Stal Rzeszów is a Polish

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

club. The team currently competes in the

Polish Speedway Second League The Polish National Speedway League or Krajowa Liga Żużlowa, formerly 2 Liga żużlowa is the third division of motorcycle speedway in Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from t ...

(2. Liga) and have won the

Team Speedway Polish Championship The Team Speedway Polish Championship ( Polish: ''Drużynowe Mistrzostwa Polski, DMP'') is an annual speedway event held each year in different Polish clubs organized by the Polish Motor Union (PZM) since 1948. In 2000, the First Division was r ...

twice.

History

1948 to 1959

The first speedway in Rzeszów was held at the Resovia stadium in 1948. The club made their league debut during the

1949 Polish speedway season The 1949 Polish Speedway season was the 1949 season of motorcycle speedway in Poland. Individual Polish Individual Speedway Championship The 1949 Individual Speedway Polish Championship was held in Leszno on 23 October 1949. It was the fifth ru ...

under the name RTKM-Gwardia Rzeszów. As Stal Rzeszów the team returned to league action in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

and in 1956, two clubs from Rzeszów competed in the league, with Resovia Rzeszów competing in addition to Stal. Towards the end of the 1950s the team won the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

twice in

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

and

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

. The 1959 success was a precursor of things to come.

1960 to 1969

The 1960s proved to be a golden period for the club, as Stal Rzeszów won the gold medal in the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

and

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

. They also secured silver medals in

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

and

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

Florian Kapała Florian Kapała (1929 - 2007) was an international speedway rider from Poland. Speedway career Kapała reached the final of the Speedway World Championship in the 1961 Individual Speedway World Championship. He was a four times Polish cham ...

was the star rider winning

Polish Individual Speedway Championship The Individual Speedway Polish Championship ( Polish: ''Indywidualne Mistrzostwa Polski, IMP'') is an annual speedway event held each year organized by the Polish Motor Union (PZM) since 1932. The current Polish Champion is Maciej Janowski, w ...

in 1961 and 1962 and the Golden Helmet in 1962. A further medal was won in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, when the team won the bronze medal.

1970 to 1999

The 1970s and 1980s proved to be a low point because the success of the previous decade could not be reproduced. The team failed to win anything until

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

and that was a second division title. Another barren spell ensued, until

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and another second division title success. The team had their best season for over 30 years, when they won a bronze medal during the 1998 Polish speedway season.

2000 to present

When the Ekstraliga was introduced in 2000, Rzeszów were in 1. Liga. In 2005, the club provided a major shock when winning the

Polish Pairs Speedway Championship The Polish Pairs Speedway Championship ( Polish: ''Mistrzostwa Polski Par Klubowych, MPPK'') is an annual speedway event held each year in different Polish clubs organized by the Polish Motor Union (PZM) since 1974. The participating teams are dr ...

as a second tier club, although they also won the second division too. The pairs success was achieved by

Dariusz Śledz Dariusz is a male given name, predominantly in Polish. Etymologically, it derives from the Proto-Slavic "dar" gift, and signifies the giver/gift giver or possessors as well as "goods", and Persian name '' Dariush'', meaning "he possesses" or "good". ...

and

Maciej Kuciapa Maciej Kuciapa (born 23 November 1975 in Ropczyce, Poland(plPolish Wikipedia- 28 Dec 2007.) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from Poland. Honours * Individual European Championship: ** ''2007 - in Qualifying Round 3 was replaced by Mara ...

. In recent years the team has competed in the lower divisions winning 1. Liga in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and the 2. Liga in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Previous teams

''2022 team *

Eduard Krčmář Eduard Krčmář (born 26 March 1996) is a Czech motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockw ...

Kevin Wölbert Kevin Wölbert (born 14 June 1989) is a German motorcycle speedway rider who has won the Individual German Championship title three times. Career history When Max Dilger was injured, Wölbert was nominated as second track reserve at the 200 ...

Dawid Lampart Dawid Lampart (born 4 August 1990) is a motorcycle speedway rider from Poland. Career Lampart was a member of the Poland U-21 and U-19 national teams. Lampart won the 2009 Under-21 World Cup, 2009 Team U-19 European Championship and fini ...

Timi Salonen Timi Salonen (born 2 August 2001) is a speedway rider from Finland. Speedway career Salonen represented Finland at senior level in the 2022 Speedway of Nations final, after securing a second-place finish in the semi-final. Also in 2022, he fi ...

* Hubert Legowik *

Paweł Miesiąc Paweł Miesiąc (born 24 April 1985 in Poland) is a motorcycle speedway rider from Poland. Career Miesiąc has won the Team Speedway Junior World Championship, Team Under 21 World Champion title. Miesiąc rode in the Team Speedway Polish Ch ...

* Szymon Bandur 2023 team *

Jacob Thorssell Jacob Thorssell (born 24 July 1993) is a motorcycle speedway rider from Sweden. He is a two times Swedish national champion. Career Thorssell joined Wolverhampton Wolves in the Elite League for the 2012 season, as a replacement for Pontus ...

Peter Kildemand Peter Kildemand (born 1 September 1989) is a motorcycle speedway rider from Denmark and was a member of the Danish national team. He is a two-time Speedway Grand Prix winner. Career Kildemand started riding in Britain for Workington Comets ...

* Jonas Jeppesen * Marcin Nowak *

* Mateusz Tudzieź *

Rafał Karczmarz Rafał Karczmarz (born 25 February 1999) is an international speedway rider from Poland. Speedway career Karczmarz came to prominence in 2016 and 2017 when he was part of the Polish team that won the Team Speedway Junior European Championshi ...

* Anže Grmek * Philip Hellström Bängs * Anders Rowe * Mateusz Majcher

Notable riders

Honours

References

* * * * {{Polish speedway teams Speedway teams in Poland Sport in Rzeszów Stal Rzeszów