Pogoń Szczecin
Full namePogoń Szczecin Spółka Akcyjna[1]
Nickname(s)Portowcy (The Dockers)
Duma Pomorza (Pride of Pomerania)
Founded21 April 1948 (1948-04-21)
GroundStadion Miejski im. Floriana Krygiera
Capacity21,163
ChairmanJarosław Mroczek
ManagerJens Gustafsson
LeagueEkstraklasa
2022–23Ekstraklasa, 4th of 18
WebsiteClub website

Pogoń Szczecin Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Pogoń Szczecin (Polish pronunciation: [ˌɛmkaˈɛs ˌpɔɡɔj̃ ˈʂtʂɛtɕin]), is a Polish professional football club, based in Szczecin, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, which plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the national football league system.

History

The club was founded by Poles from Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine), who had been transferred west after the Soviet annexation of Poland's eastern territories in 1945. The founders of Pogoń Szczecin had previously been supporters of Pogoń Lwów and the colors of their new club reflect their old club. Polonia Bytom and Odra Opole were likewise founded or revived by the former inhabitants of Lwów.

The most popular sports organization in Szczecin was founded on 21 April 1948 as Klub Sportowy Sztorm. Its first departments were football and boxing, and the football team began playing in the local C-Klasa. In March 1949, several sports clubs in Szczecin (KS Sztorm, KS Cukrownik, KS Drukarz, Pocztowy KS) were merged into a large organization called Klub Sportowy Zwiazkowiec. The team of Zwiazkowiec joined local A-Class league, replacing Pocztowy KS. In November 1950, Zwiazkowiec was dissolved, and a new organization, Klub Sportowy Kolejarz Szczecin was formed. Its football team, supported by the Port of Szczecin, in 1953 was promoted to the newly created Interregional League (Liga Międzywojewódzka), which covered the provinces of Szczecin, Zielona Góra and Poznań.

In autumn 1955, Kolejarz was renamed into Pogoń Szczecin. The name and the hues of the club are a continuation of Pogoń Lwów. In 1957, Pogoń was runner up of the Interregional League, qualifying to the second division playoffs. After beating Flota Gdynia, Kujawiak Włocławek and Warta Gorzów, Pogoń for the first time won promotion to the second level of Polish football system. In 1958, Pogoń was the winner of Group North of the Second Division (37 points, goals 54–22, not a single game lost), winning promotion to the Ekstraklasa.

In its top level debut, Pogoń lost at home to Gwardia Warszawa 0–1. In 1960, Pogoń was relegated from the Ekstraklasa, to return there in 1962.

For most of the 1960s and 1970s, Pogoń remained in the top Polish league, but remained an average team, without any successes. This changed in the early 1980s: in 1981, Pogoń advanced to the final of the Polish Cup, to lose 0–1 to Legia Warsaw. In 1982, Pogoń again made it to the Polish Cup final, to lose 0–1 to Lech Poznań.

In 1984 Pogoń, managed by Eugeniusz Ksol, for the first time in history was among top three teams in the Ekstraklasa, which meant that the team qualified for the UEFA Cup. In its European debut, Pogoń faced 1. FC Köln, with such stars as Harald Schumacher, Pierre Littbarski and Klaus Allofs. In the first leg (September 19, 1984 in Cologne), Pogoń lost 1–2. In the second leg (October 3), Polish team lost 0–1, after its players failed to score on two penalty kicks.

In 1987, Pogoń was Polish runner-up. Managed by Leszek Jezierski, the team played offensively, scoring plenty of goals. With such players as Mariusz Kuras, Marek Ostrowski and Marek Leśniak, Pogoń was only behind Górnik Zabrze. In the first round of UEFA Cup, Pogon faced Hellas Verona, with Thomas Berthold and Preben Elkjær. In the first leg (September 16, 1987), Pogoń tied at home 1–1. Two weeks later, Polish team lost in Italy 1–3.

Ground: Stadion Miejski im. Floriana Krygiera, 2009

Pogoń in 2002 was on the brink of bankruptcy. As a result, fans created a new team on the basis of the reserves in the fourth division. However owner of Piotrcovia Piotrków Trybunalski Antoni Ptak decided to move the team and renamed the club MKS Pogoń Szczecin. The initial distrust was lost when the team performed well and used local players, however halfway through the 2005–06 season the team started underperforming and Ptak decided to replace almost the entire squad with only Brazilian nationals, making it the "most Brazilian team outside Brazil". Antoni Ptak also built a small training facility in Gutów Mały, meaning the home games were played almost 500 km (311 mi) away from Szczecin. The experiment failed and in 2007 Antoni Ptak moved away from football, leaving the club to be rebuilt on the basis of the 4th division counterpart set up originally by the fans, which acted as the reserve team in the meantime.

Ground: Stadion Miejski im. Floriana Krygiera, 2022

The club was promoted to the Zachodnia (Western) group of the new II Liga (formerly the Third League) for the 2007–08 season. The club earned promotion to the Polish First League after finishing 2nd in Western Group of Polish Second League in 2008–09 season. Despite playing on the second tier, Pogoń performed well in the 2009–10 Polish Cup, defeating top division teams Polonia Warsaw, Piast Gliwice and Ruch Chorzów to reach the final, to lose 0–1 to Jagiellonia Białystok. Finally Pogoń returned to the top division after finishing the First League as runner-up in the 2011–12 season.

Since then, Pogoń has promoted a number of players to the Poland national team and transferred several players to stronger leagues, including Sebastian Walukiewicz to Serie A side Cagliari Calcio[2] and Kacper Kozłowski to Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.[3] While still a Pogoń player, Kozłowski, aged 17 years and 246 days, became the youngest-ever player to play at the European Championship, when he capped for Poland against Spain in June 2021.[3][4] From 2020, Pogoń re-established itself as one of the top teams in the country, finishing third in the league twice in a row (2020–21, 2021–22).

Crest and colours

Szczecin city coat of arms from which the griffin in Pogoń's crest was derived

The club's colours are navy blue and maroon. Incorporated into the club's crest, they are derived from Pogoń Lwów, from which Pogoń Szczecin also took its name. The crowned griffin in the crest comes from the coat of arms of the city of Szczecin. Additionally, the crest contains the name "Pogoń" and the year of the club's foundation, i.e. 1948.

The club mascot Gryfus is a red crowned griffin, also derived from the coat of arms of Szczecin.[5]

Honours

Domestic

Runners-up (2): 1986–87, 2000–01
Third place (3): 1983–84, 2020–21, 2021–22
Runners-up (3): 1980–81, 1981–82, 2009–10

International

Youth Team

1986, 2021
  • Polish U-19 Runner Up:
1965, 2016, 2017
  • Polish U-19 Bronze Medal:
1960, 2008, 2012, 2014
  • Polish U-17 Bronze Medal:
2002

Pogoń Szczecin in European football

Results

Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Aggregate
1965–66 Intertoto Cup GR East Germany Chemie Leipzig 1–3 0–1 4th
Czechoslovakia Slovnaft Bratislava 2–3 0–4
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia NK Zagreb 3–0 0–2
1976 Intertoto Cup GR Sweden Östers IF 0–1 0–1 3rd
Portugal Belenenses 2–2 0–2
Denmark Næstved 3–0 1–1
1977 Intertoto Cup GR Austria Sturm Graz 1–0 0–0 1st
Denmark KB 2–2 1–1
Switzerland Chênois 6–1 1–0
1982 Intertoto Cup GR Sweden Brage 1–0 0–2 2nd
Czechoslovakia Sparta Prague 2–0 0–1
Austria Wiener Sport-Club 3–3 4–3
1983 Intertoto Cup GR West Germany Werder Bremen 2–1 0–4 1st
Sweden Malmö FF 2–0 1–2
Switzerland St. Gallen 1–1 3–3
1984–85 UEFA Cup 1R West Germany FC Köln 0–1 1–2 1–3
1987 Intertoto Cup GR Sweden Hammarby 3–0 3–2 1st
Switzerland La Chaux-de-Fonds 6–3 4–0
East Germany Magdeburg 3–1 1–2
1987–88 UEFA Cup 1R Italy Hellas Verona 1–1 1–3 2–4
1988 Intertoto Cup GR Switzerland Grasshopper Club 0–0 0–1 3rd
Sweden Östers IF 2–0 0–0
Hungary Pécsi MFC 0–0 1–3
1993 Intertoto Cup GR Switzerland Lausanne-Sport 0–4 4th
Sweden IFK Norrköping 1–4
Denmark Copenhagen 4–1
Austria Austria Wien 0–2
1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup GR France Cannes 1–2 5th
Romania Farul Constanța 1–2
Belarus Dnepr Mogilev 3–3
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Bečej 1–2
2001–02 UEFA Cup QR Iceland Fylkir 1–1 1–2 2–3
2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup 1R Moldova Tiligul Tiraspol 6–2 3–0 9–2
2R Czech Republic Sigma Olomouc 0–0 0–1 0–1
2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League 2QR Croatia Osijek 0–0 0–1 0–1
2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League 1QR Iceland KR 4–1 0–1 4–2
2QR Denmark Brøndby 1–1 0–4 1–5
2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League 2QR Northern Ireland Linfield 3−2 5–2 8–4
3QR Belgium Gent 2–1 0–5 2–6

Players

Current squad

As of 17 January 2024[6]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
4 DF Brazil BRA Léo Borges
7 MF Poland POL Rafał Kurzawa
8 MF Norway NOR Fredrik Ulvestad
9 FW Greece GRE Efthymis Koulouris
10 FW Slovenia SVN Luka Zahović
11 MF Poland POL Kamil Grosicki (captain)
15 MF Poland POL Marcel Wędrychowski
20 MF Austria AUT Alexander Gorgon
21 MF Portugal POR João Gamboa
22 MF Armenia ARM Vahan Bichakhchyan
23 DF Austria AUT Benedikt Zech
25 DF Poland POL Wojciech Lisowski
No. Pos. Nation Player
28 DF Sweden SWE Linus Wahlqvist
32 DF Greece GRE Leonardo Koutris
33 DF Poland POL Mariusz Malec
61 MF Poland POL Kacper Smoliński
68 DF Croatia CRO Danijel Lončar
71 MF Poland POL Olaf Korczakowski
73 MF Poland POL Adrian Przyborek
76 GK Poland POL Maciej Kowal
77 GK Romania ROU Valentin Cojocaru (on loan from OH Leuven)
81 GK Poland POL Bartosz Klebaniuk
83 GK Poland POL Axel Holewiński

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW Poland POL Kacper Kostorz (at Den Bosch until 30 June 2024)
70 MF Poland POL Stanisław Wawrzynowicz (at Kotwica Kołobrzeg until 30 June 2024)
72 MF Iran IRN Yadegar Rostami (at ŁKS Łódź until 30 June 2024)
74 DF Poland POL Dawid Rezaeian (at Stomil Olsztyn until 30 June 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF Poland POL Jakub Lis (at Motor Lublin until 30 June 2024)
— MF Poland POL Kacper Łukasiak (at Górnik Łęczna until 30 June 2024)
— FW Poland POL Aron Stasiak (at Kotwica Kołobrzeg until 30 June 2024)
— GK Croatia CRO Dante Stipica (at Ruch Chorzów until 30 June 2024)

Former notable players

Managers

See also

References

Cited sources

  1. ↑ "Pogoń Szczecin Spółka Akcyjna | KRS-pobierz.pl".
  2. ↑ Jakub Lisowski (15 January 2019). "Rekordowy transfer Pogoni. Sebastian Walukiewicz przechodzi do Cagliari". Szczecin Nasze Miasto (in Polish). Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  3. 1 2 Charlie Hanson (5 January 2022). "Kacper Kozlowski signs for Albion". Brighton & Hove Albion. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  4. ↑ "Poland's EURO record-breaker Kacper Kozłowski showing maturity beyond his years". UEFA.com. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  5. ↑ Krzysztof Kowalski. "Maskotki T-Mobile Ekstraklasy: Gryfus (Pogoń Szczecin)". Gol24.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  6. ↑ "Pierwsza drużyna" (in Polish). Pogoń Szczecin. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  7. ↑ "Trenerzy Pogoni".
  8. ↑ "Kosta Runjaić trenerem Pogoni" (in Polish). 90minut. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2017.

Further reading

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