KKS Astra Krotoszyn is a Polish sports club from

Krotoszyn Krotoszyn (german: Krotoschin, yi, קראטאשין ''Krotoshin'') is a town in west-central Poland with 30,010 inhabitants . It has been part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship since 1999; it was within Kalisz Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998. ...

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed ...

. Once a

multi-sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

, since 2001 it has only two sections:

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 ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

History

The beginning

The growing interest in sport in the country in the 1920s had a major impact on the international success of Astra athletes, especially Olympic gold medals of

Halina Konopacka Halina Konopacka (Leonarda Kazimiera Konopacka-Matuszewska-Szczerbińska) (26 February 1900 – 28 January 1989) was a Polish athlete. She won the discus throw event at the 1928 Summer Olympics, defeating American silver medal winner Lillian C ...

and

Janusz Kusociński Janusz Tadeusz Kusociński (15 January 1907 – 21 June 1940) was a Polish athlete, winner in the 10,000 meters event at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Biography Born in Warsaw into the family of a railroad worker, Janusz Kusociński, or ''Ku ...

. In Krotoszyn the conditions were favourable: the attitude of the local authorities, the existence of a military garrison and secondary schools, the activity of the local intelligentsia, artisans and merchants. With the establishment of a municipal Astra club (meaning Star) in 1929, the town capitalised on hopes to establish durable development of sport. The club formed several sections:

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

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), competiti ...

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

ice skating Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be per ...

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

motor club Automobile associations, also referred to as motoring clubs, motoring associations, motor clubs, are organizations, either for-profit or non-profit, which motorists (drivers and vehicle owners) can join to enjoy benefits provided by the club relat ...

, and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. Organized demonstrations, and later occupations, often on the occasion of various anniversaries and holidays. Those were the years of promoting new disciplines, become familiar with the rules and principles of training. The coaches and the youth were trained, although the latter initially were not allowed to join the club at first, and later overturned under condition of parental consent. Organizational weakness stemmed from the managerial changes, which occurred eight times during the first 10 years of existence, among the CEOs and board of directors. Despite the presence of mayors, officials and traders in the management, the club suffered severe financial shortages all the time. Funds for the purchase of equipment and uniforms were raised by organizing games, theatre performances, concerts, trips to Poznań for international matches. A competition for the club were other associations – "Gymnastic Society Sokól", ''Związek Strzelecki'' (

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...

club), ''Bractwo Kurkowe'' (which later gained the support of municipal authorities). The club had survived this tough period. Greatest successes were in the swimming section. Their work was helped by two true sports fanatics – brothers John and Wladyslaw Szlachta. For the swimming competitions the top clubs from all around

would arrive. Interest was also high for boxing matches, athletics and football.

Conflict with KS Kolejarz

In the tragic years of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, many activists and players of the club sacrificed their lives: Tadeusz Fenrych (mayor), Francis Dominiczak, Francis Hechmann, Zdzislaw Klemczak, Anthony Piaczyński, Marian Drozdzynski, Stefan Kurzawski, Valerian Michalak, Wojciech Nowak, Marian Fish, Richard Zeller . After the war, activists and former players of the club reactivated the club on 30 May 1946, and the first president was mayor Stefan Zawieja. The club had following sections:

, and

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

. Then more sections were created:

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

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 ...

and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

. The first two decades after the war commenced with a rivalry with its neighbour – "KS Kolejarz", even taking the form of outright conflict between activists and players of both clubs, especially when "KS Kolejarz" did not agree to return Astra swimmers back to Astra. Meanwhile, a characteristic phenomenon had become prominent, the branding of sport through creating a union of sports associations. Therefore, Astra, which was previously an urban club, passed several membership changes, coupled with several name changes. They were: Robotniczy Klub Sportowy Orkan (1948), Gwardia (1949–53), Spójnia (1954–55), Sparta (1955–63). Belonging to a particular association carried financial guarantees, but the changes have led to changes in the boards, activists and athletes too. Only in 1963 the conflict was revolved with Kolejarz, creating a united sport club. Finally, in 1970, the club returned to his first name – Astra. Henceforth it acted as an inter-union sports club, but the support and state of the unions was heavily varied. Therefore, gradually subsequent sections of the club had suspended operations.

Golden Era

The swimming section which existed until 1975, produced successful athletes: Urszula Janasówna, Bogdan Olszewski, Wladyslaw Kruślak, Czeslaw Robinski, Maciej Sroczynski, Czeslaw Płóciennik, Edward Tomczak, John Malecki. They were country and association record holders. The Olympian Ryszard Żugaj began his career at Astra. Top places in the interprovincial league were achieved by the volleyball players, basketball players and boxers. In recent years Victus Astra table tennis players reached the second division, and were recently transferred to KS Krotosz. In the last decade the football team played in the third tier between 1996 and 2002, which was made possible by the substantial support of the Mechanical Equipment Factory and several other local entrepreneurs. The team consisted of many famous players: Adam Grad, Thomas Szajkowski, Arkadiusz Żaglewski, Peter Kasprzyk and Remi Wojtczak, a few joined the ranks of other higher league clubs: Dariusz Reyer, Christopher Gościniak, Richard Tomczak. The team travelled all over the country.

Decline and recent events

Due to the continuing poor financial situation, since 1982, only three sections of the club operated: football, volleyball and table tennis, and since 2001 the two: football and volleyball. The difficult financial situation resulted in the football team's relegation to the fourth league, in which Astra languished, despite chances of promotion, but in a decisive play-off match

Mieszko Gniezno Mieszko Gniezno is a football club based in Gniezno (Poland). They currently play in ''IV liga '', the fifth tier of Polish league football. The club's name commemorates Polish ruler Mieszko I of Poland, who ruled Poland in the 10th century, whe ...

proved to be better. More recently the club suffered yet another relegation. The club's 80th anniversary, due to financial problems, will be celebrated rather modestly. 6 youth teams currently compete in the top of their leagues. The

section is currently being re-activated, and the football team is hoping to re-build and gain promotion.

Fans

Astra have a small but loyal fan-base, including an

ultras Ultras are a type of association football fans who are renowned for their fanatical support. The term originated in Italy, but is used worldwide to describe predominantly organised fans of association football teams. The behavioural tende ...

group. Many Astra fans also sympathise with the regional powerhouse

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation' ...

. Their biggest rivals are considered to be KKS Kalisz, whereas the fans maintain friendly relations with fans of

Kania Gostyń Kania may refer to the following: Localities in Poland * Kania, Ostrów Wielkopolski County in Greater Poland Voivodeship, west-central Poland * Kania, Słupca County in Greater Poland Voivodeship, west-central Poland * Kania, Kuyavian-Pomeranian ...

and LKS Czarnylas, and until January 2016, maintained friendly relations with

Jarota Jarocin Jarota Jarocin is a football club in Jarocin, Poland, competing in 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 l ...

External links

Official club website90minut.pl profileFans Facebook pageTwitter pagePolish FA profile
Football clubs in Poland Association football clubs established in 1929 1929 establishments in Poland Football clubs in Greater Poland Voivodeship Sports clubs in Poland