Stal Rzeszów (football)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Stal Rzeszów" football – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Stal Rzeszów

Full name	Stal Rzeszów Spółka Akcyjna
Founded	1944; 80 years ago (1944)
Ground	Stadion Miejski w Rzeszowie
Capacity	12,000[1]
Chairman	Rafał Kalisz
Manager	Marek Zub
League	I liga
2023–24	I liga, 11th of 18
Website	https://stalrzeszow.pl
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Stal Rzeszów sections
Acrobatic gymnastics Boxing Cycling Diving Football Football II Ice hockey Motorcycle speedway Wrestling

Stal Rzeszów is a Polish football club based in Rzeszów, Poland, as part of a multi-sports club. They currently compete in the I liga, the second tier of Polish league football.

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (July 2020)

The history of Stal Rzeszów dates back to November 1944, when a group of sports enthusiasts, working at WSK PZL Rzeszów (Transport Equipment Enterprise) decided to form a Sports Circle. With support of the Youth Organization of the Association of Workers University (Organizacja Mlodziezy Towarzystwa Uniwersytetu Robotniczego, OM TUR), the new club was managed by Bronislaw Szczoczarz.

In March 1945, football team of PZL OM TUR was formed, under manager Jan Polak. In its first game, OM TUR faced Szturmowiec (Walter) Rzeszów, the match ended in a 2–2 draw. By the summer of 1945, OM TUR played several friendly games, facing Sokol Rzeszów (4–6), Czuwaj Lancut (2–6), and in June 1945, it played in the City of Rzeszów Cup tournament, losing in the final 1–3 to Resovia.

In the autumn of 1946, a series of playoffs took place, in order to find best teams for the newly created Rzeszów A-Class. PZL OM TUR managed to qualify to the league, together with such teams, as Legia Krosno, Nafta Krosno, Orzel Gorlice, Sanoczanka, Cukrownia Przeworsk, Resovia, Sokol Rzeszów, Czuwaj Przemysl and Polonia Przemysl. By 1955, however, the team did not have its own field, and had to use the fields of other clubs. On 26 June 1955, the first game took place at the newly built PZL Rzeszów stadium, at Hetmanska Street. The reserve team of Poland B faced Bulgarian reserves (1–1). In the second game of the day, Stal Rzeszów, the host, tied 1–1 with Poland U-19 team.

On 15 February 1948 the name of the club was changed into Union Sports Club of Metal Workers PZL Rzeszów (Zwiakzkowy Klub Sportowy Metalowców PZL w Rzeszowie). The club was overseen by the Central Union of Metal Workers, based in Katowice. By 1949, PZL Rzeszów had six departments: boxing (since 1944), football (since 1945), track and field (since 1945), chess (since 1947), table tennis (since 1948), speedway (since 1949). Finally, in May 1949, the name of the club was changed into Union Sports Club (Zakładowy Klub Sportowy) Stal Rzeszów.

In 1953, Stal qualified to the semifinal of the Polish Cup, where it lost 3–4 to AKS Chorzów. In 1956, Stal won regional games of Rzeszów League (III level of Polish football tier), qualifying to the Second Division playoffs, where it faced Piast Gliwice (2–2, 1–0), and Arkonia Szczecin (0–2, 2–0)

After the promotion, several players joined Stal for the upcoming 1957/58 season of the Second Division. Before the games, Polish Football Association decided to form two groups of the second level. Stal was in Group South, among such sides, as Cracovia, Garbarnia Kraków, Wawel Kraków, Piast Gliwice, Concordia Knurow, Bron Radom, Stal Mielec, AKS Chelmek, Naprzod Lipiny, Szombierki Bytom, AKS Chorzów.

In its first game, Stal faced Szombierki, beating the opponent 2–1. After the first round, Stal was in the 8th position, and after the whole season, Stal had 22 points, with goals 40–30, which made it the 6th team of the group.

In mid-1958, Tadeusz Hogendorf became new manager of Stal. By the end of the season, Stal was very lucky to avoid relegation. In 1960, Stal was 8th; in 1961, 5th; and in 1962, 9th. Before the 1962 season, PZPN divided the Second Division into two groups: A and B. Stal was in Group A, which consisted of 8 teams (Unia Racibórz, Unia Tarnów, Naprzód Lipiny, Piast Gliwice, MZKS Krosno, Polonia Bydgoszcz, Slavia Ruda Slaska), and won the games, qualifying to the Ekstraklasa. The decisive game took place on 21 June 1962 in Rzeszów, vs. Piast Gliwice. With the attendance of 25,000, Stal won 2–1.

In July 1962, Stal went on a summer camp in Finland. First Ekstraklasa game took place on 12 August 1962: Stal lost 0–1 at home to Lechia Gdańsk. In the second game, Stal lost in Kraków to Wisła Kraków (0–2). First, historic victory took place in the third round, when Stal beat at home 3–0 ŁKS Łódź.

Stal remained in the Ekstraklasa for ten years, until 1972. It was regarded as an average team, without major successes. Its top player at that time was Jan Domarski, who capped for Poland 17 times.

In 2012 a joint-stock company was established which took over the original club. Stal currently plays in the II liga. From April 2018, the main sponsor of the team is Fibrain – a Polish manufacturer of fiber optic solutions.

On 27 April 2022 Stal gained promotion to the I liga following Ruch Chorzów's draw against Wisła Puławy.^[2] On 1 May 2022, after a 4–1 away win against Pogoń Siedlce, Stal secured the II liga title with 3 games left.^[3]

• Ekstraklasa
  • Best finish: 7th in 1966
  • Participation: 11x

• I liga
  • Champions: 1962, 1974–75

• II liga
  • Champions: 1956, 1979–80, 1983–84, 1986–87, 2021–22
    • Runners-up: 1953, 1954, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1982–83, 1985–86

• III liga
  • Champions: 1998–99, 2001–02, 2014–15, 2018–19
  • Runners-up: 2008–09, 2015–16

• Polish Cup
  • Winners: 1974–75
  • Semi-finalists: 1973–74
  • Quarter-finalists: 1971–72, 1975–76, 1990–91, 1991–92

• European Cup Winners' Cup
  • Second round: 1975–76

• Polish U-19 Championship
  • Third place: 1983, 1986, 2010

As of 16 November 2024.^[4]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  POL Krzysztof Bąkowski (on loan from Lech Poznań) 2 DF  POL Patryk Warczak 4 DF  POL Michał Synoś 9 FW  POL Tomasz Bała 10 MF  BIH Haris Duljević 11 MF  SRB Andreja Prokić (captain) 12 GK  POL Jakub Raciniewski 14 DF  POL Kamil Kościelny 18 DF  POL Krystian Wachowiak 22 DF  SVK Milan Šimčák 24 GK  POL Gerard Bieszczad 27 DF  COL César Peña

No. Pos. Nation Player 31 MF  LUX Sébastien Thill 39 DF  POL Marcin Kaczor 41 MF  POL Karol Łysiak 42 MF  POL Szymon Kądziołka 44 MF  POL Benedykt Piotrowski 45 DF  POL Kacper Paśko 46 MF  POL Szymon Łyczko 48 FW  POL Kacper Plichta 53 MF  POL Artur Gaża 91 DF  POL Paweł Oleksy — MF  UKR Ilya Postupalskyi

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 30 MF  COL Jesús Díaz (at Raków Częstochowa until 30 June 2025) 47 FW  POL Szymon Salamon (at Czarni Połaniec until 30 June 2025)

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  POL Piotr Chrapusta (at Wisłoka Dębica until 30 June 2025)

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Aggregate
1975–76	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	First Round	Skeid	4–1[5][6]	4–0[7][8]	8–1
		Second Round	Wrexham A.F.C.	1–1[9][10]	0–2[11][12]	1–3

Season	Competition	Position	Matches				Points	Goals			Comments	Most goals
			Played	W	D	L		+	-	+/-
1953	Third tier	2/12	22	16	3	3	35	67	19	+48
1954		2/9	16	10	2	4	22	42	17	+25
1955		3/12	22	10	6	6	26	51	31	+20
1956		1/12	22	16	4	2	36	60	18	+42	Promotion
1957	Second tier	6/12	22	10	2	10	22	40	30	+10		10 Rafał Anioła
1958		10/12	22	6	7	9	19	28	33	−5		10 Ludwik Poświat
1959		8/12	22	8	7	7	23	24	23	+1		10 Ludwik Poświat
1960		5/12	22	9	5	8	23	26	29	−3		11 Ludwik Poświat
1961		9/18	34	11	12	11	34	41	40	+1		6 L. Szalacha, S. Stawarz
1962		1/8	14	10	1	3	21	26	13	+13	Promotion	7 Kazimierz Cholewa
1962–63	Top tier	9/14	26	7	9	10	23	33	39	−6		9 Ludwik Poświat
1963–64		11/14	26	8	7	11	23	32	44	−12		8 Zygmunt Marciniak
1964–65		12/14	26	5	13	8	23	30	35	−5		8 Joachim Krajczy
1965–66		7/14	26	8	10	8	26	29	30	−1		8 Jan Domarski
1966–67		8/14	26	9	8	9	26	24	30	−6		10 Jan Domarski
1967–68		11/14	26	8	7	11	23	24	39	−15		8 Jan Domarski
1968–69		12/14	26	7	8	11	22	18	31	−13		6 Stanisław Stawarz
1969–70		9/14	26	9	5	12	23	30	36	−6		10 Jan Domarski
1970–71		9/14	26	6	12	8	24	34	26	+8		9 Ryszard Duda
1971–72		13/14	26	4	10	12	18	20	32	−12	Relegation	6 Ryszard Duda
1972–73	Second tier	12/16	30	7	13	10	27	27	33	−6		6 Janusz Krawczyk
1973–74		6/16	30	12	8	10	32	34	25	+9		12 Janusz Krawczyk
1974–75		1/16	30	15	11	4	41	44	16	+28	Promotion, won the Polish Cup	11 Zdzisław Napieracz
1975–76	Top tier	15/16	30	8	8	14	24	23	35	−12	Relegation	8 Marian Kozerski
1976–77	Second tier	14/16	30	7	12	11	26	23	40	−17	Relegation	6 Stanisław Curyło
1977–78	Third tier	2/14	26	13	5	8	31	35	22	+13
1978–79		2/15	28	19	5	4	43	67	13	+54
1979–80		1/15	28	21	3	4	45	47	17	+30	Promotion
1980–81	Second tier	6/16	30	11	11	8	33	33	29	+4		7 Aleksander Siekieryn
1981–82		14/16	30	7	10	13	24	23	34	−11	Relegation	5 M. Chamielec, A. Banasik
1982–83	Third tier	2/14	26	13	12	1	38	44	16	+28
1983–84		1/16	30	22	7	1	51	65	14	+51	Promotion
1984–85	Second tier	13/16	30	7	12	11	26	20	31	−11	Relegation	4 Zbigniew Znojek
1985–86	Third tier	2/14	26	15	7	4	37	51	17	+34
1986–87		1/14	26	17	6	3	47	61	15	+46	Promotion
1987–88	Second tier	4/16	30	13	7	10	35	41	32	+9		7 S. Sroczyński, R. Kaszuba
1988–89		5/16	30	13	10	7	38	38	26	+12		8 Stanisław Sroczyński
1989–90		7/20	38	15	13	10	44	37	31	+6		7 Paweł Kloc
1990–91		15/20	38	10	15	13	35	44	50	−6		14 Robert Bąk
1991–92		3/18	34	15	13	6	43	44	28	+16		7 Zbigniew Znojek
1992–93		10/18	34	12	8	14	32	31	35	−4		11 Paweł Kloc
1993–94		16/18	34	7	14	13	28	29	34	−5	Relegation	6 Marek Kogut
1994–95	Third tier	3/18	34	17	11	6	45	55	28	+27		10 Tomasz Tułacz
1995–96		4/18	34	20	6	8	66	70	32	+38		23 Paweł Koziołek
1996–97		3/18	34	17	11	6	62	82	40	+42		26 Paweł Koziołek
1997–98		10/18	34	11	10	13	43	43	48	−5	Relegation	10 M. Omiotek, G. Musiał
1998–99	Fourth tier	1/18	34	23	8	3	77	73	15	+58	Promotion	19 Jarosław Kuter
1999–2000	Third tier	6/18	34	15	7	12	52	37	32	+5		11 Marcin Pacuła
2000–01		16/19	36	12	8	16	44	31	44	−13	Relegation	4 Jarosław Kuter
2001–02	Fourth tier	1/18	34	23	8	3	77	76	18	+58	Promotion	16 Paweł Kloc
2002–03	Third tier	3/17	32	15	8	9	53	41	33	+8		9 Łukasz Szczoczarz
2003–04		2/16	30	18	7	5	61	45	22	+23	Play-off to II league	7 P. Kloc, K. Wójcik
2004–05		4/16	30	17	5	8	56	50	31	+19		9 Krzysztof Szymański
2005–06		5/16	30	14	8	8	50	47	36	+11		17 Wojciech Fabianowski
2006–07		5/16	30	15	5	10	50	58	31	+27		13 Łukasz Szczoczarz
2007–08		10/17	32	10	10	12	40	28	34	−6	Relegation, competition reform	5 Krzysztof Szymański
2008–09	Fourth tier	2/16	30	16	8	6	56	52	25	+27	Promotion	19 Ireneusz Gryboś
2009–10	Third tier	12/18	34	11	9	14	42	47	49	−2		12 Ireneusz Gryboś
2010–11		8/18	34	12	12	10	48	55	46	+9		14 Wojciech Fabianowski
2011–12		11/17	30	9	9	12	36	31	34	−3		4 D. Florian, K. Maca, A. Prokić
2012–13		11/18	34	9	15	10	42	37	32	5		10 Andreja Prokić
2013–14		11/18	34	12	11	11	47	40	40	0	Relegation	16 Piotr Prędota
2014–15	Fourth tier	1/18	34	21	10	3	73	84	29	+55	Playoff to 2nd league	30 Piotr Prędota
2015–16		2/18	34	23	5	6	74	80	33	+47		20 Piotr Prędota
2016–17		3/18	32	20	4	8	64	70	32	+38		17 Wojciech Reiman
2017–18		6/18	34	16	7	11	55	56	40	+16		15 Wojciech Reiman
2018–19		1/18	34	22	10	2	76	87	27	+60	Promotion	20 Tomasz Płonka
2019–20	Third tier	6/18	34	15	6	13	51	55	44	+11	Play-off to II league	9 Artur Pląskowski
2020–21		10/19	36	14	8	14	50	58	60	-2		12 Wojciech Reiman
2021–22		1/18	34	23	8	3	77	75	35	+40	Promoted	11 Damian Michalik
2022–23	Second tier	6/18	34	14	9	11	51	57	44	+13	Lost the promotion play-offs	10 Damian Michalik
2023–24		11/18	34	14	6	14	48	53	60	-7		8 Adler Da Silva

• Football in Poland
• List of football teams
• Champions' Cup/League
• UEFA Cup

• Official website (in Polish)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stal Rzeszów.