Śląsk Świętochłowice

Śląsk Świętochłowice

Full name	Miejski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Świętochłowice
Nickname(s)	Niebiescy (Blue ones), Skałka (little rock)
Founded	1920 (1920)
Ground	Stadion Skałka im. Pawła Waloszka
Capacity	26,000
Chairman	Andrzej Jasicki
Manager	Antoni Jojko
League	IV liga Silesia
2021–22	11th of 16
Home colours Away colours

Śląsk Świętochłowice (full name: Miejski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Świętochłowice) is a Polish sports club based in Świętochłowice, Upper Silesia, known for its speedway and football teams.

Name

Its name comes from the region of Silesia (Polish: Śląsk), in which it is located. Its full name Miejski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Świętochłowice means Silesia Świętochłowice City Sports Club.

History

Football

The club was founded in February 1920, during the hectic months of the post-World War I period, when the Allied Powers were hesitating about the future fate of the industrial region of Upper Silesia. Śląsk's first, historic game occurred on 21 March 1920 against Polonia Bytom (2–1).

In 1921, when it turned out that Świętochłowice and surrounding areas would belong to reborn independent Poland, Śląsk's football team was strengthened by several players of a German-minority team SV 1913. This was a huge boost, and after a few years, in late 1927, Świętochłowice's side was promoted to the Polish top division. To get there, Śląsk won qualifiers against the teams of Garbarnia Kraków, ŁTSG Łódź and WKS 6 Pułk Lotniczy Lwów.

The 1928 season was a failure. Out of 15 teams, Śląsk was placed on 14th position, with only 12 points (5 victories, 2 ties, goals 29–86). Relegation meant playing in Silesian A-Class, the strongest regional league in Poland. Relegation was not regarded by club's officials as a tragedy. Śląsk was a poor team, and playing in the National League was very expensive. Club simply had no money to travel to Lwów, Poznań or Toruń.

After a few years, in mid-1934, Śląsk won the Silesian League games. Then, in regional qualifiers it beat Unia Sosnowiec and Grzegorzecki Kraków. Final stage was a central tournament. There, after beating Śmigły Wilno, 5–1 and 2–0, as well as Naprzód Lipiny, 0–0 and 2–1, Śląsk was promoted to the Polish top division.

The 1935 season was a good one. Świętochłowice's side was placed on 5th position (among 11 teams), with 22 points and goals difference 34–40. Śląsk was the team of its own turf, at home winning for 8 times and losing twice. Next, 1936 season was much worse. Śląsk was placed on 9th (last but one) position which meant relegation (only 11 points, goals 21–40). Świętochłowice's favorites financial situation was much better than in 1928. Club was sponsored by "Florian" steelworks, its best players were Hubert Gad and Ewald Cebula, who also represented Poland.

In mid-1938 Śląsk won the Silesian League as well as regional qualifiers (against Legia Poznań and Gryf Toruń). However, in a national competition, the team was 3rd, after Garbarnia Kraków and Union Touring Łódź and ahead of Policyjny KS Łuck.

Home match with Śmigły Wilno in 1939

Next year was again marked by high hopes. Świętochłowice's favorites, looking stronger than ever before, won the Silesian League (mid-1939), then routed the teams of Fablok Chrzanów, 4–0 and 1–1, and Unia Sosnowiec 4–0 and 2–0, to qualify to the national qualifying tournament. Unfortunately, this competition was not finished due to the German invasion of Poland, which started the Second World War. In August 1939 Śląsk managed to play only two games—at home with Śmigły Wilno (2–1) and away with Junak Drohobycz (0–0).

During the war, the German occupiers allowed those Silesians who signed the Volksliste to participate in the games of the Gauliga Schlesien, later the Gauliga Oberschlesien. Śląsk, with its name changed to TuS Schwientochlowitz, was basically the same team as in 1939, plus Walter Brom, a very talented goalkeeper of Ruch Chorzów. However, as time went by, more and more players were conscripted to the Wehrmacht, among them Ewald Cebula, who ended up in German units in Italy.

After the war, in spite of the dedication of its activists, Śląsk's football team never managed to return to the Polish top division.

Speedway

In 1951 a motorcycle speedway section was founded and in the late 1960s it became one of the top teams in Polish speedway, with such excellent riders as Paweł Waloszek (runner-up in the 1970 Individual Speedway World Championship). Following the 1985 season it was relegated from the top division, and following the 1996 season the team withdrew due to financial difficulties. In 1998–2002 the team was revamped and competed on the second and third tier, to eventually withdraw once again. As of 2022, the club does not participate in professional league competitions and only focuses on youth training. Since 2015, the head coach is Krzysztof Bas, former rider of the team.

Honours

Competitions	Total	Golden medals		Silver medals		Bronze medals
		Total	Years	Total	Years	Total	Years
Team (DMP) (since 1948)	4			3	1969, 1970, 1973	1	1972
Team U-21 (MDMP) (since 1978)	0
Pairs (MPPK) (since 1974)	1			1	1983
Pairs U-21 (MMPPK) (1980 U-23; since 1983)	0
Individual (IMP) (since 1948)	3			2	1969, 1972	1	1975
Individual U-21 (MIMP) (since 1967)	0
Total Polish Championship medals: 8		Gold: 0		Silver: 6		Bronze: 2
Competitions	Total	I place		II place		III place
		Total	Years	Total	Years	Total	Years
European Club (KPE) (since 1998)	0
Team Cup (DPP) (?)	0
Golden Helmet (ZK) (since 1961)	8	2	1968, 1970	5	1966, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1977	1	1973
Silver Helmet U-21 (SK) (since 1966)	1			1	1962
Bronze Helmet U-19 (BK) (1976-81; since 1983)	1			1	1983

See also

• Sport in Poland