Stal Stalowa Wola

Stal Stalowa Wola Piłkarska Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Stal Stalowa Wola (), is a Polish professional football club based in Stalowa Wola, Subcarpathian Voivodeship. Founded in 1938, the club competes in the III liga, group IV, the fourth division of Polish football.

Stal's greatest success are 12th place in the 1993–94 Ekstraklasa, 1990–91 I liga championship and the quarter-final of the 1991–92 Polish Cup. It is the fourth best team in the history of the I liga, second professional association football division.

Since the spring round of the 2019–20 season, Stalowa Wola has played its home games at the 3,764-capacity Podkarpackie Centrum Piłki Nożnej. Previously the team had played at the Stadion MOSiR from the 1930s, when the stadium was built. The club has a long-standing rivalry with Siarka Tarnobrzeg, and matches between the two sides are known as the great derby of Subcarpathia.

The club's traditional colours are green and black, and the club is known as ''Stalówka'' and ''Hutnicy'' (''Steelworkers''). At the beginning of its existence, it was associated with the Huta Stalowa Wola. In May 2010, a joint-stock sport company was built up under the name "Stal Stalowa Wola Piłkarska Spółka Akcyjna". It is the lawful successor and continuator of the "ZKS Stal Stalowa Wola" tradition. In July 2018, the city of Stalowa Wola took over the club's majority stake.

History

In 1938, , who was the director of Huta Stalowa Wola, established the Klub Sportowy Stalowa Wola (''Sports Club Stalowa Wola''). At that time, the club had a pitch without running tracks and stands. The players were amateurs. During this period, training sessions took place after finishing work, and the matches were played on Sunday. The first match took place on May 4, 1939, in the Saint Florian's Day who is the patron saint of steelworkers.

After the World War II, the club resumed its activity. In the 1953 season, Stal won the Klasa A (4th level). For the first time footballers from Stalowa Wola were promoted to II liga (2nd level) in 1973, under the leadership of Jerzy Kopa. Stal players played in the second league until 1987, when they won promotion to Ekstraklasa in the play-offs against Górnik Knurów. Stal Stalowa Wola played in Ekstraklasa in the following seasons: 1987–88, 1991–92, 1993–94 and 1994–95. The greatest successes of Stal include participation in the quarter-finals of the Polish Cup ( 1991–92 edition).

In the wake of winning the 2001–02 II liga (fourth group), Stal was elevated to I liga. In the primary season in the subsequent level, it was fifteenth completing in the relegation zone. At this level, it showed up again in 2006. It tumbled to the third level after the 2009–10 season, assuming the penultimate position in the league, ahead of Motor Lublin only. In the 2009–10 Polish Cup edition, Stal reached the 1/8 finals. In the second round, it unexpectedly eliminated the title defender Lech Poznań with Robert Lewandowski in the squad (0–0, p. 4–1). In 2010–2020, Stal played continuously in II liga.

The 2019–20 II liga season began severely for the Subcarpathian team – they had one point in the initial five matches. After the loss to Błękitni Stargard (0–1), the coach Paweł Wtorek resigned. He was replaced by Szymon Szydełko, who was unable to turn around the club's fortunes. Stalówka finished the season in 15th, thus becoming relegated to III liga. Szydełko stayed at the club, beginning another season with a victory in the Polish Cup over the II liga side Skra Częstochowa (3–1 win). On October 31, 2020, after the 0–3 loss to Wisła Puławy