GKS Bełchatów
| Full name | Fundacja Akademia GKS Bełchatów[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Gieksa Brunatni (The Browns) Torfiarze (The Turfers) | ||
| Founded | 26 November 1977 | ||
| Ground | GIEKSA Arena | ||
| Capacity | 5,264 | ||
| Chairman | Jakub Rzeszowski | ||
| Manager | Radosław Pęciak | ||
| League | III liga, group I | ||
| 2024–25 | III liga, group I, 8th of 18 | ||
| Website | https://gksbelchatow.com.pl | ||
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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]
Honours
- Ekstraklasa:
- Runners-up: 2006–07
- Polish Cup:
- Runners-up: 1995–96, 1998–99
- Ekstraklasa Cup:
- Runners-up: 2006–07
- Polish Super Cup:
- Runners-up: 2007
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 | Ameri Tbilisi | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–2 (4–2 pen) | |
| 2Q | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 2–4 | 1–1 | 3–5 |
Players
Current squad
- As of 26 February 2025[11]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Notable players
Players who have been capped at any time and/or have over 80 appearances for the club
- Notable Polish players
- Grzegorz Baran
- Bartłomiej Bartosiak
- Jacek Berensztajn
- Rafał Boguski
- Edward Cecot
- Mateusz Cetnarski
- Grzegorz Fonfara
- Łukasz Garguła
- Janusz Gol
- Artur Golański
- Mikołaj Grzelak
- Tomasz Jarzębowski
- Marcin Komorowski
- Kamil Kosowski
- Rafał Kosznik
- Jacek Krzynówek
- Mariusz Kukiełka
- Piotr Kuklis
- Łukasz Madej
- Paweł Magdoń
- Michał Mak
- Maciej Małkowski
- Radosław Matusiak
- Filip Modelski
- Dawid Nowak
- Arkadiusz Piech
- Dariusz Pietrasiak
- Jacek Popek
- Patryk Rachwał
- Grzegorz Rasiak
- Marek Rzepka
- Dariusz Rzeźniczek
- Łukasz Sapela
- Maciej Stolarczyk
- Mateusz Szymorek
- Bartosz Ślusarski
- Jakub Tosik
- Mariusz Ujek
- Maciej Wilusz
- Łukasz Wroński
- Tomasz Wróbel
- Marcin Żewłakow
- Notable foreign players
Managers
- Włodzimierz Tylak (7 March 1992 – 20 June 1993)
- Wladysław Lach (1 July 1993 – 31 Aug 1995)
- Krzysztof Pawlak (1 Sept 1995 – 30 June 1996)
- Janusz Białek (27 July 1996 – 21 Sept 1996)
- Marek Pochopień (28 Sept 1996 – 31 Dec 1996)
- Bogusław Kaczmarek (5 March 1997 – 14 May 1997)
- Jerzy Wyrobek (17 May 1997 – 30 June 1998)
- Krzysztof Pawlak (1 July 1998 – 9 May 1999)
- Marek Pochopień (10 May 1999 – 30 June 1999)
- Orest Lenczyk (1999)
- Krzysztof Wolak (1999–2000)
- Ryszard Polak (2000)
- Jan Złomańczuk, Piotr Szarpak & Adam Mażysz (9 May 2000 – 22 April 2001)
- Józef Dankowski (2001)
- Krzysztof Tochel (Oct 2001 – 2 May 2002)
- Jacek Zieliński (11 June 2002 – 10 Sept 2002)
- Mariusz Kuras (11 Sept 2002 – 6 Oct 2005)
- Orest Lenczyk (10 Oct 2005 – 21 March 2008)
- Jan Złomańczuk (interim) (21 March 2008 – 21 May 2008)
- Paweł Janas (21 May 2008 – 3 Jan 2009)
- Rafał Ulatowski (2009 – 24 May 2010)
- Maciej Bartoszek (2 June 2010 – 17 June 2011)
- Paweł Janas (17 June 2011 – 31 Aug 2011)
- Kamil Kiereś (1 Sept 2011 – 25 Sept 2012)
- Jan Złomańczuk (25 Sept 2012 – 14 Nov 2012)
- Michał Probierz (14 Nov 2012 – 21 Dec 2012)
- Kamil Kiereś (9 Jan 2013 – 23 March 2015)
- Marek Zub (2015)
- Kamil Kiereś (21 May 2015 – 22 June 2015)
- Rafał Ulatowski (2015–2016)
- Krystian Kierach (interim) (2016)
- Andrzej Konwiński (2016)
- Mariusz Pawlak (2017–2018)
- Artur Derbin (2018–2020)
- Marcin Węglewski (2020–2021)
- Patryk Rachwał (25 June 2021 – 15 Nov 2021)
- Kamil Socha (2021–2022)
- Bogdan Jóźwiak (22 June 2022 – 27 April 2024)
- Patryk Rachwał (interim) (29 April 2024 – 13 June 2024)
- Artur Derbin (13 June 2024 – 5 Jan 2025)
- Patryk Rachwał (7 Jan 2025 – 9 June 2025)[12]
- Radosław Pęciak (17 June 2025 – present)[13]
References
- ^ "Fundacja Akademia GKS Bełchatów". ngo.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-07-23.
- ^ "Czas rozpocząć świętowanie! GKS wygrywa i awansuje do III ligi". GKS Bełchatów (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-07-23.
- ^ a b c "GKS Bełchatów - sezon po sezonie - Historia Polskiej Piłki Nożnej - HPPN.PL". www.hppn.pl.
- ^ "Orange Ekstraklasa 2005/2006". www.90minut.pl.
- ^ "Dziesięć lat temu GKS Bełchatów zaszokował piłkarską Polskę". Dziennik Łódzki. November 9, 2016.
- ^ "GKS Bełchatów wycofał się z rozgrywek 2 ligi". www.lodz.tvp.pl (in Polish).
- ^ "Oficjalnie: GKS Bełchatów ogłosił upadłość". weszlo.com (in Polish). 2022-04-28. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
- ^ "OFICJALNIE: GKS Bełchatów-reaktywacja. Klub zgłoszony do nowych rozgrywek". transfery.info (in Polish). 31 May 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ^ Kieruzel, Adam (November 27, 2020). "Bełchatów. Kibice GKS utworzyli mural z podobizną papieża Jana Pawła II [ZDJĘCIA]". Bełchatów Nasze Miasto.
- ^ a b "GKS Bełchatów — zgody, układy, kosy, grupy, grill i inne".
- ^ "Zawodnicy" (in Polish). GKS Bełchatów. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ "Patryk Rachwał kończy swoją misję w PGE GiEK GKS Bełchatów" (in Polish). GKS Bełchatów. 9 June 2025. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
- ^ "Radosław Pęciak nowym trenerem PGE GiEK GKS Bełchatów!" (in Polish). GKS Bełchatów. 17 June 2025. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
External links
- Official website
- GKS Bełchatów at Soccerway