Raków Częstochowa
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Robotniczy Klub Sportowy Raków Częstochowa
Spółka Akcyjna The abbreviation S.A. or SA designates a type of limited company in certain countries, most of which have a Romance languages, Romance language as their official language and operate a derivative of the 1804, Napoleonic, civil law (legal syste ...
(commonly referred to as Raków Częstochowa, or simply Raków) is a Polish professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club, based in
Częstochowa Częstochowa ( , ) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship. However, Częstochowa is historically part of Lesser Poland, not Si ...
, that competes in the
Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...
, the top tier of national football league system.


History

Sports club "Racovia" was established in 1921 in the village of Raków. The club dissolved in 1925 due to lack of registration. In 1927, the club was reactivated under the name of the Robotniczy Klub Sportowy (Workers Sports Club) Raków. A year later, the village became a district of Częstochowa. The club operated under the patronage of the
Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party (, PPS) is a democratic socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most significant parties in Poland from its founding in 1892 until its forced merger with the communist Polish Workers' Party to form ...
and was financially supported by the Częstochowa steelworks. In 1937, the club was promoted to
Klasa A Klasa A represents the seventh level of the Polish football league system, Polish football hierarchy. Teams promoted from Klasa A move up to the liga okręgowa, whilst relegated teams descend to the Klasa B leagues. The exceptions are Klasa A i ...
(third level). During the German occupation (
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
), the club did not function. In the years 1951–1955, a Raków Municipal Stadium with an athletics track was built. In the years 1962–1966, the football team competed in the second league. On 9 July 1967, Raków lost 0–2 to
Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. They currently compete in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system, ...
in their first
Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...
final appearance. In 1972, Raków's players reached the semi-finals of the Polish Cup, which they lost to
Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...
. In the years 1978–1980, 1981–1984 and 1990–1994 the club played in the second league. In 1993, the junior team took 2nd place in the
Football Junior Championships of Poland Football Junior Championships of Poland Under-19 () is a competition which started in the summer of 1936. 1936 The first, historic Under-19 tournament for the title of the Football Junior Championships of Poland took place in the town of Sieraków ...
. In 1994, for the first time in club history, Raków were promoted to
Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...
. They competed in the top-flight for four seasons until being relegated after the 1997–98 season. The club suffered back-to-back relegations in 1999–2000 and 2000–01, dropping down to the
IV liga IV liga (Czwarta liga) is the fifth level of the Polish football league system. The current structure of IV liga was created in the 2000–01 season after introducing the new administrative division of Poland. Groups consist most often of 18 c ...
. The club finally made it to back to the Polish second division,
I liga I liga (, ), currently named Betclic I liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga via promotion/rel ...
, in 2016.


Promotion and European football

The club won the I liga in 2018–19, earning promotion to Ekstraklasa for the first time in 21 years. In the same season, they impressed in the 2018–19 Polish Cup, reaching the semi-finals of the competition by beating the likes of
Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division. ...
in the round of 32 and
Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...
in the quarter-finals. They finished the 2019–20 season in 10th place. In the 2020–21 season, Raków finished the league season as runners-up. This was their highest ever league position in their history, and it secured their place in the newly formed UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers for the 2021–22 season, their maiden appearance in
European football UEFA competitions (), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur association football and futsal. T ...
. Further success followed when Raków won the 2020–21 Polish Cup, their first major trophy, defeating I liga side Arka Gdynia in the final 2–1 on 2 May 2021. On 17 July 2021, Raków Częstochowa defeated reigning Ekstraklasa title holders
Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...
on penalties to win the 2021 Polish Super Cup. Their first ever appearance in European football was in the second qualifying round of the
2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League The 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final was played at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana, Albania, with Rom ...
, facing Lithuanian team Sūduva, with the game finishing 0–0 (4–3 pens) after both legs. They faced
Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...
side
Rubin Kazan FC Rubin Kazan (; ) is a Russian professional football club based in the city of Kazan. They play in the Russian Premier League. Founded in 1958, Rubin played its first-ever top flight season in 2003. It has remained there through the 2021–2 ...
in the third qualifying round, beating them 1–0 on aggregate score. In the final qualifying round, they faced Belgian side Gent, which they beat 1–0 in the first leg, but lost 0–3 in the second leg, losing 1–3 on aggregate, eliminating them from the competition. On 2 May 2022, Raków defeated
Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division. ...
3–1 and secured its second consecutive
Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...
. In the race for the league title that
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
, Raków lost out to the same opponents by just five points, with the champions being decided on the penultimate day of the season. On 9 July 2022, Raków won their second consecutive Polish Super Cup with a 2–0 win over Lech Poznań. In the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying phase, the team defeated
FC Astana Astana Football Club () is a professional Association football, football club based in Astana. They play in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Football in Kazakhstan, Kazakh football. The club's home ground is the 30,000-seat As ...
(6–0 agg.) and FC Spartak Trnava (3–0 agg.), but lost to
Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...
(2–3 agg.) in the play-off round. On 7 May 2023, Raków won the
Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...
championship for the first time in their history, and thus qualified for the Champions League, where they reached the last qualifying round and faced
FC Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen (, ), commonly known as F.C. København, F.C. Copenhagen, Copenhagen, or simply FCK, is a Danish professional football club based in Copenhagen. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on top of Kjøbenhavns Boldklu ...
from Denmark. Raków subsequently played in the Europa League that season, where they were knocked out in the group stages.


Players and pupils

The club's alumni include
Jakub Błaszczykowski Jakub "Kuba" Błaszczykowski (; born 14 December 1985) is a Polish businessman and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger. He is a part owner of Polish football club Wisła Krak ...
,
Jerzy Brzęczek Jerzy Józef Brzęczek (; born 18 March 1971) is a Polish professional football manager and former player. In a professional career which spanned nearly 20 years and brought 42 caps with the Poland national team, Brzęczek played for clubs in ...
and Jacek Magiera. Former Polish internationals such as Jacek Krzynówek and Tomasz Kiełbowicz also played for the club.


Players


Current squad


Out on loan


Notable players

Players who have appeared for their respective national team at any time. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Raków. ;Poland * Michael Ameyaw * Adam Fedoruk * Michał Gliwa * Jarosław Jach * Tomasz Kiełbowicz * Jacek Krzynówek * Hubert Pala * Kamil Piątkowski * Michał Skóraś * Paweł Skrzypek * Maciej Wilusz * Mateusz Zachara ;Europe ; Armenia * Aghvan Papikyan ; Belarus * Artsyom Rakhmanaw ; Bosnia and Herzegovina *
Adnan Kovačević Adnan Kovačević (; born 9 September 1993) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for I liga club Miedź Legnica. Kovačević started his professional career at Travnik, before joining Sarajevo in 2013. Four years lat ...
; Croatia * Fran Tudor ; Czech Republic * Tomáš Petrášek ; Georgia * Luka Gagnidze * Valerian Gvilia ; Greece * Giannis Papanikolaou * Stratos Svarnas ; Hungary * Péter Baráth ; Latvia * Vladislavs Gutkovskis ; Romania * Bogdan Racovițan * Deian Sorescu ; Serbia *
Srđan Plavšić Srđan Plavšić ( sr-Cyrl, Срђан Плавшић; born 3 December 1995) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays for Polish club Raków Częstochowa. He can operate as an attacking midfielder, side midfielder or winger. Club caree ...
* Marko Poletanović ; Slovakia * Dominik Holec * Dušan Kuciak ; Slovenia * David Tijanić ; Sweden * Gustav Berggren ; Ukraine * Vladyslav Kocherhin ;Africa ;Kenya *
Erick Otieno Erick Ouma Otieno (born 27 September 1996) is a Kenyan professional footballer who plays for Ekstraklasa club Raków Częstochowa and the Kenya national team. Mainly a left-back, he can also be deployed in all other positions on the left side. ...
;Central America ;Costa Rica * Felicio Brown Forbes ;South America ;Ecuador * John Yeboah


Player records


Most goals

Players whose name is listed in bold are still active.


Top goalscorers


Honours


League

*
Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...
**Winners: 2022–23 **Runners-up: 2020–21, 2021–22, 2024–25 *
I liga I liga (, ), currently named Betclic I liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga via promotion/rel ...
(second division) **Winners: 1993–94, 2018–19 *
II liga II liga (Druga liga, ), currently named Betclic II liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is a Polish football league that sits at the third tier of the Polish football league system. Until the end of the 2007–08 season, ''II Liga'' referre ...
(third division) **Winners: 1962, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1989–90, 2016–17 *
III liga III liga (Trzecia liga), currently named Betclic III liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, 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 ref ...
(fourth division) **Winners: 1936–37, 1956, 2004–05


Cups

*
Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...
**Winners: 2020–21, 2021–22 **Runners-up: 1966–67, 2022–23 *
Polish Super Cup 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 2024, the Polish Super Cup has been ...
**Winners:
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
,
2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
**Runners-up:
2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...


Raków Częstochowa in European football


Results


UEFA Team ranking

As of 19 April 2025.


Coaches and managers

* Franciszek Karmański (??–1959) * Jerzy Orłowski (1959–1960) * Władysław Siech (1962) * Czesław Suszczyk (1962–1964) * Leon Wolny (1964) * Edward Drabiński (1964–1965) * Henryk Bobula (1965–1966) * Jan Basiński (1966) *
Jerzy Wrzos Dr. Jerzy Wrzos (born 18 November 1936) is a Polish retired football manager, author, teacher, sport theoretician, and doctor of physical education specialising in football. Biography Wrzos was born in Chełm, Poland, on 18 November 1936. In 19 ...
(1966–1967) * Jan Basiński (?? –1977) * Janusz Poniedziałek (1977–1979) * Zbigniew Szumski (1979–1980) * Jan Basiński (1980–1984) * Zbigniew Dobosz (1984–1985) * Gothard Kokott (1 July 1985 – 1 January 1986) * Jan Basiński (1990–1991) * Władysław Szarżyński (1991–1992) * Zbigniew Dobosz (1992 – March 1995) * Gothard Kokott (March 1995 – 23 April 1997) * Hubert Kostka (24 April 1997 – 15 September 1997) * Jan Basiński (16 September 1997 – 1 October 1997) * Bogusław Hajdas (2 October 1997 – 3 November 1997) * Adam Zalewski (4 November 1997 – 1 December 1997) * Gothard Kokott (2 December 1997 – 1 July 1998) * Zbigniew Dobosz (1998–2000) * Mirosław Sieja (2000 – July 2000) * Adam Zalewski (July 2000 – 2000) * Henryk Turek (2000–2001) * Zbigniew Dobosz (2002–2003) * Andrzej Samodurow (2003 – 17 October 2005) * Robert Olbiński (17 October 2005 – 20 August 2008) * Henryk Turek (2008 – 20 August 2008) * Leszek Ojrzyński (20 August 2008 – 9 October 2009) * Robert Olbiński (19 October 2009 – 9 February 2010) *
Jerzy Brzęczek Jerzy Józef Brzęczek (; born 18 March 1971) is a Polish professional football manager and former player. In a professional career which spanned nearly 20 years and brought 42 caps with the Poland national team, Brzęczek played for clubs in ...
(9 February 2010 – 4 November 2014) * Dawid Jankowski (6 November 2014 – 18 December 2014) * Radosław Mroczkowski (18 December 2014 – 3 October 2015) * Krzysztof Kołaczyk (4 October 2015 – 9 October 2015) * Przemysław Cecherz (9 October 2015 – 18 April 2016) * Marek Papszun (18 April 2016 – 28 May 2023) * Dawid Szwarga (28 May 2023 – 30 June 2024) * Marek Papszun (1 July 2024 – present)


References


External links

*
Unofficial website

Raków Częstochowa
at 90minut.pl {{DEFAULTSORT:Rakow Czestochowa Football clubs in Silesian Voivodeship Association football clubs established in 1921 1921 establishments in Poland