Górnik Zabrze

**Górnik Zabrze**
Full name	Klub Sportowy Górnik Zabrze
Nickname(s)	Trójkolorowi (Tri-Colour),; Górnicy (The Miners)
Founded	14 December 1948; 72 years ago
Ground	Stadion Miejski im. Ernesta Pohla
Capacity	24,563
Chairman	Dariusz Czernik
Manager	Jan Urban
League	Ekstraklasa
2020–21	10th of 16
Website	Club website
Home colours	Away colours
	Current season

Górnik Zabrze (Polish pronunciation: [ˈɡurɲiɡ ˈzabʐɛ]) is a Polish football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning the second-most Polish Championship titles together with Ruch Chorzów. The club was a dominant force in the 1960s and 1980s. Górnik holds the record for winning the most consecutive Polish Championship titles (5) and Polish Cup titles (5). In addition, the club was 1969–70 Cup Winners' Cup runners-up.

The club plays in a white or dark blue-red kit, and is based at the Ernest Pohl Stadium. Their main local rival is Ruch Chorzów.

History[]

First years[]

The club was founded in 1948, three years after Polish borders had moved westward and the city of Zabrze became part of the Polish Republic. Górnik was patterned after several smaller sports associations that had existed in Zabrze between 1945 and 1948 – KS Zjednoczenie, KS Pogoń, KS Skra, and KS Concordia. The clubs merged into a single organization, which took the name "Górnik", the Polish word for "Miner", reflecting the fact that Zabrze was an important coal-mining centre.

In 1950 Górnik joined the Opole Silesia regional league. In 1952 the club was promoted to the Polish Second Division. Their first game in the second tier was against Skra Częstochowa, and was witnessed by 20,000 fans, with Górnik winning 5–1. The whole season was very successful and Górnik finished second overall, behind Górnik Wałbrzych.

The club was promoted to the top division in 1955. In their first game in the top flight Górnik beat local rivals Ruch Chorzów 3–1, with 25,000 in attendance; the club finished the season in 6th place.

First successes[]

In 1957, just a year after promotion, Górnik won its first championship of Poland. The team, with star, Ernest Pohl, was third in 1958, to regain the crown in 1959 and 1961, together with such players as Stanislaw Oslizlo and Hubert Kostka. In 1961 Górnik for the first time appeared in European Cups, losing in the first round to Tottenham Hotspur.

Golden years[]

Ticket to a match against Manchester City in the 1970–71 European Cup Winners' Cup

The next championship, won in 1963, marked the beginning of an unusual streak of five consecutive titles (1963, 64, 65, 66 and 67), which is a Polish record.

Górnik's biggest success in European football took place in 1970 (even though in Poland the team was second, after Legia Warsaw). In the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, Gornik beat all their opponents – Olympiacos, Rangers, Levski Sofia and AS Roma, reaching the final, which took place in Vienna. There, Manchester City turned out to be the better team, winning 2–1. The following season Górnik would once again play Manchester City, with the 1970 final being repeated this time in the quarter-final.

Late 1970s and early 1980s[]

During the mid-1970s Górnik form deteriorated and in late spring of 1978, the team was relegated to the Second Division. However, it returned after one year and in games of 1979–80, Zabrze's side finished sixth. In 1984, after purchasing of a group of talented players (Ryszard Komornicki, Waldemar Matysik, Eugeniusz Cebrat, Andrzej Zgutczyński, Tadeusz Dolny, Andrzej Pałasz), Gornik finished fourth, which was a sign of better times.

Late 1980s until now[]

Between 1985 and 1988 Górnik again marked a magnificent streak, with four consecutive championships. Zabrze's side also played versus renowned European powerhouses, such as Bayern Munich, Anderlecht, Hamburger SV, Juventus and Real Madrid.

Ernest Pohl Stadium

In 1994 Górnik competed again for the title and with players as Jerzy Brzęczek, Grzegorz Mielcarski, Tomasz Wałdoch, hopes were high. Before the last round of the league the standings at the top were: Legia 47 points and Górnik 45 points. Since the two teams were to face each other in Warsaw, Górnik still had a chance to win the title. However the game ended in a 1–1 tie which gave Legia the crown. Before Legia scored the goal which gave her the title (the score 0–1 would mean the title for Górnik), the referee of the match – Mr Redzinski – sent off one by one 3 players from Gornik's squad, and Górnik had to finished match with only 8 players against 11 players of Legia. It was the last match in Mr Redzinski's career.

In the same year, Górnik played its last so far game in European Cups, losing to Admira Wacker Vienna.

In the spring of 2007 Górnik got a new sponsor – German insurance company Allianz. However, after finishing 16th in the Ekstraklasa in 2008–09, the club was relegated to the Polish First League, the 2nd level of Polish football, during the 2009–10 season. In June 2010, the club earned promotion back to the Ekstraklasa for the 2010–11 season.

Honours[]

History of Górnik Zabrze classifications in the Ekstraklasa

Ekstraklasa
- Champions (14): 1957, 1959, 1961, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88
Polish Cup
- Winners (6): 1964–65, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72
- Runners-up (7): 1955–56, 1956–57, 1961–62, 1965–66, 1985–86, 1991–92, 2000–01
Polish SuperCup
- Winners: 1988
European Cup
- Quarter-Final: 1967–68
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
- Runners-up: 1969–70
Youth Teams:
- Polish U-19 Champion: 1967, 1989
- Polish U-19 Runner Up: 1985, 2001, 2011
- Polish U-19 Bronze Medal: 2015
- Polish U-17 Champion: 1992, 1996
- Polish U-17 Runner Up: 2014

Górnik in Europe[]

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Score
1961–62	European Cup	Q	Tottenham Hotspur	4–2, 1–8
1963–64	European Cup	Q	Austria Wien	1–0, 0–1, 2–1
1963–64	European Cup	1R	Dukla Prague	2–0, 1–4
1964–65	European Cup	Q	Dukla Prague	1–4, 3–0, 0–0
1965–66	European Cup	Q	LASK Linz	3–1, 2–1
1965–66	European Cup	1R	Sparta Prague	0–3, 1–0
1966–67	European Cup	1R	Vorwärts Berlin	2–1, 1–2, 3–1
1966–67	European Cup	2R	CSKA Sofia	0–4, 3–0
1967–68	European Cup	1R	Djurgårdens IF	3–0, 1–0
		2R	Dynamo Kyiv	2–1, 1–1
		1/4F	Manchester United	0–2, 1–0
1968–69	European Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Dynamo Moscow	withdrawal
1969–70	European Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Olympiacos	2–2, 5–0
		2R	Rangers	3–1, 3–1
		1/4F	Levski-Spartak	2–3, 2–1
		1/2F	Roma	1–1, 2–2, 1–1
		F	Manchester City	1–2
1970–71	European Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Aalborg BK	1–0, 8–1
		2R	Göztepe	1–0, 3–0
		1/4F	Manchester City	2–0, 0–2, 1–3
1971–72	European Cup	1R	Marseille	1–2, 1–1
1972–73	European Cup	1R	Sliema Wanderers	5–0, 5–0
1972–73	European Cup	2R	Dynamo Kyiv	0–2, 2–1
1974–75	UEFA Cup	1R	Partizan	2–2, 0–3
1977–78	UEFA Cup	1R	Haka	5–3, 0–0
1977–78	UEFA Cup	2R	Aston Villa	0–2, 1–1
1985–86	European Cup	1R	Bayern Munich	1–2, 1–4
1986–87	European Cup	1R	Anderlecht	0–2, 1–1
1987–88	European Cup	1R	Olympiacos	1–1, 2–1
1987–88	European Cup	2R	Rangers	1–3, 1–1
1988–89	European Cup	1R	Jeunesse Esch	3–0, 4–1
1988–89	European Cup	2R	Real Madrid	0–1, 2–3
1989–90	UEFA Cup	1R	Juventus	0–1, 2–4
1991–92	UEFA Cup	1R	Hamburger SV	1–1, 0–3
1994–95	UEFA Cup	Q	Shamrock Rovers	7–0, 1–0
1994–95	UEFA Cup	1R	Admira Wacker Mödling	2–5, 1–1
1995	Intertoto Cup	GR	AGF	1–4
			Basel	1–2
			Sheffield Wednesday	2–3
			Karlsruher SC	1–6
2018–19	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Zaria Bălți	1–0, 1–1
2018–19	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Trenčín	0–1, 1−4

Best results in European competitions[]

Season	Achievement	Notes
European Cup / UEFA Champions League
1968	Quarter-Final	lost to Manchester United 0–2 in Manchester, 1–0 in Chorzów
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
1970	Final	lost to Manchester City 1–2 in Vienna
1971	Quarter-Final	lost to Manchester City 2–0 in Chorzów, 0–2 in Manchester, 1–3 in Copenhagen

Current squad[]

As of 31 August 2021.^[1]

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	Dawid Kudła
2	DF	POL	Przemysław Wiśniewski
3	MF	POL	Krzysztof Kubica
4	DF	POL	Aleksander Paluszek
5	DF	GRE	Stefanos Evangelou
6	MF	SVK	Roman Procházka
7	MF	POL	Michał Rostkowski
8	MF	GAM	Alasana Manneh
9	MF	ESP	Jesús Jiménez
10	FW	GER	Lukas Podolski
13	DF	POL	Kacper Michalski
14	DF	POL	Michał Koj
15	MF	POL	Norbert Wojtuszek


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
16	DF	POL	Dariusz Pawłowski
17	MF	POL	Bartosz Nowak
19	DF	POL	Bartłomiej Eizenchart
20	MF	POL	Daniel Ściślak
21	FW	POL	Piotr Krawczyk
23	DF	GRE	Giannis Masouras (on loan from Olympiacos)
24	FW	AUT	Alex Sobczyk
27	DF	POL	Adrian Gryszkiewicz
30	GK	POL	Jakub Grzesiak
31	GK	POL	Bartosz Neugebauer
64	DF	SVN	Erik Janža
—	FW	MKD	David Toshevski (on loan from Rostov)

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
—	GK	POL	Daniel Bielica (at Warta Poznań until 30 June 2021)
—	GK	POL	Jakub Szymański (at Górnik Polkowice until 30 June 2021)
—	MF	POL	Wojciech Hajda (at Sandecja Nowy Sącz until 30 June 2021)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	SRB	Filip Bainović (at Radnik Surdulica until 30 June 2021)
—	FW	GHA	Ishmael Baidoo (at Pogoń Siedlce until 30 June 2021)

Notable former players[]

Managers[]

(1948–49)
(1949)
(1949–50)
Gerard Wodarz (1950–54)
(1954–56)
(1956)
(1957)
Zoltán Opata (1957–58)
(1958–59)
(1959)
(1960)
Vilém Lugr (1960)
(1 July 1960–30 June 62)
(1962)
Ewald Cebula (1962–63)
(1963)
(1963)
(1964)
(1964)
(1964–65)
(1 July 1965–30 June 66)
Géza Kalocsay (1 July 1966–30 June 69)
Michał Matyas (1969–70)
Ferenc Szusza (1970–71)
A. Brzeżańczyk (1 July 1971–30 April 72)
Jan Kowalski (1972)
(1972)
Jan Kowalski (1972–73)
(1973–75)

(1975–76)
(1976)
Hubert Kostka (30 May 1976–5 Dec 77)
W. Jan Żmuda (13 Dec 1977–24 May 80)
Zdzisław Podedworny (1980–83)
Hubert Kostka (1 Dec 1983–30 May 86)
L. Ćmikiewicz (1 June 1986–14 Oct 86)
A. Piechniczek (15 Oct 1986–30 June 87)
M. Bochynek (1 July 1987–30 June 89)
Zdzisław Podedworny (1989)
(1989–90)
Jan Kowalski (1990–92)
Janusz Kowalik (1992)
(1992–93)
Henryk Apostel (1 July 1993–31 Dec 93)
Hubert Kostka (1 Jan 1994–22 May 94)
E. Lorens (23 May 1994–2 June 95)
Stanisław Oślizło (1995)
Adam Michalski (1995–96)
Jan Kowalski (1996)
Jan Żurek (11 Aug 1996–11 Sept 96)
Piotr Kocąb (1996)
Henryk Apostel (1 Jan 1997–10 Nov 97)
Jan Kowalski (1997)

Jan Żurek (1 Dec 1997–15 March 00)
J. Dankowski (int.) (16 Mar 2000–19 Mar 00)
M. Bochynek (20 March 2000–9 April 00)
M. Broniszewski (10 April 2000–16 Sept 00)
J. Dankowski (17 Sept 2000–7 May 01)
M. Piotrowicz (2001)
W. Fornalik (10 May 2001–31 Oct 01)
M. Piotrowicz (2 Nov 2001–31 Dec 01)
W. Fornalik (12 Jan 2002–4 April 04)
Verner Lička (5 April 2004–13 Dec 04)
Edward Lorens (13 Dec 2004–3 Feb 05)
M. Wleciałowski (7 Feb 2005–31 Oct 05)
Marek Motyka (4 Nov 2005–13 Jan 06)
R. Komornicki (13 Jan 2006–19 April 06)
P. Cecherz (int.) (19 April 2006–26 April 06)
Marek Motyka (26 April 2006–12 Dec 06)
Zdzisław Podedworny (2006–07)
M. Motyka (13 March 2007–20 May 07)
Marek Kostrzewa (2007)

Marek Piotrowicz (2007)
R. Wieczorek (1 July 2007–10 Sept 08)
M. Bochynek (int.) (2 Sept 2008–16 Sept 08)
H. Kasperczak (16 Sept 2008–3 June 09)
R. Komornicki (18 June 2009–15 Dec 09)
Adam Nawałka (1 Jan 2010–31 Oct 13)
B. Zając (int.) (1 Nov 2013–10 Nov 13)
R. Wieczorek (12 Nov 2013–9 March 14)
R. Warzycha (12 March 2014–30 June 14)
J. Dankowski (1 July 2014–30 June 15)
R. Warzycha (1 July 2015–13 Aug 15)
L. Ojrzyński (13 Aug 2015–3 March 16)
J. Żurek (3 March 2016–2 June 16)
M. Brosz (3 June 2016–27 May 21)
J. Urban (27 May 2021–)

Supporters and rivalries[]

Górnik Zabrze supporters during the Great Silesian Derby

Górnik Zabrze is believed to have one of the largest and most loyal fanbases in Poland, especially in the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. In the 2016–17 season, Górnik Zabrze drew the highest average home attendance (10,636)^[2] of all second level Polish football clubs. They also drew the highest attendance in their league (20,987). After their comeback to the top flight in 2017, Górnik drew the highest average home attendance in Polish football, surpassing current top teams Lech Poznań and Legia Warsaw,^[3] with most league games being sold-out.^[4]

Górnik holds a long-standing rivalry with Upper Silesian side Ruch Chorzów, known as the Great Silesian Derby. Other main rivals are Piast Gliwice, Polonia Bytom, Legia Warsaw and Zagłębie Sosnowiec.

Torcida Zabrze is a brother ultras of Torcida Split. They also called United Torcida.

References[]

^ "Pierwsza drużyna" (in Polish). Górnik Zabrze. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
^ "EFS Attendances". www.european-football-statistics.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
^ Kusina, Maciej. "90minut.pl". img.90minut.pl. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
^ "Już jutro stadion Górnika odwiedzi więcej kibiców niż stadion Ruchu przez cały sezon - weszlo.com". weszlo.com. 15 September 2017. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2018.

External links[]

Official website (in Polish)
Fansite (in Polish)
Fans' forum (in Polish)

Coordinates: 50°17′46.74″N 18°46′6.83″E / 50.2963167°N 18.7685639°E / 50.2963167; 18.7685639

[1] "Pierwsza drużyna" (in Polish). Górnik Zabrze. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.

[2] "EFS Attendances". www.european-football-statistics.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2018.

[3] Kusina, Maciej. "90minut.pl". img.90minut.pl. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2018.

[4] "Już jutro stadion Górnika odwiedzi więcej kibiców niż stadion Ruchu przez cały sezon - weszlo.com". weszlo.com. 15 September 2017. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2018.

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