GKS Katowice

GKS Katowice
Full name	Górniczy Klub Sportowy Katowice
Nickname(s)	Gieksa
Founded	27 February 1964; 60 years ago
Ground	Stadion GKS Katowice, Katowice, Poland
Capacity	9,511
Chairman	Krzysztof Nowak
Manager	Rafał Górak
League	I liga
2022–23	I liga, 10th of 18
Website	Club website
Home colours	Away colours

GKS Katowice (Polish pronunciation:

football club based in Katowice. The club currently plays in the I liga

(as of 2022–23).

History

In 1963 in Katowice 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 Wełnowiec and Orzeł Wełnowiec 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 called the Ekstraklasa) on 8 August 1965 when GKS Katowice took on local rivals Górnik Zabrze.

GKS Katowice's debut season in the top flight was in the

Stadion Śląski against Górnik Zabrze; GKS triumphed 4–1. From that moment the city of Katowice began to live and breathe football.^{[citation needed]} The next year GKS finished third and the two following years they were runners-up. In the 1989–90 season GKS again came third, and in the 1991–92 season 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 Super Cup

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

Bayer Leverkusen

. 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. Following the

UEFA Cup by finishing third in the league under coach Jan Żurek. This was hailed^{[by whom?}

] 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.^{[citation needed]} 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 (3rd tier).

Major achievements

National

Polish Cup titles (3): 1986, 1991, 1993

Polish Cup final: 1985, 1987, 1990, 1995, 1997

Polish Supercup
titles (2): 1991, 1995

Polish Ekstraklasa Runner Up: 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994

Polish Ekstraklasa Third Team: 1987, 1990, 1995, 2003

International

Round of 16 –

Cup Winners' Cup

(2x) – 1986/87, 1991/92

Round of 16 –

UEFA Cup

(1x) – 1994/95

Youth Team

Polish U-19 Bronze Medal: 1995, 2002

GKS in Europe

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Score
1970–71	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1R	FC Barcelona	0–1, 2–3
1986–87	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Fram Reykjavik	3–0, 1–0
		2R	FC Sion	2–2, 0–3
1987–88	UEFA Cup	1R	Sportul Studenţesc	0–1, 1–2
1988–89	UEFA Cup	1R	Rangers FC	0–1, 2–4
1989–90	UEFA Cup	1R	RoPS	1–1, 0–1
1990–91	UEFA Cup	1R	Turun Palloseura	3–0, 1–0
		2R	Bayer 04 Leverkusen	1–2, 0–4
1991–92	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Motherwell FC	2–0, 1–3
		2R	Club Brugge	0–1, 0–3
1992–93	UEFA Cup	1R	Galatasaray SK	0–0, 1–2
1993–94	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R	S.L. Benfica	0–1, 1–1
1994–95	UEFA Cup	Q	Inter Cardiff F.C.	2–0, 6–0
		1R	Aris Thessaloniki	1–0, 0–1
		2R	Girondins de Bordeaux	1–0, 1–1
		3R	Bayer 04 Leverkusen	1–4, 0–4
1995–96	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	Q	Ararat Yerevan	2–0, 0–2
2003–04	UEFA Cup	Q	Cementarnica 55 Skopje	0–0, 1–1

Current team

As of 4 February, 2024^[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	EST	Märten Kuusk
3	DF	POL	Grzegorz Janiszewski
4	DF	POL	Arkadiusz Jędrych
5	DF	POL	Oskar Repka
6	MF	POL	Lech Poznan )
7	FW	POL	Sebastian Bergier
10	MF	POL	Mateusz Mak
11	MF	POL	Adrian Błąd
12	GK	POL	Przemysław Pęksa
13	DF	POL	Bartosz Jaroszek
14	DF	POL	Aleksander Komor
15	MF	POL	Szymon Krawczyk


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
16	DF	POL	Grzegorz Rogala
17	MF	POL	Mateusz Marzec
18	FW	POL	Jakub Arak
19	FW	POL	Kacper Pietrzyk
20	DF	POL	Adrian Danek
21	MF	POL	Bartosz Baranowicz
22	MF	ECU	Christian Alemán
23	MF	POL	Marcin Wasilewski
26	DF	POL	Jakub Kaduk
28	MF	POL	Alan Brod
31	MF	JPN	Shun Shibata
33	GK	POL	Patryk Szczuka