Wybrzeże Gdańsk
Club information
Track addressZbigniew Podlecki Stadium
CountryPoland
Founded1945
Team managerEryk Jozwiak
LeagueEkstraliga 2
WebsiteOfficial website
Club facts
Track size349 m
Track record time61.28 seconds
Track record date21 August 2011
Track record holderDarcy Ward
Major team honours
Team Championship
silver medal		1960, 1967, 1978, 1985
Team Championship
bronze medal		1965, 1999
Polish Pairs Speedway Championship1985

Wybrzeże Gdańsk is a Polish multi-sports club based in Gdańsk, established in 1945, most known for its motorcycle speedway and handball teams, which compete in the 1. Liga (speedway 2nd division)[1][2] and Polish Superliga (handball top division), respectively (as of 2022).

Gdańsk tram in the club colors of Wybrzeże Gdańsk in 2011

The club's colours are red, white, blue.

Speedway

History

1948 to 1999

The club competed in the inaugural 1948 Polish speedway season, under the name of GKM Gdańsk.[3][4] The following year the name changed to Związkowiec Gdańsk and competed until 1950. Speedway returned to Gdańsk in 1957 under the name of LPŻ Gdańsk (1957-1959) and Legia Gdańsk from 1960.

Legia won a silver medal in the Team Speedway Polish Championship in 1960 and their star rider Marian Kaiser also became the Polish champion after winning the Polish Individual Speedway Championship in 1960.[5] Kaiser went on to win the Golden Helmet in 1962, when the club referred to itself as Wybrzeże Gdańsk.[6]

The 1960s remained a positive era for the club and they won the bronze medal in 1965 and the silver medal in 1967 headed by riders such as Kaiser, Zbigniew Podlecki and Henryk Żyto.[7]

The 1970s saw little team success but Zenon Plech was the Golden Helmet winner in 1978 and Polish champion in 1979.[8]

The 1980s proved to be another quiet period, with the only significant honours being a team silver medal in 1985 and the Polish Pairs Speedway Championship (Zenon Plech and Grzegorz Dzikowski) in the same season. However, Zenon Plech won two more Polish titles in 1984 and 1985.[9] The 1990s continued in the same manner with little success except winning the second division in 1993 and winning a bronze medal in 1999 after signing Tony Rickardsson and Sebastian Ułamek.

2000 to present

Gdansk were inaugural members of the Ekstraliga in 2000, but they suffered relegation to the 1. Liga that season, this was despite a bronze medal win the previous season.[10] They bounced back by winning 1.Liga in 2001.[11]

In recent years their success has been restricted to the 1. Liga title in 2013 and the 2. Liga title in 2015.[12]

Wybrzeże Gdańsk riders before a match in 2011

Previous teams

Extended content

2022 squad

2023 team

Notable riders

Honours

Competitions Total Golden medals Silver medals Bronze medals
Total Years Total Years Total Years
Team (DMP)
(since 1948)		 6 4 1960, 1967, 1978, 1985 2 1965, 1997
Team U-21 (MDMP)
(since 1978)		 5 1 1983 2 1978, 1980, 2010, 2012 2 1984, 2015
Pairs (MPPK)
(since 1974)		 6 1 1985 2 1986, 2000 3 1984, 1987, 2004
Pairs U-21 (MMPPK)
(1980 U-23; since 1983)		 4 1 1989 2 1983, 2000 1 2013
Individual (IMP)
(since 1948)		 10 3 1979, 1984, 1985 4 1960, 1961, 1981, 1983 3 1963, 1989, 1994
Individual U-21 (MIMP)
(since 1967)		 9 1 1980 8 1970, 1972, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1998, 2012
Total Polish Championship medals: 40 Gold: 7 Silver: 14 Bronze: 19
Competitions Total I place II place III place
Total Years Total Years Total Years
European Club (KPE)
(since 1998)		 0
Team Cup (DPP)
(?)		 2 1 1999 1 1978
Golden Helmet (ZK)
(since 1961)		 9 2 1962, 1978 5 1983, 1984, 1985, 1995, 2000 2 1961, 1982
Silver Helmet U-21 (SK)
(since 1966)		 7 2 1981, 1988 2 1989, 2014 3 1970, 1978, 1990
Bronze Helmet U-19 (BK)
(1976-81; since 1983)		 9 4 1981, 1988, 2012, 2013 2 1987, 2014 3 1980, 1989, 2019


Handball

Other sections

The club had many sections over the years, out of which only the speedway, handball and judo sections exist to this day as separately run entities.

Athletics The athletics team competed between 1945-1971. The club's achievements were:

Basketball There was a men's section which existed between 1949-1995. The club made a brief re-appearance 2007-2009 before it folded once more. The club's honours include:

Boxing The section existed between 1945-1990. Their honours included:

Gymnastics The section only existed for 4 years between 1952-1956. Lidia Szczerbińska won a bronze medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne whilst representing the club.

Judo The section existed in 1958–2002, and as a separate entity since 2004.[13] Club honours of the section are:

Other sections There were five other sections of the club, but they were short-lived and without any major sporting success.

References

  1. ↑ Media, Wirtualna Polska. "Zdunek Wybrzeże Gdańsk". sportowefakty.wp.pl.
  2. ↑ "Home". Wybrzeze Gdansk speedway. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  3. ↑ "HISTORICAL RESULTS 1948-2023". Speedway History. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  4. ↑ "Historia Speedway Polsce 1948". Speedway History. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  5. ↑ "Historia Speedway Polsce 1960". Historia Speedway. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  6. ↑ "Historia Speedway Polsce 1962". Historia Speedway. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  7. ↑ "Historia Speedway Polsce 1967". Historia Speedway. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  8. ↑ Bott, Richard (1980). The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 101. ISBN 0-09-141751-1.
  9. ↑ "Polish Individual Speedway Championship". Historia Sportu Zuzlowego. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  10. ↑ "Historia Drużynowych Mistrzostw Polski". Zuzeland.com. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  11. ↑ "Historia Speedway Polsce 2001". Historia Speedway. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  12. ↑ "Historia Speedway Polsce 2015". Historia Speedway. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  13. ↑ "O Klubie". JUDO SGKS Wybrzeże Gdańsk (in Polish). Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  14. ↑ "Piłkarze Wybrzeża Gdańsk będą grali w B klasie na Stadionie im. Zbigniewa Podleckiego". WP Sportowe Fakty (in Polish). 26 August 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
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