Ground Capacity 5,238 Manager Mariusz Pawlak League II liga Location Bełchatów, Poland | Chairman Michał Antczak Arena/Stadium Stadion GKS Founded 1977 | |
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Full name PGE Górniczy Klub Sportowy Bełchatów Nickname(s) Gieksa
Brunatni (the Browns)
Torfiarze (the Turfers) Ground GIEKSA Arena,
Bełchatów, Poland Profiles | ||
PGE GKS Bełchatów [ˌpɛɡʲɛˈʔɛ ˌɡʲɛkaˈɛs bɛwˈxatuf] is a professional football club that competes in the Polish First League. GKS is an abbreviation for the Miners' Sport Club (Górniczy Klub Sportowy).
Contents
History
GKS Bełchatów entered Poland's Division 4 in 1977 and gained promotion to Division 3 after four years (in the 1981/1982 season). It took the club another seven years to rise to Division 2 (1986/1987 season), before winning a place in the Polish Premier League in 1992. After another spell in Division 2, the club again won promotion to the First league at the end of the 2004/2005 season. The club finished the 2005/2006 season in 10th place, with 37 points. The following season they challenged for the league title. After spending much of the latter part of the 2006/07 season in first place, they were ultimately overtaken by Zagłębie Lubin and had to settle for second place.
Achievements
Fans
The fans are called Torfiorze (the "Turfers" in translation). They have friendly relations with fans of Wisła Sandomierz. Their biggest rivals are neighbours RKS Radomsko, and as Bełchatów is located in the Łódź Province, they also have rivalries with the two traditional well-established Łódź teams, ŁKS and Widzew.
Current squad
As of 30 August 2016Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Notable players
Players who have been capped and/or have over 80 appearances for the club