GKS Bełchatów

GKS Bełchatów
	GKS Bełchatów
Basic data
Surname	Górniczy Klub Sportowy Bełchatów
Seat	Bełchatów
founding	1977
Colours	green-black-white
president	Wiktor Rydz
Website	gksbelchatow.com
First soccer team
Head coach	Artur Derbin
Venue	GIEKSA Arena
Places	5,238
league	1st League
2018/19	3rd place, 2nd league ▲
home	Away

The GKS Bełchatów (completely Górniczy Klub Sportowy Bełchatów ) is a football club from Bełchatów , a Polish city 45 km south of Łódź . The club, which was founded on November 26, 1977 , rose to the Ekstraklasa for the first time in six years in 2005 . He achieved with the finals in the Polish Football Cup in 1996 and 1999 and the runner-up in the 2006/07 season, the greatest club successes. The club's home venue is the GIEKSA Arena .

history

GKS Bełchatów started in 2005 in its fourth first division season. Only once - in the 1995/96 game year - the team managed to stay in Poland's top football league.

The first game year in Poland's top division began for GKS Bełchatów on July 29, 1995 with a 3: 4 defeat against Górnik Zabrze . The winning goal of the guests in the 84th minute initiated a negative series that should apparently lead the newly promoted straight back into the second division. On the second matchday Bełchatów lost against Łódzki KS in the final minutes again just 0: 1 and was still without a point after five matchdays. Only three consecutive home games, of which Bełchatów won two, stopped this series. Until the winter break, however, there were no further wins and with just nine points - twelve points behind the saving 14th place - the relegation seemed inevitable. After all, Bełchatów achieved a 1-1 draw at Pogoń Stettin after seven defeats and a draw on the last match day of the first half of the season . At the time, nobody could have guessed what significance Janusz Prucheński's equalizer in the final minute would have for Bełchatów.

In April 1996 Bełchatów started a final offensive, which should bring them the relegation no longer considered possible. In the past two months, the club won nine of the 13 outstanding games and were only defeated by Widzew Łódź and Legia Warsaw - two overpowering teams that prevailed at the end of the season by over 30 points ahead of third. Nevertheless, the relegation could not have been avoided if Jacek Berensztajn had not become the great hero of his team in the last game against Pogoń Stettin . With his 2-1 winner in the 86th minute, Bełchatów literally drew level with the defeated Szczecinians at the last minute. In the two previous away games at Hutnik Krakau and MKS Lublin , Berensztajn scored two important 1-0 successes in the 86th and 90th minutes, without which relegation would have been unavoidable at an early stage. Bełchatów was ultimately still on a relegation zone behind Stettin due to the poorer goal difference. However, the direct comparison applies, which Bełchatów won with the two final minute hits in the return leg. Bełchatów remained first class, Stettin was relegated. Bełchatów's race to catch up in 1996 has remained unprecedented in Poland's top football league to this day. If only the results of the second half of the season had counted, the team would have moved into third place in the UEFA Cup .

After promotion to the Ekstraklasa in 2005 , the club was able to establish itself in the league in the following years and was surprisingly Polish runner-up in 2007, which meant they were eligible to play in the UEFA Cup the next year. After a 4-2 win in the first qualifying round against Ameri Tiflis on penalties, Bełchatów was the final destination in the second round against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk from Ukraine. In the 2011/12 season , the club went into its tenth season in the Ekstraklasa, but had to relegate one season later to finally reach the highest Polish league again in 2014/15 . After that, however, the club was relegated twice and then only played in the 2nd division . The club has been playing in the second-rate first division since 2019.

Stadion

GIEKSA Arena

GKS Bełchatów plays in the GIEKSA Arena, which can hold 5,238 spectators . Construction began in 2001 and ended on November 30, 2008 with the roofing of the grandstands. The inauguration of the stadium took place in 2003 at the second division match against KSZO Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski . Underfloor heating and floodlights are available. So far, the Polish national team have played two games here: 1996 against Cyprus (2: 2) and 2006 against Lithuania (0: 1).

European Cup balance sheet

season	competition	round	opponent	total	To	Back
2007/08	Uefa cup	1st qualifying round	Georgia Ameri Tbilisi	2: 2 (4: 2 on account )	2: 0 (H)	0: 2 a.d. (A)
2007/08	Uefa cup	2nd qualifying round	Ukraine Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	3: 5	1: 1 (A)	2: 4 (H)

Legend: (H) - home game, (A) - away game, (N) - neutral place, (a) - away goal rule , (i. E.) - on penalties , (n. V.) - after extra time

Overall record: 4 games, 1 win, 1 draw, 2 defeats, 5-7 goals (goal difference −2)

Player (selection)

Web links

Official website of GKS Bełchatów (Polish)