Zagłębie Sosnowiec

The history of Zagłębie Sosnowiec dates back to 1906, when the city of Sosnowiec belonged to Congress Poland, Russian Empire. In that year, a group of young workers of the Milowice Steelworks formed a sports organization. Their activities were mostly concentrated on playing football at suburban meadows. In 1908, local activist Aleksander Rene was arrested by the Okhrana, and accused of forming an illegal Polish sports organization. Imprisoned in Łódź, he sent a letter to a Russian Governor, who resided in Piotrków Trybunalski, asking for permission to form a Sosnowiec branch of the Union Sports Club from Sankt Petersburg. He was denied, so he wrote again, to the Union headquarters. With the permission of the Sankt Petersburg club, Rene, after leaving prison, formed the team of Union Sosnowiec, which in the first half of the 1910s played several friendly games against local teams.

During World War I, sports activities were cancelled in Sosnowiec. In 1918, Sports Association Victoria was formed. Among its players was famous singer Jan Kiepura. In 1919, Sports Association Sosnowiec was formed by Aleksander Reine. After 12 years, in 1931, both clubs merged to create the team called Unia Sosnowiec. The new team was among the best sides in the region of Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, which in the 1930s had its own regional league, the Zagłębie A-Class.

In 1933, Unia Sosnowiec won the league, qualifying to the Ekstraklasa playoffs, where it lost to Naprzód Lipiny. In 1934, Unia again turned out to be the regional winner, and again it lost the playoffs, this time to Śląsk Świętochłowice. Third attempt at the Ekstraklasa promotion came in 1939. Again Unia, the regional champion, lost the playoffs to both Śląsk Świętochłowice and Fablok Chrzanów. Among the players of Unia's youth teams was Wieslaw Ociepka, who later became chairman of the Polish Football Association (PZPN).

During World War II, Unia played unofficial, conspirational games against local rivals. In 1945, officials and players of Unia formed a team called RKS Sosnowiec, which was soon renamed into RKU Sosnowiec. Its chairman was Major Marian Rodza, military commandant of the city. First postwar manager was Józef Słonecki, who in the 1920s was a player of Pogoń Lwów. In 1946, RKU qualified to the Ekstraklasa playoffs. In the 1/8 finals, it beat Gedania Gdańsk 6–2, to lose 0–4 to AKS Chorzów in the quarterfinals. During the game, which took place in Chorzów, clashes erupted between supporters of both teams, and the game was cancelled. In 1947, RKU was in Group Two of the Ekstraklasa qualifiers. This group was won by AKS Chorzów, RKU was the fourth team, behind AKS, Cracovia and Rymer Radlin.

In 1949, after changing its name into Stal Sosnowiec, the team qualified to the Second Division, remaining there until 1954, when it was finally promoted to the Ekstraklasa. In the 1955 Ekstraklasa, Stal Sosnowiec was a sensation, as it was the runner up, finishing the season in the second spot, only behind CWKS Warsaw. Stal had 27 points, while CWKS had only one point more. In 1956, Stal was the 10th team (out of 12), in 1957, 7th, and was relegated in 1958, to return to the Ekstraklasa in 1960. Stal remained in the top league until 1974, finishing as the runners-up thrice (1964, 1967, 1972).

Meanwhile, in 1962, Stal changed name into GKS Zagłębie . In the mid-1960s, the team from Sosnowiec was among the best Polish sides, as it once won Polish silver, three times bronze, and two times the Polish Cup: in 1962, after beating 2-1 Górnik Zabrze, and in 1963, after beating 2–0 Ruch Chorzów. In 1964, Józef Gałeczka was Ekstraklasa's top scorer. Among other notable players of that time was Andrzej Jarosik, twice Polish top scorer (1970, 1971). Furthermore, Włodzimierz Mazur was the top scorer in 1977.

In 1977 and 1978, Zagłębie twice won the Polish Cup, and in 1979, Wojciech Rudy was named Best Polish Player of the Year.

In 1986, Zagłębie, after 11 years, was relegated to the Second Division. It remained there until June 1989, when Zagłębie returned to the Ekstraklasa. Among its top players were Marek Bęben, Ryszard Czerwiec and Maciej Mizia. After promotion, the games of Zagłębie were attended by thousands of people, with the record, 28,000, watching the match against Górnik Zabrze.

After the 1991 season, Zagłębie avoided relegation in the playoffs, in which it beat Jagiellonia Białystok 0–2, 2–0, and 4–2 in the penalty shootout. In 1992, Zagłębie was relegated, even though among its players was Marek Koniarek. Due to financial problems, the team was soon relegated to the third level. The club was then dissolved.

In 1995, Zagłębie returned in the 5th division, and soon qualified to the fourth, and then third division. In 2000, Zagłębie won promotion to the second level. In 2001, with a new Italian sponsor ERGOM, Zagłębie planned to win promotion back to the top league. Instead, the team was relegated.

In 2004, Zagłębie won promotion to the Second Division. Finally, after the 2006–07 season, Zagłębie returned to the Ekstraklasa. Among its top players were Jacek Berensztajn, Jakub Wierzchowski and Adrian Mierzejewski. The 2007–08 Ekstraklasa season was a failure, as Zagłębie gathered only 16 points, and was relegated again. Among its players at that time was Patryk Małecki.

Zagłębie Sosnowiec play their home matches at the Stadion Ludowy since 1956. However, a new stadium, Zagłębiowski Park Sportowy, with a 11,600 capacity has been under construction since 2019, and expected to be inaugurated in 2022,[2][3] while the old stadium would be used as a training ground.[4]

Stadion Ludowy

As of 7 December 2022[5]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  POL Michał Gliwa 2 DF  UKR Oleksiy Bykov (on loan from FC Mariupol) 4 DF  POL Mateusz Machała 7 MF  POL Patryk Bryła 8 MF  POL Szymon Pawłowski 9 FW  POL Szymon Sobczak 10 MF  POL Maksymilian Banaszewski 11 FW  SVK Marek Fábry 13 DF  CRO Vedran Dalić 14 MF  POL Sebastian Bonecki 16 DF  POL Dawid Ryndak 20 MF  POL Tymoteusz Klupś 22 MF  POL Maksym Niemiec 23 MF  POL Mateusz Ziółkowski (on loan from Górnik Zabrze II)

No. Pos. Nation Player 26 MF  POL Michał Masłowski 27 DF  POL Dominik Jończy 28 DF  POL Filip Borowski (on loan from Lech Poznań) 29 MF  POL Maksymilian Rozwandowicz 32 DF  POL Kacper Smoleń 33 GK  POL Mateusz Kos 44 DF  POL Mateusz Bodzioch 47 DF  POL Igor Dziedzic 87 GK  POL Kacper Siuta 88 MF  POL Adrian Troć 94 DF  POL Dawid Gojny 96 MF  POL Wojciech Szumilas 99 FW  POL Antoni Kulawiak

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 3 DF  POL Patryk Mociak (at Odra Wodzisław Śląski until 30 June 2023)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  POL Arkadiusz Maj (at Orlęta Radzyn Podlaski until 30 June 2023)

• Polish championship runner-up: 4

1955, 1964, 1967, 1972

• Polish Championship bronze medal: 3

1962, 1963, 1965

• Polish Cup winner: 4

1962, 1963, 1977, 1978

• Polish Cup finalist:

1971

• Semifinal of the 1966/67 UEFA Intertoto Cup
• Polish U-19 Runner Up: 1963, Polish U-19 Bronze Medal: 1965

• Football in Poland

• Timeline of Zagłębie's history, in Polish

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zagłębie Sosnowiec.

• Official website
• Unofficial website
• Zagłębie Sosnowiec at 90minut.pl (in Polish)
• biznes.zaglebie.eu
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