GKS Gedania 1922 is a football team based in

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 ...

, Poland. Founded in 1945 the club was the reforming of

Gedania Danzig KS Gedania Danzig was an ethnically-Polish association football club that was part of German football competition in the inter-war period. It was formed in 1922 in what was at the time the Free City of Danzig (present day Gdańsk, Poland). Ban ...

History

Gedania Danzig

Formed on 15 September 1922, Gedania was an ethnic Polish football team who played in the

Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...

(present day Gdańsk, Poland). A sports club was created by the gymnastics club ''Towarzystwo Gimnastyczne Sokół'' (Falcon Gymnastic Company) and was initially given the name Polonia Danzig, ''Polonia'' being the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

ized name for Poland. The local authorities opposed this name however with the club settling for the name Gedania Danzig, ''Gedania'' being the Latinized name of Gdańsk/Danzig. The footballing section of the sports club was not formed until 1933, and competed in the German lower divisions. After moderate success with two 3rd-place finished and two 2nd-place finishes within the space of 4 years, Gedania Danzig was forced to cease operations due to the Nazi occupation of Poland. After the occupation of Danzig, the club's president, Henryk Kopeck, and two vice-presidents, Konrad Zdrojewski and Władysław Dębowski were shot. Most of the players and footballing staff were sent to

concentration camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

. In total 75 people associated with Gedania before its operations ceased died during the war.

Gedania Gdańsk

Gedania was formed on 16 May 1945 after the liberation of Gdańsk using the name KS Gedania. After some initial success in the football leagues Gedania soon found themselves playing in the lower divisions. In 1987 the team was involved in a merger with

MOSiR Gdańsk MOSiR Gdańsk was a football team based in Gdańsk, Poland. The club, Miejskiego Ośrodka Sportu i Rekreacji Gdańsk (''"Municipal Sports and Recreation Center Gdańsk"''), played its games at the Stadion MOSiR, the centre in the city for the s ...

. The team experienced a second merger in 2003, this time with

Flotylla Gdańsk KS Flotylla Gdańsk was a football team based in Gdańsk, Poland. Located in the Letnica area of Gdańsk Flotylla used the facilities and stadium of MRKS Gdańsk, who had only just dissolved prior to Flotylla's formation. The club went on to en ...

. In 2006 the football section of the sports club left and changed its name to GKS Gedania 1922 in reference to the year the initial Gedania sports club was formed. The team moved to their new home in 2012, a sports and recreation complex at Aleja Hallera 201. In 2015 Gedania were promoted to the fourth tier finishing runners-up in their league. This was managed due to the team winning 14 of their final 15 games, and amassing a 13-game winning streak.

Rivalries

Having played in the regional leagues for most of their history Gedania's rivalries have been teams from the Gdańsk area, and as a result games involving the

Gdańsk Derby The "Gdańsk Derby" ( pl, Derby Gdańska) is the name given to describe football matches between teams in Gdańsk, Poland. While this term can be used for any team in Gdańsk historically this term has been used for games involving Gedania Gdańs ...

. In the early years of their formation Gedania had a strong rivalry with

Lechia Gdańsk Lechia Gdańsk () is a Polish football club based in Gdańsk. The club was founded in 1945 by people expelled from Lwów, who were supporters of Poland's oldest football team Lechia Lwów, founded in 1903. The club's name comes from Lechia, a ...

, playing 9 times between 1945-51. The derby between the two teams was not contested again for over 50 years until the two teams last played in 2004. Since the turn of the century Gedania has been involved in more derbies, with the club playing

Stoczniowiec Gdańsk Stoczniowiec Gdańsk is an ice hockey team based in Gdańsk, Poland. The team currently plays in the 1. Liga, but has formerly spent 30 seasons playing in the Polska Hokej Liga, the top-level ice hockey league in Poland, with their highest finis ...

14 times in the league over 10 seasons from 2001-2011 and have played Jaguar Gdańsk in the league most seasons since 2012. Another of Gedania's rivals local rivals are

Portowiec Gdańsk Portowiec Gdańsk are a sports club based in Gdańsk, Poland, founded in 1957. Club names *1957 - Klub Sportowy Portowiec Gdańsk *1969 - MRKS Gdańsk (Maritime Workers' Sports Club Gdańsk) after a merger with Motława Gdańsk *2009 - reactiva ...

who they first played in the 1970s. The two teams last played during the 2014–15 season.

Colours

Gedania's home colours are typically mainly white shirts with a red detail, white shorts, and often having blue socks. These are the same colours that were used by Gedania Danzig who often wore white and red striped shirts, blue shorts, and blue socks. In recent years the club has often had a white shirt with a red diagonal sash, the away shirt being the opposite design with a red shirt and white sash. For the 2021–22 season the club designed their shirts with a single vertical stripe down the centre of the shirt in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Gedania Danzig forming, and this being the style that the team used often before the war.

Honours

District Championships (''III tier'') *Winner: 1946, 1950, 1955 *Runners-up: 1947, 1948 *Third: 1949

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 ...

(''IV tier'') *Winner: 1967–77, 1982–83 *Runners-up: 2003–04 *Third: 1981–82 IV liga (''V tier'') *Winner: 2021–22 Liga Okręgowa Gdańsk group (''VI tier'') *Runners-up: 2014–15 *Third: 2007–08

Former players

Players who played for Gedania and the Polish national team at some point during their careers. *

Krzysztof Adamczyk Krzysztof Adamczyk (born 2 February 1956 in Gdańsk, Poland) is a former football player. He was 1980–1981 Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its s ...

(1970–1976) *

Roman Korynt Roman Korynt (12 October 1929 – 15 July 2018) was a Polish international footballer who played as a defender. Most of his career was spent with Lechia Gdańsk, spending over 15 years at the club. He also had short spells with Gedania Gdańsk, ...

(1948–1949) *

Rafał Murawski Rafał Murawski (, born 9 October 1981) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Murawski was born in Malbork. While spending his youth club time mostly in Gdańsk, he signed his first senior contract ...

(1999)

References

{{III liga teamlist 1945 establishments in Poland Association football clubs established in 1945 Sport in Gdańsk Football clubs in Pomeranian Voivodeship