GKS Bełchatów

Association football club in Poland
Football club
Akademia GKS Bełchatów
Full nameFundacja Akademia GKS Bełchatów[1]
Nickname(s)Gieksa
Brunatni (The Browns)
Torfiarze (The Turfers)
Founded26 November 1977; 46 years ago (1977-11-26)
GroundGIEKSA Arena
Capacity5,264
ChairmanSzymon Serwa
ManagerArtur Derbin
LeagueIII liga, group I
2023–24III liga, group I, 4th of 18
WebsiteClub website
Home colours
Away colours
Current season

GKS Bełchatów [ɡʲɛkaˈɛs bɛwˈxatuf] is a Polish professional football club based in Bełchatów. The club currently competes in group I of the III liga.[2]

History

GKS Bełchatów entered Poland's Klasa A in 1977 under the name of Węgiel Brunatny Bełchatów,[3] and gained promotion to the III liga in the 1981–82 season.[3] It took the club another seven years to rise to the II liga (1986/1987 season), before winning a place in the top-tier I liga in 1992.[3] After another spell in II liga, the club again won promotion to the I liga at the end of the 2004–05 season. The club finished the 2005–06 season in 10th place, with 37 points.[4] The following season they challenged for the league title. After spending much of the latter part of the 2006–07 season in first place, they were ultimately overtaken by Zagłębie Lubin and had to settle for second place.[5]

On 11 March 2022, the club, then playing in the II liga, withdrew from the league and did not start playing in the spring round. As a consequence, they were moved to the last place in the 2021–22 season standings and their remaining matches being declared 0–3 forfeits for their opponents.[6] They declared liquidation on 20 April 2022.[7] On 31 May 2022, the Łódź Football Association admitted its academy (Akademia GKS Bełchatów) as its continuator to the Łódź group of the fifth division for the 2022–23 season.[8]

Achievements

Fans and rivalries

The fans are called Torfiorze (the "Turfers" in translation).[9] They have friendly relations with fans of Wisła Sandomierz.[10] Their biggest rivals are neighbours RKS Radomsko, and as Bełchatów is located in the Łódź Province, they also have rivalries with the two traditional well-established Łódź teams, ŁKS and Widzew.[10]

Bełchatów in Europe

Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Aggregate
2007–08 UEFA Cup 1Q Georgia (country) Ameri Tbilisi 2–0 0–2 2–2 (4–2 pen)
2Q Ukraine Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 2–4 1–1 3–5

Current squad

As of 6 May 2024

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 Poland POL Leonid Otczenaszenko
2 DF Poland POL Mateusz Szymorek (captain)
3 MF Poland POL Miłosz Nowak
4 DF Poland POL Oskar Wójcik (on loan from Cracovia)
5 DF Poland POL Jarosław Trzeboński
6 MF Poland POL Patryk Skórecki
7 MF Poland POL Bartłomiej Bartosiak
8 MF Poland POL Artur Golański
9 FW Poland POL Przemysław Zdybowicz
10 FW Poland POL Hubert Karpiński
16 DF Poland POL Mikołaj Grzelak
17 FW Ukraine UKR Serhiy Napolov
18 DF Poland POL Szymon Sarnik
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 MF Poland POL Dawid Woźniakowski
20 MF Poland POL Adam Laski
21 GK Poland POL Jakub Kowalski
22 MF Poland POL Klaudiusz Krasa
23 MF Poland POL Mateusz Malec
24 GK Poland POL Hubert Gabrysiak
25 MF Poland POL Aleksy Jóźwik
26 MF Ukraine UKR Artem Syreishchykov
27 DF Poland POL Mariusz Holik
28 MF Poland POL Damian Michalak
30 MF Poland POL Łukasz Wroński
35 DF Poland POL Jakub Szczepaniak

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
— DF Poland POL Kamil Jasiński (at LZS Starowice Dolne until 30 June 2024)

Managers

  • Poland Wlodzimierz Tylak (March 7, 1992 – June 20, 1993)
  • Poland Wladyslaw Lach (July 1, 1993 – Aug 31, 1995)
  • Poland Krzysztof Pawlak (Sept 1, 1995 – June 30, 1996)
  • Poland Janusz Bialek (July 27, 1996 – Sept 21, 1996)
  • Poland Marek Pochopień (Sept 28, 1996 – Dec 31, 1996)
  • Poland Bogusław Kaczmarek (March 5, 1997 – May 14, 1997)
  • Poland Jerzy Wyrobek (May 17, 1997 – June 30, 1998)
  • Poland Krzysztof Pawlak (July 1, 1998 – May 9, 1999)
  • Poland Marek Pochopień (May 10, 1999 – June 30, 1999)
  • Poland Orest Lenczyk (1999)
  • Poland Krzysztof Wolak (1999–2000)
  • Poland Ryszard Polak (2000)
  • Poland Jan Złomańczuk, Poland Piotr Szarpak & Poland Adam Mażysz (May 9, 2000 – April 22, 2001)
  • Poland Józef Dankowski (2001)
  • Poland Krzysztof Tochel (Oct 2001 – May 2, 2002)
  • Poland Jacek Zieliński (June 11, 2002 – Sept 10, 2002)
  • Poland Mariusz Kuras (Sept 11, 2002 – Oct 6, 2005)
  • Poland Orest Lenczyk (Oct 10, 2005 – March 21, 2008)
  • Poland Jan Złomańczuk (interim) (March 21, 2008 – May 21, 2008)
  • Poland Paweł Janas (May 21, 2008 – Jan 3, 2009)
  • Poland Rafał Ulatowski (2009 – May 24, 2010)
  • Poland Maciej Bartoszek (June 2, 2010 – June 30, 2011)
  • Poland Paweł Janas (June 17, 2011 – Aug 31, 2011)
  • Poland Kamil Kiereś (Sept 1, 2011 – Sept 25, 2012)
  • Poland Jan Złomańczuk (Sept 25, 2012 – Nov 14, 2012)
  • Poland Michal Probierz (Nov 14, 2012 – Dec 21, 2012)
  • Poland Kamil Kiereś (Jan 9, 2013 – March 23, 2015)
  • Poland Marek Zub (2015)
  • Poland Kamil Kiereś (May 21, 2015 – June 22, 2015)
  • Poland Rafał Ulatowski (2015–2016)
  • Poland Krystian Kierach (interim) (2016)
  • Poland Andrzej Konwiński (2016)
  • Poland Mariusz Pawlak (2017–2018)
  • Poland Artur Derbin (2018–2020)
  • Poland Marcin Węglewski (2020–2021)
  • Poland Patryk Rachwał (June 25, 2021 – Nov 15, 2021)
  • Poland Kamil Socha (2021–2022)
  • Poland Bogdan Jóźwiak (June 22, 2022 – April 27, 2024)
  • Poland Patryk Rachwał (interim) (April 29, 2024 – June 13, 2024)
  • Poland Artur Derbin (June 13, 2024 – present)[11]

Notable players

Players who have been capped and/or have over 80 appearances for the club

References

  1. ^ "Fundacja Akademia GKS Bełchatów". ngo.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  2. ^ "Czas rozpocząć świętowanie! GKS wygrywa i awansuje do III ligi". GKS Bełchatów (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  3. ^ a b c "GKS Bełchatów - sezon po sezonie - Historia Polskiej Piłki Nożnej - HPPN.PL". www.hppn.pl.
  4. ^ "Orange Ekstraklasa 2005/2006". www.90minut.pl.
  5. ^ "Dziesięć lat temu GKS Bełchatów zaszokował piłkarską Polskę". Dziennik Łódzki. November 9, 2016.
  6. ^ "GKS Bełchatów wycofał się z rozgrywek 2 ligi". www.lodz.tvp.pl (in Polish).
  7. ^ "Oficjalnie: GKS Bełchatów ogłosił upadłość". weszlo.com (in Polish). 2022-04-28. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  8. ^ "OFICJALNIE: GKS Bełchatów-reaktywacja. Klub zgłoszony do nowych rozgrywek". transfery.info (in Polish). 31 May 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  9. ^ Kieruzel, Adam (November 27, 2020). "Bełchatów. Kibice GKS utworzyli mural z podobizną papieża Jana Pawła II [ZDJĘCIA]". Bełchatów Nasze Miasto.
  10. ^ a b "GKS Bełchatów — zgody, układy, kosy, grupy, grill i inne".
  11. ^ "Artur Derbin trenerem GKS Bełchatów!" (in Polish). GKS Bełchatów. 13 June 2024. Retrieved 18 June 2024.

External links

  • Official website
  • GKS Bełchatów at Soccerway
  • v
  • t
  • e
GKS Bełchatów – current squad
  • 1 Otczenaszenko
  • 2 Szymorek (c)
  • 3 Nowak
  • 4 Wójcik
  • 5 Trzeboński
  • 6 Skórecki
  • 7 Bartosiak
  • 8 Golański
  • 9 Zdybowicz
  • 10 Karpiński
  • 16 Grzelak
  • 17 Napolov
  • 18 Sarnik
  • 19 Woźniakowski
  • 20 Laski
  • 21 Kowalski
  • 22 Krasa
  • 23 Malec
  • 24 Gabrysiak
  • 25 Jóźwik
  • 26 Syreishchykov
  • 27 Holik
  • 28 Michalak
  • 30 Wroński
  • 35 Szczepaniak
  • Manager: Derbin
  • v
  • t
  • e
III liga · 2024–25 clubs
Group I
Group II
Group III
Group IV
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