ROWs football team was dissolved. Among top players, who put on ROW’s jersey were Henryk Wieczorek, Piotr Mowlik, and Eugeniusz Lerch. Altogether, ROW played seven years in Ekstraklasa: 198 games, 50 victories, 65 draws, 83 losses, 165 goals scored. It played in the

four times. Amfiteatr 3

Before the 2015–2016 season after a fan vote and a board change, the club returned its historical roots and renamed itself "KS ROW 1964", dropping its affiliation with "Energetyk".

Honours

Domestic

**Runners-up: 1974–75

European

** Winners:

(group 5),

(group 6)

European record

Current squad

''As of 26 September 2021''

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://row1964rybnik.com Association football clubs established in 1964 1964 establishments in Poland 2003 establishments in Poland Football clubs in Silesian Voivodeship Rybnik