Widzew Łódź facts for kids
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| Full name | RTS Widzew Łódź | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Widzewiacy, Czerwona Armia (Red Army) | |||
| Founded | 5 November 1910 as TMRF Widzew | |||
| Ground | Widzew Łódź Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 18,018 | |||
| Chairman | Michał Rydz | |||
| Manager | Daniel Myśliwiec | |||
| League | Ekstraklasa | |||
| 2023–24 | Ekstraklasa, 9th of 18 | |||
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RTS Widzew Łódź is a Polish football club. It is based in the city of Łódź. The club started in 1910. Its main colours are red and white. Because of this, they are often called Czerwona Armia (Red Army) or Czerwono-biało-czerwoni (Red-white-reds). They play in the Ekstraklasa, which is the top football league in Poland. They have been in this league since the 2022-23 season.
Contents
The Story of Widzew Łódź
The club began in 1910. Its first name was Towarzystwo Miłośników Rozwoju Fizycznego Widzew. This means "Society of Physical Development Fans Widzew". The name "Widzew" comes from a part of the city. "RTS" stands for Workers' Sports Association.
Polish workers and German factory owners from the Widzew textile factory (called WIMA) started the club. At first, they couldn't use the word "workers'" in the name. This was because Łódź was under the rule of the Russian Tsar at that time.
The club has two important sayings. One is "Together We Create Power" (Razem Tworzymy Siłę). The other is "Always 12" (Zawsze w 12). This second saying means that the fans are like the twelfth player on the team.
Widzew plays its games at the Widzew Łódź Stadium. It is in Łódź. People often call the stadium "The Heart of Łódź" (Serce Łodzi).
After World War I, Poland became independent again. The club started up again in 1922. Its new name was Robotnicze Towarzystwo Sportowe Widzew Łódź. This means "Workers' Sports Association Widzew Łódź".
During World War II, some former Widzew players were lost in a sad historical event. Their names were Joachim Schreer, Mirosław Wągrowski, and Aleksander Żadziłko.
Winning Championships
Widzew has won the Polish league championship four times. They won in 1980–81, 1981–82, 1995–96, and 1996–97. They also won the Polish Cup in 1985.
After winning two championships in a row in the early 1980s, Widzew won again 14 years later. In the 1995–96 season, they had a fantastic year. They let in very few goals, only 22 in 34 matches. They also scored a lot, with 84 goals. They earned 88 points. Their goalkeeper, Andrzej Woźniak, played very well. The team did not lose a single game that season.
The next season, 1996–97, was also great. They won the championship for the second time in a row. They scored 74 goals and only let in 21.
Widzew has played 117 matches in European competitions. They won 42 of these games. They beat famous teams like Manchester United in the 1980–81 UEFA Cup. Their best achievement was reaching the semi-finals of the 1982–83 European Cup. On their way, they beat Liverpool, who had won the cup three times before.
Recent Times
In 2007, a wealthy person named Sylwester Cacek bought Widzew.
In 2008, the Polish Football Association decided that Widzew should move down a league. This was because of some issues off the field. However, Widzew won their league that year. So, they were allowed to stay in the second division, which was renamed I liga. Even though they lost six points as a penalty, Widzew won the I Liga again in 2009–10. They were then promoted to the Ekstraklasa. But after four seasons, Widzew moved down a league again at the end of the 2013–14 season.
Widzew then faced serious money problems. They finished last in the 2014–15 season. After this, the club ran out of money.
Two local business people, Marcin Ferdzyn and Grzegorz Waranecki, decided to help. They started a new group called Stowarzyszenie Reaktywacja Tradycji Sportowych Widzew Łódź. This means "Association of the Reactivation of the Sports Traditions of Widzew Łódź". This new group continued the history of the old Widzew club. In the summer of 2015, they quickly hired a new coach, Witold Obarek. They also put together a new team. This team started playing in the fifth tier of Polish football in the 2015–16 season.
In their first season, Widzew won promotion to a higher league. In the 2016–17 season, they finished third in III liga. The next season, they moved up to II liga. In the 2021–22 season, Widzew finished second. They returned to the Ekstraklasa for the first time since the 2013–14 season.
Club Achievements
In Poland
League Titles
- Ekstraklasa (First Division)
- Champions: 1980–81, 1981–82, 1995–96, 1996–97
- Second Place: 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1994–95, 1998–99
- I liga (Second Division)
- Champions: 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10
Cup Wins
- Polish Cup
- Winners: 1984–85
- Polish Super Cup
- Winners: 1996
- Runners-up: 1997
- Polish League Cup
- Runners-up: 1977
In Europe
- UEFA Champions League/European Cup
- Semi-finalists: 1982–83
- Copa del Sol
- Runners-up: 2013
Youth Teams
- Polish U19 championship
- Runners-up: 1995
Widzew in European Competitions
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Widzew has played many matches against teams from other countries. Here are some of their best results:
- In the 1982–83 European Cup, they reached the Semi-final. They lost to Juventus from Italy.
- In the 1980–81 UEFA Cup, they reached the Round of 16. They lost to Ipswich Town from England.
- In the 1984–85 UEFA Cup, they also reached the Round of 16. They lost to Dinamo Minsk from the Soviet Union.
Current Team Players
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Players on Loan
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Famous Players
Tadeusz Błachno- Daniel Bogusz
- Henryk Bolesta
Ulrich Borowka- Zbigniew Boniek
- Stanisław Burzyński
- Wiesław Cisek
- Marek Citko
- Ryszard Czerwiec
- Jacek Dembiński
- Dariusz Dziekanowski
- Marek Dziuba
- Dariusz Gęsior
- Andrzej Grębosz
- Rafał Grzelak
- Leszek Iwanicki
- Paweł Janas
- Waldemar Jaskulski
- Tomasz Łapiński
- Sławomir Majak
- Radosław Michalski
- Józef Młynarczyk
- Andrzej Możejko
- Arkadiusz Onyszko
- Kazimierz Przybyś
- Rafał Siadaczka
- Włodzimierz Smolarek
- Michał Stasiak
- Tadeusz Świątek
- Maciej Szczęsny
- Mirosław Szymkowiak
- Mirosław Tłokiński
- Artur Wichniarek
- Jerzy Wijas
- Roman Wójcicki
- Paweł Wojtala
- Andrzej Woźniak
- Wiesław Wraga
- Zbigniew Wyciszkiewicz
- Marcin Zając
- Władysław Żmuda
Andriy Mikhalchuk
Alexandru Curtianu
Team Managers
- Zygmunt Otto (1948)
Vančo Kaménař (1948)- Wacław Pegza (1949)
- Władysław Król (1950–51)
- Leszek Jezierski (1972–76)
- Janusz Pekowski (1976)
- Paweł Kowalski (1976–77)
- Bronisław Waligóra (1977–79)
- Stanisław Świerk (1978–79)
- Jacek Machciński (1979–81)
- Władysław Jan Żmuda (1981–84)
- Bronisław Waligóra (1984–86)
- Orest Lenczyk (1987–88)
- Andrzej Grębosz (1988–89)
- Bronisław Waligóra (1988–90)
- Jan Tomaszewski (1989–90)
- Czesław Fudalej (1989–90)
- Paweł Kowalski (1990–91)
- Władysław Jan Żmuda (April 28, 1992 – May 20, 1993)
- Leszek Jezierski (1992–93)
- Marek Woziński (1993–94)
- Władysław Stachurski (Sept 1, 1993 – April 20, 1995)
- Ryszard Polak (1994–95)
- Franciszek Smuda (April 30, 1995 – May 31, 1998)
- Andrzej Pyrdoł (July 1, 1998 – July 28, 1998)
- Wojciech Łazarek (July 28, 1998 – Oct 26, 1998)
- Marek Dziuba (1998–99)
- Grzegorz Lato (1999–00)
- Orest Lenczyk (Aug 30, 1999 – April 23, 2000)
- Andrzej Pyrdoł (1999–00)
- Jan Żurek (April 24, 2000 – July 1, 2000)
- Petro Kushlyk (2000–01)
- Marek Koniarek (2000–01)
- Marek Kusto (July 3, 2001 – Oct 13, 2001)
- Dariusz Wdowczyk (Oct 13, 2001 – Aug 2, 2002)
- Franciszek Smuda (Aug 2, 2002 – Dec 5, 2002)
Petr Němec (Dec 6, 2002 – April 7, 2003)- Tomasz Muchiński (int.) (April 7, 2003 – April 10, 2003)
- Franciszek Smuda (April 10, 2003 – July 9, 2003)
- Andrzej Kretek (July 10, 2003 – Aug 26, 2003)
- Tomasz Łapiński (interim) (Aug 26, 2003 – Sept 2, 2003)
- Jerzy Kasalik (Sept 3, 2003 – March 22, 2004)
- Stefan Majewski (2004–06)
- Michał Probierz (June 1, 2006 – Sept 3, 2007)
- Marek Zub (Sept 3, 2007 – April 21, 2008)
- Janusz Wójcik (April 21, 2008–08)
- W. Fornalik (July 1, 2008 – Jan 9, 2009)
- P. Janas (Jan 9, 2009 – June 21, 2010)
- A. Kretek (June 25, 2010 – Nov 15, 2010)
- C. Michniewicz (Nov 15, 2010 – June 22, 2011)
- R. Mroczkowski (June 24, 2011 – Sept 26, 2013)
- Rafal Pawlak (Sept 26, 2013 – Jan 6, 2014)
- Artur Skowronek (Jan 6, 2014 – June 20, 2014)
- Włodzimierz Tylak (June 20, 2014 – 2014)
- Rafał Pawlak (2014)
- Wojciech Stawowy (2014–2015)
- Witold Obarek (2015)
- Marcin Płuska (2015–2016)
- Tomasz Muchiński (2016)
- Przemysław Cecherz (2016–2017)
- Franciszek Smuda (2017–2018)
- Radosław Mroczkowski (2018–2019)
- Jacek Paszulewicz (2019)
- Zbigniew Smółka (2019)
- Marcin Kaczmarek (2019–2020)
Enkeleid Dobi (2020–2021)- Marcin Broniszewski (2021)
- Janusz Niedźwiedź (2021–2023)
- Daniel Myśliwiec (2023–)
The Widzew Stadium
The club's home stadium was the Municipal Stadium. It opened in 1930 and could hold 10,500 people. In early 2015, the old stadium was taken down. A new stadium with 18,000 seats was built in its place.
While the new stadium was being built, Widzew played their home games in Byczyna. This town is about 40 kilometers west of Łódź.
After the club had money problems and moved down to the fifth division, the team played in Łódź at the UKS SMS Łódź stadium. This was while the new Widzew Łódź Stadium was still under construction.
The first game at the new stadium was on March 18, 2017. Widzew won 2–0 against Motor Lubawa. A huge crowd of 17,443 fans came to watch.
Widzew Fans
Widzew has one of the biggest groups of fans in Poland. They have fan clubs all over the country. Widzew's biggest rival is ŁKS Łódź. Their games against each other are called the Łódź Derby.
Legia Warsaw is also a big rival. Their games are called the Derby of Poland. This is because these two clubs often competed for the championship title. GKS Bełchatów is the third biggest rival for Widzew.
Widzew fans are friendly with fans from other clubs. These include Ruch Chorzów, Elana Toruń, KKS Kalisz, and Wisła Kraków. A small group of their most passionate fans, called Ultras, also have a friendship with fans of the Hungarian team Honvéd. This friendship comes from the good relationship between Hungary and Poland.
TMRF Widzew Łódź Team
TMRF Widzew was a football team started in 2014. It was created by the club's active supporters, the ultras. They had some disagreements with the club's leaders at the time. Only Widzew supporters were allowed to play on this team.
See also
In Spanish: Widzew Lodz para niños
- Football in Poland
- List of football teams
- Champions' Cup/League
- UEFA Cup
