Śląsk Wrocław Explained

Clubname:Śląsk Wrocław
Owner:Wrocław
Fullname:Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna
Nickname:WKS
Wojskowi (The Militarians)
Ground:Tarczyński Arena Wrocław
Capacity:42,771[1]
Chairman:Patryk Załęczny
Manager:Jacek Magiera
Season:2023–24
Position:Ekstraklasa, 2nd of 18
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Current:2024–25 Śląsk Wrocław season
Website:http://slaskwroclaw.pl/strona/

Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław (pronounced as /pl/), is a Polish professional football club based in Wrocław that plays in, the highest level of the Polish football league system.

Two-time Polish champion (1977, 2012), four-time Polish runner-up (1978, 1982, 2011, 2024), two-time Polish Cup winner (1976, 1987), two-time Polish Super Cup winner (1987, 2012) and Ekstraklasa Cup winner (2009).

The club's home is Wrocław Stadium, a 42,771 capacity stadium in Wrocław which was one of the host venues during UEFA Euro 2012. The club previously played at Olympic Stadium and Stadion Oporowska.

History

The club has had many names since its foundation in 1947. They are listed below;[2]

Śląsk is the Polish name of Silesia, the historical region in which Wrocław is located.

Honours

League

Cup

Youth teams

The fans

Śląsk fans are one of the largest supporter movements in Poland. In the early 1970s, they were one of the pioneers of football supporters groups. The Śląsk supporters call themselves Nobles from Wrocław (Polish: Szlachta z Wrocławia). Notable Śląsk fans include: Waldemar Kasta, a rapper and ring announcer KSW, that also created fan songs for Śląsk, Hubert Hurkacz, a Polish tennis player.

Friendships

They have a friendship with Lechia Gdańsk with which the two clubs fans have had a friendship since 1977, and have had friendly relations since 1967. This is the oldest fan friendship in Polish football. During the 2017–18 season, the two sets of fans celebrated their 40th Friendship Anniversary. Games between the two are often called "the friendship match".

The fans have also had a friendship with Motor Lublin dating back to the 1990s. Due to the clubs' long friendship, Śląsk were invited to play a friendly in 2015 in Lublin to celebrate Motor's 65th anniversary.

Despite the clubs' close proximity, Śląsk also hold friendly relations with Miedź Legnica. The fans also have friendships with fans from both SFC Opava, from the Czech Republic, and Ferencvárosi TC, from Hungary.[8]

Rivals

Their biggest rivals are Zagłębie Lubin, with the games between the two known as the "Lower Silesian Derby" (Polish: Derby Dolnego Śląska). The two teams are the largest in the Lower Silesia region, with Śląsk representing Wrocław (the capital of Lower Silesia) and Zagłębie representing Lubin, a traditionally industrial and copper mining city. Both teams have won the twice, Śląsk in 1977 & 2012, and Zagłębie in 1991 & 2007. They also hold a big rivalry with Legia Warsaw, due to both clubs having military roots. There also is a rivalry with Widzew Łódź, traditionally only due to competitive reasons, however, after the murder of a 17 year old Śląsk fan by a group of Widzew hooligans in Walichnowy, the rivalry became more heated than ever, and it still holds this status.

The fans of Lechia and Śląsk formally had a friendship with the Wisła Kraków fans, creating the "Three Kings of Great Cities" (Polish: Trzej Królowie Wielkich Miast) coalition. Wisła fans left the coalition in 2016. Since 2016 Wisła Kraków itself has since turned into a rivalry.

Arka Gdynia, Lech Poznań and Cracovia are rivals dating back to the time with their alliance with Wisła. This was due to the two largest fan coalitions in Poland, "Three Kings of Great Cities" (Śląsk, Lechia, Wisła) and "The Great Triad" (Lech, Arka, Cracovia) with any of the opposite coalition teams playing each other resulting in a big and hotly contested match.

Stadium

See main article: Wrocław Stadium. The Wrocław Stadium is the highest fourth category football (soccer) stadium built for the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship. The Stadium is located on aleja Śląska in the western part of the city (Pilczyce district). It is the home stadium of the Śląsk Wrocław football team playing in the Polish PKO Ekstraklasa. The stadium has a capacity of 42,771 spectators, all seated and all covered. The Municipal Stadium in Wroclaw is the largest arena in Ekstraklasa and the third largest in the country (after National Stadium and Silesia Stadium). Stadium construction began in April 2009 and was completed in September 2011. Stadium opening took place at 10 September 2011 with boxing fight between Tomasz Adamek and Vitali Klitschko for WBC heavyweight title. The inaugural football match was held on 10 October 2011, between Śląsk Wrocław and Lechia Gdańsk. Śląsk won 1–0, with Johan Voskamp becoming the first goalscorer on the new stadium.

Śląsk Wrocław in European football

Continent:Europe
Śląsk Wrocław in European football
Club:Śląsk Wrocław
First Entry:1975–76 UEFA Cup
Last Entry:2024–25 UEFA Conference League

Śląsk Wrocław's score is shown first in each case

SeasonCompetitionRoundOpponentHomeAwayAggregate
1975–76UEFA Cup1R GAIS4–21–25–4
2R Royal Antwerp1–12–13–2
3R Liverpool1–20–31–5
1976–77European Cup Winners' Cup1R Floriana2–04–16–1
2R Bohemians3–01–04–0
QF Napoli0–00–20–2
1977–78European Cup1R Levski-Spartak2–20–32–5
1978–79UEFA Cup1R Pezoporikos5–12–27–3
2R ÍBV Vestmannaeyjar2–12–04–1
3R Borussia Mönchengladbach2–41–13–5
1980–81UEFA Cup1R Dundee United0–02–72–7
1982–83UEFA Cup1R Dynamo Moscow2–21–03–2
2R Servette0–21–51–7
1987–88European Cup Winners' Cup1R Real Sociedad0–20–00–2
2011–12UEFA Europa League2Q Dundee United1–02–33–3[9]
3Q Lokomotiv Sofia0–00–00–0[10]
PO Rapid București1–31–12–4
2012–13UEFA Champions League2Q Budućnost Podgorica0–12–02–1
3Q Helsingborg0–31–31–6
2012–13UEFA Europa LeaguePO Hannover 963–51–54–10
2013–14UEFA Europa League2Q Rudar Pljevlja4–02–26–2
3Q Club Brugge1–03–34–3
PO Sevilla0–51–41–9
2015–16UEFA Europa League1Q NK Celje3–11–04–1
2Q IFK Göteborg0–00–20–2
2021–22UEFA Europa Conference League1Q Paide Linnameeskond2–02–14–1
2Q Ararat Yerevan3–34–27–5
3Q Hapoel Be'er Sheva2–10−42−5
2024–25UEFA Conference League2Q Riga3–1 0–1 3–2
3Q St. Gallen3–20–23–4
Notes

Best results in European competitions

SeasonAchievementNotes
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
1976–77Quarter-finallost to Napoli 0–0 in Wrocław, 0–2 in Naples
UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League
1975–76Round of 16lost to Liverpool 1–2 in Wrocław, 0–3 in Liverpool
1978–79Round of 16lost to Mönchengladbach 1–1 in Mönchengladbach, 2–4 in Wrocław

Current squad

[11]

Out on loan

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries.

Poland
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Gabon
Georgia
Hungary
Iceland
Japan
Latvia
Macedonia
Montenegro
Slovakia
Slovenia
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Managers

Śląsk Wrocław (women)

See main article: Śląsk Wrocław (women). The Śląsk Wrocław's women's team was formed in 2020, taking the place of KŚ AZS Wrocław in the Ekstraliga.[14]

See also

Footnotes

  1. Web site: Fakty i liczby. 26 November 2021. 25 November 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211125152152/https://stadionwroclaw.pl/stadion/fakty-i-liczby/. live.
  2. Web site: Historia Wroclawskiego Klubu. WKS Śląsk Wrocław Historia Klubu. 22 July 2011. Polish. 11 June 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120611164411/http://slaskhistoria.w.interia.pl/wks_slask_wroclaw.htm. dead.
  3. Web site: Kaczmarek. Michal. Dabrowski. Piotr. Poland – List of Champions. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 22 July 2011. 19 May 2011. 22 September 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220922013316/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/polchamp.html. live.
  4. Web site: Mogielnicki. Pawel. Poland – List of Cup Finals. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 22 July 2011. 2 June 2010. 11 August 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220811232853/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/polcuphist.html. live.
  5. Web site: Di Maggio. Roberto. Poland – List of League Cup Finals. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 22 July 2011. 21 May 2009. 22 September 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220922002140/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/polleagcuphist.html. live.
  6. Web site: Mogielnicki. Pawel. Poland – List of Super Cup Finals. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 22 July 2011. 17 September 2010. 21 September 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220921124713/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/polsupcuphist.html. live.
  7. Web site: Śląsk mistrzem Polski juniorów młodszych . 90minut.pl . 12 June 2024 . pl . 12 June 2024.
  8. Web site: TKWM Three Kings of Great Cities. October 2015. 22 October 2015. 4 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304230021/http://casualpact.blogspot.com/2015/10/tkwm-three-kings-of-great-cities.html. live.
  9. Won on away goals.
  10. Won 4–3 on penalties.
  11. Web site: Pierwsza drużyna . Śląsk Wrocław . 17 July 2022 . Polish . 3 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220803042705/https://slaskwroclaw.pl/strona/druzyna/13/9 . live .
  12. Web site: Vitezslav Lavička odchodzi ze Śląska Wrocław . Śląsk Wrocław . 21 March 2021 . 7 April 2021 . pl . 18 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210418155231/http://slaskwroclaw.pl/strona/aktualnosci/vitezslav-lavicka-odchodzi-ze-slaska-wroclaw-12847768 . live .
  13. Web site: Jacek Magiera trenerem Śląska . 90minut . 22 March 2021 . 7 April 2021 . pl . 19 May 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210519164948/http://www.90minut.pl/news/310/news3107696-Jacek-Magiera-trenerem-Slaska.html . live .
  14. Web site: WKS Śląsk Wrocław Sekcja Piłki Nożnej Kobiet. slaskwroclaw.pl. 3 September 2020. 14 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200814202157/http://slaskwroclaw.pl/strona/wks-slask-wroclaw-sekcja-pilki-noznej-kobiet-139. live.

External links