Ruch Chorzów (Polish pronunciation:[ˈruxˈxɔʐuf]) is a Polish association football club based in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. It is one of the most successful football teams in Poland: fourteen-time national champions, and three-time winners of the Polish Cup. Currently the team plays in the top Polish league, the Ekstraklasa. Their stadium capacity is 10,000 seats.
Ruch Chorzów has also had a very successful female handball team (9 times national champions).
History
The club was founded on 20 April 1920 in Hajduki Wielkie (then Bismarckhütte). It was known as Ruch Hajduki Wielkie until 1938, with Ruch (a common noun for movement) being sometimes interpreted by Polish patriots as a cover reference to the Silesian Uprisings. The club's first match, a 3:1 win against Orzeł Józefowiec, was played on 3 May 1920. In early 1939, the municipality of Hajduki Wielkie merged with Chorzów, which led to the club taking on its current name Ruch Chorzów. After the German occupation of Poland in 1939, the club was renamed Bismarckhütter SV 99 and joined the Gauliga Oberschlesien in 1941; however, it reverted to its old name in 1945.[2] In 1948, under communist pressure (Stalinisation), the club was renamed Unia Chorzów, in 1955 it became Unia-Ruch, and finally in 1956 returned to the name Ruch. The current team sponsor is the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity.
^Encyklopedia piłkarska FUJI, kolekcja klubów, tom I: Ruch Chorzów, Andrzej Gowarzewski, Katowice 1995; s. 66
References
Gowarzewski Andrzej, Głyk Wioletta (2000). O tytuł mistrza Polski 1920–2000 (in Polish). GiA, Katowice. ISBN83-88232-02-9.
Gowarzewski Andrzej, Waloszek Joachim (1995). Ruch Chorzów: 75 lat "Niebieskich" (in Polish). GiA, Katowice. ISBN83-902751-3-9.
Bagier Tadeusz, Dutkowski Zbigniew, Kraszkiewicz Mirosław (1970). Pięćdziesiąt lat Klubu Sportowego "Ruch" Chorzów (in Polish). Wydawnictwo Artystyczno-Graficzne Chorzów.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Gorzelany Franciszek, Miklica Bogusław; et al. (1960). 40-lecie Klubu Sportowego "Ruch" Chorzów (in Polish). Wydawnictwo "Prasa" Katowice.
Collective work under Henryk Rechowicz editorial (1994). Z najnowszych dziejów kultury fizycznej i turystyki (in Polish). Wydawnictwo AWF Katowice.
Collective work (2000). 80 lat OZPN [Okręgowego Związku Piłki Nożnej] Katowice: 1920–2000 (in Polish). GiA, Katowice. ISBN83-88232-03-7.
Kurek Jacek (2001). Historia Wielkich Hajduk (in Polish). Związek Górnośląski. Koło "Wielkie Hajduki", Rococo Chorzów-Batory. ISBN83-86293-29-2.
Gowarzewski Andrzej (2001). Biało-czerwoni : piłkarska reprezentacja Polski 1921–2001 : ludzie mecze fakty daty (in Polish). GiA, Katowice. ISBN83-88232-08-8.
Gowarzewski Andrzej, Waloszek Joachim (1996). 75 lat OZPN [Okręgowego Związku Piłki Nożnej] Katowice: 1920–1995, ludzie, historia, fakty (in Polish). GiA, Katowice. ISBN83-902751-7-1.
Czapliński Marek (red.) (2002). Historia Śląska (in Polish). Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, Wrocław. ISBN83-229-2213-2.