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Piast Gliwice
GKS Piast Gliwice.svg
Full name Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice
Nickname(s) Piastunki (the Custodians, the Keepers)
Founded 18 June 1945; 79 years ago (1945-06-18)
Ground Piotr Wieczorek Stadium
Ground Capacity 9,913
Chairman Łukasz Lewiński
Manager Aleksandar Vuković
League Ekstraklasa
2023–24 Ekstraklasa, 10th of 18
Third colours
Radość zespołu Piasta Gliwice
Piast Gliwice Vice-Champion of Poland celebration in 2016

Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice is a Polish professional football club based in Gliwice. In the 2018–19 season, Piast won its first Polish championship. As of 2024–25, it competes in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division.

History

The club was founded in June 1945 by the Poles who had been forced to leave their homes in former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union (present-day Ukraine). The club's name comes from the Piast dynasty, which ruled Poland from its beginnings as an independent state in the 10th century, until 1370, and in the city itself until 1532.

In 1949, five local teams were merged with Piast, and the team was renamed to Metal Piast Gliwice, and then to Stal Gliwice, before its original name Piast Gliwice was restored in 1955. Piast continued to play their matches on ul. Robotniczej. In 1964, Piast merged with GKS Gliwice, a team formed in 1956 from a fusion of the three other local clubs, and the name was changed to GKS Piast Gliwice. Since the 1950s, Piast mostly played in the Second Division. During that period, Piast have twice (1978, 1983) managed to reach the final of the Polish Cup, losing on both occasions.

In the 1990s, due to financial difficulties, the team was rebuilt from the Klasa B (7th tier), achieving four consecutive promotions from the seventh to the third tier in 1997–2001, and afterwards it won promotion to the II liga (second tier) in 2003. Piast played as many as 33 seasons in the Polish Second Division, before finally being promoted to the Ekstraklasa in 2008. Having played two seasons in the top division, the club was relegated in 2010 to come back in 2012. It is the first football team in Poland to gain promotion from the 7th tier to the Ekstraklasa (Polish top tier of football) and later to the European club competition.

In the 2010s, Piast enjoyed its greatest success, being runners-up in the 2015–16 Ekstraklasa and winning its first Polish championship in the 2018–19 season.

There is also a futsal department of Piast Gliwice, which competes in the Futsal Ekstraklasa (top division). Its home venue is the Gliwice Arena. It won its first Polish Championship in the 2021–22 season.

Naming history

  • (18.06.1945) – KS Piast Gliwice
  • (23.05.1946) – KSM Piast Gliwice
  • (September/November 1947) – ZKSM Piast Gliwice
  • (05.03.1949) – ZS Metal Piast Gliwice (merged with ZKSM Huta Łabędy, ZKS Walcownia Łabędy, RKS Jedność Rudziniec, *RKS PZS Gliwice and ZKS Silesia Gliwice)
  • (01.11.1949) – ZKS Stal Gliwice
  • (11.03.1951) – ZKS Stal GZUT Gliwice
  • (15.03.1955) – ZKS Piast Gliwice
  • (20.01.1957) – KS Piast Gliwice
  • (01.01.1961) – SKS Piast Gliwice
  • (15.03.1964) – GKS Piast Gliwice (merged with GKS Gliwice and KS Metal Gliwice)
  • (17.10.1983) – MC-W GKS Piast Gliwice
  • (12.09.1989) – CWKS Piast-Bumar Gliwice
  • (1989) – [merged with ZTS Łabędy (Gliwice)]
  • (1990) – CWKS Bumar-Piast Gliwice
  • (04.04.1990) – KS Bumar Gliwice
  • (11.05.1990) – KS Bumar Łabędy (Gliwice)
  • (01.07.1990) – KS Bumar Gliwice
  • (1991) – KS Piast-Bumar Gliwice
  • (01.07.1992) – MC-W GKS Piast Gliwice
  • (01.08.1995) – KS Bojków Gliwice (merged with KS Bojków Gliwice)
  • (15.09.1995) – KS Piast Bojków Gliwice
  • (02.09.1996) – GKS Piast Gliwice

Crest

POL Gliwice COA
Gliwice city coat of arms from which the club crest is derived

The club's crest is derived from the coat of arms of the city of Gliwice, and thus contains the Piast Eagle of the Upper Silesian line of the medieval Polish Piast dynasty, which ruled the city until 1532.

Honours

  • Ekstraklasa
    • Champions: 2018–19
    • Runners-up: 2015–16
    • Third place: 2019–20
  • I liga
    • Champions: 2011–12
  • Polish Cup
    • Runners-up: 1977–78, 1982–83

Seasons

  • Seasons in Ekstraklasa: 14 (2008–10, 2012–)
  • Seasons in I liga: 35
  • Seasons in II liga: 16
  • Seasons in III liga: 23

European record

Results

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2013–14 UEFA Europa League 2Q Azerbaijan Qarabağ FK 2–2 1–2 3–4 (aet) Symbol delete vote.svg
2016–17 UEFA Europa League 2Q Sweden IFK Göteborg 0–3 0–0 0–3 Symbol delete vote.svg
2019–20 UEFA Champions League 1Q Belarus BATE Borisov 1−2 1−1 2−3 Symbol delete vote.svg
UEFA Europa League 2Q Latvia Riga FC 3−2 1−2 4−4 Symbol delete vote.svg
2020–21 UEFA Europa League 1Q Belarus Dinamo Minsk N/A 2−0 N/A Symbol keep vote.svg
2Q Austria Hartberg 3–2 N/A N/A Symbol keep vote.svg
3Q Denmark Copenhagen N/A 0−3 N/A Symbol delete vote.svg

UEFA Team ranking

See also: UEFA coefficient

As of 4 May 2025.

Rank Team Points
225 Denmark Randers 7.000
226 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta 7.000
227 Poland Piast Gliwice 7.000
228 Poland Cracovia 7.000
229 Denmark Silkeborg 7.000

Stadium

Stadion Piasta Gliwice 05
Piotr Wieczorek Stadium

Piast plays their home games at the 10,000 capacity Piotr Wieczorek Stadium in Gliwice.

Supporters

Piast have a friendship with fans of Belarusian club BATE Borisov since 2011. The friendship started when BATE fans on their way to a Champions League match in Copenhagen stopped for a Piast game against local rivals GKS Katowice. The Piast fans then went to Alkmaar to support BATE versus AZ. After another visit for a Champions League game against Sturm Graz, the friendship became official and both sets of fans regularly visit each other.

Piast's major rivals are Górnik Zabrze, with whom they contest the local derby. The stadiums are located just a few kilometres from each other. Other rivals are local teams GKS Katowice and the two Bytom clubs, Szombierki and Polonia.

Players

Current squad

No. Position Player
2 Algeria DF Akim Zedadka
3 Spain DF Miguel Muñoz
4 Poland DF Jakub Czerwiński (captain)
5 Slovakia DF Tomáš Huk
6 Poland MF Michał Chrapek
7 Spain MF Jorge Félix
9 Poland FW Fabian Piasecki
10 Poland MF Patryk Dziczek
11 Barbados FW Thierry Gale (on loan from Rapid Wien)
12 Poland GK Bartłomiej Jelonek
14 Portugal DF Miguel Nóbrega (on loan from Rio Ave)
15 Poland DF Levis Pitan
16 Poland FW Mateusz Kopczyński
17 Poland MF Filip Karbowy
No. Position Player
20 Poland MF Grzegorz Tomasiewicz
22 Poland DF Tomasz Mokwa
26 Slovakia GK František Plach
29 Poland DF Igor Drapiński
30 Poland MF Miłosz Szczepański
31 Poland DF Oskar Leśniak
33 Poland GK Karol Szymański
36 Poland DF Jakub Lewicki
39 Poland FW Maciej Rosołek
70 Cyprus FW Andreas Katsantonis
77 Poland DF Arkadiusz Pyrka
79 Poland GK Dawid Rychta
90 Slovakia FW Erik Jirka
96 North Macedonia MF Tihomir Kostadinov

Out on loan

No. Position Player
23 Poland MF Szczepan Mucha (at Rekord Bielsko-Biała until 30 June 2025)
25 Poland DF Piotr Liszewski (at Resovia until 30 June 2025)
67 Poland MF Jakub Niedbała (at Skra Częstochowa until 30 June 2025)
92 Poland MF Damian Kądzior (at Stal Mielec until 30 June 2025)
No. Position Player
99 Poland FW Piotr Urbański (at Pogoń Grodzisk Mazowiecki until 30 June 2025)
Poland FW Marcel Bykowski (at Pogoń Siedlce until 30 June 2025)
Ukraine MF Sergiy Krykun (at Stal Mielec until 30 June 2025)

Retired numbers

See also: List of retired numbers in association football
No. Position Player
21 Spain MF Gerard Badía (2014–21)

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries at any time. Players with names listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Piast.

Managers

  • Poland Krzysztof Zagórski (16 December 2001 – 23 October 2002)
  • Poland Józef Dankowski (21 April 2003 – 19 October 2004)
  • Poland Wojciech Borecki (19 October 2004 – 31 December 2004)
  • Poland Jacek Zielinski (31 December 2004 – 14 September 2006)
  • Poland Jan Furlepa (interim) (14–20 September 2006)
  • Poland Boguslaw Pietrzak (20 September 2006 – 30 June 2007)
  • Poland Piotr Mandrysz (3 July 2007 – 30 June 2008)
  • Poland Marek Wlecialowski (1 July 2008 – 5 January 2009)
  • Poland Dariusz Fornalak (5 January 2009 – 15 March 2010)
  • Poland Ryszard Wieczorek (15 March 2010 – 31 May 2010)
  • Poland Marcin Brosz (15 June 2010 – 6 May 2014)
  • Spain Ángel García (7 May 2014 – 18 March 2015)
  • Czech Republic Radoslav Látal (20 March 2015 – 15 July 2016)
  • Czech Republic Jiří Neček (15 July 2016 – 30 August 2016)
  • Czech Republic Radoslav Látal (1 September 2016 – 2 March 2017)
  • Poland Dariusz Wdowczyk (3 March 2017 – 19 September 2017)
  • Poland Waldemar Fornalik (19 September 2017 – 25 October 2022)
  • Serbia Aleksandar Vuković (27 October 2022 – present)

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Piast Gliwice para niños

  • Football in Poland
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