Piast Gliwice

Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice (pronounced [ɡliˈvit͡skʲi klup spɔrˈtɔvɨ pjazd ɡliˈvit͡sɛ]^[A]) is a Polish professional football club based in Gliwice. In the 2018–19 season, Piast won its first Polish championship. As of 2025–26, it competes in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division.

Piast Gliwice

Full name	Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice
Nickname(s)	Piastunki (the Custodians, the Keepers)
Founded	18 June 1945; 79 years ago (1945-06-18)
Ground	Piotr Wieczorek Stadium
Capacity	9,913
Chairman	Łukasz Lewiński
Manager	Aleksandar Vuković
League	Ekstraklasa
2024–25	Ekstraklasa, 10th of 18
Website	www.piast-gliwice.eu
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Piast Gliwice Vice-Champion of Poland celebration in 2016

History

The club was founded in June 1945 by the Poles who had been forced to leave their homes in former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union (present-day Ukraine). The club's name comes from the Piast dynasty, which ruled Poland from its beginnings as an independent state in the 10th century, until 1370, and in the city itself until 1532.

In 1949, five local teams were merged with Piast, and the team was renamed to Metal Piast Gliwice, and then to Stal Gliwice, before its original name Piast Gliwice was restored in 1955. Piast continued to play their matches on ul. Robotniczej. In 1964, Piast merged with GKS Gliwice, a team formed in 1956 from a fusion of the three other local clubs, and the name was changed to GKS Piast Gliwice. Since the 1950s, Piast mostly played in the Second Division. During that period, Piast have twice (1978, 1983) managed to reach the final of the Polish Cup, losing on both occasions.

In the 1990s, due to financial difficulties, the team was rebuilt from the Klasa B (7th tier), achieving four consecutive promotions from the seventh to the third tier in 1997–2001, and afterwards it won promotion to the II liga (second tier) in 2003. Piast played as many as 33 seasons in the Polish Second Division, before finally being promoted to the Ekstraklasa in 2008. Having played two seasons in the top division, the club was relegated in 2010 to come back in 2012. It is the first football team in Poland to gain promotion from the 7th tier to the Ekstraklasa (Polish top tier of football) and later to the European club competition.^[1]

In the 2010s, Piast enjoyed its greatest success, being runners-up in the 2015–16 Ekstraklasa and winning its first Polish championship in the 2018–19 season.

There is also a futsal department of Piast Gliwice, which competes in the Futsal Ekstraklasa (top division). Its home venue is the Gliwice Arena. It won its first Polish Championship in the 2021–22 season.^[2]

Naming history

• (18.06.1945) – KS Piast Gliwice
• (23.05.1946) – KSM Piast Gliwice
• (September/November 1947) – ZKSM Piast Gliwice
• (05.03.1949) – ZS Metal Piast Gliwice (merged with ZKSM Huta Łabędy, ZKS Walcownia Łabędy, RKS Jedność Rudziniec, *RKS PZS Gliwice and ZKS Silesia Gliwice)
• (01.11.1949) – ZKS Stal Gliwice
• (11.03.1951) – ZKS Stal GZUT Gliwice
• (15.03.1955) – ZKS Piast Gliwice
• (20.01.1957) – KS Piast Gliwice
• (01.01.1961) – SKS Piast Gliwice
• (15.03.1964) – GKS Piast Gliwice (merged with GKS Gliwice and KS Metal Gliwice)
• (17.10.1983) – MC-W GKS Piast Gliwice
• (12.09.1989) – CWKS Piast-Bumar Gliwice
• (1989) – [merged with ZTS Łabędy (Gliwice)]
• (1990) – CWKS Bumar-Piast Gliwice
• (04.04.1990) – KS Bumar Gliwice
• (11.05.1990) – KS Bumar Łabędy (Gliwice)
• (01.07.1990) – KS Bumar Gliwice
• (1991) – KS Piast-Bumar Gliwice
• (01.07.1992) – MC-W GKS Piast Gliwice
• (01.08.1995) – KS Bojków Gliwice (merged with KS Bojków Gliwice)
• (15.09.1995) – KS Piast Bojków Gliwice
• (02.09.1996) – GKS Piast Gliwice

Crest

Gliwice city coat of arms from which the club crest is derived

The club's crest is derived from the coat of arms of the city of Gliwice, and thus contains the Piast Eagle of the Upper Silesian line of the medieval Polish Piast dynasty, which ruled the city until 1532.

Honours

• Ekstraklasa
  • Champions: 2018–19
  • Runners-up: 2015–16
  • Third place: 2019–20
• I liga
  • Champions: 2011–12
• Polish Cup
  • Runners-up: 1977–78, 1982–83

Seasons

• Seasons in Ekstraklasa: 14 (2008–10, 2012–)
• Seasons in I liga: 35
• Seasons in II liga: 16
• Seasons in III liga: 23

European record

Results

Season	Competition	Round		Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2013–14	UEFA Europa League	2Q		Qarabağ FK	2–2	1–2	3–4 (a.e.t.)
2016–17	UEFA Europa League	2Q		IFK Göteborg	0–3	0–0	0–3
2019–20	UEFA Champions League	1Q		BATE Borisov	1−2	1−1	2−3
	UEFA Europa League	2Q		Riga FC	3−2	1−2	4−4
2020–21	UEFA Europa League	1Q		Dinamo Minsk	—	2−0	—
		2Q		Hartberg	3–2	—	—
		3Q		Copenhagen	—	0−3	—

Notes

• 1Q: First qualifying round
• 2Q: Second qualifying round
• 3Q: Third qualifying round

UEFA Team ranking

See also: UEFA coefficient

As of 4 May 2025.^[3]

Rank	Team	Points
225	Randers	7.000
226	Anorthosis Famagusta	7.000
227	Piast Gliwice	7.000
228	Cracovia	7.000
229	Silkeborg	7.000

Stadium

Piotr Wieczorek Stadium

Piast plays their home games at the 10,000 capacity Piotr Wieczorek Stadium in Gliwice.

Supporters

Piast have a friendship with fans of Belarusian club BATE Borisov since 2011. The friendship started when BATE fans on their way to a Champions League match in Copenhagen stopped for a Piast game against local rivals GKS Katowice. The Piast fans then went to Alkmaar to support BATE versus AZ. After another visit for a Champions League game against Sturm Graz, the friendship became official and both sets of fans regularly visit each other.^[4]

Piast's major rivals are Górnik Zabrze, with whom they contest the local derby.^[5][6] The stadiums are located just a few kilometres from each other. Other rivals are local teams GKS Katowice and the two Bytom clubs, Szombierki and Polonia.

Players

Current squad

As of 23 February 2025^[7]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  ALG Akim Zedadka 3 DF  ESP Miguel Muñoz 4 DF  POL Jakub Czerwiński (captain) 5 DF  SVK Tomáš Huk 6 MF  POL Michał Chrapek 7 MF  ESP Jorge Félix 9 FW  POL Fabian Piasecki 10 MF  POL Patryk Dziczek 11 FW  BRB Thierry Gale (on loan from Rapid Wien) 12 GK  POL Bartłomiej Jelonek 14 DF  POR Miguel Nóbrega (on loan from Rio Ave) 15 DF  POL Levis Pitan 16 FW  POL Mateusz Kopczyński 17 MF  POL Filip Karbowy

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 MF  POL Grzegorz Tomasiewicz 22 DF  POL Tomasz Mokwa 26 GK  SVK František Plach 29 DF  POL Igor Drapiński 30 MF  POL Miłosz Szczepański 31 DF  POL Oskar Leśniak 33 GK  POL Karol Szymański 36 DF  POL Jakub Lewicki 39 FW  POL Maciej Rosołek 70 FW  CYP Andreas Katsantonis 77 DF  POL Arkadiusz Pyrka 79 GK  POL Dawid Rychta 90 FW  SVK Erik Jirka 96 MF  MKD Tihomir Kostadinov

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 23 MF  POL Szczepan Mucha (at Rekord Bielsko-Biała until 30 June 2025) 25 DF  POL Piotr Liszewski (at Resovia until 30 June 2025) 67 MF  POL Jakub Niedbała (at Skra Częstochowa until 30 June 2025) 92 MF  POL Damian Kądzior (at Stal Mielec until 30 June 2025)

No. Pos. Nation Player 99 FW  POL Piotr Urbański (at Pogoń Grodzisk Mazowiecki until 30 June 2025) — FW  POL Marcel Bykowski (at Pogoń Siedlce until 30 June 2025) — MF  UKR Sergiy Krykun (at Stal Mielec until 30 June 2025)

Retired numbers

See also: List of retired numbers in association football

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF  ESP Gerard Badía (2014–21)

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries at any time. Players with names listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Piast.

Algeria Akim Zedadka Barbados Thierry Gale Bosnia and Herzegovina Stojan Vranješ Cyprus Andreas Katsantonis Czech Republic Michal Papadopulos Kamil Vacek Estonia Rauno Sappinen Konstantin Vassiljev Georgia Valerian Gvilia Latvia Artūrs Karašausks Artis Lazdiņš Lithuania Edvinas Girdvainis Gediminas Paulauskas Netherlands Collins John North Macedonia Tihomir Kostadinov

Poland Michael Ameyaw Piotr Brożek Lucjan Brychczy Andrzej Buncol Patryk Dziczek Kamil Glik Tomasz Jodłowiec Damian Kądzior Rafał Leszczyński Igor Lewczuk Rafał Pietrzak Marcin Robak Bartosz Rymaniak Jakub Świerczok Kamil Wilczek Michał Żyro Serbia Aleksandar Sedlar Nikola Stojiljković Slovakia Martin Bukata Jakub Holúbek Csaba Horváth Tomáš Huk Erik Jirka František Plach Rudolf Urban Slovenia Saša Živec

Managers

• Krzysztof Zagórski (16 December 2001 – 23 October 2002)
• Józef Dankowski (21 April 2003 – 19 October 2004)
• Wojciech Borecki (19 October 2004 – 31 December 2004)
• Jacek Zielinski (31 December 2004 – 14 September 2006)^[8]
• Jan Furlepa (interim) (14–20 September 2006)
• Boguslaw Pietrzak (20 September 2006 – 30 June 2007)
• Piotr Mandrysz (3 July 2007 – 30 June 2008)
• Marek Wlecialowski (1 July 2008 – 5 January 2009)
• Dariusz Fornalak (5 January 2009 – 15 March 2010)
• Ryszard Wieczorek (15 March 2010 – 31 May 2010)
• Marcin Brosz (15 June 2010 – 6 May 2014)
• Ángel García (7 May 2014 – 18 March 2015)
• Radoslav Látal (20 March 2015 – 15 July 2016)
• Jiří Neček (15 July 2016 – 30 August 2016)
• Radoslav Látal (1 September 2016 – 2 March 2017)
• Dariusz Wdowczyk (3 March 2017 – 19 September 2017)
• Waldemar Fornalik (19 September 2017 – 25 October 2022)^[9]
• Aleksandar Vuković (27 October 2022 – present)

Notes

1. In isolation, Piast is pronounced [pjast]

See also

• Football in Poland