Górnik Zabrze

Górnik Zabrze

Full name	Klub Sportowy Górnik Zabrze
Nickname(s)	Trójkolorowi (The Three-Colour), Torcida, Żabole (similar to frogs) founded = 1948
Ground	Ernest Pohl Stadium, Zabrze (Capacity: 10,000[1] upgrading to 32,000)
Chairman	Tomasz Młynarczyk
Manager	Adam Nawałka
League	Ekstraklasa
2010–11	6th
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Górnik Zabrze (Polish pronunciation: [ˈɡurɲiɡ ˈzabʐɛ]) is a Polish football club from Zabrze. The club has won numerous championships, and was a dominant force in the 1960s and 1980s. For now Górnik has the most titles in Poland. The club plays in white or dark blue - red kit, and is based at the Ernest Pohl Stadium. Their main local rivals is Ruch Chorzów.

History

First years

The club was founded in 1948, three years after borders of Poland had switched westwards and the city of Zabrze (until then called Hindenburg) became part of the Polish Republic. Górnik was based on several smaller sports associations that had existed in Zabrze between 1945 and 1948 - KS Zjednoczenie, KS Pogon, KS Skra, KS Concordia. The clubs merged into a single organisation, 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, 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

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.

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 Gornik), the referee of the match - Mr Redzinski - sent off one by one 3 players from Gornik's squad, and Gornik 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.

Achievements

History of Górnik Zabrze classifications in the Ekstraklasa

• Ekstraklasa (First League)
  • 1st Place (14-co-record): 1957, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988
  • 2nd Place (4): 1962, 1969, 1974, 1991
• Polish Cup
  • Winner (6): 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972
  • Finalist (7): 1956, 1957, 1962, 1966, 1986, 1992, 2001
• Polish SuperCup:
  • Winners (1): 1988
• Polish League Cup:
  • Winners (1) 1978 (Not Official)
• UEFA Champions League:
  • Quarter-Final (1): 1968
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (UEFA Cup):
  • Finalist (1): 1970

Górnik in Europe

Season	Competition	Round		Club	Score
1961/62	European Cup	Q		Tottenham Hotspur	4-2, 1-8
1963/64	European Cup	Q		FK Austria Wien	1-0, 0-1, 2-1
		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
		1R		Sparta Prague	0-3, 1-0
1966/67	European Cup	1R		Vorwärts Berlin	2-1, 1-2, 3-1
		2R		CSKA Sofia	0-4, 3-0
1967/68	European Cup	1R		Djurgårdens IF	3-0, 1-0
		2R		Dinamo Kiev	2-1, 1-1
		1/4F		Manchester United	0-2, 1-0
1968/69	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R		FC Dynamo Moscow	withdrawal
1969/70	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R		Olympiakos CFP	2-2, 5-0
		2R		Rangers F.C.	3-1, 3-1
		1/4F		Levski-Spartak	2-3, 2-1
		1/2F		AS Roma	1-1, 2-2
		F		Manchester City FC	1-2
1970/71	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R		Aalborg BK	1-0, 8-1
		2R		Göztepe A.Ş.	1-0, 3-0
		1/4F		Manchester City FC	2-0, 0-2, 1-3
1971/72	European Cup	1R		Olympique de Marseille	1-2, 1-1
1972/73	European Cup	1R		Sliema Wanderers	5-0, 5-0
		2R		Dinamo Kiev	0-2, 2-1
1974/75	UEFA Cup	1R		FK Partizan	2-2, 0-3
1977/78	UEFA Cup	1R		FC Haka	5-3, 0-0
		2R		Aston Villa FC	0-2, 1-1
1985/86	European Cup	1R		Bayern Munich	1-2, 1-4
1986/87	European Cup	1R		RSC Anderlecht	0-2, 1-1
1987/88	European Cup	1R		Olympiakos CFP	1-1, 2-1
		2R		Rangers F.C.	1-3, 1-1
1988/89	European Cup	1R		Jeunesse Esch	3-0, 4-1
		2R		Real Madrid	0-1, 2-3
1989/90	UEFA Cup	1R		Juventus Turin	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
		1R		VfB Admira Wacker Mödling	2-5, 1-1
1995	Intertoto Cup	GR		AGF Aarhus	1-4
				FC Basel	1-2
				Sheffield Wednesday	2-3
				Karlsruher SC	1-6

Current squad

As of 30 August 2011

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Mateusz Sławik 2 DF Michał Pazdan 3 DF Kamil Szymura 5 FW Daniel Gołębiewski (on loan from Polonia Warszawa) 6 MF Aleksander Kwiek 7 MF Maciej Bębenek 8 MF Piotr Gierczak 9 MF Michał Jonczyk 11 FW Marcin Wodecki 13 MF Paweł Thomik 14 FW Prejuce Nakoulma (on loan from Górnik Łęczna) 16 DF Adam Marciniak 17 DF Paweł Olkowski

No. Position Player 19 MF Mariusz Przybylski 21 DF Mariusz Magiera 22 FW Tomasz Zahorski 24 DF Michał Bemben 25 DF Adam Banaś 26 DF Adam Danch 28 GK Łukasz Skorupski 29 GK Boris Peškovič 30 MF Gabriel Nowak 77 MF Wojciech Król 87 MF Krzysztof Mączyński 88 MF Michal Gašparík 99 FW Arkadiusz Milik

On loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 10 FW Idan Shriki (On loan to F.C. Ashdod)

Notable former players

Māris Smirnovs Jerzy Brzęczek Jerzy Gorgoń Tomasz Hajto Ryszard Komornicki

Kamil Kosowski Włodzimierz Lubański Andrzej Niedzielan Stanisław Oślizło Ernest Pohl

Andrzej Szarmach Zygfryd Szołtysik Jan Urban Tomasz Wałdoch Józef Wandzik

Robert Warzycha Tomasz Zahorski

Notable coaches

• Werner Lička (2004)
• Gyula Grosics
• Ferenc Szusza (1970-71)
• Géza Kalocsay (1966-69)
• Henryk Kasperczak (2008-09)
• Ryszard Komornicki (2006), (2009)

References

1. ^ http://www.gornikzabrze.pl/pl-texts,text,46,Stadion_-_Informacje

External links

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

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