Śląsk Wrocław
Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław, is a Polish professional football club based in Wrocław that plays in I liga, the second level of the football league system">Association football">football league system.
Two-time Polish champion, four-time Polish runner-up, two-time Polish Cup winner, two-time Polish Super Cup winner and Ekstraklasa Cup winner.
The club's home is Tarczyński Arena Wrocław, a 45,105 capacity stadium in Wrocław which was one of the host venues during UEFA Euro 2012. The club previously played at Olympic Stadium and Stadion Oporowska.
History
The club has had many names since its foundation in 1947. They are listed below;- 1947 – Pionier Wrocław
- 1949 – Legia Wrocław
- 1950 – Centralny Wojskowy Klub Sportowy Wrocław
- 1951 – Okręgowy Wojskowy Klub Sportowy Wrocław
- 1957 – Wojskowy Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław
- 1997 – Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Sportowa Spółka Akcyjna
- Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna
Honours
League
Cup
- Polish Cup
- *Winners: 1975–76, 1986–87
- *Runners-up: 2012–13
- Ekstraklasa Cup
- *Winners: 2008–09
- Polish Super Cup
- *Winners: 1987, 2012
Youth teams
- Polish U-19 Championship
- *Champions: 1978–79
- *Runners-up: 1976–77
- Polish U-17 Championship
- *Champions: 2023–24
The fans
Śląsk fans are one of the largest supporter movements in Poland. In the early 1970s, they were one of the pioneers of football supporters groups. The Śląsk supporters call themselves Nobles from Wrocław. Notable Śląsk fans include: Waldemar Kasta, a rapper and ring announcer KSW, that also created fan songs for Śląsk, Hubert Hurkacz, a Polish tennis player.Friendships
They have a friendship with Lechia Gdańsk with which the two clubs fans have had a friendship since 1977, and have had friendly relations since 1967. This is the oldest fan friendship in Polish football. During the 2017–18 season, the two sets of fans celebrated their 40th Friendship Anniversary. Games between the two are often called "the friendship match".The fans have also had a friendship with Motor Lublin dating back to the 1990s. Due to the clubs' long friendship, Śląsk were invited to play a friendly in 2015 in Lublin to celebrate Motor's 65th anniversary.
Despite the clubs' close proximity, Śląsk also hold friendly relations with Miedź Legnica. The fans also have friendships with fans from both SFC Opava, from the Czech Republic, and Ferencvárosi TC, from Hungary.
Rivals
Their biggest rivals are Zagłębie Lubin, with the games between the two known as the "Lower Silesian Derby". The two teams are the largest in the Lower Silesia region, with Śląsk representing Wrocław and Zagłębie representing Lubin, a traditionally industrial and copper mining city. Both teams have won the Ekstraklasa twice, Śląsk in 1977 & 2012, and Zagłębie in 1991 & 2007. They also hold a big rivalry with Legia Warsaw, due to both clubs having military roots. There also is a rivalry with Widzew Łódź, traditionally only due to competitive reasons, however, after the murder of a 17 year old Śląsk fan by a group of Widzew hooligans in Walichnowy, the rivalry became more heated than ever, and it still holds this status.The fans of Lechia and Śląsk formally had a friendship with the Wisła Kraków fans, creating the "Three Kings of Great Cities" coalition. Wisła fans left the coalition in 2016. Since 2016 Wisła Kraków itself has since turned into a rivalry.
Arka Gdynia, Lech Poznań and Cracovia are rivals dating back to the time with their alliance with Wisła. This was due to the two largest fan coalitions in Poland, "Three Kings of Great Cities" and "The Great Triad" with any of the opposite coalition teams playing each other resulting in a big and hotly contested match.
