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Widzew Łódź

RTS Widzew Łódź is a Polish football club based in Łódź. The club was founded in 1910. Its official colours are red and white, hence their nicknames Czerwona Armia (Red Army) and Czerwono-biało-czerwoni (Red-white-reds). They compete in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the Polish football league system, since the 2022-23 season.

History
The club was founded in 1910 as Towarzystwo Miłośników Rozwoju Fizycznego Widzew (Society of Physical Development Fans Widzew). Its name comes from the name of the city district Widzew, while RTS stands for Workers' Sports Association (in Polish Robotnicze Towarzystwo Sportowe). The club was founded by Polish workers and German industrialists who were employees of the Widzew textile manufactory called WIMA. Initially, the club was called the Widzew Association for Physical Development (in Polish: Towarzystwo Miłośników Rozwoju Fizycznego Widzew) because at that time Łódź was under the rule of the Russian Tsar and the adjective "workers'" (in Polish: Robotniczy) could not be used in the club's name. The club's mottos are Together We Create Power (in Polish Razem Tworzymy Siłę) and Always 12 (in Polish Zawsze w 12) which is meant to suggest that its fans are the twelfth player on the team. The club plays its matches at its stadium, located in Łódź at 138 Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego Avenue. The stadium bears the unofficial but commonly used name of the Heart of Łódź (in Polish Serce Łodzi).

After the First World War, Poland regained its independence and the club was reactivated in 1922 as Robotnicze Towarzystwo Sportowe Widzew Łódź (Workers' Sports Association Widzew Łódź).

During World War II, three pre-war players of Widzew Łódź, Joachim Schreer, Mirosław Wągrowski and Aleksander Żadziłko, were among Poles murdered by the Russians in the large Katyn massacre in April–May 1940.

Widzew has won four Polish league championships, in 1980–81, 1981–82, 1995–96 and 1996–97, as well as the 1985 Polish Cup.

After winning back-to-back championships in 1980–81 and 1981–82, Widzew reclaimed the league crown 14 years later after a record season once again. During the successful 1995–96 season, Widzew conceded only 22 goals in 34 matches, the least out of all teams in the league. They were also proficient in attack, scoring 84 goals and securing 88 points across the campaign. Thanks in part to the great performance of their goalkeeper Andrzej Woźniak, the team remained unbeaten for the whole season.

In the following 1996–97 season, the team enjoyed another great season. For the second time in the club's history, they secured back-to-back championships, scoring 74 goals across the season and conceding only 21.

They have appeared in 117 matches in European Cups, of which they won 42. Widzew knocked European giants Manchester United out of the 1980–81 UEFA Cup, although their biggest achievement was reaching the semi-final of the 1982–83 European Cup, eliminating then three-time winners Liverpool along the way.

Recent history
At the beginning of the 2007–08 season, Widzew was purchased by one of the wealthiest men in Poland, Sylwester Cacek.

In January 2008, while playing in the second division, the Polish Football Association ruled that Widzew Łódź should be relegated due to their involvement in a corruption scandal. However, Widzew became champions that year and were allowed to stay in the second division, which was renamed I liga before the start of the 2008-09 season. Despite being deducted six points as a penalty, Widzew won the I Liga again in the 2009-10 season, and were promoted to the Ekstraklasa. However, Widzew were once again relegated at the end of the 2013–14 season after four seasons.

Due to financial problems, Widzew finished last at the end of the 2014–15 season, and subsequently went bankrupt.

Local businessmen Marcin Ferdzyn and Grzegorz Waranecki decided to take on amateur status as a new association called Stowarzyszenie Reaktywacja Tradycji Sportowych Widzew Łódź (Association of the Reactivation of the Sports Traditions of Widzew Łódź), which continues the tradition of the old RTS Widzew Łódź. The new association was registered in a Polish court on 2 July 2015, and within a few weeks of summer 2015, they managed to hire a new coach Witold Obarek and gather a new roster, which started the 2015–16 season in the fifth tier of Polish football. In their first season in IV liga, Widzew won promotion. In the 2016–17 season, Widzew achieved third place in III liga, behind Drwęca Nowe Miasto Lubawskie and ŁKS Łódź, but next season yielded promotion to II liga. In the 2018–19 season, they finished in fifth place with 55 points. In the 2021–22 season, Widzew finished 2nd, one point ahead of Arka Gdynia, and returned to Ekstraklasa for the first time since the 2013–14 season.

League

 * Ekstraklasa (First Division)
 * Champions: 1980–81, 1981–82, 1995–96, 1996–97
 * Runners-up: 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1994–95, 1998–99
 * I liga (Second Division)
 * Champions: 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10

Cup

 * Polish Cup
 * Winners: 1984–85
 * Polish Super Cup
 * Winners: 1996
 * Runners-up: 1997
 * Polish League Cup
 * Runners-up: 1977

Europe

 * UEFA Champions League/European Cup
 * Semi-finalists: 1982–83
 * Copa del Sol
 * Runners-up: 2013

Youth teams

 * Polish U19 championship
 * Runners-up: 1995

Notable players

 * 🇵🇱 Tadeusz Błachno
 * 🇵🇱 Daniel Bogusz
 * 🇵🇱 Henryk Bolesta
 * 🇩🇪 Ulrich Borowka
 * 🇵🇱 Zbigniew Boniek
 * 🇵🇱 Stanisław Burzyński
 * 🇵🇱 Wiesław Cisek
 * 🇵🇱 Marek Citko
 * 🇵🇱 Ryszard Czerwiec
 * 🇵🇱 Jacek Dembiński
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Dziekanowski
 * 🇵🇱 Marek Dziuba
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Gęsior
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Grębosz
 * 🇵🇱 Rafał Grzelak
 * 🇵🇱 Leszek Iwanicki
 * 🇵🇱 Paweł Janas
 * 🇵🇱 Waldemar Jaskulski
 * 🇵🇱 Tomasz Łapiński
 * 🇵🇱 Sławomir Majak
 * 🇵🇱 Radosław Michalski
 * 🇵🇱 Józef Młynarczyk
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Możejko
 * 🇵🇱 Arkadiusz Onyszko
 * 🇵🇱 Kazimierz Przybyś
 * 🇵🇱 Rafał Siadaczka
 * 🇵🇱 Włodzimierz Smolarek
 * 🇵🇱 Michał Stasiak
 * 🇵🇱 Tadeusz Świątek
 * 🇵🇱 Maciej Szczęsny
 * 🇵🇱 Mirosław Szymkowiak
 * 🇵🇱 Mirosław Tłokiński
 * 🇵🇱 Artur Wichniarek
 * 🇵🇱 Jerzy Wijas
 * 🇵🇱 Roman Wójcicki
 * 🇵🇱 Paweł Wojtala
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Woźniak
 * 🇵🇱 Wiesław Wraga
 * 🇵🇱 Zbigniew Wyciszkiewicz
 * 🇵🇱 Marcin Zając
 * 🇵🇱 Władysław Żmuda
 * 🇺🇦 Andriy Mikhalchuk
 * 🇲🇩 Alexandru Curtianu

Managers

 * 🇵🇱 Zygmunt Otto (1948)
 * Vančo Kaménař (1948)
 * 🇵🇱 Wacław Pegza (1949)
 * 🇵🇱 Władysław Król (1950–51)
 * 🇵🇱 Leszek Jezierski (1972–76) (II liga)
 * 🇵🇱 Janusz Pekowski (1976)
 * 🇵🇱 Paweł Kowalski (1976–77)
 * 🇵🇱 Bronisław Waligóra (1977–79)
 * 🇵🇱 Stanisław Świerk (1978–79)
 * 🇵🇱 Jacek Machciński (1979–81)
 * 🇵🇱 Władysław Jan Żmuda (1981–84)
 * 🇵🇱 Bronisław Waligóra (1984–86)
 * 🇵🇱 Orest Lenczyk (1987–88)
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Grębosz (1988–89)
 * 🇵🇱 Bronisław Waligóra (1988–90)
 * 🇵🇱 Jan Tomaszewski (1989–90)
 * 🇵🇱 Czesław Fudalej (1989–90)
 * 🇵🇱 Paweł Kowalski (1990–91) (II liga)
 * 🇵🇱 Władysław Jan Żmuda (April 28, 1992 – May 20, 1993)
 * 🇵🇱 Leszek Jezierski (1992–93)
 * 🇵🇱 Marek Woziński (1993–94)
 * 🇵🇱 Władysław Stachurski (Sept 1, 1993 – April 20, 1995)
 * 🇵🇱 Ryszard Polak (1994–95)
 * 🇵🇱 Franciszek Smuda (April 30, 1995 – May 31, 1998)
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Pyrdoł (July 1, 1998 – July 28, 1998)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Łazarek (July 28, 1998 – Oct 26, 1998)
 * 🇵🇱 Marek Dziuba (1998–99)
 * 🇵🇱 Grzegorz Lato (1999–00)
 * 🇵🇱 Orest Lenczyk (Aug 30, 1999 – April 23, 2000)
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Pyrdoł (1999–00)
 * 🇵🇱 Jan Żurek (April 24, 2000 – July 1, 2000)
 * 🇺🇦 Petro Kushlyk (2000–01)
 * 🇵🇱 Marek Koniarek (2000–01)
 * 🇵🇱 Marek Kusto (July 3, 2001 – Oct 13, 2001)
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Wdowczyk (Oct 13, 2001 – Aug 2, 2002)
 * 🇵🇱 Franciszek Smuda (Aug 2, 2002 – Dec 5, 2002)
 * 🇨🇿 Petr Němec (Dec 6, 2002 – April 7, 2003)
 * 🇵🇱 Tomasz Muchiński (int.) (April 7, 2003 – April 10, 2003)
 * 🇵🇱 Franciszek Smuda (April 10, 2003 – July 9, 2003)
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Kretek (July 10, 2003 – Aug 26, 2003)
 * 🇵🇱 Tomasz Łapiński (interim) (Aug 26, 2003 – Sept 2, 2003)
 * 🇵🇱 Jerzy Kasalik (Sept 3, 2003 – March 22, 2004)
 * 🇵🇱 Stefan Majewski (2004–06) (II liga)
 * 🇵🇱 Michał Probierz (June 1, 2006 – Sept 3, 2007)
 * 🇵🇱 Marek Zub (Sept 3, 2007 – April 21, 2008)
 * 🇵🇱 Janusz Wójcik (April 21, 2008–08)
 * 🇵🇱 W. Fornalik (July 1, 2008 – Jan 9, 2009) (I liga nowa)
 * 🇵🇱 P. Janas (Jan 9, 2009 – June 21, 2010) (I liga nowa, I liga)
 * 🇵🇱 A. Kretek (June 25, 2010 – Nov 15, 2010) (Ekstraklasa)
 * 🇵🇱 C. Michniewicz (Nov 15, 2010 – June 22, 2011) (Ekstraklasa)
 * 🇵🇱 R. Mroczkowski (June 24, 2011 – Sept 26, 2013) (Ekstraklasa)
 * 🇵🇱 Rafal Pawlak (Sept 26, 2013 – Jan 6, 2014) (Ekstraklasa)
 * 🇵🇱 Artur Skowronek (Jan 6, 2014 – June 20, 2014) (Ekstraklasa)
 * 🇵🇱 Włodzimierz Tylak (June 20, 2014 – 2014)
 * 🇵🇱 Rafał Pawlak (2014)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Stawowy (2014–2015)
 * 🇵🇱 Witold Obarek (2015)
 * 🇵🇱 Marcin Płuska (2015–2016)
 * 🇵🇱 Tomasz Muchiński (2016)
 * 🇵🇱 Przemysław Cecherz (2016–2017)
 * 🇵🇱 Franciszek Smuda (2017–2018)
 * 🇵🇱 Radosław Mroczkowski (2018–2019)
 * 🇵🇱 Jacek Paszulewicz (2019)
 * 🇵🇱 Zbigniew Smółka (2019)
 * 🇵🇱 Marcin Kaczmarek (2019–2020)
 * 🇦🇱 Enkeleid Dobi (2020–2021)
 * 🇵🇱 Marcin Broniszewski (2021)
 * 🇵🇱 Janusz Niedźwiedź (2021–2023)
 * 🇵🇱 Daniel Myśliwiec (2023–)

Stadium
The club's home stadium was the Stadion Miejski opened in 1930. The stadium, which was owned by the city of Łódź, had a capacity of 10,500 seats. In early 2015, it was demolished to make way for a new stadium with 18,000 seats. It was intended the new stadium will be completed by November 2016.

In the 2014–15 season, Widzew played their home matches in Byczyna near Poddębice, 40 km west of Łódź.

After bankruptcy and relegation to the fifth division, a rebuilt team was forced to play its domestic games in Łódź at UKS SMS Łódź stadium, during the construction of a new Widzew's stadium.

The first match at their new stadium was played on the 18th March, 2017, where Widzew won against Motor Lubawa 2–0. 17,443 fans attended the game.

Fans
Widzew has one of the largest fan-bases in Poland with fan-clubs all around the country. Widzew's biggest rival is ŁKS Łódź, with whom they contest the Łódź Derby. Legia Warsaw are also big rivals, with whom they contest the Derby of Poland, which stems from the fact there were frequent title races between the two clubs. GKS Bełchatów is third biggest rival of Widzew. Their fans maintain friendly relations with fans of Ruch Chorzów, Elana Toruń, KKS Kalisz, Wisła Kraków.

TMRF Widzew Łódź
TMRF Widzew was a football team created by the active supporters of Widzew in 2014, who were in a long conflict with the club board. Only Widzew supporters were admitted to the squad.

title: Widzew Łódź


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Lech Poznań

Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań, is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division.

The club was established on 19 March 1922 as KS Lutnia Dębiec, later changing its name several times. Until 1994, the club was closely linked to Polish State Railways (PKP). As a result, its popular nickname is Kolejorz, which means The Railwayman in local slang. The club's debut in the Polish top division took place in the year 1948. The brightest era of Lech was in the early 1980s and early 1990s. Lech has won the Polish league a total of eight times, most recently in 2022, and is the most popular football club in the Greater Poland region.

Formation and early years (1920–1945)
In August 1920, a group of young teenagers from the Catholic Youth Association decided to split off and form their own football team. The founders of the club were: Jan Nowak, Antoni Dyzman, Jan Dyzman, Leon Nowicki, Józef Magdziak, Kazimierz Zmuda, Stanisław Nowicki, Stefan Fiedler, Józef Gośliński, Leon Stachowski, Józef Blumreder and Jan Wojtek. The origin of Lech can be traced back to 19 March 1922, when it was officially registered as a football club. The club's first official name was Towarzystwo Sportowe Liga Dębiec. In September 1922 the club gained a football pitch on Grzybowa street. The first match for the club was played in May 1922 against Urania Starołęka, which ended in a 1–1 draw. The club started its foundation in a low tier league, which at the time was the Class C. The club achieved promotion in 1928 to the Class B after six years of being in Class C. In 1932 the club was promoted to Class A where the biggest teams of the region played. From there they could get promoted to the First National Division, but the club would not achieve that goal before the outbreak of World War II. In autumn of 1933 the Klub Sportowy Kolejowego Przysposobienia Wojskowego Poznań ("Poznań Military Training Railway Sports Club") was founded or KPW. In 1945, shortly after the war ended, sporting officials made Lech the first club from the city.

Downfall and the Miracle of Błażejewko (1947–1979)
In 1947, the Polish Football Association (PZPN) decided to create the first national division (Ekstraklasa). At first, the club was not admitted to the top flight, but the Kolejorz ("the railwayman", the popular nickname of the club) filed an appeal and the PZPN decided, in a special meeting, to extend the First Division to 14 teams, including the KKS (at that time called Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Poznań) and Widzew Łódź. The first match was against Widzew Łódź, lost 3–4.

The club changed its name again in January 1957, this time to Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań and in December to Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań, which lasted throughout the history of the team. That same year turned out to be one of the worst for the club, since it finished last and was relegated to the second division. Lech only gained twelve points in 22 games, despite having striker Teodor Anioła, the club's top scorer, with 141 goals and top scorer of the Polish championship in three consecutive editions (1949–1951). Along with Edmund Białas and Henryk Czapczyk, Anioła formed the famous trio known as ABC. During that period, the club managed to finish third in the top division twice, as the best result, before its relegation to second division.

Lech managed to return to the top division in 1961, but after two seasons with poor results, the blue team was relegated again in 1963. The club was even demoted to the third division, then known as the Interprovincial Division (Liga międzywojewódzka), in one of the biggest sports crisis of the organization. In 1972 the club returned to the first division, in which they had to fight again to avoid relegation every season. Coach Jerzy Kopa, who arrived from Szombierki Bytom, was responsible for reviving Lech spectacularly. He took over the team in 1976, when they were bottom of the table. Kopa gathered players at a training camp in Błażejewko, saved the team from relegation and twelve months later qualified for the first time to play in Europe after finishing third in the league, just two points behind the champion, Wisła Kraków. Therefore, this transformation became known as The Miracle of Błażejewko. The club's first participation in the UEFA Cup in 1978–79 was brief, as they were eliminated in the first round by MSV Duisburg.

Golden age of Lech (1980–1993)
The arrival of coach Wojciech Łazarek in 1980 at the club was key to overcome third place and European participation. That year the team reached the final of the Polish Cup for the first time, losing 0–5 to Legia Warsaw in Częstochowa. Two years later, the club managed to win the first title in its history, the Polish Cup, by defeating Pogoń Szczecin 1–0 in Wrocław. The league championships of 1983 and 1984 went down in history as they were the first two league titles of the Kolejorz and for winning on such tight margins against Widzew Łódź. The first league championship for Lech was a point of advantage (39) over Widzew (38). The 15 goals scored by the top scorer of the tournament, Mirosław Okoński and the participation of other players like Krzysztof Pawlak and Józef Adamiec were very important to win their first league championship. Meanwhile, the championship of the following season both teams staged an exciting tournament and tied at 42 points. Lech defended championship by having a better difference of goals than Widzew to break the tie. That season was historic for the blue team, as they got their first double by becoming champions of the Polish Cup, after winning in the final at Wisła Kraków (3–0).

As Polish champions, Lech participated for the first time in the European Cup, although they could not pass the first round in the two seasons. In its first season it was eliminated by Athletic Club. In the first leg in Poland, Mariusz Niewiadomski and Mirosław Okoński scored the first two Lech goals in the tournament and the team won 2–0. However, the return match in San Mamés was a nightmare for the Poles and the Spanish team qualified by winning 4–0. The following season the team faced the current champion, Liverpool F.C., who won by a 5–0 aggregate.

In 1988, Lech won another Cup by beating Legia in Łódź in the penalty shootout. In the second round of the European Cup, Lech faced Barcelona, coached by Johan Cruyff. After finishing the two games in a 1–1 draw, Barcelona, in the end the tournament, could only eliminate Lech in the penalty shootout.

Jerzy Kopa returned to Lech in 1990 along with Andrzej Strugarek and Kolejorz returned to be proclaimed league champions for the third time. Andrzej Juskowiak was the top scorer of the tournament with 18 goals and his team finished with 42 points, two more than the runner-up, Zagłębie Lubin. Henryk Apostel, however, was the coach who led Lech to two new championships in 1992 and 1993. The first one was achieved with a win over GKS Katowice, while the second one tied in points with the second team, Legia, and only won because Legia was penalized for disputed match fixing. In the autumn of 1990, Lech played one of the most spectacular qualifiers of the last decade in the European Cup. At Bułgarska street stadium the Polish club defeated Olympique Marseille 3–2 in the first leg of the second round. The return match at the Stade Vélodrome, the French team, thrashed Lech 6–1, in a match in which most of the Polish players complained of food poisoning. Since 1993 the club entered into a major financial crisis and had to sell its most important players to continue in professional football.

New disappointments and successes (1994–present)
Lech managed to stay in the middle of the table and their best result was fourth place in 1999, which allowed him to play in the 1999–00 UEFA Cup, where they eliminated Liepājas Metalurgs in the qualifying round and were defeated by IFK Göteborg in the first round. However, just a few months later, in 2000, Lech was relegated to the second division after 28 years of presence in the top flight. Lech's first season in the second division was a disaster, as they were very close to falling to the third division. It was only with a great effort that the club was saved from relegation and even won the promotion the next season to the first division. In their first year of the return to the I league (2002–03) Lech focused on ensuring permanence. The following season began with a very negative dynamic for the Kolejorz. After five days, the club hired a new coach, Czesław Michniewicz. The unexpected appointment of the young coach turned out to be a shock, since Lech finished the season in sixth position. Most important, however, was the conquest of a Polish Cup by defeating their great rival, Legia Warsaw, in the final two games in 2004. Several days later, the fans in Poznań celebrated the victory of Lech in the Super Cup against Wisła Kraków. Although the next two seasons did not bring any success of that proportion, Lech managed to finish at the top of the table of each season with coach Franciszek Smuda. Smuda formed a strong team with the arrival at the club of players like Robert Lewandowski, Hernan Rengifo, Semir Štilić, Marcin Zając and Rafał Murawski. In the Ekstraklasa 2008–09 season, Lech had a great season and finished in third place and qualified for the UEFA Europa League thanks, in part, to the 14 goals scored by Robert Lewandowski. On 19 May 2009, Lech won the Cup for the fifth time by beating Ruch Chorzów with a solo goal by Sławomir Peszko at Stadion Śląski.

The following season, Jacek Zieliński replaced Franciszek Smuda, who was hired as the manager of the Poland national team. With many of the players who achieved third place and the cup last season, Zieliński managed to lead Lech to the sixth championship in their history in the 2009–10 season. The striker Robert Lewandowski returned to be a reference in attack and was top scorer of the championship with 18 goals. In their participation in the 2010–11 Champions League, they were eliminated by Sparta Prague in the third round and without Lewandowski, who was transferred to Borussia Dortmund. One of their most successful European appearance was in the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, in which they eliminated Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk to enter the group stage of the tournament for the first time. Lech finished second in their group with Manchester City, leaving Juventus and FC Salzburg out of the tournament. However, they were eliminated by S.C. Braga, runner-up of the tournament months later, in the round of 32 after winning in Poland (1–0) and losing in Portugal (2–0).

In the 2021–22 season, during which Lech celebrated its 100th anniversary, the team led by Maciej Skorża finished runners-up in the Polish Cup, losing 3–1 against Raków Częstochowa, and won the club's eighth championship, their first in seven years.

Skorża left the team shortly after, citing personal reasons, and was replaced by Dutchman John van den Brom for the 2022–23 season. Lech crashed out of the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round after losing to Azerbaijani side Qarabağ 1–5 on aggregate. The team went on to have a successful UEFA Europa Conference League campaign, reaching second place in the group stage which included Villarreal, Austria Wien and Hapoel Be'er Sheva, then eliminating Nordic teams of Bodø/Glimt, 1–0 on aggregate, and Djurgårdens IF, 5–0 on aggregate, to reach the quarter-finals. Their successful run ended there, after facing the Italian side Fiorentina and losing 4–6 on aggregate. They were the first Polish team to win a knockout phase round of a European competition that took place after the winter break since Legia Warsaw in 1991, and the first to move through two post-winter rounds since Górnik Zabrze in 1970.

The following 2023–24 campaign was marked by disappointment. Lech failed to progress past the third qualifying round of the Europa Conference League, losing to Slovak side Spartak Trnava 3–4 on aggregate, despite winning the first game at home 2–0. In December 2023, trailing in the league by eight points by the winter break, van den Brom was dismissed and replaced with Mariusz Rumak, returning to the role after nine-and-a-half years. Lech's form did not improve under Rumak; they were unable to take the lead in the table, lost to lower-placed teams Puszcza Niepołomice and Ruch Chorzów, and were eliminated from the 2023–24 Polish Cup after conceding in the 119th minute of a quarter-final match against Pogoń Szczecin. Still in title contention with three games to go, Lech finished the season in 5th after losing at home to Korona Kielce on 25 May, hours after their reserve team was demoted to the fourth division, allowing Korona to stay in the top-flight in lieu of Lech's neighbors Warta.

League

 * Ekstraklasa
 * Champions: 1982–83, 1983–84, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1992–93, 2009–10, 2014–15, 2021–22
 * Runners-up: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2019–20
 * I liga
 * Champions: 1960 (Western group), 2001–02
 * Runners-up: 1971–72

Cup

 * Polish Cup
 * Winners: 1981–82, 1983–84, 1987–88, 2003–04, 2008–09
 * Runners-up: 1979–80, 2010–11, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2021–22
 * Polish Super Cup
 * Winners: 1990, 1992, 2004, 2009, 2015, 2016
 * Runners-up: 1983, 1988, 2010, 2022

Europe

 * UEFA Europa League
 * Round of 32: 2008–09, 2010–11
 * UEFA Europa Conference League
 * Quarter-finals: 2022–23

Youth

 * Polish Under-19 Championship
 * Champions: 1987, 1995, 2018, 2023
 * Runners-up: 1998, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015
 * Polish Under-17 Championship
 * Champions: 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
 * Runners-up: 1996, 2012, 2019, 2021

European participation
Lech Poznań has played over 150 matches in European competition since 1978. Among the most memorable games in the club's history were the clashes against Barcelona in the 1988–89 season of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round. After both matches ended with 1–1 draw, Lech Poznań lost the penalty shoot-out 4–5. Barcelona eventually went on to win the tournament.

During the 1983–84 European Cup season, Lech earned a 2–0 win at home against Spanish champions Athletic Bilbao. During the 1990–91 season, Lech eliminated the Greek champions Panathinaikos in the first round, with a 5–1 score on aggregate. In the next tie Lech was knocked out by Marseille but won the first leg 3–2 at home.

During the 2008–09 UEFA Cup season, Lech made it to the group stage of the competition after knocking out higher seeded teams of Grasshopper (notching its greatest margin of victory with a 6–0 win at home) and Austria Wien (scoring the decisive goal in the last minute of extra-time). In the group stage, Lech finished third-placed ahead of Nancy and Feyenoord to secure a place in the Third Round, where it was knocked out by the Italian side Udinese.

Their home ground Stadion Poznań has been totally rebuilt and completed in September 2010 for UEFA Euro 2012, during which it is expected to host 3 games in Group C.

The 2010–11 European campaign saw Lech not only qualify for the group stage of the Europa League, but also progress from the group stage ahead of Italian giants Juventus, before losing at the Round of 32 to eventual finalists Braga. In the 2022–23 season, Lech reached their first ever European quarter-final at the Conference League, losing to Italian club Fiorentina.

UEFA Team ranking
'''As of 31 October 2023.

Records

 * Highest victory, Ekstraklasa: 11–1 vs. Szombierki Bytom, 27 August 1950
 * Highest loss, Ekstraklasa: 0–8 vs. Wisła Kraków, 30 May 1976
 * Highest attendance overall: c. 65,000 vs. Zawisza Bydgoszcz, 25 June 1972
 * Highest attendance at the Stadion Poznań: c. 45,000 vs. Widzew Łódź, 8 April 1984
 * Highest average attendance, Ekstraklasa: 45,384 per game, in the 1972–1973 season (13 games)
 * Most appearances, Ekstraklasa: 🇵🇱 Hieronim Barczak, 367 (1973–86)
 * Most goals, Ekstraklasa: 🇵🇱 Teodor Anioła, 138 (1948–61)
 * Most goals in a season, Ekstraklasa: 🇵🇱 Jerzy Podbrożny, 25 (1992–93)
 * Most national caps: 🇵🇦 Luis Henríquez, 50 for Panama

Retired numbers
12 – number retired for fans, called "the 12th player"

Coaching staff
{| class="wikitable" !Position !Staff
 * Manager|| Niels Frederiksen
 * Assistant manager|| Sindre Tjelmeland
 * Assistant coaches|| Dariusz Dudka Hubert Wędzonka
 * Goalkeeping coach|| Dominik Kubiak
 * Fitness coaches|| Antonin Čepek Karol Kikut
 * Match analyst|| Hubert Barański
 * Head of medical department|| Rafał Hejna
 * Team doctor|| Patryk Buliński Tomasz Jaśkowiak
 * Physiotherapists|| Bartosz Górecki Marcin Lis  Maciej Łopatka  Maciej Smuniewski
 * Dietician|| Patryk Wiśniewski
 * Team manager|| Mariusz Skrzypczak
 * Kit manager|| Sławomir Mizgalski
 * Cook|| Artur Dzierzbicki
 * Head of medical department|| Rafał Hejna
 * Team doctor|| Patryk Buliński Tomasz Jaśkowiak
 * Physiotherapists|| Bartosz Górecki Marcin Lis  Maciej Łopatka  Maciej Smuniewski
 * Dietician|| Patryk Wiśniewski
 * Team manager|| Mariusz Skrzypczak
 * Kit manager|| Sławomir Mizgalski
 * Cook|| Artur Dzierzbicki
 * Team manager|| Mariusz Skrzypczak
 * Kit manager|| Sławomir Mizgalski
 * Cook|| Artur Dzierzbicki
 * Kit manager|| Sławomir Mizgalski
 * Cook|| Artur Dzierzbicki
 * Cook|| Artur Dzierzbicki

Dębiec Stadium
Initially the club's first stadium was located in the Dębiec district between two train tracks. It belonged to PKP (the Polish state railways) and was demolished in 2013 after a long period of inactivity.

Edmund Szyc Stadium
Edmund Szyc Stadium is a currently ruined multi-purpose stadium in the Wilda district, named after Edmund Szyc, one of founders of Warta Poznań. It is the historical home of the other football team Warta Poznań, but Lech played there sporadically between the 1950s and 1970s.

Stadion Poznań
The Stadion Poznań is the home ground of Lech Poznań, and was one of the venues for the group phase of Euro 2012. It has a league capacity of 42,837 (all seated). The stadium was originally built between 1968 and 1980. From its inauguration in August 1980 Lech Poznań has used the ground as its main venue; since 2010 it has also been used by Warta Poznań, which currently plays in Ekstraklasa. The ground is situated on the street ''ul. Bułgarska 17'' in the southwestern part of the city (Grunwald district).

In the years 2003–10 the stadium underwent a complete reconstruction, including the building of four new fully covered stands. Currently it is the fifth largest stadium in Poland (after Kazimierz Górski National Stadium, Silesia Stadium, The Municipal Stadium in Wroclaw and PGE Arena Gdańsk) and third largest in Ekstraklasa (after the latter two). The grand opening after final renovation took place on 20 September 2010, with Sting's Symphonicity Tour concert.

Fans
Lech Poznań is considered to have one of the strongest fan support in Poland due to the club's high average attendance in the Ekstraklasa and the atmosphere during the games.

Lech's fanbase is mainly located in the Greater Poland region, with fan clubs in many other towns.

Friendships and rivalries
For over a decade Lech supporters have a fellowship with fans from Arka Gdynia and KS Cracovia sometimes called the Wielka Triada or The Great Triad. Close friendship links Lech fans also with KSZO Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski and ŁKS Łódź supporters. Among the more ardent element of supporters, there are some private contacts with Fratria, fans of Spartak Moscow, and Crveni Đavoli, fans of Radnički Kragujevac from Serbia. The biggest rival is Legia Warsaw with whom they contest the "Derby of Poland". Wisła Kraków, Lechia Gdańsk and Śląsk Wrocław are also big rivals due to the fans friendship with Arka and Cracovia, similarly Korona Kielce are disliked due to the friendship with KSZO and Widzew Łódź due to ŁKS. Other teams that can be considered rivals are Ruch Chorzów and Pogoń Szczecin. In past the "Greater Poland derby" was played against regional rivals Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielkopolski before their decline.

Relations with local rival Warta Poznań are neutral as the clubs have almost always played in different leagues and many fans attend matches of both teams.

The Poznań
The fans' goal celebration involving the turning of their backs to the pitch, joining arms and jumping up and down in unison—originated in 1961. It is known in the English speaking world as "The Poznan" after Manchester City began using the celebration following their clash with Lech Poznań in the group stages of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League. Also popular with fans of Scottish club Celtic who call their version "The Huddle", in homage to the team's pre-match ritual of a huddle before every game kicks off.

Rap music
Many Polish rappers who hail from Poznań have been strongly linked to the Lech supporter scene and the club prominently features in their music. Peja was an ardent supporter since he was 15 years old, and was active in the hooligan scene in the 90s. Evtis, Ascetoholix, Bzyk and DJ Decks are all prominent supporters. The fans have produced recorded and released two rap CD's called Definicja Kibol and Definicja Kibol 2 as compilation of various artists.

Lech Poznań II
The club operates a reserve team which currently plays in II liga, the third tier of the league pyramid.

They gained promotion in the 2003–04 season to the third tier after winning the league and beating Jarota Jarocin 2–0 twice, 4–0 on aggregate. In that same season, they reached the 1st round of the Polish Cup but were knocked out by Górnik Konin following a 3–1 loss. After the 2006–07 season, the reserve teams were scrapped in favour of a central youth league, meaning that between 2007 and 2013 the team ceased to exist. They were reinstated to their previous league position for the 2013–14 season.

Lech Poznań UAM
Lech's women section was opened on 26 August 2021. It was formed through a partnership with Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. It currently competes in the second division, and is coached by Alicja Zając.

Lech Poznań Academy
The Lech Poznań Academy (Akademia Lecha Poznań) is the club's youth system, with several teams across all children's ages up until its most senior U-19 youth team. The teams play in the Central Junior League, which was at first formed to replace the clubs' reserve teams which participated in the league pyramid. The club's youth system is the most extensive and advanced in the country and has produced many players which went on to play in the senior team.

KKS Wiara Lecha
KKS Wiara Lecha is a football club founded by Lech Poznań supporters in 2011. Only active supporters can play in the team and they have to have made a contribution to the supporter scene in order to be admitted to the squad.

Notable players

 * 🇵🇱 Teodor Anioła – striker, the best all-time league goalscorer in the club's history, represented Lech from 1948 until 1957.
 * 🇵🇱 Jarosław Araszkiewicz – attacking midfielder, won five championship titles with Lech Poznań. Finished his career in the age of 38.
 * 🇵🇱 Jacek Bąk – defender, played in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2006 FIFA World Cup, former player of French clubs Lyon and Lens.
 * 🇵🇱 Jarosław Bako – the goalkeeper of Poland national team in the early 1990s.
 * 🇵🇱 Hieronim Barczak – defender, 369 league appearances for Lech.
 * 🇵🇱 Jan Bednarek – defender, represented Poland at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2020 and 2022 FIFA World Cup, currently playing for Southampton.
 * 🇵🇱 Edmund Białas – striker, along with Anioła and Henryk Czapczyk, created an attacking trio called A-B-C, which was very successful in the 1950s.
 * 🇵🇱 Bartosz Bosacki – defender, while playing for Lech he represented Poland at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, scoring twice against Costa Rica.
 * 🇵🇱 Jerzy Brzęczek – midfielder, silver medalist with Poland at the 1992 Summer Olympics, former Poland national team captain and manager.
 * 🇺🇸 Jimmy Conrad – defender, USA national team member at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
 * 🇵🇱 Henryk Czapczyk – vice-captain and later coach of Lech during the club's rise in the 50s and 60s.
 * 🇵🇱 Jacek Dembiński – striker, played in the German Bundesliga with Hamburger SV.
 * 🇷🇸 Ivan Đurđević – defender, played over 100 games for Lech, managed the reserve team and 1st team of Lech in 2018, most recently the manager of Śląsk Wrocław.
 * 🇵🇱 Roman Jakóbczak – midfielder, Poland national team member at the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Juskowiak – striker, silver medalist with Poland at the 1992 Summer Olympics, former player of Sporting Lisbon, Olympiacos, Borussia Mönchengladbach and VfL Wolfsburg.
 * 🇵🇱 Mirosław Justek – defender, Poland national team member at the 1978 FIFA World Cup.
 * 🇵🇱 Jakub Kamiński – winger, represented Poland at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, currently plays for German side VfL Wolfsburg.
 * 🇵🇱 Jerzy Karasiński – goalkeeper, considered one of Lech Poznań's all-time best players, prominent during a lean period in the club's history.
 * 🇵🇱 Waldemar Kryger – defender, former player of German club VfL Wolfsburg.
 * 🇵🇱 Janusz Kupcewicz – midfielder, bronze medalist with Poland at the 1982 FIFA World Cup.
 * 🇵🇱 Robert Lewandowski – striker, the current Poland national team captain and all-time top scorer, currently playing for Barcelona.
 * 🇵🇱 Karol Linetty – midfielder, Poland national team member at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2020 and 2022 FIFA World Cup, currently playing for Torino.
 * 🇵🇱 Adam Majewski – midfielder, Poland national team member in 2001
 * 🇵🇱 Henryk Miłoszewicz – midfielder, Poland national team member in 1980
 * 🇵🇱 Piotr Mowlik – goalkeeper, Poland national team member (1974–1981), Mariusz's father.
 * 🇵🇱 Mirosław Okoński – striker, one of the club's icons, especially loved by the fans, after winning two consecutive championships with Lech in 1983 and 1984, transferred to Hamburger SV, played also for Greek side AEK.
 * 🇵🇱 Bogusław Pachelski – prolific striker who scored 41 goals in 149 appearances over 5 years.
 * 🇵🇱 Krzysztof Pawlak – defender, played two games at the 1986 FIFA World Cup while representing Lech.
 * 🇵🇱 Jerzy Podbrożny – played also in MLS with the Chicago Fire.
 * 🇵🇱 Arkadiusz Radomski – began his career with Lech, then spent most of his career in the Netherlands. Made his appearance at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
 * 🇵🇱 Piotr Reiss – striker, scored 109 Ekstraklasa goals for Lech, the oldest goalscorer in the league's history (40 years and 305 days). He also played for Hertha BSC and MSV Duisburg.
 * 🇵🇪 Hernan Rengifo – striker, played also for Peru.
 * 🇱🇻 Artjoms Rudnevs – striker, played for German clubs Hamburger SV and 1. FC Köln.
 * 🇵🇱 Michał Skóraś – winger, made an appearance for Poland at the 2022 FIFA World Cup while at Lech, now playing for Belgian side Club Brugge.
 * 🇵🇱 Piotr Świerczewski – midfielder, silver medalist with Poland at the 1992 Summer Olympics, represented Poland at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, former Bastia, Saint-Étienne and Marseille player.
 * 🇵🇱 Łukasz Teodorczyk – striker, represented Poland at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, former Belgian First Division A top scorer.
 * 🇵🇱 Mirosław Trzeciak – striker, played in Spanish clubs Osasuna and Poli Ejido.
 * 🇵🇱 Maciej Żurawski – striker, played at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2006 FIFA World Cup, after playing for Lech, he transferred to Wisła Kraków, then to Celtic, and on to Omonia.

Ekstraklasa top goalscorers

 * 🇵🇱 Teodor Anioła (1949 – 20 goals, 1950 – 21 goals, 1951 – 20 goals)
 * 🇵🇱 Mirosław Okoński (1982–83 – 15 goals)
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Juskowiak (1989–90 – 18 goals)
 * 🇵🇱 Jerzy Podbrożny (1991–92 – 20 goals, 1992–93 – 25 goals)
 * 🇵🇱 Piotr Reiss (2006–07 – 15 goals)
 * 🇵🇱 Robert Lewandowski (2009–10 – 18 goals)
 * 🇱🇻 Artjoms Rudņevs (2011–12 – 22 goals)
 * 🇵🇱 Marcin Robak (2016–17 – 18 goals)
 * 🇩🇰 Christian Gytkjær (2019–20 – 24 goals)

Managers

 * 🇵🇱 Stanisław Kwiatkowski (January 1932 – June 1936)
 * 🇭🇺 László Marcai (July 1936 – May 1938)
 * 🇵🇱 A. Klemens Pawlak (May 1938 – August 1939)
 * 🇵🇱 Franciszek Bródka (July 1945 – August 1946)
 * 🇸🇰 Pavel Lovas (August 1945 – March 1947)
 * 🇵🇱 Franciszek Bródka (April 1947 – May 1948)
 * 🇫🇷 Marcel Demeunyck (June 1948 – February 1949)
 * 🇵🇱 Antoni Böttcher (March 1949 – December 1949)
 * 🇵🇱 Artur Walter (January 1950 – May 1950)
 * 🇵🇱 Antoni Böttcher & 🇵🇱 F. Bródka (June 1950 – June 1951)
 * 🇵🇱 Mieczysław Balcer (June 1951 – December 1952)
 * 🇵🇱 Artur Woźniak (January 1953 – July 1953)
 * 🇵🇱 Edmund Białas (August 1953 – December 1953)
 * 🇵🇱 Mieczysław Tarka (January 1954 – June 1957)
 * 🇵🇱 Edmund Białas (June 1957 – July 1957)
 * 🇨🇿 Vilém Lugr (August 1957 – November 1958)
 * 🇵🇱 Henryk Czapczyk (December 1959 – September 1961)
 * 🇵🇱 Mieczysław Tarka (September 1961 – November 1962)
 * 🇵🇱 Zygfryd Słoma (November 1962 – June 1963)
 * 🇵🇱 Edward Drabski (August 1963 – April 1964)
 * 🇵🇱 Henryk Czapczyk (April 1964 – June 1964)
 * 🇵🇱 Zygfryd Słoma (July 1964 – September 1965)
 * 🇵🇱 Edmund Białas (September 1965 – May 1966)
 * 🇵🇱 Edward Brzozowski (May 1966 – July 1966)
 * 🇵🇱 Edmund Białas (July 1966 – October 1966)
 * 🇵🇱 Mieczysław Tarka (October 1966 – December 1968)
 * 🇵🇱 Edmund Białas (September 1969 – June 1972)
 * 🇵🇱 Mieczysław Chudziak (July 1972 – August 1972)
 * 🇵🇱 Augustyn Dziwisz (August 1972 – April 1973)
 * 🇵🇱 Janusz Pekowski (April 1973 – June 1975)
 * 🇵🇱 Aleksander Hradecki (July 1975 – March 1976)
 * 🇵🇱 M. Chudziak & 🇵🇱 E. Białas (April 1976 – Sept 1976)
 * 🇵🇱 Jerzy Kopa (1 October 1976 – 20 October 1979)
 * 🇵🇱 Roman Łoś (August 1978, October 1979 – December 1979)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Łazarek (1 January 1981 – 31 December 1984)
 * 🇵🇱 Leszek Jezierski & Jacek Machciński (January 1985 – May 1986)
 * 🇵🇱 Włodzimierz Jakubowski (May 1985 – November 1986)
 * 🇵🇱 Bronisław Waligóra (December 1986 – August 1987)
 * 🇵🇱 J. Kasalik & 🇵🇱 T. Napierała (May 1987 – September 1987)
 * 🇵🇱 Grzegorz Szerszenowicz (September 1987 – June 1988)
 * 🇵🇱 Henryk Apostel (1 July 1988 – 30 November 1988)
 * 🇵🇱 Andrzej Strugarek (December 1988 – August 1989)
 * 🇵🇱 J. Kopa & 🇵🇱 A. Strugarek (22 August 1989 – 19 May 1991)
 * 🇵🇱 Henryk Apostel (20 May 1991 – 5 April 1993)
 * 🇵🇱 Roman Jakóbczak (6 April 1993 – 19 October 1993)
 * 🇵🇱 Jan Stępczak (November 1993 – June 1994)
 * 🇵🇱 Ryszard Matłoka (March 1994)
 * 🇵🇱 Romuald Szukiełowicz (July 1994 – June 1995)
 * 🇵🇱 Zbigniew Franiak (1 July 1995 – 9 May 1996)
 * 🇵🇱 Remigiusz Marchlewicz (May 1996 – June 1996)
 * 🇵🇱 Ryszard Polak (July 1996 – May 1997)
 * 🇵🇱 Remigiusz Marchlewicz (May 1997 – June 1997)
 * 🇵🇱 Krzysztof Pawlak (1 July 1997 – 18 March 1998)
 * 🇵🇱 Remigiusz Marchlewicz (March 1998)
 * 🇵🇱 Jerzy Kopa (23 March 1998 – 29 April 1998)
 * 🇵🇱 Remigiusz Marchlewicz (April 1998 – May 1998)
 * 🇵🇱 Adam Topolski (17 May 1998 – 5 September 1999)
 * 🇵🇱 Marian Kurowski (9 September 1999 – 9 April 2000)
 * 🇵🇱 Zbigniew Franiak (10 April 2000 – 17 April 2000)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Wąsikiewicz (17 April 2000 – 28 May 2000)
 * 🇦🇹 Adolf Pinter (29 May 2000 – 28 August 2000)
 * 🇵🇱 Adam Topolski (29 August 2000 – 1 April 2001)
 * 🇵🇱 Bogusław Baniak (1 April 2001 – 30 September 2002)
 * 🇵🇱 Czesław Jakołcewicz (30 September 2002 – 12 February 2003)
 * 🇨🇿 Bohumil Páník (12 February 2003 – 5 June 2003)
 * 🇨🇿 Libor Pala (6 June 2003 – 15 September 2003)
 * 🇵🇱 Czesław Michniewicz (15 September 2003 – 17 May 2006)
 * 🇵🇱 Franciszek Smuda (17 May 2006 – 5 June 2009)
 * 🇵🇱 Jacek Zieliński (5 June 2009 – 2 November 2010)
 * 🇪🇸 José Mari Bakero (3 November 2010 – 24 February 2012)
 * 🇵🇱 Mariusz Rumak (27 February 2012 – 12 August 2014)
 * 🇵🇱 Krzysztof Chrobak (12 August 2014 – 1 September 2014)
 * 🇵🇱 Maciej Skorża (1 September 2014 – 12 October 2015)
 * 🇵🇱 Jan Urban (12 October 2015 – 29 August 2016)
 * 🇭🇷 Nenad Bjelica (30 August 2016 – 10 May 2018)
 * 🇵🇱 Rafał Ulatowski (10 May 2018 – 30 June 2018)
 * 🇷🇸 Ivan Đurđević (1 July 2018 – 4 November 2018)
 * 🇵🇱 Adam Nawałka (25 November 2018 – 31 March 2019)
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Żuraw (31 March 2019 – 6 April 2021)
 * 🇵🇱 Maciej Skorża (12 April 2021 – 6 June 2022)
 * 🇳🇱 John van den Brom (19 June 2022 – 17 December 2023)
 * 🇵🇱 Mariusz Rumak (18 December 2023 – 30 June 2024)
 * 🇩🇰 Niels Frederiksen (1 July 2024 – present)

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

title: Lech Poznań


text:
Górnik Polkowice

KS Górnik Polkowice is a Polish football club based in Polkowice, Poland. The club currently plays in III liga which is the fourth tier of Polish football. They competed in the top tier for one season in 2003–04.

History
KS Górnik Polkowice were founded in 1947.

From 2003 until 2004, Górnik played their only season in Ekstraklasa, the top tier of Polish football. They drew 0–0 against Świt Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki to finish 14th, which qualified them for a relegation play-out against Cracovia. They lost the relegation play-out 8–0 on aggregate.

In 2021, after winning the II liga, Górnik were promoted to I liga, making their return after they were relegated at the end of the 2011–12 season.

Naming history

 * Klub Sportowy „Włókniarz” Polkowice – 1947
 * Ludowy Zespół Sportowy Polkowice – 1951
 * Terenowy Klub Sportowy „Górnik” – 1967
 * Międzyzakładowy Klub Sportowy „Górnik” Polkowice – 1977
 * Klub Sportowy „Górnik” Polkowice – 1987
 * Klub Sportowy Polkowice sp. z o.o. – 2011
 * Klub Sportowy Górnik Polkowice – 2018

Managers

 * 1956–1970 – Tadeusz Ptasznik
 * 1970–1971 – Ryszard Łakomiec
 * 1971–1972 – Wojciech Gawryszewski
 * 1973–1975 – Alojzy Sitko
 * 1975–1976 – Roman Badak
 * 1976–1981 – Krzysztof Pawlica
 * 1981–1982 – Bogdan Jankowski, Stefan Beńko
 * 1983–1987 – Henryk Markowski
 * 1988 – Andrzej Kot
 * 1989 – Mieczysław Bieniusiewicz, Edward Wojewódzki
 * 1989–1990 – Rudolf Rupa, Piotr Wójcik
 * 1991–1992 – Krzysztof Pawlica
 * 1992–1993 – Ireneusz Frąckowiak, Marian Putyra
 * 1994–1995 – Artur Sikorski
 * 1996 – Bruno Zachariasiewicz, Artur Sikorski
 * 1997 – Stanisław Kumik
 * 1997–2001 – Mirosław Dragan
 * 2001–2002 – Romuald Szukiełowicz
 * 2002–2004 – Mirosław Dragan
 * 2005 – Wiesław Wojno
 * 2005 – Marek Koniarek
 * 2006 – Mirosław Dragan
 * 2006–2011 – Dominik Nowak
 * 2011 – Bartłomiej Majewski
 * 2011–2012 – Janusz Kudyba
 * 2012–2013 – Adam Buczek
 * 2013 – Janusz Kubot
 * 2013 – Zbigniew Mandziejewicz
 * 2014–2017 – Jarosław Pedryc
 * 2017–2020 – Enkeleid Dobi
 * 2020–2021 – Janusz Niedźwiedź
 * 2021 – Paweł Barylski
 * 2021–2022 – Szymon Szydełko
 * 2022–2023 – Tomasz Grzegorczyk
 * 2023–present – Enkeleid Dobi

title: Górnik Polkowice


text: File:EC Me and Mr Johnson.jpg

title: File:EC Me and Mr Johnson.jpg


text: User talk:216.120.8.254

title: User talk:216.120.8.254


text:
Salt March

The Salt march, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March, and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India, led by Mahatma Gandhi. The 24-day march lasted from 12 March 1930 to 6 April 1930 as a direct action campaign of tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British salt monopoly. Another reason for this march was that the Civil Disobedience Movement needed a strong inauguration that would inspire more people to follow Gandhi's example. Gandhi started this march with 78 of his trusted volunteers. The march spanned 387 km, from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, which was called Navsari at that time (now in the state of Gujarat). Growing numbers of Indians joined them along the way. When Gandhi broke the British Raj salt laws at 8:30 am on 6 April 1930, it sparked large-scale acts of civil disobedience against the salt laws by millions of Indians.

After making the salt by evaporation at Dandi, Gandhi continued southward along the coast, making salt and addressing meetings on the way. The Congress Party planned to stage a satyagraha at the Dharasana Salt Works, 40 km south of Dandi. However, Gandhi was arrested on the midnight of 4–5 May 1930, just days before the planned action at Dharasana. The Dandi March and the ensuing Dharasana Satyagraha drew worldwide attention to the Indian independence movement through extensive newspaper and newsreel coverage. The satyagraha against the salt tax continued for almost a year, ending with Gandhi's release from jail and negotiations with Viceroy Lord Irwin at the Second Round Table Conference. Although over 60,000 Indians were jailed as a result of the Salt Satyagraha, the British did not make immediate major concessions.

The Salt Satyagraha campaign was based upon Gandhi's principles of non-violent protest called satyagraha, which he loosely translated as "truth-force". Literally, it is formed from the Sanskrit words satya, "truth", and agraha, "insistence". In early 1920 the Indian National Congress chose satyagraha as their main tactic for winning Indian sovereignty and self-rule from British rule and appointed Gandhi to organise the campaign. Gandhi chose the 1882 British Salt Act as the first target of satyagraha. The Salt March to Dandi, and the beating by the colonial police of hundreds of nonviolent protesters in Dharasana, which received worldwide news coverage, demonstrated the effective use of civil disobedience as a technique for fighting against social and political injustice. The satyagraha teachings of Gandhi and the March to Dandi had a significant influence on American activists Martin Luther King Jr., James Bevel, and others during the Civil Rights Movement for civil rights for African Americans and other minority groups in the 1960s. The march was the most significant organised challenge to British authority since the Non-cooperation movement of 1920–22, and directly followed the Purna Swaraj declaration of sovereignty and self-rule by the Indian National Congress on 26 January 1930 by celebrating Independence Day. It gained worldwide attention which gave impetus to the Indian independence movement and started the nationwide Civil Disobedience Movement which continued until 1934 in Gujarat.

Civil disobedience movement
At midnight on 31 December 1929, the INC (Indian National Congress) raised the triple color flag of India on the banks of the Ravi at Lahore. The Indian National Congress, led by Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, publicly issued the Declaration of Sovereignty and Self-rule, or Purna Swaraj, on 26 January 1930. (Literally in Sanskrit, purna, "complete," swa, "self," raj, "rule," so therefore "complete self-rule") The declaration included the readiness to withhold taxes, and the statement:

"We believe that it is the inalienable right of the Indian people, as of any other people, to have freedom and to enjoy the fruits of their toil and have the necessities of life, so that they may have full opportunities for growth. We believe also that if any government deprives a people of these rights and oppresses them the people have a further right to alter it or abolish it. The British government in India has not only deprived the Indian people of their freedom but has based itself on the exploitation of the masses, and has ruined India economically, politically, culturally, and spiritually. We believe, therefore, that India must sever the British connection and attain Purna Swaraj or complete sovereignty and self-rule."

The Congress Working Committee gave Gandhi the responsibility for organising the first act of civil disobedience, with Congress itself ready to take charge after Gandhi's expected arrest. Gandhi's plan was to begin civil disobedience with a satyagraha aimed at the British salt tax. The 1882 Salt Act gave the British a monopoly on the collection and manufacture of salt, limiting its handling to government salt depots and levying a salt tax. Violation of the Salt Act was a criminal offence. Even though salt was freely available to those living on the coast (by evaporation of sea water), Indians were forced to buy it from the colonial government.

Choice of salt as protest focus
Initially, Gandhi's choice of the salt tax was met with incredulity by the Working Committee of the Congress, Jawaharlal Nehru and Divyalochan Sahu were ambivalent; Sardar Patel suggested a land revenue boycott instead. The Statesman, a prominent newspaper, wrote about the choice: "It is difficult not to laugh, and we imagine that will be the mood of most thinking Indians."

The British colonial administration too was not disturbed by these plans of resistance against the salt tax. The Viceroy himself, Lord Irwin, did not take the threat of a salt protest seriously, writing to London, "At present, the prospect of a salt campaign does not keep me awake at night."

However, Gandhi had sound reasons for his decision. An item of daily use could resonate more with all classes of citizens than an abstract demand for greater political rights. The salt tax represented 8.2% of the British Raj tax revenue, and hurt the poorest Indians the most significantly. Explaining his choice, Gandhi said, "Next to air and water, salt is perhaps the greatest necessity of life." In contrast to the other leaders, the prominent Congress statesman and future Governor-General of India, C. Rajagopalachari, understood Gandhi's viewpoint. In a public meeting at Tuticorin, he said:

"Suppose, a people rise in revolt. They cannot attack the abstract constitution or lead an army against proclamations and statutes ... Civil disobedience has to be directed against the salt tax or the land tax or some other particular point – not that; that is our final end, but for the time being it is our aim, and we must shoot straight."

Gandhi felt that this protest would dramatise Purna Swaraj in a way that was meaningful to every Indian. He also reasoned that it would build unity between Hindus and Muslims by fighting a wrong that touched them equally.

After the protest gathered steam, the leaders realised the power of salt as a symbol. Nehru remarked about the unprecedented popular response, "it seemed as though a spring had been suddenly released."

Satyagraha
Gandhi had a long-standing commitment to nonviolent civil disobedience, which he termed satyagraha, as the basis for achieving Indian sovereignty and self-rule. Referring to the relationship between Satyagraha and Purna Swaraj, Gandhi saw "an inviolable connection between the means and the end as there is between the seed and the tree". He wrote, "If the means employed are impure, the change will not be in the direction of progress but very likely in the opposite. Only a change brought about in our political condition by pure means can lead to real progress."

Satyagraha is a synthesis of the Sanskrit words Satya (truth) and Agraha (insistence on). For Gandhi, satyagraha went far beyond mere "passive resistance" and became strength in practicing nonviolent methods. In his words:

"Truth (satya) implies love, and firmness (agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force. I thus began to call the Indian movement Satyagraha, that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or nonviolence, and gave up the use of the phrase 'passive resistance', in connection with it, so much so that even in English writing we often avoided it and used instead the word 'satyagraha' ..."

His first significant attempt in India at leading mass satyagraha was the non-cooperation movement from 1920 to 1922. Even though it succeeded in raising millions of Indians in protest against the British-created Rowlatt Act, violence broke out at Chauri Chaura, where a mob killed 22 unarmed policemen. Gandhi suspended the protest, against the opposition of other Congress members. He decided that Indians were not yet ready for successful nonviolent resistance. The Bardoli Satyagraha in 1928 was much more successful. It succeeded in paralysing the British government and winning significant concessions. More importantly, due to extensive press coverage, it scored a propaganda victory out of all proportion to its size. Gandhi later claimed that success at Bardoli confirmed his belief in satyagraha and Swaraj: "It is only gradually that we shall come to know the importance of the victory gained at Bardoli ... Bardoli has shown the way and cleared it. Swaraj lies on that route, and that alone is the cure ..." Gandhi recruited heavily from the Bardoli Satyagraha participants for the Dandi march, which passed through many of the same villages that took part in the Bardoli protests. This revolt gained momentum and had support from all parts of India.

Preparing to march
On 5 February, newspapers reported that Gandhi would begin civil disobedience by defying the salt laws. The salt satyagraha would begin on 12 March and end in Dandi with Gandhi breaking the Salt Act on 6 April. Gandhi chose 6 April to launch the mass breaking of the salt laws for a symbolic reason – it was the first day of "National Week", begun in 1919 when Gandhi conceived of the national hartal (strike) against the Rowlatt Act.

Gandhi prepared the worldwide media for the march by issuing regular statements from the Ashram, at his regular prayer meetings, and through direct contact with the press. Expectations were heightened by his repeated statements anticipating arrest, and his increasingly dramatic language as the hour approached: "We are entering upon a life and death struggle, a holy war; we are performing an all-embracing sacrifice in which we wish to offer ourselves as an oblation." Correspondents from dozens of Indian, European, and American newspapers, along with film companies, responded to the drama and began covering the event.

For the march itself, Gandhi wanted the strictest discipline and adherence to satyagraha and ahimsa. For that reason, he recruited the marchers not from Congress Party members, but from the residents of his own ashram, who were trained in Gandhi's strict standards of discipline. The 24-day march would pass through 4 districts and 48 villages. The route of the march, along with each evening's stopping place, was planned based on recruitment potential, past contacts, and timing. Gandhi sent scouts to each village ahead of the march so he could plan his talks at each resting place, based on the needs of the local residents. Events at each village were scheduled and publicised in Indian and foreign press.

On 2 March 1930 Gandhi wrote to the Viceroy, Lord Irwin, offering to stop the march if Irwin met eleven demands, including reduction of land revenue assessments, cutting military spending, imposing a tariff on foreign cloth, and abolishing the salt tax. His strongest appeal to Irwin regarded the salt tax:

"If my letter makes no appeal to your heart, on the eleventh day of this month I shall proceed with such co-workers of the Ashram as I can take, to disregard the provisions of the Salt Laws. I regard this tax to be the most iniquitous of all from the poor man's standpoint. As the sovereignty and self-rule movement is essentially for the poorest in the land, the beginning will be made with this evil."

As mentioned earlier, the Viceroy held any prospect of a "salt protest" in disdain. After he ignored the letter and refused to meet with Gandhi, the march was set in motion. Gandhi remarked, "On bended knees, I asked for bread and I have received stone instead." The eve of the march brought thousands of Indians to Sabarmati to hear Gandhi speak at the regular evening prayer. American academic writing for The Nation reported that "60,000 persons gathered on the bank of the river to hear Gandhi's call to arms. This call to arms was perhaps the most remarkable call to war that has ever been made."

March to Dandi
On 12 March 1930, Gandhi and 78 satyagrahis, among whom were men belonging to almost every region, caste, creed, and religion of India, set out on foot for the coastal village of Dandi in Navsari district of Gujarat, 385 km from their starting point at Sabarmati Ashram. The Salt March was also called the White Flowing River because all the people were joining the procession wearing white Khadi.

According to The Statesman, the official government newspaper which usually played down the size of crowds at Gandhi's functions, 100,000 people crowded the road that separated Sabarmati from Ahmedabad. The first day's march of 21 km ended in the village of Aslali, where Gandhi spoke to a crowd of about 4,000. At Aslali, and the other villages that the march passed through, volunteers collected donations, registered new satyagrahis, and received resignations from village officials who chose to end co-operation with British rule.

As they entered each village, crowds greeted the marchers, beating drums and cymbals. Gandhi gave speeches attacking the salt tax as inhuman, and the salt satyagraha as a "poor man's struggle". Each night they slept in the open. The only thing that was asked of the villagers was food and water to wash with. Gandhi felt that this would bring the poor into the struggle for sovereignty and self-rule, necessary for eventual victory.

Thousands of satyagrahis and leaders like Sarojini Naidu joined him. Every day, more and more people joined the march, until the procession of marchers became at least 3 km long. To keep up their spirits, the marchers used to sing the Hindu Bhajan Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram while walking. At Surat, they were greeted by 30,000 people. When they reached the railhead at Dandi, more than 50,000 were gathered. Gandhi gave interviews and wrote articles along the way. Foreign journalists and three Bombay cinema companies shooting newsreel footage turned Gandhi into a household name in Europe and America (at the end of 1930, Time magazine made him "Man of the Year"). The New York Times wrote almost daily about the Salt March, including two front-page articles on 6 and 7 April. Near the end of the march, Gandhi declared, "I want world sympathy in this battle of right against might."

Upon arriving at the seashore on 5 April, Gandhi was interviewed by an Associated Press reporter. He stated: "I cannot withhold my compliments from the government for the policy of complete non interference adopted by them throughout the march .... I wish I could believe this non-interference was due to any real change of heart or policy. The wanton disregard shown by them to popular feeling in the Legislative Assembly and their high-handed action leave no room for doubt that the policy of heartless exploitation of India is to be persisted in at any cost, and so the only interpretation I can put upon this non-interference is that the British Government, powerful though it is, is sensitive to world opinion which will not tolerate repression of extreme political agitation which civil disobedience undoubtedly is, so long as disobedience remains civil and therefore necessarily non-violent .... It remains to be seen whether the Government will tolerate as they have tolerated the march, the actual breach of the salt laws by countless people from tomorrow."

The following morning, after a prayer, Gandhi raised a lump of salty mud and declared, "With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire." He then boiled it in seawater, producing illegal salt. He implored his thousands of followers to likewise begin making salt along the seashore, "wherever it is convenient" and to instruct villagers in making illegal, but necessary, salt. The others followed him and Sarojini Naidu addressing Gandhi, shouted 'Hail, law breaker '. In a letter to her daughter, Naidu remarked:"The little law breaker is sitting in a state of ‘Maun’ [silence] writing his article of triumph for Young India and I am stretched on a hard bench at the open window of a huge room that has 6 windows open to the sea breeze. As far as the eye can see there is a little Army – thousands of pilgrims who have been pouring in since yesterday to this otherwise deserted and exceedingly primitive village of fishermen."After the Gandhi broke the salt laws, about 700 telegrams were sent out from the post office nearest to Dandi, at Jalalpur. Most of them were by the journalists, who were there to break this news.

First 78 Marchers
78 marchers accompanied Gandhi on his march. Most of them were between the ages of 20 and 30. These men hailed from almost all parts of the country. The march gathered more people as it gained momentum, but the following list of names consists of Gandhi himself and the first 78 marchers who were with Gandhi from the beginning of the Dandi March until the end. Most of them simply dispersed after the march was over.

A memorial has been created inside the campus of IIT Bombay honouring these Satyagrahis who participated in the famous Dandi March.

Mass civil disobedience
Mass civil disobedience spread throughout India as millions broke the salt laws by making salt or buying illegal salt. Salt was sold illegally all over the coast of India. A pinch of salt made by Gandhi himself sold for 1,600 rupees (equivalent to $750 at the time). In reaction, the British government arrested over sixty thousand people by the end of the month.

What had begun as a Salt Satyagraha quickly grew into a mass Satyagraha. British cloth and goods were boycotted. Unpopular forest laws were defied in the Bombay, Mysore and Central Provinces. Gujarati peasants refused to pay tax, under threat of losing their crops and land. In Midnapore, Bengalis took part by refusing to pay the chowkidar tax. The British responded with more laws, including censorship of correspondence and declaring the Congress and its associate organisations illegal. None of those measures slowed the civil disobedience movement.

There were outbreaks of violence in Calcutta (now spelled Kolkata), Karachi, and Gujarat. Unlike his suspension of satyagraha after violence broke out during the Non-co-operation movement, this time Gandhi was "unmoved". Appealing for violence to end, at the same time Gandhi honoured those killed in Chittagong and congratulated their parents "for the finished sacrifices of their sons ... A warrior's death is never a matter for sorrow."

During the first phase of the Indian civil disobedience movement from 1929 to 1931, the second MacDonald ministry headed by Ramsay MacDonald was in power in Britain. The attempted suppression of the movement was presided over by MacDonald and his cabinet (including the Secretary of State for India, William Wedgwood Benn). During this period, the MacDonald ministry also oversaw the suppression of the nascent trade unionist movement in India, which was described by historian Sumit Sarkar as "a massive capitalist and government counter-offensive" against workers' rights.

Qissa Khwani Bazaar massacre

In Peshawar, satyagraha was led by a Muslim Pashtun disciple of Gandhi, Ghaffar Khan, who had trained 50,000 nonviolent activists called Khudai Khidmatgar. On 23 April 1930, Ghaffar Khan was arrested. A crowd of Khudai Khidmatgar gathered in Peshawar's Qissa Kahani (Storytellers) Bazaar. The 2/18 battalion of the Royal Garhwal Rifles were ordered to open fire with machine guns on the unarmed crowd, killing an estimated 200–250 people. The Pashtun satyagrahis acted in accord with their training in nonviolence, willingly facing bullets as the troops fired on them. One British Indian Army soldier, Chandra Singh Garhwali and some other troops from the renowned Royal Garhwal Rifles regiment refused to fire at the crowds. The entire platoon was arrested and many received heavy sentences, including life imprisonment.

Vedaranyam salt march

While Gandhi marched along India's west coast, his close associate C. Rajagopalachari, who would later become India's first Indian Governor-General, organized the Vedaranyam salt march in parallel on the east coast. His group started from Tiruchirappalli, in Madras Presidency (now part of Tamil Nadu), to the coastal village of Vedaranyam. After making illegal salt there, he too was arrested by the British.

Women in civil disobedience
The civil disobedience in 1930 marked the first time women became mass participants in the struggle for freedom. Thousands of women, from large cities to small villages, became active participants in satyagraha. Gandhi had asked that only men take part in the salt march, but eventually women began manufacturing and selling salt throughout India. It was clear that though only men were allowed within the march, that both men and women were expected to forward work that would help dissolve the salt laws. Usha Mehta, an early Gandhian activist, remarked that "Even our old aunts and great-aunts and grandmothers used to bring pitchers of salt water to their houses and manufacture illegal salt. And then they would shout at the top of their voices: 'We have broken the salt law!'" The growing number of women in the fight for sovereignty and self-rule was a "new and serious feature" according to Lord Irwin. A government report on the involvement of women stated "thousands of them emerged ... from the seclusion of their homes ... in order to join Congress demonstrations and assist in picketing: and their presence on these occasions made the work the police was required to perform particularly unpleasant." Though women did become involved in the march, it was clear that Gandhi saw women as still playing a secondary role within the movement, but created the beginning of a push for women to be more involved in the future.

"Sarojini Naidu was among the most visible leaders (male or female) of pre-independent India. As president of the Indian National Congress and the first woman governor of free India, she was a fervent advocate for India, avidly mobilizing support for the Indian independence movement. She was also the first woman to be arrested in the salt march."

Impact
British documents show that the British government was shaken by Satyagraha. Nonviolent protest left the British confused about whether or not to jail Gandhi. John Court Curry, an Indian Imperial Police officer from England, wrote in his memoirs that he felt nausea every time he dealt with Congress demonstrations in 1930. Curry and others in British government, including Wedgwood Benn, Secretary of State for India, preferred fighting violent rather than nonviolent opponents.

Dharasana Satyagraha and aftermath

Gandhi himself avoided further active involvement after the march, though he stayed in close contact with the developments throughout India. He created a temporary ashram near Dandi. From there, he urged women followers in Bombay (now Mumbai) to picket liquor shops and foreign cloth. He said that "a bonfire should be made of foreign cloth. Schools and colleges should become empty."

For his next major action, Gandhi decided on a raid of the Dharasana Salt Works in Gujarat, 40 km south of Dandi. He wrote to Lord Irwin, again telling him of his plans. Around midnight of 4 May, as Gandhi was sleeping on a cot in a mango grove, the District magistrate of Surat drove up with two Indian officers and thirty heavily armed constables. He was arrested under an 1827 regulation calling for the jailing of people engaged in unlawful activities, and held without trial near Poona (now Pune).

The Dharasana Satyagraha went ahead as planned, with Abbas Tyabji, a seventy-six-year-old retired judge, leading the march with Gandhi's wife Kasturba at his side. Both were arrested before reaching Dharasana and sentenced to three months in prison. After their arrests, the march continued under the leadership of Sarojini Naidu, a woman poet and freedom fighter, who warned the satyagrahis, "You must not use any violence under any circumstances. You will be beaten, but you must not resist: you must not even raise a hand to ward off blows." Soldiers began clubbing the satyagrahis with steel tipped lathis in an incident that attracted international attention. United Press correspondent Webb Miller reported that:

Not one of the marchers even raised an arm to fend off the blows. They went down like ten-pins. From where I stood I heard the sickening whacks of the clubs on unprotected skulls. The waiting crowd of watchers groaned and sucked in their breaths in sympathetic pain at every blow. Those struck down fell sprawling, unconscious or writhing in pain with fractured skulls or broken shoulders. In two or three minutes the ground was quilted with bodies. Great patches of blood widened on their white clothes. The survivors without breaking ranks silently and doggedly marched on until struck down ... Finally the police became enraged by the non-resistance ... They commenced savagely kicking the seated men in the abdomen and testicles. The injured men writhed and squealed in agony, which seemed to inflame the fury of the police ... The police then began dragging the sitting men by the arms or feet, sometimes for a hundred yards, and throwing them into ditches.

Vithalbhai Patel, former Speaker of the Assembly, watched the beatings and remarked, "All hope of reconciling India with the British Empire is lost forever." Miller's first attempts at telegraphing the story to his publisher in England were censored by the British telegraph operators in India. Only after threatening to expose British censorship was his story allowed to pass. The story appeared in 1,350 newspapers throughout the world and was read into the official record of the United States Senate by Senator John J. Blaine.

Salt Satyagraha succeeded in drawing the attention of the world. Millions saw the newsreels showing the march. Time declared Gandhi its 1930 Man of the Year, comparing Gandhi's march to the sea "to defy Britain's salt tax as some New Englanders once defied a British tea tax". Civil disobedience continued until early 1931, when Gandhi was finally released from prison to hold talks with Irwin. It was the first time the two held talks on equal terms, and resulted in the Gandhi–Irwin Pact. The talks would lead to the Second Round Table Conference at the end of 1931.

Long-term effect
The Salt Satyagraha did not produce immediate progress toward dominion status or self-rule for India, did not elicit major policy concessions from the British, or attract much Muslim support. Congress leaders decided to end satyagraha as official policy in 1934, and Nehru and other Congress members drifted further apart from Gandhi, who withdrew from Congress to concentrate on his Constructive Programme, which included his efforts to end untouchability in the Harijan movement. However, even though British authorities were again in control by the mid-1930s, Indian, British, and world opinion increasingly began to recognise the legitimacy of claims by Gandhi and the Congress Party for sovereignty and self-rule. The Satyagraha campaign of the 1930s also forced the British to recognise that their control of India depended entirely on the consent of the Indians – Salt Satyagraha was a significant step in the British losing that consent.

Nehru considered the Salt Satyagraha the high-water mark of his association with Gandhi, and felt that its lasting importance was in changing the attitudes of Indians:

"Of course these movements exercised tremendous pressure on the British Government and shook the government machinery. But the real importance, to my mind, lay in the effect they had on our own people, and especially the village masses ... Non-cooperation dragged them out of the mire and gave them self-respect and self-reliance ... They acted courageously and did not submit so easily to unjust oppression; their outlook widened and they began to think a little in terms of India as a whole ... It was a remarkable transformation and the Congress, under Gandhi's leadership, must have the credit for it."

More than thirty years later, Satyagraha and the March to Dandi exercised a strong influence on American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., and his fight for civil rights for blacks in the 1960s:

"Like most people, I had heard of Gandhi, but I had never studied him seriously. As I read I became deeply fascinated by his campaigns of nonviolent resistance. I was particularly moved by his Salt March to the Sea and his numerous fasts. The whole concept of Satyagraha (Satya is truth which equals love, and agraha is force; Satyagraha, therefore, means truth force or love force) was profoundly significant to me. As I delved deeper into the philosophy of Gandhi, my skepticism concerning the power of love gradually diminished, and I came to see for the first time its potency in the area of social reform."

Re-enactment in 2005
To commemorate the Great Salt March, the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation re-enacted the Salt March on its 75th anniversary, in its exact historical schedule and route followed by the Mahatma and his band of 78 marchers. The event was known as the "International Walk for Justice and Freedom". What started as a personal pilgrimage for Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi turned into an international event with 900 registered participants from nine nations and on a daily basis the numbers swelled to a couple of thousands. There was extensive reportage in the international media.

The participants halted at Dandi on the night of 5 April, with the commemoration ending on 7 April. At the finale in Dandi, the prime minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh, greeted the marchers and promised to build an appropriate monument at Dandi to commemorate the marchers and the historical event. The route from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi has now been christened as the Dandi Path and has been declared a historical heritage route.

India issued a series of commemorative stamps in 1980 and 2005, on the 50th and 75th anniversaries of the Dandi March.

Memorial
The National Salt Satyagraha Memorial, a memorial museum, dedicated to the event was opened in Dandi on 30 January 2019.

March Route
Day 1. Ahmedabad to Anslali: 12 March 1930

Day 2. Aslali to Navagam: 13 March 1930

Day 3. Navagam to Matar: 14 March 1930

Day 4. Matar to Nadiad: 15 March 1930

Day 5. Nadiad to Anand: 16 March 1930

Day 6. Rest Day in Anand: 17 March 1930

Day 7. Anand to Borsad: 18 March 1930

Day 8. Borsad to Kareli (Crossing the Mahi River): 19 March 1930

Day 9. Rest Day in Kareli: 20 March 1930

Day 10. Kareli to Ankhi: 21 March 1930

Day 11. Ankhi to Amod: 22 March 1930

Day 12. Amod to Samni: 23 March 1930

Day 13. Rest Day in Samni: 24 March 1930

Day 14. Samni to Derol: 25 March 1930

Day 15. Derol to Ankleshwar (Crossing the Narmada River): 26 March 1930

Day 16. Ankleswar to Mangrol: 27 March 1930

Day 17. Mangrol to Umracchi: 28 March 1930

Day 18. Umracchi to Bhatgam: 29 March 1930

Day 19. Bhatgam to Delad: 30 March 1930

Day 20. Rest Day in Delad: 31 March 1930

Day 21. Delad to Surat (Crossing the Tapi River): 1 April 1930

Day 22. Surat to Vanz: 2 April 1930

Day 23. Vanz to Navsari: 3 April 1930

Day 24. Navsari to Matwad: 4 April 1930

Day 25. Matwad to Dandi: 5 & 6 April 1930

title: Salt March