Widzew Łódź

RTS Widzew Łódź (Polish pronunciation: [ˈɛr ˈtɛ ˈɛs ˈvʲidzɛf ˈwut͡ɕ]) is a Polish football club based in Łódź. The club was founded in 1910. Its official colours are red and white, hence their nicknames Czerwona Armia (Red Army) and Czerwono-biało-czerwoni (Red-white-reds).

RTS Widzew Łódź
Full nameRTS Widzew Łódź
Founded1910 as TMRF Widzew
1922 reformed as RTS Widzew
2015 reformed as RTS Widzew
GroundStadion Miejski Widzewa
Łódź, Poland
Capacity18,008
Chairman Martyna Pajączek
Manager Enkeleid Dobi
LeagueI liga
2019/20II liga, 2nd (promoted)

History

The club was founded in 1910 as Towarzystwo Miłośników Rozwoju Fizycznego Widzew (Society of Physical Development Fans Widzew).

After the first world war the club was reactivated in 1922 as Robotnicze Towarzystwo Sportowe Widzew Łódź (Workers' Sports Association Widzew Łódź).

Widzew has won four Polish league championships (in 1981, 1982, 1996 and 1997) and the 1985 Polish Cup.[1]

After winning the League in 1982, 14 years later in 1996 Widzew Łódź managed to win the Polish League Championship after a record season once again.[2] During the successful season of 96 Widzew Łódź conceded only 22 goals in 34 matches. In that season no other team in the polish league had such a strong defensive. But also the offensive in that year was extraordinary scoring 84 goals securing altogether 88 points.[3] Thanks to the great performance of Wozniak the team remained unbeaten for the whole season.

In the following season 1996-1997 the team from Widzew Łódź played a great season as well. At the end they were rewarded with winning the polish league championship a consecutive time. Once again the defence secured a solid result with 74 to 21 goals.[4]

They have appeared in 117 matches in European Cups, of which they won 42. Widzew knocked European giants Manchester United out of the 1980–81 UEFA Cup, although their biggest achievement was reaching the semi-final of the 1982–83 European Cup, eliminating then 3 times winners Liverpool along the way.

Recent history
New ground

In the beginning of season 2007/2008 Widzew was bought by one of the wealthiest men in Poland – Sylwester Cacek.[5]

In January 2008, while playing in the Second League, the Polish Football Association ruled that Widzew Łódź should be relegated due to their involvement in a corruption scandal. However, Widzew became champions that year and were allowed to stay in the second division, which was renamed First League (I liga) before the start of the 2008–09 season. Despite the deduction of six points as a penalty, Widzew managed to become champions once again, and were finally promoted to the Ekstraklasa. In total, Widzew played 35 seasons at the highest level before being relegated in the 2013–14 season.

Due to financial problems, Widzew finished last at the end of the 2014–15 I Liga season. Subsequently, the club ruled by Sylwester Cacek went bankrupt.

In consequence local businessmen led by Marcin Ferdzyn and Grzegorz Waranecki decided to take on amateur status as a new association called Stowarzyszenie Reaktywacja Tradycji Sportowych Widzew Łódź (Association of the Reactivation of the Sports Traditions of Widzew Łódź),[6] which continues the tradition of the old RTS Widzew Łódź. The new association was registered in a Polish court on 2.07.2015, and within a few weeks of summer 2015 they managed to find new coach Witold Obarek and collect a new squad, which started the 2015/2016 season in the fifth tier of Polish football. In first season in IV League Widzew has promoted to higher tier. In season 2016/17 Widzew achieved third place in III League, after Drwęca Nowe Miasto Lubawskie and ŁKS Łódź but next season yielded promotion to II League. In the season 2018/19 they finished on the fifth place with 55 points. The current season 2020/21 did not start to good with Widzew Łódź being on the 13th place.[7]

Achievements

Domestic
Ultras of Widzew
Ultras of Widzew

Europe

Youth Team

Honours in the Polish Ekstraklasa (to 2008 Polish 1st Division)
Season Position Matches Points Goals W.-D.-L.
1 1948 14 (relegation to 2nd division) 26 13 pts. 31–99 5–3–18
2 1975/76 5 30 32 pts. 33–33 10–12–8
3 1976/77 2 30 38 pts. 46–31 14–10–6
4 1977/78 10 30 28 pts. 34–40 9–10–11
5 1978/79 2 30 39 pts. 37–26 14–11–5
6 1979/80 2 30 36 pts. 47–39 13–10–7
7 1980/81 1 30 39 pts. 39–25 14–11–5
8 1981/82 1 30 39 pts. 45–31 14–11–5
9 1982/83 2 30 38 pts. 50–30 13–12–5
10 1983/84 2 30 42 pts. 43–25 15–12–3
11 1984/85 3 30 38 pts. 34–16 13–12–5
12 1985/86 3 30 41 pts. 40–25 15–11–4
13 1986/87 6 30 36 pts. 34–29 14–7–9
14 1987/88 5 30 31 pts. 28–24 8–15–7
15 1988/89 7 30 29 pts. 27–27 9–12–9
16 1989/90 15 (relegation to 2nd division.) 30 17 pts. 22–39 4–12–14
17 1991/92 3 34 43 pts. 48–28 17–9–8
18 1992/93 5 34 43 pts. 60–42 16–11–7
19 1993/94 6 34 39 pts. 45–33 12–15–7
20 1994/95 2 34 45 pts. 48–25 17–11–6
21 1995/96 1 34 88 pts. 84–22 27–7–0
22 1996/97 1 34 81 pts. 74–20 25–6–3
23 1997/98 4 34 61 pts. 53–34 18–7–9
24 1998/99 2 30 56 pts. 50–33 18–2–10
25 1999/00 7 30 40 pts. 48–54 11–7–12
26 2000/01 12 30 36 pts. 33–40 9–9–12
27 2001/02
Autumn round
– group A:		 8 14 11 pts. 9–24 3–2–9
Spring round
– g. relegation:		 2 14 31 pts. 19–8 6–7–1
28 2002/03 9 30 37 pts. 29–39 10–7–13
29 2003/04 14 (relegation) 26 19 pts. 25–52 4–7–15
30 2006/07 12 30 28 pts. 27–48 7–7–16
31 2007/08 15 (relegation) 30 26 pts. 27–42 5–11–14
32 2010/11 9 30 43 pts. 41–34 11–10–9
33 2011/12 11 30 39 pts. 25–26 9–12–9
34 2012/13 13 30 33 pts. 30–41 8–9–13
35 2013/14 15 (relegation to 1st division) 37 22 pts. 36–59 8–9–20

Widzew in Europe
New ground
Old ground
Season Competition Round Club Score
1977–78 UEFA Cup 1R Manchester City 2–2, 0–0
2R PSV Eindhoven 3–5, 0–1
1979–80 UEFA Cup 1R AS Saint-Étienne 2–1, 0–3
1980–81 UEFA Cup 1R Manchester United 1–1, 0–0
2R Juventus FC 3–1, 1–3 p. 4–1
3R Ipswich Town 0–5, 1–0
1981–82 European Cup 1R RSC Anderlecht 1–4, 1–2
1982–83 European Cup 1R Hibernians FC 4–1, 3–1
2R SK Rapid Wien 1–2, 5–3
1/4F Liverpool F.C. 2–0, 2–3
1/2F Juventus FC 0–2, 2–2
1983–84 UEFA Cup 1R IF Elfsborg 0–0, 2–2
2R Sparta Prague 1–0, 0–3
1984–85 UEFA Cup 1R Aarhus Gymnastik Forening 2–0, 0–1
2R Borussia Mönchengladbach 2–3, 1–0
3R FC Dinamo Minsk 0–2, 1–0
1985–86 European Cup Winners' Cup 1R Galatasaray SK 0–1, 2–1
1986–87 UEFA Cup 1R LASK Linz 1–1, 1–0
2R Bayer 05 Uerdingen 0–0, 0–2
1992–93 UEFA Cup 1R Eintracht Frankfurt 2–2, 0–9
1995–96 UEFA Cup Q Bangor City FC 4–0, 1–0
1R FC Chornomorets Odessa 1–0, 0–1 p. 5–6
1996–97 UEFA Champions League Q Brøndby IF 2–1, 2–3
GR Borussia Dortmund 1–2, 2–2
GR Atlético Madrid 1–4, 0–1
GR Steaua Bucureşti 0–1, 2–0
1997–98 UEFA Champions League 1Q Neftchi Baku 2–0, 8–0
2Q Parma FC 1–3, 0–4
UEFA Cup 1R Udinese Calcio 1–0, 0–3
1999–00 UEFA Champions League 2Q Litex Lovech 4–1, 1–4 p. 3–2
3Q ACF Fiorentina 1–3, 0–2
UEFA Cup 1R Skonto FC 0–1, 2–0
2R AS Monaco FC 1–1, 0–2

Current squad
As of 5 October 2020[8]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  POL Miłosz Mleczko (on loan from Lech Poznań)
2 DF  POL Michał Grudniewski
3 DF  POL Filip Becht
4 DF  POL Sebastian Rudol
7 MF  EST Henrik Ojamaa
9 FW  POL Marcin Robak
15 DF  POL Krystian Nowak
16 MF  POL Bartłomiej Poczobut
17 FW  POL Robert Prochownik
18 MF  POL Daniel Mąka
19 MF  POL Patryk Mucha
22 MF  POL Dominik Kun
No. Pos. Nation Player
23 DF  POL Łukasz Kosakiewicz
24 GK  POL Wojciech Pawłowski
27 DF  POL Daniel Tanżyna
29 MF  POL Michael Ameyaw
30 MF  POL Mateusz Możdżeń
33 DF  CRO Petar Mikulić
68 FW  POL Karol Czubak
69 GK  POL Konrad Reszka
70 MF  COD Merveille Fundambu
77 MF  POL Mateusz Michalski
93 FW  POL Przemysław Kita
95 DF  POL Patryk Stępiński

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF  POL Kamil Piskorski (at Pomorzanin Toruń)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF  POL Dawid Telestak (at KS Kutno)

Notable players

Managers

[9]

Stadium

The club's home stadium was the Stadion Miejski opened in 1930. The stadium, which was owned by the city of Łódź, had a capacity of 10,500 seats. In early 2015, it was demolished to make way for a new stadium with 18,000 seats. It was intended the new stadium will be completed by November 2016.

In the 2014–2015 season, its last season as a professional club, Widzewa played their home matches in Byczyna near Poddębice, 40 km west of Łódź.[10]

After bankruptcy and relegation to the 4th division a rebuilt team was forced to play its domestic games in Łódź at UKS SMS Łódź stadium,[11] during the construction of a new Widzew's stadium.

The first match on new stadium was played on 18 March 2017, Widzew won against Motor Lubawa 2:0.[12] 17,443 fans attended the game.

Fans

Widzew has one of the largest fan-bases in Poland with fan-clubs all around the country. Widzew's biggest rival is ŁKS Łódź, with whom they contest the Łódź Derby. Legia Warsaw are also big rivals, with whom they contest the Derby of Poland, which stems from the fact there were frequent title races between the two clubs. GKS Bełchatów is third biggest rival of Widzew. Their fans maintain friendly relations with fans of Ruch Chorzów, Elana Toruń, KKS Kalisz, Wisła Kraków and CSKA Moscow.[13]

TMRF Widzew Łódź
Main article: TMRF Widzew

TMRF Widzew was a football team created by the active supporters of Widzew in 2014, who were in a long conflict with the club board. Only Widzew supporters were admitted to the squad.

Regular season
27 July 2019 1 Gryf Wejherowo 1-2 Widzew Łódź Wejherowo
18:00 BST Stadium: WKS Gryf Stadium
3 August 2019 2 Bytovia Bytów 2-1 Widzew Łódź Bytów
18:00 BST Stadium: MOSiR Stadium
9 August 2019 3 Widzew Łódź 2-0 Błękitni Stargard Łódź
19:10 BST Stadium: Stadion Widzewa

See also

References
  1. "Widzew Łódź - Profile". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  2. "Rekordowo mistrzowski sezon 1995-1996". widzew.com (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  3. "Andrzej Woźniak Profile". BonusCodes (in German). Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  4. "Widzew Lodz - tables & standings Ekstraklasa 1996/1997 season, statistics, results, fixtures and more from Tribuna.com". Tribuna.com. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  5. Historia Widzewa
  6. Jest nowy Widzew! Reaktywacja Tradycji Sportowych Widzew Łódź
  7. "Poland - 1. Liga table, stats, form and results". SoccerSTATS.com. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  8. "Widzew Łódź current squad" (in Polish).
  9. If not marked in a different way – I league
  10. Byczyna dla Widzewa. Jest umowa. Władze klubu dogadały się z gminą Poddębice
  11. http://www.expressilustrowany.pl/artykul/3932343,rts-widzew-bedzie-gral-na-stadionie-sms,id,t.html RTS Widzew będzie grał na stadionie SMS
  12. https://widzew.com/-/wygrana-na-otwarcie-stadionu-relacja-z-meczu-z-motorem-lubawa/
  13. http://www.widzewtomy.net/
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