Widzew Łódź

Reaktywacja Tradycji Sportowych Widzew Łódź
Full name Reaktywacja Tradycji Sportowych Widzew Łódź
Founded 1910 as TMRF Widzew
1922 as RTS Widzew
2014 reformed as RTS Widzew
Ground Stadion Widzewa
Łódź, Poland
Capacity 18,008
Chairman Poland Przemysław Klementowski
Manager Poland Radosław Mroczkowski
League II liga (3rd level)
2017–18 1st

RTS Widzew Łódź (Polish pronunciation: [ˈɛr ˈtɛ ˈɛs ˈvʲidzɛf ˈwut͡ɕ]) is a Polish football club based in Łódź. The club was founded in 1922 but traces its roots to TMRF Widzew founded in 1910, referring to the Widzew-district of Łódź. Its official colours are red and white, hence their nicknames Czerwona Armia (Red Army) and Czerwono-biało-czerwoni (Red-white-reds).

History

The club traces its roots to 5 November 1910 as Towarzystwo Miłośników Rozwoju Fizycznego Widzew (Society of Lovers of Physical Development Widzew) in Widzew, then a suburb (now district) of Łódź. In 1922 the club was founded as Robotnicze Towarzystwo Sportowe Widzew (Workers' Sports Society Widzew).

Widzew has won four Polish league championships (in 1981, 1982, 1996 and 1997) and the 1985 Polish Cup.

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.

Recent history

New ground

In the beginning of season 2007/2008 Widzew was bought by one of the wealthiest men in Poland – Sylwester Cacek.[1]

In January 2008, while playing in the Second League, the Polish Football Association ruled that Widzew Łódź should be relegated due to their involvement in a corruption scandal. However, Widzew became champion that year, and were allowed to stay in the second division, which was renamed First League (I liga) before the start of the 2008–09 season. Despite the deduction of six points as a penalty, Widzew managed to become champions once again, and were finally promoted to the Ekstraklasa. In total, Widzew played 35 seasons at the highest level before being relegated in the 2013–14 season.

Due to financial problems, Widzew finished last at the end of the 2014–15 I Liga season. Subsequently, the club ruled by Sylwester Cacek went bankrupt.

In consequence local businessmen led by 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),[2] which continues the tradition of the old RTS Widzew Łódź. The new association was registered in a Polish court on 2.07.2015, and within a few weeks of summer 2015 they managed to find new coach Witold Obarek and collect a new squad, which started the 2015/2016 season in the fifth tier of Polish football.

Achievements

Domestic

Ultras of Widzew
Ultras of Widzew

Europe

Youth Team

Honours in the Polish Ekstraklasa (to 2008 Polish 1st Division)

Season Position Matches Points Goals W.-D.-L.
1 1948 14 (relegation to 2nd division) 26 13 pts. 31–99 5–3–18
2 1975/76 5 30 32 pts. 33–33 10–12–8
3 1976/77 2 30 38 pts. 46–31 14–10–6
4 1977/78 10 30 28 pts. 34–40 9–10–11
5 1978/79 2 30 39 pts. 37–26 14–11–5
6 1979/80 2 30 36 pts. 47–39 13–10–7
7 1980/81 1 30 39 pts. 39–25 14–11–5
8 1981/82 1 30 39 pts. 45–31 14–11–5
9 1982/83 2 30 38 pts. 50–30 13–12–5
10 1983/84 2 30 42 pts. 43–25 15–12–3
11 1984/85 3 30 38 pts. 34–16 13–12–5
12 1985/86 3 30 41 pts. 40–25 15–11–4
13 1986/87 6 30 36 pts. 34–29 14–7–9
14 1987/88 5 30 31 pts. 28–24 8–15–7
15 1988/89 7 30 29 pts. 27–27 9–12–9
16 1989/90 15 (relegation to 2nd division.) 30 17 pts. 22–39 4–12–14
17 1991/92 3 34 43 pts. 48–28 17–9–8
18 1992/93 5 34 43 pts. 60–42 16–11–7
19 1993/94 6 34 39 pts. 45–33 12–15–7
20 1994/95 2 34 45 pts. 48–25 17–11–6
21 1995/96 1 34 88 pts. 84–22 27–7–0
22 1996/97 1 34 81 pts. 74–20 25–6–3
23 1997/98 4 34 61 pts. 53–34 18–7–9
24 1998/99 2 30 56 pts. 50–33 18–2–10
25 1999/00 7 30 40 pts. 48–54 11–7–12
26 2000/01 12 30 36 pts. 33–40 9–9–12
27 2001/02
Autumn round
– group A:		 8 14 11 pts. 9–24 3–2–9
Spring round
– g. relegation:		 2 14 31 pts. 19–8 6–7–1
28 2002/03 9 30 37 pts. 29–39 10–7–13
29 2003/04 14 (relegation) 26 19 pts. 25–52 4–7–15
30 2006/07 12 30 28 pts. 27–48 7–7–16
31 2007/08 15 (relegation) 30 26 pts. 27–42 5–11–14
32 2010/11 9 30 43 pts. 41–34 11–10–9
33 2011/12 11 30 39 pts. 25–26 9–12–9
34 2012/13 13 30 33 pts. 30–41 8–9–13
35 2013/14 15 (relegation to 1st division) 37 22 pts. 36–59 8–9–20
36 2014/15 17 (relegation to 4th division) 34 22 pts. 25–58 4–10–20
37 2015/16 1 (promotion to III liga / 4th level) 88 pts. 86–16 27–7–4
38 2016/17 3 34 66 pts. 57–34 19–9–6
39 2017/18 1 (promotion to II liga / 3rd level) 34

Widzew in Europe

New ground
Old ground
Season Competition Round Club Score
1977–78 UEFA Cup 1R England Manchester City 2–2, 0–0
2R Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 3–5, 0–1
1979–80 UEFA Cup 1R France AS Saint-Étienne 2–1, 0–3
1980–81 UEFA Cup 1R England Manchester United 1–1, 0–0
2R Italy Juventus FC 3–1, 1–3 p. 4–1
3R England Ipswich Town 0–5, 1–0
1981–82 European Cup 1R Belgium RSC Anderlecht 1–4, 1–2
1982–83 European Cup 1R Malta Hibernians FC 4–1, 3–1
2R Austria SK Rapid Wien 1–2, 5–3
1/4F England Liverpool F.C. 2–0, 2–3
1/2F Italy Juventus FC 0–2, 2–2
1983–84 UEFA Cup 1R Sweden IF Elfsborg 0–0, 2–2
2R Czechoslovakia Sparta Prague 1–0, 0–3
1984–85 UEFA Cup 1R Denmark Aarhus Gymnastik Forening 2–0, 0–1
2R West Germany Borussia Mönchengladbach 2–3, 1–0
3R Soviet Union FC Dinamo Minsk 0–2, 1–0
1985–86 European Cup Winners' Cup 1R Turkey Galatasaray SK 0–1, 2–1
1986–87 UEFA Cup 1R Austria LASK Linz 1–1, 1–0
2R West Germany Bayer 05 Uerdingen 0–0, 0–2
1992–93 UEFA Cup 1R Germany Eintracht Frankfurt 2–2, 0–9
1995–96 UEFA Cup Q Wales Bangor City FC 4–0, 1–0
1R Ukraine FC Chornomorets Odessa 1–0, 0–1 p. 5–6
1996–97 UEFA Champions League Q Denmark Brøndby IF 2–1, 2–3
GR Germany Borussia Dortmund 1–2, 2–2
GR Spain Atlético Madrid 1–4, 0–1
GR Romania Steaua Bucureşti 0–1, 2–0
1997–98 UEFA Champions League 1Q Azerbaijan Neftchi Baku 2–0, 8–0
2Q Italy Parma FC 1–3, 0–4
UEFA Cup 1R Italy Udinese Calcio 1–0, 0–3
1999–00 UEFA Champions League 2Q Bulgaria Litex Lovech 4–1, 1–4 p. 3–2
3Q Italy ACF Fiorentina 1–3, 0–2
UEFA Cup 1R Latvia Skonto FC 0–1, 2–0
2R France AS Monaco 1–1, 0–2

Current squad

As of 11 August, 2018.[3]

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

No. Position Player
2 Poland DF Radosław Sylwestrzak
3 Poland DF Marcin Pigiel
4 Poland MF Maciej Kazimierowicz
6 Poland DF Bartłomiej Niedziela
7 Poland MF Mateusz Michalski
8 Poland DF Sebastian Kamiński
9 Poland FW Daniel Świderski
10 Poland MF Kacper Falon
13 Lithuania MF Simonas Paulius
14 Croatia MF Dario Krišto
17 Poland MF Marcin Pieńkowski
18 Poland MF Daniel Mąka
19 Poland DF Damian Paszliński
No. Position Player
20 Poland FW Michał Miller
21 Poland GK Patryk Wolański
22 Poland MF Marcel Pięczek
23 Slovakia FW Róbert Demjan
28 Poland DF Marcin Kozłowski
29 Poland MF Michael Ameyaw
30 Poland DF Mikołaj Gibas
37 Slovakia MF Marek Zuziak
77 Poland MF Konrad Gutowski
85 Poland GK Maciej Humerski
92 Croatia FW Filip Mihaljević
95 Poland DF Sebastian Zieleniecki
99 Poland FW Karol Stanek

Notable players

Managers

[4]

Stadium

The club's home stadium was the Stadion Widzewa, also called Stadion im. Ludwika Sobolewskiego, which 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 2014–2015 season, its last season as a professional club, Widzewa played their home matches in Byczyna near Poddębice, 40 km west of Łódź.[5]

After bankruptcy and relegation to the 4th division a rebuilt team was forced to play its domestic games in Łódź at UKS SMS Łódź stadium,[6] during the construction of a new Stadion Widzewa stadium.

The first match on new stadium was played on 18 March 2017, Widzew defeated Motor Lubawa 2:0.[7] 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. Widzew fans maintain friendly relations with fans of Ruch Chorzów, Elana Toruń, Wisła Kraków and PFC CSKA Moscow.[8]

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.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Historia Widzewa
  2. ↑ Jest nowy Widzew! Reaktywacja Tradycji Sportowych Widzew Łódź
  3. ↑ "Widzew Łódź current squad" (in Polish).
  4. ↑ If not marked in a different way – I league
  5. ↑ Byczyna dla Widzewa. Jest umowa. Władze klubu dogadały się z gminą Poddębice
  6. ↑ http://www.expressilustrowany.pl/artykul/3932343,rts-widzew-bedzie-gral-na-stadionie-sms,id,t.html RTS Widzew będzie grał na stadionie SMS
  7. ↑ https://widzew.com/-/wygrana-na-otwarcie-stadionu-relacja-z-meczu-z-motorem-lubawa/
  8. ↑ http://www.widzewtomy.net/
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