Garbarnia Kraków

Garbarnia Kraków is a Polish football and sports club from Ludwinów, a historical district of the city of Kraków. The club's name comes from the nearby tannery (Garbarnia) of the Dłużyński brothers, which was the original club sponsor. Garbarnia currently plays in III liga (fourth tier of Polish football).

History
Founded in 1921, Garbarnia's best years were the late 1920s and early 1930s. In 1928, after winning both regional and national qualifiers, the team was promoted to the Polish Football League. Then, in 1929, after an excellent campaign, they finished second to champions Warta Poznan, thus cementing their position as one of the top teams in Poland.

In 1931, Garbarnia went one better, becoming Polish Champions. Containing little home-grown talent, the Kraków starting lineup consisted of players brought in from other clubs. Among the top players were Otto Riesner and Karol Pazurek, both natives of Katowice, and both of whom played for the Poland national team.

In 1937, after 9 years in the top division, Garbarnia were relegated. They returned in 1939, in a season cut short by the outbreak of World War II.

After the Second World War Garbarnia never regained its status, playing mainly in the Polish Second Division, occasionally managing to win promotion to the first division, only to be relegated after a year or two. The worst was yet to come, as in 1971 the team was relegated to the third division, the Regional Kraków district league.

In 2018, Garbarnia returned to the second-tier after a 44-year absence. Garbarnia secured promotion after a promotion/relegation play-off win over Pogoń Siedlce. In 2019, the club was again relegated to the II liga.

Honours

 * Ekstraklasa
 * Champions: 1931
 * Runners-up: 1929

Former players

 * 🇮🇶 Kais Al-Ani - Iraq youth international