ŁKS Łódź (''Łódzki Klub Sportowy Łódź''; ) is a Polish sports club based in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

. They are best known for their

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club but are represented in many sports such as basketball, volleyball, tennis,

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

and in the past

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

. The club is based at

Stadion Miejski im. Władysława Króla Stadion (Greek , Latin ''stadium'', nominative plural ''stadia'' in both Greek and Latin) may refer to: People * Christoph von Stadion (1478–1543), Prince-Bishop of Augsburg * Johann Philipp Stadion, Count von Warthausen (1763–1824), Austrian ...

, at the 2

Union of Lublin The Union of Lublin ( pl, Unia lubelska; lt, Liublino unija) was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, and created a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest countries in Europe at the time. It replaced the pe ...

Avenue in the West of Łódź. The club was founded in 1908. This article focuses on the football club. Their nickname "''Rycerze Wiosny''" ("Knights of Spring") was given to them due to their usually strong performance in the second round of the league, after Winter break.

History

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 Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 cl ...

, where expenses often exceeded the ticket revenue from the club's small seating-capacity stadium. In May 2013, at the conclusion of the second-tier

2012–13 I liga The 2012–13 I liga was the 65th season of the second tier domestic division in the Polish football league system since its establishment in 1949 and the 5th season of the Polish I liga under its current title. The league was operated by the Pol ...

season, the private investor declared bankruptcy. 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 IV may refer to: Businesses and organizations *Immigration Voice, an activist organization *Industrievereinigung, Federation of Austrian Industry *Intellectual Ventures, a privately held intellectual property company *InterVarsity Christian Fello ...

in time for the 2013–14 IV liga season, competing against other local area teams in the Łódź group.

Facilities

In 2009 the new

Atlas Arena Atlas Arena
- lodz.gazeta.pl - 25-08-2009 is a multipurpose

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

, 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 would lead to Poland hosting the entire tournament on its own and therefore requiring more host cities. There were four Polish host cities (

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

and

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

) involved in hosting the tournament. It was envisioned the new stadium would have approximately 34,000 seats, as required by

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

. While the concept of a new stadium for ŁKS Łódź was being discussed in 2009, cross-town rival

Widzew Łódź RTS Widzew Łódź () is a Polish football club based in Łódź. The club was founded in 1910. Its official colours are red and white, hence their nicknames ''Czerwona Armia'' (Red Army) and ''Czerwono-biało-czerwoni'' (Red-white-reds). Histor ...

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. 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.

Rivalries

The club has a fierce rivalry with cross-town club

, with the

derby match A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees. The intensity of the rivalry can range anywhere from a light hearted banter to serious violen ...

between the two clubs being intense both on and off the field. See Łódź derby

Achievements

: ** 1st Place (2): 1958, 1997–98 ** 2nd Place (1):

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

** 3rd Place (3):

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

, 1957, 1992–93 *

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...

: ** Winner (1): 1956–57 ** Finalist (1): 1993–94 *

Polish SuperCup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2021, the Polish Super Cup has been pl ...

: ** Finalist (2): 1994, 1998 *Youth Teams: ** Polish U-19 Champion: 1962, 1983, 1999 ** Polish U-19 Runner-up: 1953, 1955, 1973, 2002 ** Polish U-19 Bronze Medal: 1971, 1981 ** Polish U-17 Champion: 1994, 1999

Current squad

Out on loan

ŁKS in Europe

Managers

Lajos Czeizler Lajos Czeizler (5 October 1893 – 6 May 1969) was a Hungarian footballer and coach. With 11 major titles altogether, he remains one of the most successful football coaches of all time. Career Czeizler was born in a Jewish family in Heves, Aust ...

(1923–26) *

(1935–36) * Władysław Król (1949) * Jan Wiszniowski (1950) * Edward Drabiński (1950–51) *

Artur Woźniak Artur Jan Woźniak (born 10 November 1913 in Kraków, died 31 May 1991 in Kraków), was a Polish football forward, twice top scorer of the Polish First Division. For most of his career, Woźniak was loyal to Wisła Kraków, where he played in t ...

(1951) * Władysław Król (1952–59) * Kazimierz Radwański (1960) * Stanisław Baran (1961) * Władysław Król * Tadeusz Foryś (1965) * Longin Janeczek (1966–67) * Wacław Pegza (1968) * Józef Walczak (1971–72) * Paweł Kowalski (1972–) *

Kazimierz Górski Kazimierz Klaudiusz Górski (2 March 1921 – 23 May 2006) was a coach of Poland national football team and honorary president of the Polish Football Association. He was also a football player, capped once for Poland. Playing career He was bor ...

(1973) * Grzegorz Polakow (1975) * Longin Janeczek (1976) *

Leszek Jezierski Leszek "Napoleon" Jezierski (12 May 1929 in Lublin; 12 January 2008 in Łódź) was a Polish football striker and coach. Biography Born in Lublin, Jezierski played for top club Legia Warsaw. He made his debut on the national team against Bulg ...

(1976–78) * Zygmunt Małolepszy (1978) * Józef Walczak (1980) * Wojciech Łazarek (1991) *

Ryszard Polak Ryszard Polak (26 February 1959 – 9 September 2017) was a Polish footballer who played as a forward. He is most well known for his spell with Lechia Gdańsk. Biography Born in Sopot Polak started his footballing career training with the yo ...

(1991–95) * Zbigniew Lepczyk (1995) *

Marek Dziuba Marek Dziuba (born 19 December 1955, in Łódź) is a retired Polish football player and later a football manager. He played for a few clubs, including ŁKS Łódź and Widzew Łódź. Dziuba played for Poland national team, for which he play ...

(1996–99) *

Adam Topolski Adam Stephen Topolski (born 25 December 1951) is a retired Polish football defender who played professionally Poland and the United States. Since his retirement in 1988, he has amassed a considerable resume as a coach in Poland. Player In 196 ...

(2000) * Włodzimierz Gąsior (2002) * Bogusław Pietrzak (2002–03) * Włodzimierz Tylak (2003) *

Wojciech Borecki Wojciech Borecki (born 4 April 1955) is a Polish Association football, football Manager (association football), manager. References

1955 births Living people Polish men's footballers Polish football managers Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała ...

(2003–04) * Marek Chojnacki (2004) * Wiesław Wojno (2005–06) * Jerzy Kasalik (2006) * Marek Chojnacki (2006–07) *

Wojciech Borecki Wojciech Borecki (born 4 April 1955) is a Polish Association football, football Manager (association football), manager. References

1955 births Living people Polish men's footballers Polish football managers Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała ...

(2007) *

Mirosław Jabłoński Mirosław Korneliusz Jabłoński (born 16 September 1950) is a Polish football manager. References 1950 births Living people Sportspeople from Warsaw Polish football managers Gwardia Warsaw managers Górnik Wałbrzych (football) mana ...

(2007–08) * Marek Chojnacki (2008) * Grzegorz Wesołowski (2008–10) * Andrzej Pyrdoł (2010–11) * Dariusz Bratkowski (2011) * Michał Probierz (2011) * Tomasz Wieszczycki (2011) * Ryszard Tarasiewicz (2011–12) * Andrzej Pyrdoł (2012) * Marek Chojnacki (2012) * Maciej Szpak (2013) * Piotr Zajączkowski (2013) * Wojciech Robaszek (2013–2014) * Andrzej Kretek (2014) * Marek Chojnacki (2014–2015) * Robert Szwarc (2015–2016) * Wojciech Robaszek (2016) * Marcin Pyrdoł (2016–2017) * Wojciech Robaszek (2017–2018) * Kazimierz Moskal (2018–2020) *

Wojciech Stawowy Wojciech Stawowy (born 28 January 1966) is a Polish football manager. From 2020 to 2021 he served as the manager of ŁKS Łódź. References 1966 births Living people Polish football managers MKS Cracovia managers Arka Gdynia managers GKS ...

(2020–2021) *

Ireneusz Mamrot Ireneusz Mamrot (born 13 December 1970) is a Polish professional football manager and former player, most recently in charge of I liga club Górnik Łęczna. Managerial career Mamrot coached Polish I liga side Chrobry Głogów from 2010 to 2017 ...

(2021) * Kibu Vicuña (2021-)

Notable former players

ŁKS Łódź II

As of the 2021–22 football season in Poland, the club's

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

, ŁKS Łódź II, competes in the

III liga III liga (Trzecia liga) is a Polish football league that sits in the fourth tier of the Polish football league system. Until the end of the 2007–08 season, III liga referred to a league at the third tier (now called II liga) but this was ch ...

, having won promotion from the 2020–21