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ŁKS Łódź

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For the women's basketball section of the club, see ŁKS Łódź (women's basketball).

ŁKS
Full nameŁódzki Klub Sportowy S.A.
Nickname(s)Rycerze wiosny (Knights of Spring)
Founded1908; 116 years ago (1908)
GroundStadion Miejski im. Władysława Króla
Capacity18,033
ChairmanJarosław Olszowy
ManagerJakub Dziółka
LeagueI liga
2023–24Ekstraklasa, 18th of 18 (relegated)
Websitehttps://lkslodz.pl/
Current season

ŁKS Łódź (Łódzki Klub Sportowy Łódź; Polish pronunciation: [ˌɛwkaˈɛs ˈwut͡ɕ]) is a Polish sports club based in Łódź. They are best known for their football club but are represented in many sports such as basketball, volleyball, boxing, and in the past ice hockey, athletics, tennis, table tennis, swimming, cycling, fencing, chess, etc. The club is based at Stadion Miejski im. Władysława Króla, at Aleja Unii Lubelskiej 2 in the West of Łódź.

This article focuses on the football club. Their nickname "Rycerze Wiosny" ("Knights of Spring") was given to them due to their usually strong performances after the winter break in the league.

History

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1936 ŁKS side

The club was founded in 1908. It was one of the founders of the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division.

During World War II, two pre-war players of ŁKS, Adam Obrubański and Alojzy Welnitz, were among Poles murdered by the Russians in the large Katyn massacre in April–May 1940.[1]

ŁKS enjoyed greatest success in the 1950s and 1990s, when it reached the podium six times, including winning the championship title in 1958 and 1997–98. It also won the Polish Cup in 1957, and reached the final in 1994.

In March 2010, the city government sold the football team to a private investor, as the city could no longer afford to support the football team, particularly after several seasons in the top level Ekstraklasa, where expenses often exceeded the ticket revenue from the club's small seating-capacity stadium.[2]

In May 2013, at the conclusion of the second-tier 2012–13 I liga season, the private investor declared bankruptcy.[3] The club survived when a partnership between fans and other local investors raised the necessary funds to enter the much more affordable amateur fifth-level IV liga in time for the 2013–14 IV liga season, competing against other local area teams in the Łódź group.[4] The rebuilt club returned to the top division in 2019.

On 28 May 2023, ŁKS secured promotion to Ekstraklasa after a 1–1 draw against Arka Gdynia; this result also confirmed ŁKS as I liga champions. However, they were relegated to the second division after just one season back in the top flight.[5]

Facilities

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In 2009 the new Atlas Arena[6] was completed adjacent to the football stadium. It is an indoor arena and has already hosted international events in basketball, volleyball and boxing.

The City council, owner of the various ŁKS Łódź sports clubs, still intend to construct a brand new stadium on the site of the current football stadium. It was intended to be complete in time for UEFA Euro 2012, but now is expected to be finished in late 2013-early 2014. Although Łódź is not a Euro 2012 host city, it had been believed that a failure by Ukraine to be ready on time[7] would lead to Poland hosting the entire tournament on its own and therefore requiring more host cities. There were four Polish host cities (Warsaw, Gdańsk, Poznań and Wrocław) involved in hosting the tournament. It was envisioned the new stadium would have approximately 34,000 seats, as required by UEFA.[8] While the concept of a new stadium for ŁKS Łódź was being discussed in 2009, cross-town rival Widzew Łódź announced that they would not contribute to any such stadium, as they had imminent plans to renovate their own stadium (the Widzew Łódź plans were stalled for years, eventually opening the 18,000 seat Stadion Miejski Widzewa in 2017). Support for the project was undermined by the successful re-call of the Łódź city president in early 2010. The city also announced a public auction for their stake in the club as they could no longer afford to cover the clubs loses. Owing to financial constraints and lack of demand from LKS fans, the conceptual plan for a new ŁKS Łódź stadium was scaled down to 16,500 in 2012.[9][10]

As part of renovations, a new 3,000 seat arena was supposed to be built to complement the existing Atlas Arena. All work was expected to cost 218 million PLN.

All plans to provide the club with new facilities, however, were abandoned as of 2013, due to financial constraints and the bankruptcy of the club in May 2013. However, with an upturn in the clubs fortunes, a new stadium is currently being built. One side was used during the 2019–20 Ekstraklasa season with the remainder of the ground set to be completed by 2021. [11]

Rivalries

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The club has a fierce rivalry with cross-town club Widzew Łódź, with the derby match between the two clubs being intense both on and off the field. See Łódź derby.

Honours

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League

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Cup

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Youth teams

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Players

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Current squad

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As of 7 September 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Poland POL Aleksander Bobek
2 DF Switzerland SUI Levent Gülen
3 DF Lithuania LTU Artemijus Tutyškinas
4 DF Croatia CRO Ivan Mihaljević
5 DF Poland POL Łukasz Wiech
6 MF Spain ESP Jorge Alastuey
7 FW Austria AUT Husein Balić
8 DF Poland POL Kamil Dankowski
9 MF Spain ESP Andreu Arasa
10 MF Spain ESP Pirulo (captain)
11 MF Poland POL Maksymilian Sitek (on loan from Podbeskidzie)
12 GK Poland POL Łukasz Bomba
14 MF Poland POL Michał Mokrzycki
15 MF Poland POL Antoni Młynarczyk
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 GK Poland POL Hubert Idasiak
17 MF Poland POL Kelechukwu Ibe-Torti
18 FW Poland POL Alan Siwek
19 MF Poland POL Jędrzej Zając
20 MF Poland POL Mateusz Wysokiński
21 MF Poland POL Mateusz Kupczak (vice-captain)
23 MF Poland POL Aleksander Iwańczyk
25 GK Poland POL Michał Kołba
26 DF Poland POL Aleksander Pawlak (on loan from Wisła Płock)
27 FW Austria AUT Stefan Feiertag (on loan from Blau-Weiß Linz)
31 DF Poland POL Marcel Wszolek
33 DF Croatia CRO Antonio Majcenić
37 DF Poland POL Piotr Głowacki

Other players under contract

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
31 DF Poland POL Marcel Wszołek
No. Pos. Nation Player
32 FW Poland POL Oliwier Sławiński

Notable former players

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ŁKS in Europe

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The old ground
Season Competition Round Club Score
1959–60 European Cup Q Luxembourg Jeunesse Esch 0–5, 2–1
1994–95 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1R Portugal Porto 0–2, 0–1
1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup GR Russia KAMAZ 0–3
Bulgaria Spartak Varna 1–1
Germany 1860 Munich 0–5
Czech Republic Kaučuk Opava 0–3
1998–99 UEFA Champions League 1Q Azerbaijan Kapaz 4–1, 3–1
2Q England Manchester United 0–2, 0–0
UEFA Cup 1R France Monaco 1–3, 0–0

Managers

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ŁKS Łódź II

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As of the 2024–25 season, the club's reserve team, ŁKS Łódź II, competes in II liga, having won promotion from the 2022–23 III liga.[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Ciesielski, Kacper (2021). "Sportowcy wśród ofiar zbrodni katyńskiej oraz powiązane z nimi artefakty grobowe i archiwalia w zbiorach Muzeum Katyńskiego". Łambinowicki rocznik muzealny (in Polish). 44. Opole: 147. ISSN 0137-5199.
  2. ^ Walczyk, Jerzy (2 February 2010). "Nowy ŁKS idzie na przetarg. I do pierwszej ligi" [The new ŁKS goes to tender. And to the top league.]. Łódź Gazeta.pl (in Polish). Agora SA. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  3. ^ "ŁKS Łódź loses its battle against financial problems". TheLodz.com. 22 April 2013. Archived from the original on 19 July 2013.
  4. ^ Walczyk, Jerzy (14 July 2013). "Ile ŁKS będzie kosztować gra w IV lidze? I jakie klub musi spełnić warunki?" [How much will it cost ŁKS to play in League IV? And what kind of club must meet the conditions?]. Łódź Sport.pl (in Polish). Agora SA. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  5. ^ Kuczmera, Dariusz (4 May 2024). "ŁKS - Śląsk 1:2. Ósmy spadek ŁKS z ekstraklasy. Rekord wyrównany. Jak padły gole?". dzienniklodzki.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Atlas Arena Łódź – Home". Atlasarena.pl. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  7. ^ Dampf, Andrew (29 October 2009). "Ukraine still risks losing Euro 2012". USA Today. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  8. ^ Wizgier, Henry (26 October 2009). "New stadia: key to Polish football's rebirth". Polish SOCA! UK. Archived from the original on 30 October 2009.
  9. ^ "Nowy stadion ŁKS Łódź – WIZUALIZACJA – SE.pl". Gwizdek24.se.pl. 23 December 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  10. ^ "W czerwcu przetarg na budowę stadionu ŁKS-u – Sport – WP.PL". Sport. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  11. ^ No Stadiums in Sight in Łódź – TheLodz
  12. ^ "III liga 2022/2023, grupa: I". 90minut.pl.
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