Hutnik Kraków (<small>Polish pronunciation:</small> ) is a Polish football club based in Nowa Huta, Kraków, currently competing in the II liga, the third tier of Polish football.

History

The club was founded in 1950. Hutnik have played seven seasons in the Polish top-flight. The team's greatest success is a third place in the 1995–96 season, as a result of which they qualified for the UEFA Cup. In that tournament, Hutnik eliminated Khazri Buzovna from Azerbaijan (9–0 and 2–2), Czech side Sigma Olomouc (0–1 and 3–1), but were themselves eliminated by Monaco (0–1 and 1–3).

The team was dissolved due to its debts and refounded by its fans as Hutnik Nowa Huta in 2010. They were admitted to Polish fifth division.

The England national team trained at Hutnik's grounds for the Euro 2012 tournament.

Among most famous players who began their careers at Hutnik youth academy are Marcin Wasilewski, Zbigniew Płaszewski, Jan Karaś, Kazimierz Putek, Marek Koźmiński, Dariusz Romuzga, Łukasz Sosin and Michał Pazdan.

Naming history

  • 1952–56: Stal Nowa Huta
  • 1956–84: Hutnik Nowa Huta
  • 1984–2010: Hutnik Kraków
  • 2010–17: Hutnik Nowa Huta <small>Polish pronunciation:</small>
  • 2017–current: Hutnik Kraków

Honours

  • Ekstraklasa
  • Third place: 1995–96
  • Polish Cup
  • Semi-final: 1989–90
  • Polish U-19 championship
  • Champions: 1985, 1993, 1994
  • Third place: 1972, 1988
  • Polish U-17 championship
  • Champions: 1997

Fans

Traditionally, Hutnik is considered the third largest team in Kraków, behind fierce city rivals Cracovia and Wisła. The majority of their fanbase is from the district of Nowa Huta and club has 3 fan-clubs: Igołomia&Pobiednik<!--intentional link to DAB page-->, Szczyrzyc, Górale (which compromises of fans from Zakopane and Nowy Targ).

In recent years the team has spent much of its time in the lower divisions unlike their neighbouring rivals, and the city derbies have usually been played against the reserve teams. As a result, they have developed rivalries with other teams such as Unia Tarnów, and Resovia Rzeszów,

The fans have friendly relations with fans of 1.FC Magdeburg, which started after one of the Magdeburg fans logged onto a Hutnik fan forum. There are also some friendly contacts with fans of Dynamo Kyiv.

European record

{| class="wikitable"

! Season

! Competition

! Round

! Club

! Home

! Away

! Aggregate

|-

|rowspan=3|1996–97

|rowspan=3|UEFA Cup

|Q1

| Khazri Buzovna

|9–0

|2–2

|11–2

|-

|Q2

| Sigma Olomouc

|3–1

|0–1

|3–2

|-

|R1

| AS Monaco

|0–1

|1–3

|1–4

|}

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries at any time.

  • Krzysztof Bukalski
  • Wilde-Donald Guerrier
  • Tomasz Hajto
  • Marek Koźmiński
  • Patrik Mišák
  • Zakari Lambo
  • Michał Pazdan
  • Igors Tarasovs
  • Mirosław Waligóra
  • Marcin Wasilewski
  • Kazimierz Węgrzyn
  • Moussa Yahaya

References

  • Official website