text:
ŁKS Łódź

ŁKS Łódź (Łódzki Klub Sportowy Łódź; ) is a Polish sports club based in Łódź. They are best known for their football club but are represented in many sports such as basketball, volleyball, boxing, and in the past ice hockey, athletics, tennis, table tennis, swimming, cycling, fencing, chess, etc. The club is based at Stadion Miejski im. Władysława Króla, at Aleja Unii Lubelskiej 2 in the West of Łódź.

This article focuses on the football club. Their nickname "Rycerze Wiosny" ("Knights of Spring") was given to them due to their usually strong performances after the winter break in the league.

History
The club was founded in 1908. It was one of the founders of the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division.

During World War II, two pre-war players of ŁKS, Adam Obrubański and Alojzy Welnitz, were among Poles murdered by the Russians in the large Katyn massacre in April–May 1940.

ŁKS enjoyed greatest success in the 1950s and 1990s, when it reached the podium six times, including winning the championship title in 1958 and 1997–98. It also won the Polish Cup in 1957, and reached the final in 1994.

In March 2010, the city government sold the football team to a private investor, as the city could no longer afford to support the football team, particularly after several seasons in the top level Ekstraklasa, where expenses often exceeded the ticket revenue from the club's small seating-capacity stadium.

In May 2013, at the conclusion of the second-tier 2012–13 I liga season, the private investor declared bankruptcy. The club survived when a partnership between fans and other local investors raised the necessary funds to enter the much more affordable amateur fifth-level IV liga in time for the 2013–14 IV liga season, competing against other local area teams in the Łódź group. The rebuilt club returned to the top division in 2019.

On 28 May 2023, ŁKS secured promotion to Ekstraklasa after a 1–1 draw against Arka Gdynia; this result also confirmed ŁKS as I liga champions. However, they were relegated to the second division after just one season back in the top flight.

Facilities
In 2009 the new Atlas Arena was completed adjacent to the football stadium. It is an indoor arena and has already hosted international events in basketball, volleyball and boxing.

The City council, owner of the various ŁKS Łódź sports clubs, still intend to construct a brand new stadium on the site of the current football stadium. It was intended to be complete in time for UEFA Euro 2012, but now is expected to be finished in late 2013-early 2014. Although Łódź is not a Euro 2012 host city, it had been believed that a failure by Ukraine to be ready on time would lead to Poland hosting the entire tournament on its own and therefore requiring more host cities. There were four Polish host cities (Warsaw, Gdańsk, Poznań and Wrocław) involved in hosting the tournament. It was envisioned the new stadium would have approximately 34,000 seats, as required by UEFA. While the concept of a new stadium for ŁKS Łódź was being discussed in 2009, cross-town rival Widzew Łódź announced that they would not contribute to any such stadium, as they had imminent plans to renovate their own stadium (the Widzew Łódź plans were stalled for years, eventually opening the 18,000 seat Stadion Miejski Widzewa in 2017). Support for the project was undermined by the successful re-call of the Łódź city president in early 2010. The city also announced a public auction for their stake in the club as they could no longer afford to cover the clubs loses. Owing to financial constraints and lack of demand from LKS fans, the conceptual plan for a new ŁKS Łódź stadium was scaled down to 16,500 in 2012.

As part of renovations, a new 3,000 seat arena was supposed to be built to complement the existing Atlas Arena. All work was expected to cost 218 million PLN.

All plans to provide the club with new facilities, however, were abandoned as of 2013, due to financial constraints and the bankruptcy of the club in May 2013. However, with an upturn in the clubs fortunes, a new stadium is currently being built. One side was used during the 2019–20 Ekstraklasa season with the remainder of the ground set to be completed by 2021.

Rivalries
The club has a fierce rivalry with cross-town club Widzew Łódź, with the derby match between the two clubs being intense both on and off the field. See Łódź derby.

League

 * Ekstraklasa
 * Champions: 1958, 1997–98
 * Runners-up: 1954
 * Third place: 1922, 1957, 1992–93
 * I liga
 * Champions: 2010–11, 2022–23

Cup

 * Polish Cup
 * Winners: 1956–57
 * Runners-up: 1993–94
 * Polish Super Cup
 * Runners-up: 1994, 1998

Youth teams

 * Polish U19 championship
 * Champions: 1962, 1983, 1999
 * Runners-up: 1953, 1955, 1973, 2002
 * Third place: 1971, 1981
 * Polish U17 championship
 * Champions: 1994, 1999

Managers

 * 🇭🇺 Lajos Czeizler (1923–26)
 * 🇭🇺 Lajos Czeizler (1935–36)
 * 🇵🇱 Władysław Król (1949)
 * 🇵🇱 Jan Wiszniowski (1950)
 * 🇵🇱 Edward Drabiński (1950–51)
 * 🇵🇱 Artur Woźniak (1951)
 * 🇵🇱 Władysław Król (1952–59)
 * 🇵🇱 Kazimierz Radwański (1960)
 * 🇵🇱 Stanisław Baran (1961)
 * 🇵🇱 Władysław Król
 * 🇵🇱 Tadeusz Foryś (1965)
 * 🇵🇱 Longin Janeczek (1966–67)
 * 🇵🇱 Wacław Pegza (1968)
 * 🇵🇱 Józef Walczak (1971–72)
 * 🇵🇱 Paweł Kowalski (1972)
 * 🇵🇱 Kazimierz Górski (1973)
 * 🇵🇱 Grzegorz Polakow (1975)
 * 🇵🇱 Longin Janeczek (1976)
 * 🇵🇱 Leszek Jezierski (1976–78)
 * 🇵🇱 Zygmunt Małolepszy (1978)
 * 🇵🇱 Józef Walczak (1980)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Łazarek (1991)
 * 🇵🇱 Ryszard Polak (1991–95)
 * 🇵🇱 Zbigniew Lepczyk (1995)
 * 🇵🇱 Marek Dziuba (1996–99)
 * 🇵🇱 Adam Topolski (2000)
 * 🇵🇱 Włodzimierz Gąsior (2002)
 * 🇵🇱 Bogusław Pietrzak (2002–03)
 * 🇵🇱 Włodzimierz Tylak (2003)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Borecki (2003–04)
 * 🇵🇱 Marek Chojnacki (2004)
 * 🇵🇱 Wiesław Wojno (2005–06)
 * 🇵🇱 Jerzy Kasalik (2006)
 * 🇵🇱 Marek Chojnacki (2006–07)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Borecki (2007)
 * 🇵🇱 Mirosław Jabłoński (2007–08)
 * 🇵🇱 Marek Chojnacki (2008)
 * 🇵🇱 Grzegorz Wesołowski (2008–10)
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Pyrdoł (2010–11)
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Bratkowski (2011)
 * 🇵🇱 Michał Probierz (2011)
 * 🇵🇱 Tomasz Wieszczycki (caretaker) (2011)
 * 🇵🇱 Ryszard Tarasiewicz (2011–12)
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Pyrdoł (2012)
 * 🇵🇱 Marek Chojnacki (2012)
 * 🇵🇱 Maciej Szpak (2013)
 * 🇵🇱 Piotr Zajączkowski (2013)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Robaszek (2013–2014)
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Kretek (2014)
 * 🇵🇱 Marek Chojnacki (2014–2015)
 * 🇵🇱 Robert Szwarc (2015–2016)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Robaszek (2016)
 * 🇵🇱 Marcin Pyrdoł (2016–17)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Robaszek (2017–18)
 * 🇵🇱 Kazimierz Moskal (2018–20)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Stawowy (2020–21)
 * 🇵🇱 Ireneusz Mamrot (2021)
 * 🇪🇸 Kibu Vicuña (2021–22)
 * 🇵🇱 Marcin Pogorzała (caretaker) (2022)
 * 🇵🇱 Kazimierz Moskal (2022–23)
 * 🇵🇱 Piotr Stokowiec (2023–24)
 * 🇵🇱 Marcin Matysiak (2024)
 * 🇵🇱 Jakub Dziółka (2024–current)

ŁKS Łódź II
As of the 2024–25 season, the club's reserve team, ŁKS Łódź II, competes in II liga, having won promotion from the 2022–23 III liga.

title: ŁKS Łódź


text:
Ruch Chorzów

Ruch Chorzów is a Polish association football club based in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. It is one of the most successful football teams in Poland, having won fourteen league titles, and the Polish Cup thrice. As of the 2024–25 season, they compete in the 1. liga, after suffering relegation from the 2023–24 Ekstraklasa.

Ruch's home venue is the Ruch Chorzów Stadium, with a capacity of 9,300 seats. As it is currently under renovation, Ruch temporarily hosts their games at the Silesian Stadium with a capacity of 55,211 seats. The club is known for its Silesian identity. Ruch Chorzów has also had a very successful female handball team (9 times national champions).

History
The club was founded on 20 April 1920 in Bismarkhuta (German Bismarckhütte, historically Hajduki), one of the many heavily industrialised municipalities in the eastern part of Upper Silesia, a disputed province between Poland and Germany. The main incentive was an appeal of the Polish Plebiscite Committee a few months earlier that led to creation of around one hundred sport associations. It took place in between the first and second Silesian Uprisings, to which the name Ruch is a supposed cover reference. The Polish word ruch is however also a common noun for movement, not as strongly associated with Polishness as names of many other clubs established after the appeal (like Polonia, Powstaniec etc.). On the other hand, the club's first match, a 3:1 win against Orzeł Józefowiec, was played on 3 May 1920, the day of the first Polish Constitution. After the Upper Silesia plebiscite and the third Silesian Uprising in 1921 Bismarkhuta became part of Poland and the Silesian Voivodeship. The municipality was renamed to Wielkie Hajduki on 1 January 1923, hence the club was known as Ruch Wielkie Hajduki until another merger into the town Chorzów (created in 1934 from amalgamation of Królewska Huta, Chorzów and Hajduki Nowe) in the early 1939, with a short period in 1923 after the fusion with the older local German club Bismarckhütter Ballspiel Club, when it was known as Ruch BBC Wielkie Hajduki. After the merger the team played its games on the former BBC's pitch known as na Kalinie. The popular nickname of the club Niebiescy (The Blues) clung to the team already in the 1920s.

In autumn of 1920 Ruch won the promotion to the nascent Silesian Klasa A (see also: Lower Level Football Leagues in Interwar Poland). The Blues were third out of fourteen teams in its first season, unfinished due to the third Silesian Uprising. The next year Ruch won the championship of the Silesian Klasa A and represented the region in the 1922 Polish Football Championship. In 1924 the club finished second in the regional top league, behind AKS Królewska Huta, before 1924 considered German and known as Verein für Rasenspiele Königshütte, the first team Ruch had developed a local rivalry with. In 1925 the Silesian Klasa A did not play, instead Stanisław Flieger's Cup took place, ultimately won by Ruch, which gave the side a start in the only interwar Polish Cup competition in 1926. On 4 July 1926 Józef Sobota, before 1920 a BBC's player, became the first Ruch's player (and the fourth from Upper Silesia) of the Poland national team, who also scored a goal (against Estonia). In the same year, two weeks after the national Cup Ruch won for the second time the regional Klasa A, firmly establishing itself as one of the strongest football clubs in this densely populated region and as such it was among the founding clubs of the Polish national league in 1927. In 1933 Ruch won its first Championship as the first side from Silesia, with all the players who were born not further as a few kilometers from the na Kalinie pitch. Thus the first truly golden era began. The local steel mill (since 1934 known as Huta Batory) began to financially support the side. In the winter of 1933 the most noteworthy players such as Edmund Giemsa, Teodor Peterek and Gerard Wodarz were joined by legendary Ernst Wilimowski, bought from 1. FC Kattowitz, who with Peterek and Wodarz were collectively nicknamed the three kings and helped to win another 4 championships (1934, 1935, 1936, 1938). On 1 November 1934 the club, as the last in the league, employed its first coach, Gustav Wieser. The side was also a leader in the unfinished season 1939. The successes rendered the club the most popular in the voivodeship and accelerated building of the new stadium in the years 1934-1935, the current Ruch Chorzów Stadium. After the German occupation of Poland in 1939, the club was officially discontinued but unofficially was simply renamed Bismarckhütter SV 99 and joined the Gauliga Oberschlesien in 1941. The club was officially re-established after the war. In 1947 Ruch won the regional championships. In 1948, under communist pressure (Stalinisation), the club was renamed Unia Chorzów, in 1955 it became Unia-Ruch, and finally in 1956 returned to the name Ruch. As Unia the club finished third in the first season of the reactivated national league in 1948 and in 1950 as the second team. In 1951 the club won the reactivated Polish Cup edition and were rewarded with the title of the National Champions (even though they were only sixth in the league). The next two years the club also won the title, first in 1952 after final against Polonia Bytom, another local bitter rival, and in 1953 after finishing the league on the top position. The most renowned player of that era was Gerard Cieślik, who dedicated his whole life to the club and became its icon. The years 1957-1966 are considered a lost decade, completely overshadowed by the successes of the new biggest regional rival, Górnik Zabrze, even though the club won the championships in 1960. A record of its kind in the national football history as the team consisted of only 14 players, 11 of whom originated in the town of Chorzów. The turn of the tide came in the season 1967–68 when Ruch won the 10th championship title breaking Górnik Zabrze's streak of five consecutive titles. Another golden era for the Blues arrived in the early 1970s with Michal Vičan as a coach. In 1972–73 the club finished second, in 1973–74 they won the only double in the history (the championship and the cup) and advanced up to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup. In 1974–75 they again won the league and qualified to the quarter-finals of the European Cup. The most praised players of that times were Bronisław Bula, Zygmunt Maszczyk and Joachim Marx.

These successes were followed by a bad financial plight and mediocre results until 1978–79, when the club won its 13th Championship title. In the 1980s the club was one of the poorest in the national league. The worst came in the season 1986–87, when the club, the only one in the country which so far played all the seasons of the official national top league, was relegated to the second tier. Especially shifty were the circumstances of the relegation decider, against Lechia Gdańsk, when Ruch's goalkeeper Janusz Jojko scored an infamous and bizarre own goal and the club lost the game 1:2. After one year Ruch returned to the top flight as winners of the seconed league and won the 14th Championship title, as the second freshly-promoted club in the national history (the first was Cracovia in 1937), a feat, especially as it was still one of the poorest clubs in the top tier and over half of the players were home-grown, including e.g. Dariusz Gęsior and the most renowned Krzysztof Warzycha, who was also, with 24 goals, the top scorer of the season.

After the political turnover in Poland in 1989, Ruch did not fare well for the first two seasons. The funds from the transfer of Krzysztof Warzycha to Panathinaikos ran out quickly. The team began to compete with the top teams first in 1991–92 finishing in the fifth spot, fourth the next year, furthermore the second team (Ruch II) reached the Polish cup final. Ruch was demoted for the second time in the history in the 1994–95 season. As before the stay in the second tier lasted one season. While playing in the second league Ruch won its third Polish Cup trophy. In 1998 Ruch reached the final of the UEFA Intertoto Cup and in the 1999–2000 season finished third in the league. The crisis came during the 2002–03 campaign, when the club was relegated from the top tier for the third time. In the following season, Ruch was in danger of being demoted to the third tier for the first time in history, however the club won the relegation play-offs against Stal Rzeszów (1–1, 2–0). In 2005, the club was restructured as a joint-stock company. The Blues won the promotion to the top flight in the 2006–07 season. In 2009, the side reached the Polish Cup final, the next year The Blues finished third in the league. The best season in the recent history was 2011–12, when Ruch was vice-champion (only 1 point behind the champions, Śląsk Wrocław) and reached the final of the national cup, which they lost 0–3 to Legia Warsaw.

In 2017, it was decided that for the first time in the history of Polish football, in accordance with the Restructuring Law, SA will initiate an accelerated arrangement procedure aimed at agreeing the terms of debt repayment with creditors. These proceedings were opened before the Katowice District Court on 23 June 2017. In these proceedings all 255 creditors were offered to reduce the debt, spread it into installments or convert the debt into club shares. On 30 November 2017 creditors gathered in court to decide whether or not to accept the offer. The majority agreed and the agreement was adopted, ultimately the agreement became final on 13 March 2018. According to the provisions of the agreement, Ruch is to repay PLN 8 million złoty within 5 years. Installments are spread over 400 thousand złoty every quarter.

Ruch started the 2017–18 season in Nice I liga with a six-point deduction for unpaid debts. After a disastrous season in which the Blues suffered heavy defeats, including 0–6 in a home match against Pogoń Siedlce on the club's 98th anniversary, a 6–1 away defeat against Miedź Legnica and a 6–0 away loss to Wigry Suwałki, the club finished last in the league, being 11 points off the play-off place, which resulted in the first relegation to the third level in Ruch's history.

Ruch ended the 2018–19 season in the II liga in last place, eight points off of safety. It was the third season in a row in which the Blues were relegated from last place in the table.

In 2020–21, Ruch dominated group III of the III liga and were promoted to the II liga, 11 points ahead of second placed Polonia Bytom.

Ruch finished the 2021–22 season in third place, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. In the semi-finals, the team faced Radunia Stężyca, which they beat 1–0 after a goal from Daniel Szczepan in the 118th minute. The final was played in Chorzów, where Ruch faced 5th placed Motor Lublin - on 29 May, Ruch won 4–0 and was promoted for the second season in a row, returning to the I liga for the first time since the 2017–18 season.

Ruch finished the 2022–23 season as runners-up, after defeating GKS Tychy 1–0 on the last matchday, with the sole goal scored again by Daniel Szczepan. In result, Ruch returned to Ekstraklasa after 7 years of absence, with a streak of three straight promotions.

However, Ruch were relegated back to the second division after just a single season back in the top flight, finishing the 2023–24 campaign in 17th and second-last.

Honours

 * Ekstraklasa
 * Champions: 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1938, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1960, 1967–68, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1978–79, 1988–89
 * Runners-up: 1950, 1956, 1962–63, 1969–70, 1972–73, 2011–12
 * Third place: 1937, 1948, 1954, 1955, 1966–67, 1982–83, 1999–2000, 2009–10, 2013–14
 * I liga
 * Champions: 1987–88, 2006–07
 * Runners-up: 2022–23
 * II liga
 * Promotion play-off winner: 2021–22
 * III liga
 * Champions: 2020–21 (group III)

Cup

 * Polish Cup
 * Winners: 1950–51, 1973–74, 1995–96
 * Runners-up: 1962–63, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1992–93, 2008–09, 2011–12
 * Polish Super Cup
 * Runners-up: 1989, 1996

Europe

 * European Cup
 * Quarter-finals: 1974–75
 * UEFA Cup
 * Quarter-finals: 1973–74
 * UEFA Intertoto Cup
 * Finalists: 1998

Youth teams

 * Polish U-19 Championship
 * Champions: 1965, 1984

Crest
Ruch Chorzów has a very specific crest and is one of the most recognizable football crests in Poland. There isn't information who was the author of the prototype and in which year the crest was used for the first time. The oldest confirmed source is letterhead from 1929. The club colours are blue and white. They accompany the team from the very beginning of the club's existence and already in the twenties it was written about Ruch - "Niebiescy" (en. The Blues). This color has become the symbol of the club. Except for the emblem of Unia Chorzów (around 1949-1955), the shield of the crest has always been, more or less precisely, the blue Reuleaux triangle with the club's full name on the rim. The white center of the sign is filled with an acronym. In the late 1980s, the monogram was decorated with thin lines, emphasizing the activity, militancy and mobility of the signet itself, and thereby reflecting the name of the club in a slightly expressive way (Ruch means Movement in English). In September 2007, it was decided to make a facelift of the logo, which was to be a sign of the continuous evolution of the brand of Ruch Chorzów. Shading was introduced to the sign in order to plasticize the drawing, give depth and spaciousness to the whole crest. In this way, they tried to show the spirit of nowadays and to gain the identity of a modern and attractive brand. However, trends for gradients quickly passed, while the crest in this version stayed for a long time and received many opponents. In 2021, after the jubilee year, starting its second century, the club decided to return to the most acceptable version of the crest among fans.

''Due to the lack of a consistent chronology of individual marks, the above listing of all crests with dates is approximate and conventional. The set above does not include jubilee signs.''

Upper Silesian symbolism
Ruch Chorzów proudly emphasizes its Silesian origin. It has been assumed that the club is called "synonymous of Silesianess" or "the most Silesian of Silesian clubs". On the stadium mast hangs the Upper Silesian flag, the speaker often shouts "Tooor!" (en. Goal!) into the microphone after the goals scored, and the club mascot is Adler, who speaks only in Silesian language, an anthropomorphic eagle, stylized as a golden eagle from the Upper Silesian coat of arms. In the fan stores there are many products with Upper Silesian symbols, in the social media the club tags all posts with the hashtag #MySomRuch (en. We are Ruch), and in the club television people often uses the Silesian language. An example may be the video promoting the match against Zagłębie Sosnowiec. The symbolism of Upper Silesia is also often displayed from the sports side. On July 15, 2015, on the Silesian Flag Day, the club presented new away kits for the 2015/2016 season. The yellow jersey, blue shorts and yellow socks alluded to the flag of Upper Silesia, intended to emphasize the Silesian character of the Ruch, in whose traditions the club is so deeply rooted. The debut of the kits took place on the 80th anniversary of the stadium, and the team played in such a set for the first time in history. On that day, the coat of arms of the Silesian Voivodeship was additionally on the sleeve, and the speaker during the match was speaking entirely in Silesian language. In the 2016–17 season, the jerseys had a large coat of arms of Upper Silesia with the inscription "Upper Silesia". Initially, only the first match was played in such kits, and all of them went to the charity auction, but after many requests from fans and the approval of the winners of these auctions, the emblem was printed on kits once again and from the 13th round they were in use until the end of the season. On April 23, 2022, in a match against Radunia Stężyca, the captain of Ruch Chorzów, Tomasz Foszmańczyk, for the first time in the history of the club, put on a captain's armband with the Upper Silesian flag.

Supporters and rivalries
Ruch's popularity exploded in the 1930s and remained strong up to this date, especially in Upper Silesia. A specific subculture of szalikowcy (the name derived from szalik - scarf) developed in the 1970s, as elsewhere in the country, but in the region only after it first appeared among the fans of Polonia Bytom. There are also hooligans (Psycho Fans, formed in the mid 1990s) and ultras („Nucleo Ultra '03" from 2003, replaced by „Ultras Niebiescy", formed in 2008).

Expressions of Upper Silesian identity are often displayed with golden-blue flagues, on banners (like controversial "Oberschlesien", now banned, or „To my Naród Śląski" - It's us - Silesian Nation) or in chants.

Ruch's supporters maintain friendships with fans of Widzew Łódź (since 2005), Elana Toruń, Atlético Madrid. The biggest animosity is held against followers Górnik Zabrze (The Great Silesian Derby), GKS Katowice, Polonia Bytom (the oldest Silesian derby ), Zagłębie Sosnowiec, Legia Warszawa, Lech Poznań.

Notable individual supporters of Ruch are, among others:
 * Jerzy Bralczyk – professor at Warsaw University
 * Jerzy Buzek – professor of technical science and politician who was the ninth post-Cold War Prime Minister of Poland from 1997 to 2001
 * Gustaw Holoubek – actor, director, member of the Polish Sejm, and a senator.
 * Bogdan Kalus – actor
 * Wojciech Kilar – classical and film music composer
 * Wojciech Kuczok – novelist, poet, and screenwriter
 * Kazimierz Kutz – film director, author, journalist and politician
 * Jan Miodek – linguist, professor of Wrocław University
 * Jerzy Szymik – poet, professor of KUL
 * Ingmar Villqist (Jarosław Świerszcz) – writer
 * Karol Gwóźdź – poet, musician, graphic designer
 * Szczepan Twardoch – writer
 * Michał Żurawski – film and theater actor

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Ruch Chorzów


text:
Jagiellonia Białystok

Jagiellonia Białystok is a Polish professional football club based in Białystok that plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top level of Polish football. The club was founded in 1920 by soldiers in the 42nd Infantry Regiment Reserve Battalion in Białystok. Jagiellonia play their home games at Stadion Miejski.

Jagiellonia is the most accomplished football club of north-eastern Poland. The club won the Polish Cup and Super Cup in 2010 and qualified to play in the third round qualification of the UEFA Europa League. It was the club's first appearance in the European cup. The club's most successful season was the 2023–24 Ekstraklasa when they were crowned champions for the first time in the club's history.

The establishment of the club
Jagiellonia Białystok was founded by soldiers in the Reserve Battalion of the 42nd Infantry Regiment on May 30, 1920. The team's original name was shortened to KSBZ 42 PP. Their first game was against Kresowcy Białystok which they won 5–1. Later the team name was changed to WKS 42 PP, an abbreviation for Wojskowy Klub Sportowy, which means Army Sport Club. On November 2, 1930 WKS 42PP lost 1–2 against WKS 82 PP for the play-offs to advance to Division 1. January 27, 1932 was the first time Jagiellonia was introduced into the club's name when it was changed to Białystok Sports Club Jagiellonia. The term Jagiellonia refers to the Jagiellonian dynasty which ruled Poland for two centuries. Around the same time, the club's coat of arms was also introduced with its red and yellow colours. In 1938, due to financial problems, the club dissolved and ceased to exist until its reactivation in 1945. Unfortunately, in June the following year, with the new government in place there was no room for Jagiellonia, mostly because of the history with the Bolsheviks in 1920 and the 42nd Infantry Regiment. On January 26, 1957 the merging of Budowlani Białystok and Sparta Białystok reactivated Sports Club Jagiellonia Białystok with the original yellow-red-black crest restored.

Club's crest
The club's crest and colours first appeared in 1932. The original crest consisted of a black, stylized letter "J" and a yellow and cherry red colour shield, while the flag and the jerseys of the club were white and black. It was not until the mid-80s that fans began to use yellow-red as club colours, but official documents at the time still use the white and black colours. Currently, the team's official colours are yellow-red, but in reference to history the team's away colours are white and black.

Jagiellonia before World War II
In 1920–1923 most of the matches Jagiellonia played were either friendlies or small tournaments in Białystok. The club joined the regular league in 1924, starting in klasa B in the Vilnius OZPN district. The season was a success, winning the first season and gaining promotion to klasa A. Due to a pause in the league there were no games in 1925. In 1926, the league started up again with the team being in klasa A. The team was doing well getting third in the following season. Later through the years the match officials were being paid off to make the Białystok team not do well and ultimately get demoted. In 1929, it was decided to change districts where Jagiellonia played to the newly formed Białystok OZPN. In 1930 42PP, the club's name at the time, was the most successful thus far. They appeared in the play-offs for the top division in the country. At the end of the play-offs Jagiellonia and another team, WKS 82 pp Brześć, were tied for points and had to play one more game at a neutral ground to see who was the winner to that season. Jagiellonia fell to WKS 82 pp Brześć 2–1. Jagiellonia did win the district championship that season but it was the last trophy they won before World War II.

A big moment for the club was on January 27, 1932 when the WKS 42 PP football team and the KS Związku Młodzieży Wiejskiej athletics club merged to create a new multi-sports club called Białostocki Klub Sportowy (Białystok Sports Club) Jagiellonia. It is not known who created the team's new crest but what is known is that it had to do with the history of the Jagiellonian dynasty, which ruled Poland between 1386 and 1572. Several more departments were founded, including volleyball, basketball, boxing. The most successful team sport section was the volleyball team, which qualified to the Polish Championships in 1933 and 1934, finishing 7th and 8th respectively.

1930s
In the mid-thirties Jagiellonia began to experience problems, the city was not able to maintain the club. In 1932, the military stationed in Białystok took an active role in trying to save the club, along with the municipal government in 1936 the club's name changed to Military Sports Club Jagiellonia. Unfortunately, this decision did not solve the problem completely. In 1938, the club joined the A-class 1937/38 season but had to withdraw shortly after due to financial reasons. All the matches were cancelled and all the players were forced to find new clubs. Most of the players joined Strzelec Białystok and played there for two seasons before World War II broke out in 1939 and closed the first chapter in the history of the club.

After World War II
After the second world war Jagiellonia was revived mostly in part by Karol Kowalczyński, but the revival was short-lived as the club dissolved on 20 June 1946. In the place of the disbanded Jagiellonia came Motor Białystok, which became the champion of the Białystok region and advanced to the Polish championship in 1946. Next year Motor Białystok joined the struggle for the Polish championship and the right to get into I league. In 1949 Białystok had a new team called Budowlani Białystok and in 1951 Motor Białystok merged into Budowlani Białystok. In 1955 Budowlani Białystok changed its name to BKS Jagiellonia Białystok. On 26 January 1957, a merger of two clubs, Jagiellonia Białystok and Sparta, resulted in a club called Jagiellonia. For the second time in its history Jagiellonia had the host stadium of Stadium Zwierzyniecki.

1970s
In the early 70s the team played in Klasa A and in the district league. The team's situation changed when Michał Urban became coach of the team, players started to go to a modern training camp with modern drills. Many young players started playing for the club, including future representatives for the Polish national team juniors. Grzegorz Bielatowicz joined the club as a scout and found a few young talents from the north-east region, among them was Jerzy Zawiślan who was the 2nd top scorer in the II League 1975–76 season who scored 13 goals. The team started to have some success and were promoted to Division II after winning the promotion play-offs in the 1974–75 season. The team was eventually promoted to League II in 1975, but the success was short-lived after only being there for 3 seasons, Jagiellonia was relegated in 1978. At the end of the 70s Jerzy Bołtuć, Leszek Frelek, Ryszard Karalus and Zbigniew Skoczylas began a large youth project to bring in a strong and young new team.

1980s
In the 1982–83 season, the club, led by Grzegorz Bielatowicz, had a successful run finishing first place with a nine-point advantage over second place, Gwardia Szczytno, promoting the team to Division II. With Olympic silver medalist Janusz Wójcik as coach, the team played a number of good seasons in Division II finishing third in 1986 and the following year was promoted to I Liga for the first time in the club's history. In addition, the top scorer in the competition was a later representative of Poland, Jacek Bayer who netted 20 times for Jagiellonia.

Ekstraklasa
Matches in the second league in Białystok were already averaging 15 thousand viewers. The first match in the return to Ekstraklasa had estimated 35-40 thousand supporters. Every home match following the first was viewed by no less than 20 thousand fans in the stands. Stories from witnesses said they recall buses of supporters come from villages all over the region. The first few seasons did not turn out well for the Białystok team as they finished 8th twice and then 16th, which meant they were relegated. A year later the team lost the playoffs for promotion in a penalty shoot-out against Zagłębie Sosnowiec. In the following year Jagiellonia finished 2nd place earning them promotion to the Ekstraklasa. After only one season in the first league the team was significantly outclassed and were relegated, where they continued to fall to the 4th league. They did not spend much time in the bottom tiers; within 3 years Jagiellonia was back in the second league.

In 2007, the team advanced to the first tier, where they still are today. The first season back the team finished 14th place with 27 points. The following year was better where the club finished 8th with 34 points. In 2009, the club was punished with a deduction of 10 points following a corruption scandal, committed by the previous president of the club. The first success of the club was the 2009–10 season where Jagiellonia won the Polish Cup, beating Pogoń Szczecin thanks to a goal from Andrius Skerla. The 2014–15 season was the second most successful season Jagiellonia saw finishing 3rd place. In the 2016–17 season Jagiellonia were runners up for the first time in the club's history. Jagiellonia won the Polish Cup and finished 3rd and 2nd when coached by Michał Probierz. Ireneusz Mamrot became the club's new coach in June 2017. With Mamrots' guidance the club won the silver medal as runners up in a very tight race for the Polish championship, thus earning them a spot in the Europa League for the 2nd time in a row.

In the 2018–19 season, Jagiellonia Białystok drew an average home league attendance of 9,458. In January 2019, Rafał Grzyb, having the most caps for the club and long time captain became the club's new assistant coach, officially retiring from playing football. On 23 August 2019, Jesús Imaz scored the first hat-trick in the club's history in the Ekstraklasa.

On 25 May 2024, Jagiellonia won the Ekstraklasa title for the first time in the club's 104-year history, following a 3–0 win over Warta Poznań on the final day of the season.

Team name
Chronology of the team name:
 * 1920 – WKS 42 Pułk Piechoty Białystok
 * 1932 – B.K.S. Jagiellonia Białystok
 * 1935 – W.K.S. Jagiellonia Białystok
 * 1945 – B.K.S. Jagiellonia Białystok
 * 1946 – P.K.S. Motor Białystok
 * 1948 – Klub Sportowy Białystok Wicie
 * 1949 – Związkowiec Białystok
 * 1951 – Budowlani Białystok
 * 1955 – Jagiellonia Białystok Budowlani
 * 1973 – Jagiellonia Białystok MKSB
 * 1999 – Jagiellonia Białystok-Wersal Podlaski
 * 2003 – Jagiellonia Białystok SSA

Notable players

 * Albania
 * 🇦🇱 Bekim Balaj
 * Bosnia and Herzegovina
 * 🇧🇦 Ensar Arifović
 * 🇧🇦 Bojan Nastić
 * Czech Republic
 * 🇨🇿 Martin Pospíšil
 * 🇨🇿 Michal Sáček
 * Estonia
 * 🇪🇪 Konstantin Vassiljev
 * Georgia
 * Giorgi Popkhadze
 * Iceland
 * 🇮🇸 Böðvar Böðvarsson
 * Israel
 * 🇮🇱 Alexis Norambuena
 * Kosovo
 * Jetmir Haliti
 * Lithuania
 * 🇱🇹 Fedor Černych
 * 🇱🇹 Arvydas Novikovas
 * Nigeria
 * 🇳🇬 Ugo Ukah
 * North Macedonia
 * 🇲🇰 Dejan Iliev

 * Poland
 * 🇵🇱 Rafał Augustyniak
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Bayer
 * 🇵🇱 Thiago Cionek
 * 🇵🇱 Bartłomiej Drągowski
 * 🇵🇱 Przemysław Frankowski
 * 🇵🇱 Tomasz Frankowski
 * 🇵🇱 Jacek Góralski
 * 🇵🇱 Kamil Grosicki
 * 🇵🇱 Radosław Kałużny
 * 🇵🇱 Damian Kądzior
 * 🇵🇱 Igor Lewczuk
 * 🇵🇱 Maciej Makuszewski
 * 🇵🇱 Michał Pazdan
 * 🇵🇱 Taras Romanczuk
 * 🇵🇱 Jakub Słowik
 * 🇵🇱 Karol Struski
 * 🇵🇱 Damian Szymański
 * 🇵🇱 Karol Świderski
 * 🇵🇱 Bartłomiej Wdowik
 * 🇵🇱 Łukasz Załuska
 * Republic of Ireland
 * 🇮🇪 Cillian Sheridan
 * Romania
 * 🇷🇴 Bogdan Țîru

Managers

 * 🇵🇱 Janusz Wójcik (Jan 1, 1986 – Oct 20, 1987)
 * 🇵🇱 Witold Mroziewski (May 15, 1993 – May 11, 1994)
 * 🇵🇱 Bohdan Kucharski (1994)
 * 🇵🇱 Kazimierz Michalczuk (1994)
 * 🇵🇱 Ryszard Karalus (1995–96)
 * 🇵🇱 Leonard Aleksandrów (1996–97)
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Kaczewski (1996–97)
 * 🇵🇱 Piotr Wiśnik (1996–97)
 * 🇵🇱 Mirosław Mojsiuszko (1997)
 * 🇱🇹 Algimantas Liubinskas (July 1, 1998 – Dec 31, 1998)
 * 🇵🇱 Grzegorz Szerszenowicz (1998–99)
 * 🇵🇱 Jarosław Bartnowski (1999)
 * 🇵🇱 Witold Mroziewski (July 1, 1999 – June 30, 2000)
 * 🇵🇱 Tadeusz Gaszyński (2000–01)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Łazarek (June 26, 2001 – June 3, 2002)
 * 🇵🇱 Witold Mroziewski (June 3, 2002 – Aug 7, 2004)
 * 🇵🇱 Mirosław Dymek (Aug 7, 2004 – Aug 31, 2004)
 * 🇵🇱 Adam Nawałka (Sept 1, 2004 – April 20, 2006)
 * 🇵🇱 Mirosław Dymek (interim) (April 20, 2006 – April 25, 2006)
 * 🇺🇦 Yuriy Shatalov (April 25, 2006 – June 29, 2006)
 * 🇵🇱 Ryszard Tarasiewicz (June 29, 2006 – April 25, 2007)
 * 🇵🇱 Artur Platek (April 26, 2007 – April 27, 2008)
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Czykier (interim) (April 27, 2008 – May 11, 2008)
 * 🇵🇱 Stefan Białas (May 12, 2008 – Sept 14, 2008)
 * 🇵🇱 Michał Probierz (July 5, 2008 – July 22, 2011)
 * 🇵🇱 Czesław Michniewicz (July 22, 2011 – Dec 22, 2011)
 * 🇵🇱 Tomasz Hajto (Jan 9, 2012 – June 21, 2013)
 * 🇵🇱 Piotr Stokowiec (June 17, 2013 – April 7, 2014)
 * 🇵🇱 Michał Probierz (April 7, 2014 – June 4, 2017)
 * 🇵🇱 Ireneusz Mamrot (June 12, 2017 – December 8, 2019)
 * 🇵🇱 Rafał Grzyb (interim) (December 8, 2019 – December 31, 2019)
 * 🇧🇬 Ivaylo Petev (December 30, 2019 – July 31, 2020)
 * 🇵🇱 Bogdan Zając (July 31, 2020 – June 4, 2021)
 * 🇵🇱 Ireneusz Mamrot (June 4, 2021 – December 23, 2021)
 * 🇵🇱 Piotr Nowak (December 31, 2021 – June 10, 2022)
 * 🇵🇱 Maciej Stolarczyk (June 14, 2022 – April 3, 2023)
 * 🇵🇱 Adrian Siemieniec (April 4, 2023 – present)

Most appearances
Players with the most appearances for Jagiellonia in Ekstraklasa:

Bold – still active

Top goalscorers
Players with the most goals for Jagiellonia in Ekstraklasa:

Bold – still active

League

 * Ekstraklasa
 * Champions: 2023–24
 * Runners-up: 2016–17, 2017–18
 * I liga
 * Champions: 1986–87

Cup

 * Polish Cup
 * Winners: 2009–10
 * Runners-up: 1988–89, 2018–19
 * Polish Super Cup
 * Winners: 2010

Youth teams

 * Polish U-19 championhip
 * Champions: 1988, 1992, 2004, 2011
 * Runners-up: 1981
 * Polish U-19 championhip
 * Champions: 2000
 * Runners-up: 2006, 2007, 2010

All the European games

 * Jagiellonia Białystok scores are given first in all scorelines.

Retired numbers
21 – 🇵🇱 Tomasz Frankowski, striker (1991–1993, 2009–2013)

Ground
Jagiellonia's first formal stadium was constructed in 1971 and had 15,000 seats. Two years later the stadium's capacity was doubled. It was originally named Hetman Białystok stadium or guards stadium. In 2006, the stadium was taken over by the city of Białystok and renamed Stadion Miejski (Municipal Stadium) which is where the club currently plays their home games. In 2008, a French-Polish construction company took on the task of renovating the stadium to become more modern. However, in 2012 due to delays the city terminated the contract with the company and hired a new company to finish the job. Spanish-Polish consortium company was hired to finish the job for a sum of PLN 254 million (US$75 million). The new 22,372 seat stadium was completed at the end of 2014.

Club anthem
The Polish version reads:

"W mieście Białystok,

W tym w którym żyję,

Oddałem serce drużynie.

Ref. (2x): Wstań, unieś barwy,

Wsłuchaj się w słowa,

Pieśni o Mej Jagiellonii.

Moja drużyno,

Ma ukochana,

Pokonasz dzisiaj rywala.

Ref. (2x): Strzelisz 3 bramy,

I znów wygramy,

Klubie Ty Nasz ukochany!"

In English it is loosely translated to:

"In the city of Białystok,

Where I live,

I gave my heart to my team.

Chorus. (2x): Rise, lift up the colors,

Listen to the words,

Song of My Jagiellonia.

My team,

My loved one,

You will defeat your rival today.

Chorus. (2x): Shoot 3 goals,

And again we'll win,

Our beloved club you!"

Supporters
The official representation of fans in contact with the club is the association of Children of Białystok. The main objective of the association is to unite all fans of Jagiellonia, in the stadium and in everyday life.

An important objective of Children of Białystok is to engage in sporting life, social and cultural, by organizing sporting events and entertainment for children, young people in schools, orphanages, educational centers, and helping people who are in need financially. Other important objectives of the association are: The creation of lighting and different choreography associated with the stadium is due in part by the Ultras Jagiellonia Białystok (UJB).
 * painting parts of the city of Białystok, and the Podlaskie voivodeship
 * promote volunteering and to encourage voluntary blood drives
 * promotion of physical culture, sports, tourism, and a healthy lifestyle

Match-fixing scandal
The questioning of Jagiellonia's involvement in the corruption scandal that went through the Department of Discipline of the Polish Football Association started on 20 June 2008, when the National Prosecutor's office in Wrocław handed over documents related to fixing 6 games in the II Liga during the 2004-05 season. On 26 June 2008, the Department of Discipline postponed the date that would decide the fate of the club. On 10 July, there was another extension to the discipline proceedings against the club so the Department of Discipline could get help from the Minister of Justice to obtain further documents from the National Prosecutor.

On 12 February 2009, Jagiellonia became the 10th club to be penalized for their involvement in the match-fixing scandal. The Department of Discipline of the PZPN imposed a penalty of relegation by one tier in the following season after the judgement became final of five accounts of sports crime. On March 24, 2009 the club launched an appeal against the decision. On 29 April 2009, the court repealed the punishment of relegation, instead handing the club a ten-point deduction for the following season and imposed a fine of 300 thousand złoty.

title: Jagiellonia Białystok


text:
Samurai Champloo

Samurai Champloo (サムライチャンプルー) is a 2004 Japanese historical adventure anime television series. The debut television production of studio Manglobe, the 26-episode series aired from May 2004 to March 2005. It was first partially broadcast on Fuji TV, then had a complete airing on Fuji Network System. It was licensed for North American broadcast on Adult Swim, and for commercial release first by Geneon Entertainment and later by Crunchyroll. It was also licensed for English releases in the United Kingdom by MVM Films, and in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. A manga adaptation was serialized in Monthly Shōnen Ace during 2004, later released in North America by Tokyopop the following year.

The series is set in a fictionalized version of Edo period Japan, blending traditional elements with anachronistic cultural references, including hip hop. The series follows the exploits of tea waitress Fuu, vagrant outlaw Mugen, and ronin Jin. Fuu saves Mugen and Jin from execution, then forces the pair to aid in her quest to find a samurai who smells of sunflowers. Structured similar to a road movie, the series focuses on tolerance and acceptance of minorities contrasted against its setting, with a central theme being the portrayal and acceptance of death.

Director Shinichirō Watanabe began planning for the series in 1999, creating the characters and premise during his work on Cowboy Bebop: The Movie and The Animatrix, and began pre-production in 2002. The staff included character designer and animation director Kazuto Nakazawa and writers Shinji Obara and Yukihiko Tsutsumi of Office Crescendo. The music was composed by hip hop artists Shinji "Tsutchie" Tsuchida of Shakkazombie, Fat Jon, Nujabes and Force of Nature. The production was unstructured, with the scenario going through multiple revisions, and Watanabe bringing in multiple guest creators to ensure a high animation quality. Reception of the series has been positive, with praise focusing on its animation and music, and proved a commercial success in the West.

Plot
Samurai Champloo opens in a small town where Fuu, working as a tea waitress, is harassed by the son of the town's corrupt prefect. The outlaw Mugen arrives in town, and Fuu begs him for protection, which he gives in exchange for food. Meanwhile, the ronin Jin, also a new arrival, kills the prefect's bodyguards when they abuse a peasant, ending up in conflict with Mugen when the latter mistakes him for one of the prefect's men. The two's fight ends up destroying the teahouse. The pair are captured and sentenced to death, but Fuu saves them. The pair attempt to restart their battle, but Fuu tosses a coin, saying if it lands on heads then the pair can continue their battle, but if it lands on tails they postpone their battle to help her find a samurai who smells of sunflowers, whom she has sought for years. She wins the toss, and they embark on a series of adventures alongside Fuu's quest.

During the closing stories, the three finally arrive at the town of Ikitsuki, with each ending up in conflict with a group of assassins sent by the government to kill the "sunflower samurai", Fuu's father Seizo Kasumi. Fuu finds Kasumi, having wanted revenge for him abandoning her and her mother, but she relents as he is already dying from an illness. One of the assassins kills Kasumi before he is defeated by Jin. Mugen and Jin then have their duel, their swords shattering, but choose not to kill each other as they now consider each other friends. Fuu learns her father played a part in the Shimabara Rebellion and went away to protect her. Fuu also reveals she lied about the coin toss result, which briefly annoys Mugen and Jin. Recovered from their final fight, the three part ways grateful for their shared adventure.

Setting and themes
Series director Shinichirō Watanabe defined the central theme of Samurai Champloo as the portrayal and acceptance around death, themes he had previously explored in his science fiction series Macross Plus (1994) and Cowboy Bebop (1998). Another theme outlined in the series pitch was individuality and finding one's unique identity. The series is set in Edo period Japan, roughly sixty years after the end of the Sengoku period. While a historical time period, the anime does not focus on historical detail beyond minor inclusions and references, mainly using contemporary-style dialogue and behavior. A conscious inclusion was emphasising cultural acceptance and tolerance of minorities including the indigenous Ainu people, foreigners, LGBT people, and Christians; the historical Edo period was a time when Japan was highly structured, conformist and isolationist. Due to its Edo setting and incorporation of samurai culture and honor codes, Watanabe was worried the anime would be seen as nationalistic in tone, prompting its focus on minorities and tolerance. Watanabe put in as much as he could manage of these themes and subjects, challenging earlier limitations imposed by a lack of historical information from the time and Japanese television codes restricting the portrayal of Japanese minorities in the period.

The main cultural influence on the anime is the music and associated subculture of hip hop. Watanabe had been a fan of hip hop music from his high school years, citing his first exposure as "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. He compared the samurai culture to hip hop through a similar philosophy of self-identity. The use of hip hop also reinforced the series' focus on its minority and counter-cultural cast, creating a cultural reference by using one with the other. Alongside his liking of hip hop, Watanabe attributed a large amount of the series' inspiration in the works of actor Shintaro Katsu, particularly his historical dramas. The narrative approach of the finished series was inspired by Katsu's notorious habit of directing projects without a set story structure. The word "Champloo" in the title was derived from the Okinawan term, with Watanabe comparing the blending of elements in the anime with the meaning of chanpurū. The food depicted in the show was originally accurated to the Edo period, but eventually expanded to include anachronistic dishes such as okonomiyaki.

The plot is structured like a road movie, with little connection between stories until the final three-part arc, contrasting against the serial structure of its contemporaries. Watanabe particularly cited the movies about the blind samurai Zatoichi as an inspiration for this style. Other influences on the series included Enter the Dragon and Dirty Harry. One episode was based around the Chinese concept of Qi. During early planning, the series' tone was far more serious, but after the first four episodes had been written, the staff were worried about the tone becoming bleak, prompting a greater focus on comedy. Several episodes incorporate references, homages, and parodies of popular media. The Japanese episode titles use four-character idioms referencing the theme of that episode's story. They drew from multiple sources, including Japanese and Western sayings (the first episode's title, "Shippu Doto", is a Japanese rendering of the German saying "Sturm und Drang"), philosophical concepts ("Inga Oho" references a proverb about the workings of karma), and pieces of classic media (the episode title "Anya Koro" references Naoya Shiga's novel of the same name). The English episode titles were created by translator Ryan Morris. Morris did not directly translate the Japanese titles, instead using alliteration to preserve the rhythm and meaning.

Characters
The series follows the exploits of the three leads−Fuu, Mugen, and Jin−when they are drawn together by circumstance and end up traveling together to find the sunflower samurai. The main cast was created by Watanabe, who wanted a cast of heroes who were silly, immature, and dangerous, with "a touch of insanity". He described Mugen and Jin as unconventional people not bound by the rules of the period. The characters were designed by Kazuto Nakazawa, who had worked as both an artist and director on multiple projects including Ashita no Nadja and the anime segments of Kill Bill: Volume 1. The early character drafts were more to Nakazawa's tastes than the wishes of the production team, resulting in numerous redrafts based on requests. The voice recording included sessions with all three leads together, which caused occasional tensions due to their different work backgrounds.

 * (ムゲン) is a vagrant outlaw from the Ryukyu Islands who uses self-taught sword techniques. Having lived a harsh and solitary life since childhood, he has a deep mistrust and disdain of authority and lives to fight strong opponents. Watanabe thought of Mugen as young and "a little stupid", putting him in stark contrast with Cowboy Bebop protagonist Spike Spiegel. He also described Mugen as symbolizing "a rapper's ideal" of self-expression. Mugen's Ryukyuen origins formed part of Watanabe's focus on inclusivity and tolerance within the narrative. He is voiced in Japanese by Kazuya Nakai. His performance changed little from the audition, someone on the edge who did not follow rules. His performance reportedly improved during the soundchecks, which had a more relaxed atmosphere and emphasis on timing. In English, Mugen is voiced by Steve Blum.
 * (ジン) is Mugen's antithesis, a calm and stoic ronin wandering Japan after being forced to kill his master and consequently wearing glasses to disguise himself. He is the best at sensing danger, and prone to risking his life to prove his worth. He is a master of, a style of created in the early Edo period by Harigaya Sekiun. Jin was created as a foil for Mugen to stop the story from becoming one-dimensional. A scrapped idea of Watanabe's was for Jin to be an anarchist, but otherwise his personality and design changed little during production. He is voiced in Japanese by Ginpei Sato, at the time a stage actor who had not done voice roles previously after failing auditions for two other projects; his failed audition for Wolf's Rain prompted a staff member to recommend him to Watanabe. He had to learn about voice acting on the job, including timing and getting into character, and during recording for later episodes got into trouble due to wanting to shift his portrayal of the character. In English, Jin is voiced by Kirk Thornton.
 * (フウ) is the one who brings Mugen and Jin together to help her. She is a cheerful and spirited young woman and a jack-of-all-trades due to her constant changing between part-time jobs, starting the series working as a tea waitress; she has a pet flying squirrel called Momo. A recurring gag is Fuu temporarily becoming fat after eating a lot. Out of the three characters, Fuu's personality changed the least from Watanabe's original series concept, though her character design underwent major revisions to become more conventionally beautiful. She is voiced in Japanese by Ayako Kawasumi. Compared to her other roles, Kawasumi was asked not to overact her effort sounds outside scenes where her character was very expressive, making her more realistic. It was the first time she did not create a separate internal character to voice Fuu, being asked to be herself as far as possible. Her favorite episode was "Stranger Searching" when the fat Fuu first appeared, as she found voicing this version a challenge. In English, Fuu is voiced by Kari Wahlgren.

In the original plan, there were three semi-regular characters that would appear through the series. They were Rekku, a Dutchman claiming to be Japanese; Koku, a traveling priest acquainted with Jin's past; and Sara, a female ninja who falls in love with Mugen. While their roles were reduced to one-off appearances, versions of the characters survived. Rekku became the character Joji in "Stranger Searching", the priest appeared in "Lethal Lunacy", while Sara was a central character in "Elegy of Entrapment". An early antagonist is Ryujiro, the son of a corrupt government official who loses his arm to Mugen in the opening episode and later plots revenge against them. Historical figures or character homages also appear, for example painter Hishikawa Moronobu; Joji, who is a fictionalized version of Isaac Titsingh; a version of American baseball player Alexander Cartwright; and Ando Uohori, who is a direct reference to Andy Warhol.

Production
Samurai Champloo was the debut television production of animation studio Manglobe, which was started in 2002 by Sunrise veteran Shinichirō Kobayashi. The opening animation was contributed to by the studio Madhouse. A production committee to support the project was formed by Victor Entertainment's Shirō Sasaki, partnering with Tokuma Shoten and North American company Geneon Entertainment. Watanabe acted as the series director, in addition to creating the project. Kobayashi, Sasaki, Sanae Mitsugi and Hideki Goto were credited as planners and executive producers, and the producers were Takatoshi Hamano, Takashi Kochiyama and Tetsuro Satomi.

The story was composed by Shinji Obara and Yukihiko Tsutsumi of Office Crescendo, with scripts written by Obara, Dai Satō, Touko Machida, Keiko Nobumoto, Seiko Takagi, Ryota Sugi, and Watanabe. Nakazawa wrote and storyboarded episode 15, being credited as Uwadan Shimofuwato in the former role. Nakazawa also acted as both character designer and chief animation director. The art director was Takeshi Waki, the storyboard director was Kazuki Akane, and coloring was led by Eri Suzuki. Additional characters were created by Hideto Komori. Weapon designs were co-created by Mahiro Maeda and Manglobe managing director Hidero Okamoto. The cinematographer was Kazuhiro Yamada, with Syuichi Kakesu as lead editor. Numerous guest creators were also brought in for different episodes as artists or animation directors, including Shūkō Murase Takeshi Yoshimoto, Naoko Nakamoto, Hiroyuki Imaishi and Tensai Okamura.

Concept and development
The concept for Samurai Champloo was created by Watanabe in 1999, then known for his work on Cowboy Bebop. He wanted to create a series antithetical to the largely calm and mature atmosphere of Cowboy Bebop, wanting a complete change due to fatigue after working on one project for such a long period. The success of Cowboy Bebop meant he was permitted to develop whatever he wanted for his next project. As with his other projects, he drew inspiration from music, then matched a narrative to it. His approach was combining two of his favorite things, classic samurai adventure films and series and hip hop music, into a single work. He created the concept for Samurai Champloo during this period, but work on it was delayed due to his work on Cowboy Bebop: The Movie and his segments of The Animatrix at Studio 4°C. Kobayashi had invited Wanatabe to work on an original project at Manglobe when it was founded in February 2002, and Watanabe sent the Samurai Champloo pitch in May of that year. The pitch included the central concepts for the series, and draft designs for the lead characters. Watanabe invited Nakazawa on board as he was a fan of his work and wanted the opportunity to work with him. Obara, known more for his work on live-action movies and television dramas, was brought in through a mutual friend at Office Crescendo.

The eventual unstructured production style was unheard of in anime, and at the outset Obara created a series structure. The three-episode finale was not planned ahead, emerging naturally as part of the design approach. As the project evolved, Watanabe pushed for this structured approach to be discarded aside from the lead characters and premise, and Obara agreed to the new approach. The lack of a structure meant that the series narrative was constructed piece by piece, with few plot details being decided in advance. The fates of the three characters were also undecided during this stage. Watanabe originally planned for all three to survive, but at one point the team considered Jin and Mugen dying respectively in the final two episodes. Even the identity of the sunflower samurai was unknown to Watanabe during the early stages. Due to this approach, pre-production on the series lasted a year. Watanabe had a great deal of creative control and input, including on music selection and editing.

The first episode took a long time to polish, being completed around the beginning of 2004, but it and subsequent episodes had an animation quality higher than other series of the time. This was attributed to the working environment of Manglobe allowing for easy communication between staff members, and Watanabe's passion for the project prompting famous staff from other notable anime projects to come on board. The non-standard style of production left some members of staff including Sasaki skeptical that the series would be finished. For the sound mixing, Watanabe wanted the same approach and quality as Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, bringing in sound engineer Masashi Yabuhara who had worked with Yoko Kanno on the sound design of Cowboy Bebop. The fight scenes were choreographed to appear more realistic than other period dramas, which featured a clashing of swords which in reality would chip them. Unique eyecatch artwork was created for each episode based on its themes and content. Woodblock prints portraying the characters, designed by former shojo manga creator Tsubaki Anna, were shown at various points through the series. Nakazawa created the illustration use for sponsor announcements.

Scenario and art design
Samurai Champloo was Obara's first time working on an anime series, and Watanabe attributed him with bringing a new style of narrative and pacing to the series. Sato had worked with Watanabe before on Macross Plus. He described the process of discussing plot concepts with Watanabe and building upon voiced ideas, treating his own contributions like sample discs that might be accepted or rejected. The script meetings were unusually long, beginning with the synopsis and ending up with the final form, alongside off-topic conversation that was sometimes incorporated into that episode's plot. Due to Watanabe's reputation and the success of his projects in the West, the anime was created with a Western audience in mind with the expectation that it would be more successful outside Japan. This resulted in more overt references to Western culture being included. An assassin character who appeared in the second episode was intended to appear during the finale, but he was cut due to time constraints and a general lack of people remembering his earlier appearance.

Nakazawa had trouble getting a feel for the characters, with Mugen's design still going through adjustments when production on the first episode began. For the animation of Mugen's fighting style, the team used gymnastic footage as a reference alongside incorporating breakdancing moves. For Jin, Nakazawa "ignored all of the conventions" for sword fighting and kept his fighting style inconsistent throughout the series, basing his reactions and tactics on combat sports. He broke animation conventions to make these techniques work, confusing the animation team. For his work as art director after joining during production of the first episode, Waki was instructed to create extremes of light and darkness in scenes, creating a realistic impression of the period when artificial light sources were scarce and expensive. The variety and more contemporary elements prevented Waki from growing bored with the Edo setting. The approach to the animation, lacking an overarching plan, was described as a reflection of the lead characters' non-conformist personalities.

Nakazawa designed the men's kimono to resemble contemporary jackets, incorporating homages to sports designs such as Adidas and Puma. Many secondary characters were designed based on both the series' voice actors and staff members. During the production of the second half of the series, it became increasingly difficult for Nakazawa to design all guest characters, resulting in Komori being brought in. Due to most of these characters being older men, when the early plan was for a young cast with several female characters, Komori felt disappointed by his workload. Maeda was brought on for weapon designs when the plan was to have strong antagonists with unique weapons for each episode, but the plan never came about, and when Maeda moved to working on Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, the design work shifted to Okamoto. The incorporation of graffiti was suggested by Sato to further enhance the hip hop aesthetic and tone. He also suggested the inclusion of references to Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Music
The music for Samurai Champloo was collaboratively composed by Shinji "Tsutchie" Tsuchida of Shakkazombie, Fat Jon, Nujabes and Force of Nature. All were artists from the hip hop music genre, with Tsutchie being a friend of Watanabe. A number of guest artists contributed to different episodes. The opening theme "Battlecry" was composed by Nujabes, with Shing02 singing and writing the lyrics. The ending themes were created by Minmi, Kazami, and Azuma Riki. The final episode's ending theme was "San Francisco", licensed from the rapper band Midicronica.

The Music of Samurai Champloo was released across four CDs during 2004 by Victor Entertainment under their JVC label. The first two, "Masta" and "Departure", were released on June 23. "Departure" focuses on tracks by Nujabes and Fat Jon alongside Minmi's main ending theme, while "Masta" includes work from FORCE OF NATURE and Tsutchie including "You". The next two, "Playlist" and "Impression", were released on September 22. "Playlist" was dedicated entirely to work by Tsutchie, including "Fly". "Impression" bundles tracks by Nujabes, Fat Jon and Force of Nature, alongside the theme "Who's Theme".

Broadcast
Samurai Champloo was first revealed through a magazine spread in the September 2003 issue of Newtype, and it premiered on Fuji TV on May 20, 2004. The series ran for seventeen episodes on the network until September 23, 2004, when they decided to cancel its broadcast. The series resumed airing on Fuji Network System, referred to as a second season, during the channel's midnight slot; the remaining 18th–26th episodes aired from January 22 to March 19, 2005.

The original North American licensee was Geneon Entertainment and its parent company Pioneer Entertainment, licensing the anime a year before its Japanese broadcast. The dub was handled by Bang Zoom! Entertainment, with company president Eric Sherman remembering it as one of his favorite projects. In a later interview, Jin's voice actor, Kirk Thornton, described the dubbing as a rare project where the actors were able to have a greater freedom in their performances, not having to match the Japanese original. It was broadcast in North America on Adult Swim during its late night slot, starting on May 14, 2005. Starting with Episode 22 on February 3, 2007, episodes were streamed through Adult Swim's online Friday Night Fix channel. It saw subsequent North American broadcasts on Funimation Channel starting March 21, 2011; the series re-aired on Adult Swim through its Toonami programming block replacing Michiko & Hatchin starting on January 2, 2016.

Samurai Champloo debuted in Canada on December 24, 2006, on the digital station Razer. In Australia, the first thirteen episodes were broadcast on SBS TV between March 23 and June 29, 2006. It debuted in mainland Asia through Animax on January 27, 2010. It was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on Viceland in partnership with Anime Limited beginning on August 22, 2017, in its early morning slot. It formed part of a new anime-focused block alongside other series including Cowboy Bebop and Tokyo Ghoul. The series was added to the online library of Crunchyroll in 2016. Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll and merger with Funimation under the former's brand, the series was fully moved to the Crunchyroll streaming platform.

Home media
The anime was first released on DVD in Japan through the JVC label across thirteen volumes with two episodes each from August 21, 2004, to August 25, 2005. A complete collection for DVD and Blu-ray, featuring new illustrations by Nakazawa and a booklet containing an interview with Watanabe, was released in July 2011.

In North America, Geneon Entertainment released the series on DVD across seven volumes, with volume 2, 3 and 4 also releasing for Universal Media Disc. The volumes were released between January 11, 2005, and January 17, 2006. A complete set followed on July 4 of the same year. Samurai Champloo was among the anime licenses left open for acquisition when Geneon Entertainment ended anime distribution in 2007. Funimation picked up North American distribution rights in 2008, releasing a complete DVD collection on June 30, 2009. A complete series Blu-ray was then released six months later on December 15. Funimation re-released the series for DVD and Blu-ray on May 24, 2011, through the company's original Anime Classics line. The Blu-ray got another re-release on February 5, 2019.

Samurai Champloo was released in the United Kingdom by MVM Entertainment, at first across seven volumes between September 5, 2005, and October 16, 2006. It was re-released as a complete collection on September 3, 2007. It was released in mainland Asia by Singapore-based Odex on Video CD across two volumes in 2006, featuring Japanese and English audio and English subtitles. Madman Entertainment released the series as a complete collection for Blu-ray on June 15, 2011.

Related media
A manga adaptation written by Masaru Gotsubo was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Monthly Shōnen Ace from January 26, 2004, to September 25. Gotsubo decided not to follow the series narrative, calling that approach both boring and "impossible". Instead, aside from the opening section, he created an original narrative using the central cast. The manga was collected in two volumes, released on July 28 and October 26, 2004. A compilation of the two volumes was released on January 28, 2011. It was licensed for a North American release by Tokyopop. The volumes were released on November 8, 2005, and March 7, 2006. The volumes were released in Australia on February 15 and March 15, 2006.

A companion book featuring artwork and interviews, Samurai Champloo Roman Album, was published by Tokuma Shoten on June 6, 2005, and reissued in May 2014. An English edition was published by Dark Horse Comics on February 21, 2007. A film comic adaptation of the opening episodes, intended to be the start of a series, was co-published in 2006 by Bandai Entertainment and Diamond Comics. American company Triad Toys licensed toy rights from Geneon in 2008, releasing figures of Mugen and Jin.

An action video game adaptation, Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked, was developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Bandai Namco Games in Japan and North America in 2006. It tells a storyline separate from the series, described by the publisher as a "lost episode". Company founder Goichi Suda acted as its director and writer, with Grasshopper's mandate being to preserve the series' original tone and style. The music was composed by Masafumi Takada, inspired by the anime's music. A social card battle game developed by Cybird was released in Japan on August 28, 2011, for mobile phones.

Reception
The North American DVD release of Samurai Champloo was a commercial success. The final volumes were ranked by Nielsen VideoScan as among the top ten best-selling anime DVDs during mid-January 2006. On review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, the anime has a rating of 88% based on eight reviews. The Western home media releases saw positive responses for their visual and sound quality, though a lack of extras was noted.

Tasha Robinson, in a review of the first English DVD release for Sci-Fi Weekly, was concerned about the opening episode's similarity to the set-up for Cowboy Bebop. In a similar review for Play Magazine, Dave Halverson noted his enjoyment of the story but felt readers should see the anime with as little story information as possible. DVDTalk's Todd Douglass noted the simple premise of the story, but enjoyed each episode's plot and praised the interactions of the main cast and its sense of style. Nick Browne of THEM Anime was less positive, faulting its weaker multi-episode stories and uneven treatment of serious cultural issues despite enjoying the humor born from its main cast. Salvan Bonaminio of The Escapist described the main cast as stereotypes, faulted the forgettable supporting cast, and called many episodes including the ending underwhelming. James Beckett of Anime News Network enjoyed the main cast, but negatively cited a lack of cohesion across the series, and strongly criticised Fuu's frequent kidnappings for story purposes as detrimental to her character.

Halverson gave praise to the animation and character designs without specific commentary, while Robinson positively compared the fight choreography and art design to Watanabe's work on Cowboy Bebop and The Animatrix. Douglass cited the anime as a perfect example of Watanabe's visual style, and Browne cited its visuals and technical achievements as high points. Bonaminio included a positive mention of the anime's visible production quality during his summary. Becket felt the animation style had aged poorly, though giving praise to the art style and fight sequences. The music met with general praise for its use and style. Becket additionally praised the English dub.

The mixture of traditional elements with hip hop met with some mixed responses. Halverson was enthusiastic about them and called the hip hop representation superior to many Western portrayals. Robinson also enjoyed them, noting that they kept the anime from being too much like Cowboy Bebop. Browne enjoyed the contemporary visual references used alongside the Edo setting, but faulted the show's reliance on them. By contrast, Bonaminio cited its sense of style and unique blend of elements its greatest strength.

As part of a 2007 retrospective article on Geneon Entertainment, David Smith of IGN called it one of the best anime published by the company during its lifetime, saying it was almost perfect in what it did and stood out from other Geneon properties. Mike Dent of Otaku USA Magazine, writing in 2015, praised the music for adding to each episode's atmosphere, in addition to its animation quality and writing. In a 2019 retrospective for Anime News Network, Matthew Roe states "the mixture of hip-hop aesthetics and classic samurai tropes seems like a more awkward fit than Bebop's effortless fusion of jazz and science fiction" and further criticized a lack of emotional resonance, but felt the direction of Watanabe and Manglobe kept the series going. Reuben Baron of The Verge, writing in a 2021 article on Watanabe's work, called Samurai Champloo the director's second most popular work after Cowboy Bebop, citing its humor and themes as positives. The ambient soundtrack was ranked by IGN as tenth among their Top Ten Anime Themes and Soundtracks of All Time.

title: Samurai Champloo


text:
Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała

TS Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała is a football club based in Bielsko-Biała, Poland. They compete in II liga in the 2024–25 season, after being relegated from the 2023–24 I liga.

History
The club was essentially founded on 11 July 1997, although it can trace its roots back to 1907. That year Bielitzer Fussball Klub (FK Bielitz) was established, in the town of Bielitz, Austria-Hungary, then dominated by ethnic Germans and so was the club. In 1911, the club was renamed to Bielitz-Bialaer Sport Verein (BBSV). Since 1920, the town, known henceforth as Bielsko, belonged to Poland, after the country regained independence. In 1936, the club changed its German name to Polish Bielsko-Bialskie Towarzystwo Sportowe Bielsko (BBTS Bielsko). In 1968, it was merged with KS Włókniarz (founded in 1911). The third ancestor, DKS Komorowice, was founded in 1995. Said clubs were merged altogether in 1997 to form TS Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała. From 2011 to 2016 the club performed in the top Polish football league, the Ekstraklasa, promoted as the first club from the city, before being relegated to the I liga.

They competed in the Ekstraklasa again, following their 2019–20 promotion. After the season they were relegated back to the second-tier I liga. Despite the club's ambitions to quickly bounce back, they finished the 2023–24 I liga season second-last. This marked the end of their twenty-two-year run of competing across the top two divisions of Polish football, and a return to the third-tier for the first time since the 2001–02 season.

Honours

 * I liga
 * Runners-up: 2010–11, 2019–20

Managers

 * 🇵🇱 Zdzisław Byrdy (1997)
 * 🇵🇱 Bogdan Warzecha (1997)
 * 🇨🇿 Zdeněk Dembinný (1997–98)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Borecki (1 January 1999 – 16 June 2001)
 * 🇵🇱 Albin Wira (1 July 2001 – 31 December 2001)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Borecki (29 August 2001 – 31 December 2002)
 * 🇵🇱 Paweł Kowalski (2003)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Borecki (11 June 2003 – 15 October 2003)
 * 🇵🇱 Krzysztof Pawlak (15 October 2003 – 1 July 2004)
 * 🇵🇱 Jan Żurek (1 July 2004 – 23 August 2005)
 * 🇵🇱 Włodzimierz Małowiejski (23 August 2005 – 24 April 2006)
 * 🇵🇱 Krzysztof Tochel (2006–07)
 * 🇵🇱 Marcin Brosz (1 July 2007 – 2 November 2009)
 * 🇵🇱 Tomasz Świderski (2 November 2009 – 3 December 2009)
 * 🇵🇱 Robert Kasperczyk (4 December 2009 – 22 October 2012)
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Wyroba (caretaker) (22 October 2012 – 29 October 2012)
 * 🇵🇱 Marcin Sasal (29 October 2012 – 3 January 2013)
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Kubicki (4 January 2013 – 20 March 2013)
 * 🇵🇱 Czesław Michniewicz (22 March 2013 – 22 October 2013)
 * 🇵🇱 Leszek Ojrzyński (23 October 2013– 30 April 2015)
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Kubicki (4 May 2015 – 19 September 2015)
 * 🇵🇱 Robert Podoliński (20 September 2015 – 19 May 2016)
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Dźwigała (7 June 2016 – 11 October 2016)
 * 🇸🇰 Ján Kocian (11 October 2016 - 7 October 2017)
 * 🇵🇱 Adam Nocoń (7 October 2017 – 13 June 2018)
 * 🇵🇱 Krzysztof Brede (18 June 2018 – 15 December 2020)
 * 🇵🇱 Robert Kasperczyk (22 December 2020 – 25 May 2021)
 * 🇵🇱 Piotr Jawny (14 June 2021 – 26 April 2022)
 * 🇵🇱 Mirosław Smyła (26 April 2022 – 31 August 2022)
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Kołodziej (caretaker) (31 August 2022 – 6 September 2022)
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Żuraw (6 September 2022 – 3 June 2023)
 * 🇵🇱 Grzegorz Mokry (15 June 2023 – 15 November 2023)
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Marzec (16 November 2023 – 28 February 2024)
 * 🇵🇱 Jarosław Skrobacz (1 March 2024 – 17 June 2024)
 * 🇵🇱 Krzysztof Brede (17 June 2024 – present)

title: Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała


text:
Piast Gliwice

Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice  is a Polish professional football club based in Gliwice. In the 2018–19 season, Piast won its first Polish championship. As of 2024–25, it competes in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division.

History
The club was founded in June 1945 by the Poles who had been forced to leave their homes in former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union (present-day Ukraine). The club's name comes from the Piast dynasty, which ruled Poland from its beginnings as an independent state in the 10th century, until 1370, and in the city itself until 1532.

In 1949, five local teams were merged with Piast, and the team was renamed to Metal Piast Gliwice, and then to Stal Gliwice, before its original name Piast Gliwice was restored in 1955. Piast continued to play their matches on ul. Robotniczej. In 1964, Piast merged with GKS Gliwice, a team formed in 1956 from a fusion of the three other local clubs, and the name was changed to GKS Piast Gliwice. Since the 1950s, Piast mostly played in the Second Division. During that period, Piast have twice (1978, 1983) managed to reach the final of the Polish Cup, losing on both occasions.

In the 1990s, due to financial difficulties, the team was rebuilt from the Klasa B (7th tier), achieving four consecutive promotions from the seventh to the third tier in 1997–2001, and afterwards it won promotion to the II liga (second tier) in 2003. Piast played as many as 33 seasons in the Polish Second Division, before finally being promoted to the Ekstraklasa in 2008. Having played two seasons in the top division, the club was relegated in 2010 to come back in 2012. It is the first football team in Poland to gain promotion from the 7th tier to the Ekstraklasa (Polish top tier of football) and later to the European club competition.

In the 2010s, Piast enjoyed its greatest success, being runners-up in the 2015–16 Ekstraklasa and winning its first Polish championship in the 2018–19 season.

There is also a futsal department of Piast Gliwice, which competes in the Futsal Ekstraklasa (top division). Its home venue is the Gliwice Arena. It won its first Polish Championship in the 2021–22 season.

Naming history

 * (18.06.1945) – KS Piast Gliwice
 * (23.05.1946) – KSM Piast Gliwice
 * (September/November 1947) – ZKSM Piast Gliwice
 * (05.03.1949) – ZS Metal Piast Gliwice (merged with ZKSM Huta Łabędy, ZKS Walcownia Łabędy, RKS Jedność Rudziniec, *RKS PZS Gliwice and ZKS Silesia Gliwice)
 * (01.11.1949) – ZKS Stal Gliwice
 * (11.03.1951) – ZKS Stal GZUT Gliwice
 * (15.03.1955) – ZKS Piast Gliwice
 * (20.01.1957) – KS Piast Gliwice
 * (01.01.1961) – SKS Piast Gliwice
 * (15.03.1964) – GKS Piast Gliwice (merged with GKS Gliwice and KS Metal Gliwice)
 * (17.10.1983) – MC-W GKS Piast Gliwice
 * (12.09.1989) – CWKS Piast-Bumar Gliwice
 * (1989) – [merged with ZTS Łabędy (Gliwice)]
 * (1990) – CWKS Bumar-Piast Gliwice
 * (04.04.1990) – KS Bumar Gliwice
 * (11.05.1990) – KS Bumar Łabędy (Gliwice)
 * (01.07.1990) – KS Bumar Gliwice
 * (1991) – KS Piast-Bumar Gliwice
 * (01.07.1992) – MC-W GKS Piast Gliwice
 * (01.08.1995) – KS Bojków Gliwice (merged with KS Bojków Gliwice)
 * (15.09.1995) – KS Piast Bojków Gliwice
 * (02.09.1996) – GKS Piast Gliwice

Crest
The club's crest is derived from the coat of arms of the city of Gliwice, and thus contains the Piast Eagle of the Upper Silesian line of the medieval Polish Piast dynasty, which ruled the city until 1532.

Honours

 * Ekstraklasa
 * Champions: 2018–19
 * Runners-up: 2015–16
 * Third place: 2019–20
 * I liga
 * Champions: 2011–12
 * Polish Cup
 * Runners-up: 1977–88, 1982–83

Seasons

 * Seasons in Ekstraklasa: 14 (2008–10, 2012–)
 * Seasons in I liga: 35
 * Seasons in II liga: 16
 * Seasons in III liga: 23

Results

 * Notes
 * 1Q: First qualifying round
 * 2Q: Second qualifying round
 * 3Q: Third qualifying round

UEFA Team ranking
As of 30 September 2021.

Stadium
Piast plays their home games at the 10,000 capacity Stadion Miejski im. Piotra Wieczorka in Gliwice.

Supporters
Piast have a friendship with fans of Belarusian club BATE Borisov since 2011. The friendship started when BATE fans on their way to a Champions League match in Copenhagen stopped for a Piast game against local rivals GKS Katowice. The Piast fans then went to Alkmaar to support BATE versus AZ. After another visit for a Champions League game against Sturm Graz, the friendship became official and both sets of fans regularly visit each other.

Piast's major rivals are Górnik Zabrze, with whom they contest the local derby. The stadiums are located just a few kilometres from each other. Other rivals are local teams Ruch Chorzów, GKS Katowice and the two Bytom clubs, Szombierki and Polonia.

Former players

 * Europe

 * Bosnia and Herzegovina

 * 🇧🇦 Stojan Vranješ

 * Czech Republic

 * 🇨🇿 Michal Papadopulos
 * 🇨🇿 Lumír Sedláček
 * Denmark

 * 🇩🇰 Mikkel Kirkeskov

 * Estonia

 * 🇪🇪 Konstantin Vassiljev

 * Poland

 * 🇵🇱 Daniel Ciechański
 * 🇵🇱 Patryk Lipski
 * 🇵🇱 Piotr Parzyszek
 * 🇵🇱 Sebastian Milewski
 * 🇵🇱 Kamil Glik
 * 🇵🇱 Martin Konczkowski
 * 🇵🇱 Bartosz Rymaniak
 * 🇵🇱 Piotr Malarczyk
 * 🇵🇱 Dominik Steczyk
 * 🇵🇱 Tomasz Jodłowiec
 * 🇵🇱 Michał Żyro
 * 🇵🇱 Tymoteusz Klupś
 * 🇵🇱 Patryk Sokołowski
 * 🇵🇱 Jakub Świerczok
 * 🇵🇱 Patryk Tuszyński

 * Hungary

 * 🇭🇺 Kristopher Vida

 * Lithuania

 * 🇱🇹 Edvinas Girdvainis

 * Portugal

 * 🇵🇹 Tiago Alves

 * Serbia

 * 🇷🇸 Aleksandar Sedlar

 * Slovenia

 * 🇸🇮 Uroš Korun

 * Spain

 * 🇪🇸 Gerard Badía

 * Ukraine

 * 🇺🇦 Denys Arendaruk

 * South America

 * Brazil

 * 🇧🇷 Hebert Silva Santos

 * Ecuador

 * 🇪🇨 Joel Valencia

Managers

 * 🇵🇱 Krzysztof Zagórski (16 December 2001 – 23 October 2002)
 * 🇵🇱 Józef Dankowski (21 April 2003 – 19 October 2004)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Borecki (19 October 2004 – 31 December 2004)
 * 🇵🇱 Jacek Zielinski (31 December 2004 – 14 September 2006)
 * 🇵🇱 Jan Furlepa (interim) (14–20 September 2006)
 * 🇵🇱 Boguslaw Pietrzak (20 September 2006 – 30 June 2007)
 * 🇵🇱 Piotr Mandrysz (3 July 2007 – 30 June 2008)
 * 🇵🇱 Marek Wlecialowski (1 July 2008 – 5 January 2009)
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Fornalak (5 January 2009 – 15 March 2010)
 * 🇵🇱 Ryszard Wieczorek (15 March 2010 – 31 May 2010)
 * 🇵🇱 Marcin Brosz (15 June 2010 – 6 May 2014)
 * 🇪🇸 Ángel García (7 May 2014 – 18 March 2015)
 * 🇨🇿 Radoslav Látal (20 March 2015 – 15 July 2016)
 * 🇨🇿 Jiří Neček (15 July 2016 – 30 August 2016)
 * 🇨🇿 Radoslav Látal (1 September 2016 – 2 March 2017)
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Wdowczyk (3 March 2017 – 19 September 2017)
 * 🇵🇱 Waldemar Fornalik (19 September 2017 – 25 October 2022)
 * 🇷🇸 Aleksandar Vuković (27 October 2022 – present)

title: Piast Gliwice


text:
Arka Gdynia

Morski Związkowy Klub Sportowy Arka Gdynia is a professional football club based in Gdynia, Poland, that plays in the Polish I liga. The club was founded as Klub Sportowy Gdynia in 1929.

History
The history of Arka dates back to 1929, when a group of workers of the Port of Gdynia founded Klub Sportowy (Sports Club) Gdynia (abbreviated KS Gdynia). In 1932, a new stadium of KS was opened at Polanka Redłowska. This location was used by the club until 2000. In 1934, Klub Sportowy Kotwica (Sports Club Anchor'' was registered. Both team existed until 1939.

In 1949, Rybacki Klub Sportowy ("Fishermen Sports Club") MIR was formed. Three years later, its name was changed into Klub Sportowy Kolejarz-Arka Gdynia. In 1953, the team for the first time won promotion to the third level of Polish football. In 1959, Arka's U-19 became Polish runner-up, and in 1960, after a dramatic game vs. Hutnik Kraków, Arka won promotion to the Second Division.

In 1964, Arka merged with Doker Gdynia, to form Morski Związkowy Klub Sportowy (MZKS; "Maritime United Sports Club") Gdynia. In 1972, its name was changed into Arka. Two years later Arka won promotion to the Ekstraklasa. Relegated after one year, Arka returned to the top level in 1976. In 1979 Arka, managed by Czesław Boguszewicz, became the first team from Polish Baltic Sea coast to win the Polish Cup. In the final game, which took place in Lublin, Arka beat Wisła Kraków 2–1. In its UEFA Cup Winners' Cup debut, Arka lost to Bulgarian side PFC Beroe Stara Zagora (3–2, 0–2).

In 1982, Arka was relegated from the top level, to return there in 2005. In the 1982 World Cup in Spain, Arka's Janusz Kupcewicz was among top players of Polish national team, which won bronze medal.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Arka played either in the third or second division, with a number of promotions and relegations. In 2001, after six years in the third level, Arka again won promotion to the second division, and in 2005, the team returned to Ekstraklasa.

In 2011, the City of Gdynia completed the construction of a new stadium, located on Olimpijska Street. On 19 February 2011, Arka tied 1–1 with Beroe Stara Zagora in a friendly game to commemorate the opening of their new venue. That year, Arka were relegated from the top level.

In 2016, Arka was promoted to the top level again after taking first place in the I Liga. Soon after getting promoted, Arka won the Polish Cup for the second time, and the Polish Super Cup twice: in 2017 and 2018.

Honours

 * I liga
 * Champions: 2015–16
 * Polish Cup
 * Winners: 1978–79, 2016–17
 * Runners-up: 2017–18, 2020–21
 * Polish Super Cup
 * Winners: 2017, 2018
 * Youth teams
 * Polish U-19 Championship
 * Champions: 2012
 * Runners-up: 1956, 2013
 * Third place: 2009
 * Polish U-17 Championship
 * Runners-up: 2010

League participation
By tier:

 * Ekstraklasa: 1974–75, 1976–82, 2005–07, 2008–11, 2016–2020;
 * I liga: 1961–62 (2 seasons), 1964–68, 1969–74, 1975–76, 1982–84, 1985–87, 1988–89, 1992–95, 2001–05, 2007–08, 2011–2016; 2020–:
 * II liga: 1954–80 (7 seasons), 1962–64, 1968–69, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1989–92.

Fans
Arka is one of the most supported clubs in Poland, drawing in support from mostly across Pomerania. Outside the Tricity, Arka has fan-clubs in all major cities and towns in the region, such as Tczew, Wejherowo, Braniewo and Kościerzyna for example, as well as fan-clubs in places further away such as Zakopane and Lublin Voivodeship, and even two fan-clubs in Germany set up by expatriate Arka fans, in Oberhausen and Stuttgart.

The fans have an alliance with fans of Cracovia and Lech Poznań, and the three are known as "The Great Triad" (Wielka Triada). Fans of Lechia Gdańsk, Śląsk Wrocław and Wisła Kraków also share a friendship called "The Three Kings of Great Cities" (Trzej Królowie Wielkich Miast) and any match between the two alliances is a considered a big rivalry.

Arka fans maintain alliances with several other fans aside from Cracovia and Lech, many of them lasting now for decades: fans of Górnik Wałbrzych (since 1983), Zagłębie Lubin (since 1983), Gwardia Koszalin (since 1989), and KSZO Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski (since 2004) are all considered good friends. The friendship with Polonia Bytom fans dates back to 1974, and is one of the longest friendships in supporter history which has survived to date.

The greatest rival or Arka is Lechia Gdańsk, a team with whom they contest the so-called Tricity Derby or Pomeranian Derby. Fans of both teams remain venomously hostile and since the early 1970s the history of games between Arka and Lechia is marked by riots and violence. Relations with another Gdynia football team Bałtyk Gdynia used to be friendly until the 1980s, when they turned hostile. Due to Bałtyk's successive relegations and their declining numbers of fans this rivalry is now of lesser importance.

Managers

 * 🇦🇹 Ferdinand Fritsch (1950)
 * 🇵🇱 Herman May (1953)
 * 🇵🇱 Czesław Bartolik (1954–1955)
 * 🇵🇱 Tadeusz Foryś (1956)
 * 🇵🇱 Jan Gazur (1957–1958)
 * 🇵🇱 Edward Kołpa (1959)
 * 🇵🇱 Roman Sawecki (1960)
 * 🇵🇱 Henryk Serafin (1961)
 * 🇵🇱 Piotr Nierychło (1962)
 * 🇵🇱 Stanisław Malon (1962–1963)
 * 🇵🇱 Józef Barbachen (1963–1964)
 * 🇵🇱 Edward Brzozowski (1964–1965)
 * 🇵🇱 Grzegorz Polakow (1965–1971)
 * 🇵🇱 Jerzy Słaboszowski (1971–1975)
 * 🇵🇱 Stefan Żywotko (1975–1976)
 * 🇵🇱 Konrad Araucz (1976–1977)
 * 🇵🇱 Janusz Pekowski (1977)
 * 🇵🇱 Jerzy Steckiw (1977–1979)
 * 🇵🇱 Czesław Boguszewicz (1979–1980)
 * 🇵🇱 Stanisław Stachura (1980–1981)
 * 🇵🇱 Grzegorz Polakow (1981-198x)
 * 🇵🇱 Zbigniew Strzelecki (198x-198x)
 * 🇵🇱 Konrad Araucz (198x-198x)
 * 🇵🇱 Zbigniew Strzelecki (198x-198x)
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Trywiański (198x-198x)
 * 🇵🇱 Janusz Inżyński (198x-198x)
 * 🇵🇱 Adam Adamus (198x-198x)
 * 🇵🇱 Krzysztof Szkoda (198x-198x)
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Bikiewicz (198x-1987)
 * 🇵🇱 Jerzy Jastrzębowski (1987–1989)
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Bikiewicz (1989-19xx)
 * 🇵🇱 Mieczysław Rajski (19xx-1991)
 * 🇵🇱 Jacek Dziubiński (1991–1993)
 * 🇵🇱 Ryszard Lipiński (1993)
 * 🇵🇱 Stanisław Stachura (1993)
 * 🇵🇱 Jacek Dziubiński
 * 🇵🇱 Grzegorz Witt (1994–1995)
 * 🇵🇱 Grzegorz Polakow (1994–1995)
 * 🇵🇱 Grzegorz Witt (1994–1995)
 * 🇵🇱 Jacek Dziubiński
 * 🇵🇱 Marian Geszke (1995)
 * 🇵🇱 Ryszard Lipiński (1995–1996)
 * 🇵🇱 Jacek Dziubiński (1995–1996)
 * 🇵🇱 Jarosław Kotas (1996–1997)
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Bussler (1996–1998)
 * 🇵🇱 Jacek Dziubiński (1998–1999)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Niedźwiedzki (1998–1999)
 * 🇵🇱 Stanisław Stachura (1999–2000)
 * 🇵🇱 Mieczysław Gierszewski (2000–2001)
 * 🇵🇱 Wiesław Pisarski (2001)
 * 🇵🇱 Marek Kusto (2001–2003)
 * 🇵🇱 Mieczysław Rajski (2003–2004)
 * 🇵🇱 Piotr Mandrysz (2003–2004)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Wąsikiewicz (2003–2004)
 * 🇵🇱 Mirosław Dragan (2004–2005)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Wąsikiewicz (2005–2006)
 * 🇵🇱 Zbigniew Kaczmarek (2006)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Stawowy (2006–2007)
 * 🇵🇱 Robert Jończyk (2007–2008)
 * 🇵🇱 Czesław Michniewicz (2008–2009)
 * 🇵🇱 Marek Chojnacki (2009)
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Pasieka (2009–2011)
 * 🇨🇿 František Straka (2011)
 * 🇨🇿 Petr Němec (2011–2012)
 * 🇵🇱 Paweł Sikora (2012–2014)
 * 🇵🇱 Piotr Rzepka (2014)
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Dźwigała (2014)
 * 🇵🇱 Grzegorz Niciński (2014–2017)
 * 🇵🇱 Leszek Ojrzyński (2017–2018)
 * 🇵🇱 Zbigniew Smółka (2018–2019)
 * 🇵🇱 Jacek Zieliński (2019)
 * 🇷🇸 Aleksandar Rogić (2019–2020)
 * 🇵🇱 Krzysztof Sobieraj (2020)
 * 🇵🇱 Ireneusz Mamrot (2020)
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Marzec (2020–2021)
 * 🇵🇱 Ryszard Tarasiewicz (2021–2022)
 * 🇧🇷 Hermes (2022–2023)
 * 🇵🇱 Ryszard Wieczorek (2023)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Łobodziński (2023–present)

title: Arka Gdynia


text:
Talk:Francisco I. Madero

Untitled
I'd like to know the source of the claim that "Madero... feared that the existing regime under Díaz would inevitably breed true social revolution..."

In his book, La Revolución, Thomas Benjamin writes, "To Madero, the Revolution of 1910 was a genuine and radical one, but he did not understand or accept the concept of a social revolution. In an address given in Veracruz in September 1911, Madero emphasized that social and economic progress "cannot be brought about by a revolution, nor by laws, nor by decrees." (Benjamin, page 44)" TheDoof 22:58, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

The grammar and overall structure seems poor at best... He ran in the mexican presidency in the early 1900s .Díaz in 1910,(Diaz was currently in power. He didn't back down from Diaz during the election.He was elected as candidate for the Anti-reelectionist movement.This silm gentlemen from nothern Mexico,only wanted for Diaz to share more power among the Mexican elite,but Diaz refused.As a result Madero got radical As a result he opened up the door for other various leaders to run for election; such as peasants. He was arrested in June and then released conditionally in July. Díaz was declared president, with an improbably massive majority, in October 1910.

I don't know as much about Madero as I'd like, but perhaps someone else could revamp it? --Tothebarricades.tk 21:18, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

Madero was a "revolutionary?" Madero's intent in overthrowing Diaz had nothing to do with a revolution, but rather crushing an imminent revolution that was growing with Diaz's policies. He aimed to give small concessions to the Proletariat to make them think that a Capitalist society would be advantageous. - Mawied

He was a revolutionary in the sense that he was an active participant of the revolution, I'd hope some details could be found in the "Plan de San Luis" article. makeyourself 06:57, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

Why the grammar is subpar
This article is mostly plagiarized from http://www.worldhistory.com/wiki/F/Francisco-I.-Madero.htm

Flying chief
There is no source on how he was the first chief executive to fly in an airplane, and it's not quite clear if this stands internationally, or only for mexican government's leaders. makeyourself 06:57, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

Image

Here's the image originally illustrating the article, found and scanned from vintage PD paper source for Wikipedia. -- Infrogmation 21:48, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

This is wrong
In accordance with every other account about Madero, he genuininely beleived in his revolutionary ideas. He was a naive idealist, not the calculating politician represented here, bent on thwarting true social progress. Randomdude888 02:50, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
 * You're right, I've added the neutrality disputed template. Mixcoatl 17:06, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Madero's Middle Name
As stated on his birth certificate, Madero's middle name was "Ignacio" and not "Indalecio"

All of you can say what you like about Madero but why not obtain your information accurately. How about from those who were close? Such as family members? It is true that Ignacio is his middle name. I know this because his wife was my Great Aunt Sara (Sarita, as we called her). I have a cousin named Ignacio who passed away that was named after him. My Aunt Sara helped raise me. It is true also that this part of my family were vegetarians. I read someone who said we were "Cryptic Jews." As far as this comment is concerned, in my entire lifetime I never saw anything to indicate they were anything but devoted Christians! If you wish to dispute this, you are more than welcome. However, I lived in the household since childhood. Do you still wish to argue about what I saw and experienced? Thank you. You can reach me at Shahairazaad2@aol.com

Comment from 68.111.39.2
I offer the following for your consideration:

In the 6th edition of A History of Latin America, by Keen and Haynes, probably the most widely used Latin American history text in U.S. colleges, Madero is quoted as stating "the ignorant public should take no direct part in determining who should be the candidate for public office." Not in and of itself a "smoking gun" but a clear indicator of his elitist views. If you examine his Plan of San Luis Potosi, he advocates judicial reform when the majority of the populace was starving b/c of the depression of 1906-1907, with Keen and Haynes writing "his conception of democracy as a formal democracy that would give the masses the illusion of power...but would vest all decision making in the hands of an elite."

Looking at his actions once Diaz had resigned after the Treaty of Ciudad Juarez, interim president de la Barra dispatched federal forces to stop the Zapatistas from the land redistribution they had engaged in almost immediately. Madero did nothing to stop it. Moreover, Madero was convinced that the land should remain in the hands of the hacendados, as it had been under Diaz. In addition, his social and educational reforms were non-existent.

For further clarification of Madero's standpoint I also direct you to "Zapata and the Mexican Revolution" by John Womack, Jr., probably the seminal work in Zapatista and Mexican Revolutionary scholarship since the late 60s. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.111.39.2 (talk • contribs).

His real name
There are not evidences that has been named Ignacio. --Ferbrunnen, I listen to you! 03:25, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Actually, yes, there are evidences that his middle name was Ignacio. I'm Mexican, and in all my live my teachers taugh me that his middle name was Indalecio, but in recient years, historiators discovered his birth act, this document said that the middle name of him was Ignacio, not Indalecio. you can read it on the article in spanish Josegeographic (talk) 01:25, 18 September 2010 (UTC)

First Chief of State of any country to fly on an airplane?
I have read several references to this, however, not in Wikipedia. Is it true?--24.44.93.16 (talk) 05:50, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 15:28, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

Junior?
I have in front of me a newspaper article from 11 May 1911 that refers to him as Francisco I. Madero, Jr. Thoughts? I'm not changing the text -  yet. Mark Sublette

Inconsistent claims regarding Catarino Garza's involvement
'On 20 November 1910, Madero arrived at the border and planned to meet up with 400 men raised by his uncle Catarino Garza to launch an attack on Ciudad Porfirio Díaz (modern-day Piedras Negras, Coahuila). However, his uncle arrived late and brought only ten men.'

Catarino Garza's page states he was killed in Panama in 1895, so he couldn't have taken part in the Mexican Revolution. Does anyone have clarity here?

Kthulutude (talk) 23:25, 8 August 2021 (UTC)

Journalismo
I don't know why the 27th wak'd the 37th. 174.253.192.116 (talk) 05:48, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Francisco I. Madero