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, they will compete in the 2024–25 I liga, the second tier of Polish football, following successive promotions from the 2022–23 III liga and 2023–24 II liga.

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 Subcarpathian Football Center. Previously the team had played at the MOSiR Stadium 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 served as the director of Huta Stalowa Wola, founded Klub Sportowy Stalowa Wola ( Sports Club Stalowa Wola ). At that time, the club possessed a pitch devoid of running tracks and stands, and its players were purely amateurs. Training sessions were scheduled post work hours, with matches held exclusively on Sundays. The inaugural match occurred on 4 May 4 1939, coinciding with Saint Florian's Day, the patron saint of steelworkers.

Post-World War II, the club resumed its operations. Stal emerged victorious in the 1953 season of Klasa A (4th level). This triumph marked the first elevation of footballers from Stalowa Wola to the II liga (2nd level) in 1973, under the guidance of Jerzy Kopa. The team remained in the second league until 1987, when they secured promotion to Ekstraklasa following a play-off victory against Górnik Knurów. Stal Stalowa Wola featured in Ekstraklasa during the subsequent seasons: 987–88, 1991–92, 1993–94 and 1994–95. Notable achievements of Stal include reaching the quarter-finals of the Polish Cup in the 1991–92 edition.

Following their triumph in the 2001–02 II liga (fourth group), Stal ascended to the I liga. However, in their debut season at the higher tier, they finished fifteenth, landing in the relegation zone. Stal made a reappearance at this level in 2006 but descended to the third tier after the 2009–10 season of I liga, securing the penultimate position in the league, ahead of only Motor Lublin. In the 2009–10 Polish Cup edition, Stal advanced to the round of 16, notably eliminating the defending champion Lech Poznań, featuring Robert Lewandowski in their squad, in a penalty shootout (0–0, p. 4–1). From 2010 to 2020, Stal maintained a consistent presence in the 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, Szymon Szydełko was released from his contract (at the time of his release, Stal was sixth, 18 points behind to first place). On November 4, 2020, Jaromir Wieprzęć was announced as his successor. They were not able to win the promotion back the following season, finding themselves remaining in the fourth-tier III liga.

In the 2022–23 season, Stal won the Polish Cup of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and were promoted to the II liga – securing promotion in the penultimate round by winning 7–0 over Wisła Sandomierz and reaching a six-point lead over Avia Świdnik.

Stal Stalowa Wola achieved back-to-back promotions through the play-offs in the 2023–24 season. Their 2–1 victory over KKS 1925 Kalisz in the play-off final marked their return to the second tier after a 14-year absence.

Naming history

 * 1938–1944 – Klub Sportowy Stalowa Wola (Sports Club Stalowa Wola)
 * 1944–1947 – Związkowy Klub Sportowy Stalowa Wola (Association Sports Club Stalowa Wola)
 * 1947–1949 – Związkowy Klub Sportowy Metal Stalowa Wola (Association Sports Club Metal Stalowa Wola)
 * 1949–1952 – Związkowy Klub Sportowy Stal Stalowa Wola (Association Sports Club Stalowa Wola)
 * 1952–1957 – Koło Sportowe Stalowa Wola (The Sports Network Stalowa Wola)
 * 1957–1958 – Międzyzakładowy Klub Sportowy Stal Stalowa Wola, in short MKS Stal Stalowa Wola
 * 1958–2010 – Zakładowy Klub Sportowy Stal Stalowa Wola, in short ZKS Stal Stalowa Wola
 * 2010–current – Stal Stalowa Wola Piłkarska Spółka Akcyjna (Stal Stalowa Wola Football Joint Stock Company), in short Stal Stalowa Wola P.S.A.

Stadium


Stal Stalowa Wola plays its home matches at the Subcarpathian Football Center at the Hutnicza 10a Street. It opened in 2020 and has been the home stadium of Stal Stalowa Wola since its completion. The stadium has lighting and a heated pitch. It holds 3,764 people (including 258 seats for visitors fans). In the first match at the new stadium, on 29 February 2020, Stal drew 0–0 with Bytovia Bytów (it was also the inauguration of artificial lighting).

Honours

 * I liga
 * Champions: 1990–91
 * Polish Cup
 * Quarter-finalists: 1991–92


 * Subcarpathian Stalowa Wola Polish Cup:
 * Winners: 2020–21
 * Subcarpathian Polish Cup:
 * Runners-up: 2020–21

Notable players
Players who have been capped, including national youth football teams.


 * 🇵🇱 Waldemar Adamczyk
 * 🇵🇱 Józef Dankowski
 * 🇪🇬 Mohamed Essam
 * 🇵🇱 Michał Janicki
 * 🇲🇪 Danko Kovačević
 * 🇧🇫 Préjuce Nakoulma
 * 🇵🇱 Maciej Nalepa
 * 🇭🇺 🇵🇱 Rezső Patkoló (Rudolf Patkolo)
 * 🇵🇱 Piotr Piechniak
 * 🇵🇱 Dawid Pietrzkiewicz
 * 🇵🇱 Kacper Śpiewak
 * 🇵🇱 Sebastian Zalepa

Players who have played in the team of the Stal Stalowa Wola's stars against the Wisła Kraków's stars in 2017.


 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Niemiec
 * 🇵🇱 Mirosław Mścisz
 * 🇵🇱 Wiesław Pędlowski
 * 🇵🇱 Paweł Rybak
 * 🇵🇱 Artur Kopeć
 * 🇵🇱 Jerzy Zygarek
 * 🇵🇱 Mieczysław Ożóg
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Michalak
 * 🇵🇱 Paweł Szafran
 * 🇵🇱 Marek Kusiak
 * 🇵🇱 Arkadiusz Bilski
 * 🇵🇱 Janusz Góreczny
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Bartnik
 * 🇵🇱 Piotr Piechniak
 * 🇵🇱 Marek Drozd
 * 🇵🇱 Daniel Radawiec
 * 🇵🇱 Dariusz Brytan
 * 🇵🇱 Antoni Fijarczyk

All-time records

 * Ekstraklasa: 54th (103 points reached)
 * I liga: 4th (1316 points reached)
 * II liga: 17th (above 661 points reached)

Ekstraklasa records
(H) – Home ; (A) – Away
 * Number of seasons: 4
 * First game: 0–1 (H) v Zagłębie Lubin (August 9, 1987)
 * Biggest win: 4–0 (A) v Igloopol Dębica (November 23, 1991)
 * Biggest defeat: 0–6 (A) v Górnik Zabrze (August 27, 1994)
 * Longest series of victories: 2 (three times)
 * Longest series of defeats: 4 (two times)
 * Highest attendance at the MOSiR Stadium: 12,000 v Legia Warsaw 1–0 (October 30, 1994)

Polish Cup records
The following list is not complete.
 * Notes
 * RGN: Regional competitions level
 * 1PR: First preliminary round
 * 2PR: Second preliminary round
 * EPR: Extra preliminary round
 * PR: Preliminary round
 * 1R: First round
 * 2R: Second round
 * 3R: Third round
 * 4R: Fourth round
 * 1/8: 1/8 finals
 * QF: Quarter-finals

Supporters
Stal Stalowa Wola fans have a friendship with supporters of GKS Jastrzębie, Łada Biłgoraj, Polonia Przemyśl, Sokół Nisko and Stal Rzeszów. Stal's major rivals are Hutnik Kraków, Korona Kielce, KSZO Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Motor Lublin, Siarka Tarnobrzeg and Stal Mielec. The team's fan group is called "Stalówka The Firm". In 2020 officially begun a friendship with Ultras of Italian giants Inter Curva Nord Milano.

Derbies
The great character species have games between Stal and Siarka Tarnobrzeg (called the great derby of Subcarpathia), Motor Lublin (called the east derby) and KSZO Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski (called the metallurgical derby).

Stal Stalowa Wola II
Stal Stalowa Wola II is a Polish football team, which serves as the reserve side of Stal Stalowa Wola. Reactivated in 2012, they started in the B class and won the championship in their debut season (2012–13). From 2019 to 2021, they competed in the IV league but were relegated to the district class in 2021. They play their home matches at the training pitch of the Subcarpathian Football Center.