Widzew Łódź

RTS Widzew Łódź () is a Polish football club based in Łódź. Formed in 1922, it later named itself the successor of the TMRF Widzew founded in 1910. Its official colours are red and white, hence their nicknames Czerwona Armia (Red Army) and Czerwono-biało-czerwoni (Red-white-reds). They compete in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the Polish football league system, since the 2022–23 season. Widzew is one of only two Poland clubs to have participated in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

History

thumb|left|TMRF Widzew membership card from 1914

TMRF Widzew, first club based in Widzew district, was formed on 25 November 1910 by Polish workers and German industrialists who were employees of the Widzew textile manufactory called WIMA. Initially, the club was called the Widzew Society of Physical Development Enthusiasts (in Polish: Towarzystwo Miłośników Rozwoju Fizycznego Widzew), because at that time Łódź was under the rule of the Russian Tsar, and the adjective "workers'" (in Polish: Robotniczy) could not be used in the club's name. After the First World War, Poland regained its independencea and a separate entity was founded in 1922 under the name of Robotnicze Towarzystwo Sportowe Widzew Łódź (Workers' Sports Association Widzew Łódź). The club's mottos are "Together We Create Power" (in Polish Razem Tworzymy Siłę) and "Always 12" (in Polish Zawsze w 12) which is meant to suggest that its fans are the twelfth player on the team. The club plays its matches at the Widzew Łódź Stadium, located in Łódź at 138 Marshal Józef Piłsudski Avenue. The stadium bears the unofficial but commonly used name of the "Heart of Łódź" (in Polish Serce Łodzi).

During World War II, three pre-war players of Widzew Łódź, Joachim Schreer, Mirosław Wągrowski and Aleksander Żadziłko, were among Poles murdered by the Russians in the large Katyn massacre in April–May 1940.

Widzew has won four Polish league championships, in 1980–81, 1981–82, 1995–96 and 1996–97, as well as the 1985 Polish Cup.

After winning back-to-back championships in 1980–81 and 1981–82, Widzew reclaimed the league crown 14 years later after a record season once again. During the successful 1995–96 season, Widzew conceded only 22 goals in 34 matches, the least out of all teams in the league. They were also proficient in attack, scoring 84 goals and securing 88 points across the campaign. Thanks in part to the great performance of their goalkeeper Andrzej Woźniak, the team remained unbeaten for the whole season.

In the following 1996–97 season, the team enjoyed another great season. For the second time in the club's history, they secured back-to-back championships, scoring 74 goals across the season and conceding only 21.

They have appeared in 117 matches in European Cups, of which they won 42. Widzew knocked European giants Manchester United out of the 1980–81 UEFA Cup, although their biggest achievement was reaching the semi-final of the 1982–83 European Cup, eliminating then three-time winners Liverpool along the way.

Recent history

At the beginning of the 2007–08 season, Widzew was purchased by one of the wealthiest men in Poland, Sylwester Cacek.

thumb|left|Home game with [[Polonia Warsaw in the 2010–11 Ekstraklasa]]

In January 2008, while playing in the second division, the Polish Football Association ruled that Widzew Łódź should be relegated due to their involvement in a corruption scandal. However, Widzew became champions that year and were allowed to stay in the second division, which was renamed I liga before the start of the 2008-09 season. Despite being deducted six points as a penalty, Widzew won the I Liga again in the 2009-10 season, and were promoted to the Ekstraklasa. However, Widzew were once again relegated at the end of the 2013–14 season after four seasons.

Due to financial problems, Widzew finished last at the end of the 2014–15 season, and subsequently went bankrupt.

thumb|Home game with [[Tur Bielsk Podlaski in the 2017–18 III liga]]

Local businessmen Marcin Ferdzyn and Grzegorz Waranecki decided to take on amateur status as a new association called Stowarzyszenie Reaktywacja Tradycji Sportowych Widzew Łódź (Association of the Reactivation of the Sports Traditions of Widzew Łódź), which continues the tradition of the old RTS Widzew Łódź. The new association was registered in a Polish court on 2 July 2015, and within a few weeks of summer 2015, they managed to hire a new coach Witold Obarek and gather a new roster, which started the 2015–16 season in the fifth tier of Polish football. In their first season in IV liga, Widzew won promotion. In the 2016–17 season, Widzew achieved third place in III liga, behind Drwęca Nowe Miasto Lubawskie and ŁKS Łódź, but next season yielded promotion to II liga. In the 2018–19 season, they finished in fifth place with 55 points. In the 2021–22 season, Widzew finished 2nd, one point ahead of Arka Gdynia, and returned to Ekstraklasa for the first time since the 2013–14 season.

Honours

Domestic

League

thumb|upright|[[1996–97 Ekstraklasa|1996–97 Polish Championship trophy for Widzew]]

Ekstraklasa (First Division)
Champions: 1980–81, 1981–82, 1995–96, 1996–97
Runners-up: 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1994–95, 1998–99
I liga (Second Division)
Champions: 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10

Cup

Polish Cup
Winners: 1984–85
Polish Super Cup
Winners: 1996
Runners-up: 1997
Polish League Cup
Runners-up: 1977

Europe

UEFA Champions League/European Cup
Semi-finalists: 1982–83
Copa del Sol
Runners-up: 2013

Youth teams

Polish U19 championship
Runners-up: 1995

League history

thumb|Chart of yearly table positions of Widzew in the Polish league system

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:90%; text-align: center"

!Tier!!Seasons!!First!!Last!!Promotions!!Relegations!!Most consecutive seasons

|align=center|Ekstraklasa (tier 1)

|39||1948||2025–26|| 14 times to Europe|| 5||15 (1975–1989)

|align=center|Second tier

|28||1926||2021–22|| 5|| 3||13 (1926–1938)

|align=center|Third tier

|17||1924||2019–20|| 3|| 2||8 (1959–1966)

|align=center|Fourth tier

|11||1922||2017–18|| 4||never||4 (1955–1958, 1966–1970)

|align=center|Fifth tier

|1||2015–16||2015–16|| 1||never||1

Results in Ekstraklasa

{| class="wikitable"

!Season

!Position

!Matches

!Points

!Goals

!W.-D.-L.

|1948

|14 (relegation)

|26

|13 pts.

|31–99

|5–3–18

|1975–76

|30

|32 pts.

|33–33

|10–12–8

|1976–77

|30

|38 pts.

|46–31

|14–10–6

|1977–78

|10

|30

|28 pts.

|34–40

|9–10–11

|1978–79

|30

|39 pts.

|37–26

|14–11–5

|1979–80

|30

|36 pts.

|47–39

|13–10–7

|- bgcolor="00FF7F"

|1980–81

|30

|39 pts.

|39–25

|14–11–5

|- bgcolor="00FF7F"

|1981–82

|30

|39 pts.

|45–31

|14–11–5

|1982–83

|30

|38 pts.

|50–30

|13–12–5

|10

|1983–84

|30

|42 pts.

|43–25

|15–12–3

|11

|1984–85

|30

|38 pts.

|34–16

|13–12–5

|12

|1985–86

|30

|41 pts.

|40–25

|15–11–4

|13

|1986–87

|30

|36 pts.

|34–29

|14–7–9

|14

|1987–88

|30

|31 pts.

|28–24

|8–15–7

|15

|1988–89

|30

|29 pts.

|27–27

|9–12–9

|16

|1989–90

|15 (relegation)

|30

|17 pts.

|22–39

|4–12–14

|17

|1991–92

|34

|43 pts.

|48–28

|17–9–8

|18

|1992–93

|34

|43 pts.

|60–42

|16–11–7

|19

|1993–94

|34

|39 pts.

|45–33

|12–15–7

|20

|1994–95

|34

|45 pts.

|48–25

|17–11–6

|- bgcolor="00FF7F"

|21

|1995–96

|34

|88 pts.

|84–22

|27–7–0

|- bgcolor="00FF7F"

|22

|1996–97

|34

|81 pts.

|74–20

|25–6–3

|23

|1997–98

|34

|61 pts.

|53–34

|18–7–9

|24

|1998–99

|30

|56 pts.

|50–33

|18–2–10

|25

|1999–2000

|30

|40 pts.

|48–54

|11–7–12

|26

|2000–01

|12

|30

|36 pts.

|33–40

|9–9–12

|----

|27

|2001–02

|Autumn round <br>– group A:

|14

|11 pts.

|9–24

|3–2–9

|Spring round <br>– g. relegation:

|14

|31 pts.

|19–8

|6–7–1

|28

|2002–03

|30

|37 pts.

|29–39

|10–7–13

|29

|2003–04

|14 (relegation)

|26

|19 pts.

|25–52

|4–7–15

|30

|2006–07

|12

|30

|28 pts.

|27–48

|7–7–16

|31

|2007–08

|15 (relegation)

|30

|26 pts.

|27–42

|5–11–14

|32

|2010–11

|30

|43 pts.

|41–34

|11–10–9

|33

|2011–12

|11

|30

|39 pts.

|25–26

|9–12–9

|34

|2012–13

|13

|30

|33 pts.

|30–41

|8–9–13

|35

|2013–14

|15 (relegation)

|37

|22 pts.

|36–59

|8–9–20

|36

|2022–23

|12

|34

|41 pts.

|38–47

|11–8–15

|37

|2023–24

|34

|46 pts.

|45–46

|13–7–14

|38

|2024–25

|13

|34

|40 pts.

|38–49

|11–7–16

|39

|2025–26

|14

|34

|42 pts.

|41–41

|12–6–16

Widzew in Europe

{| class="wikitable"

! Season

! Competition

! Round

! Club

! Score

|1977–78

|UEFA Cup

|1R

| Manchester City

|2–2, 0–0

|2R

| PSV Eindhoven

|3–5, 0–1

|1979–80

|UEFA Cup

|1R

| AS Saint-Étienne

|2–1, 0–3

|1980–81

|UEFA Cup

|1R

| Manchester United

|1–1, 0–0

|2R

| Juventus FC

|3–1, 1–3 p. 4–1

|3R

| Ipswich Town

|0–5, 1–0

|1981–82

|European Cup

|1R

| RSC Anderlecht

|1–4, 1–2

|1982–83

|European Cup

|1R

| Hibernians FC

|4–1, 3–1

|2R

| SK Rapid Wien

|1–2, 5–3

|1/4F

| Liverpool F.C.

|2–0, 2–3

|1/2F

| Juventus FC

|0–2, 2–2

|1983–84

|UEFA Cup

|1R

| IF Elfsborg

|0–0, 2–2

|2R

| Sparta Prague

|1–0, 0–3

|1984–85

|UEFA Cup

|1R

| Aarhus Gymnastik Forening

|2–0, 0–1

|2R

| Borussia Mönchengladbach

|2–3, 1–0

|3R

| FC Dinamo Minsk

|0–2, 1–0

|1985–86

|European Cup Winners' Cup

|1R

| Galatasaray SK

|0–1, 2–1

|1986–87

|UEFA Cup

|1R

| LASK Linz

|1–1, 1–0

|2R

| Bayer 05 Uerdingen

|0–0, 0–2

|1992–93

|UEFA Cup

|1R

| Eintracht Frankfurt

|2–2, 0–9

|1995–96

|UEFA Cup

| Bangor City FC

|4–0, 1–0

|1R

| FC Chornomorets Odesa

|1–0, 0–1 p. 5–6

|1996–97

|UEFA Champions League

| Brøndby IF

|2–1, 2–3

|GR

| Borussia Dortmund

|1–2, 2–2

|GR

| Atlético Madrid

|1–4, 0–1

|GR

| Steaua București

|0–1, 2–0

|1997–98

|UEFA Champions League

|1Q

| Neftchi Baku

|2–0, 8–0

|2Q

| Parma FC

|1–3, 0–4

|UEFA Cup

|1R

| Udinese Calcio

|1–0, 0–3

|1999–00

|UEFA Champions League

|2Q

| Litex Lovech

|4–1, 1–4 p. 3–2

|3Q

| ACF Fiorentina

|1–3, 0–2

|UEFA Cup

|1R

| Skonto FC

|0–1, 2–0

|2R

| AS Monaco FC

|1–1, 0–2

Best results in European competitions

{|class="toccolours" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="float:left;margin:0.5em"

|- style="background:#cadcfb"

!Season

!Achievement

!Notes

!colspan="4" style="background:#efefef"|European Cup

|style="text-align:center"|1982–83

|style="text-align:center"|Semi-final

|style="text-align:left"|lost to Juventus 0–2 in Turin, 2–2 in Łódź

!colspan="4" style="background:#efefef"|UEFA Cup

|style="text-align:center"|1980–81

|style="text-align:center"|Round of 16

|style="text-align:left"|lost to Ipswich Town 0–5 in Ipswich, 1–0 in Łódź

|style="text-align:center"|1984–85

|style="text-align:center"|Round of 16

|style="text-align:left"|lost to Dinamo Minsk 0–2 in Łódź, 1–0 in Tbilisi

Players

Current squad

Other players under contract

Out on loan

Retired numbers

Notable players

Tadeusz Błachno
Daniel Bogusz
Henryk Bolesta
Ulrich Borowka
Zbigniew Boniek
Stanisław Burzyński
Wiesław Cisek
Marek Citko
Ryszard Czerwiec
Jacek Dembiński
Bartłomiej Drągowski
Dariusz Dziekanowski
Marek Dziuba
Dariusz Gęsior
Andrzej Grębosz
Rafał Grzelak
Leszek Iwanicki
Paweł Janas
Waldemar Jaskulski
Tomasz Łapiński
Sławomir Majak
Radosław Michalski
Józef Młynarczyk
Andrzej Możejko
Arkadiusz Onyszko
Kazimierz Przybyś
Rafał Siadaczka
Włodzimierz Smolarek
Michał Stasiak
Tadeusz Świątek
Maciej Szczęsny
Mirosław Szymkowiak
Mirosław Tłokiński
Artur Wichniarek
Jerzy Wijas
Przemysław Wiśniewski
Roman Wójcicki
Paweł Wojtala
Andrzej Woźniak
Wiesław Wraga
Zbigniew Wyciszkiewicz
Marcin Zając
Władysław Żmuda
Andriy Mikhalchuk
Alexandru Curtianu

Managers

Zygmunt Otto (1948)
Vančo Kaménař (1948)
Wacław Pegza (1949)
Władysław Król (1950–51)
Leszek Jezierski (1969–76)
Janusz Pekowski (1976)
Paweł Kowalski (1976–77)
Bronisław Waligóra (1977–78)
Stanisław Świerk (1979)
Jacek Machciński (1979–81)
Władysław Jan Żmuda (1981–84)
Bronisław Waligóra (1984–86)
Orest Lenczyk (1987–88)
Andrzej Grębosz (1988)
Bronisław Waligóra (1988–90)
Jan Tomaszewski (1990)
Czesław Fudalej (1990)
Paweł Kowalski (1990–92)
Władysław Jan Żmuda (1992)
Leszek Jezierski (1993)
Marek Woziński (1993)
Władysław Stachurski (1993–95)
Ryszard Polak (1995)
Franciszek Smuda (1995–98)
Andrzej Pyrdoł (1998)
Wojciech Łazarek (1998)
Marek Dziuba (1999)
Grzegorz Lato (1999)
Orest Lenczyk (1999–2000)
Andrzej Pyrdoł (caretaker) (2000)
Jan Żurek (2000)
Petro Kushlyk (2000–01)
Marek Koniarek (2001)
Marek Kusto (2001)
Dariusz Wdowczyk (2001–02)
Franciszek Smuda (2002)
Petr Němec (2002–03)
Tomasz Muchiński (caretaker) (2003)
Franciszek Smuda (2003)
Andrzej Kretek (2003)
Tomasz Łapiński (caretaker) (2003)
Jerzy Kasalik (2003–04)
Tomasz Łapiński (caretaker) (2004)
Stefan Majewski (2004–06)
Michał Probierz (2006–07)
Marek Zub (2007–08)
Janusz Wójcik (2008)
Waldemar Fornalik (2008–09)
Paweł Janas (2009–10)
Andrzej Kretek (2010)
Czesław Michniewicz (2010–11)
Radosław Mroczkowski (2011–13)
Rafal Pawlak (2013–14)
Artur Skowronek (2014)
Włodzimierz Tylak (2014)
Rafał Pawlak (2014)
Wojciech Stawowy (2014–15)
Witold Obarek (2015)
Marcin Płuska (2015–16)
Tomasz Muchiński (2016)
Przemysław Cecherz (2016–17)
Franciszek Smuda (2017–18)
Radosław Mroczkowski (2018–19)
Jacek Paszulewicz (2019)
Zbigniew Smółka (2019)
Marcin Kaczmarek (2019–20)
Enkeleid Dobi (2020–21)
Marcin Broniszewski (2021)
Janusz Niedźwiedź (2021–23)
Daniel Myśliwiec (2023–25)
Patryk Czubak (caretaker) (2025)
Željko Sopić (2025)
Patryk Czubak (2025)
Igor Jovićević (2025–26)
Aleksandar Vuković (2026–present)

Stadium

thumb|[[Widzew Łódź Stadium]]

The club's home stadium was the Municipal Stadium () opened in 1930. The stadium, which was owned by the city of Łódź, had a capacity of 10,500 seats. In early 2015, it was demolished to make way for a new stadium with 18,000 seats. It was intended the new stadium would be completed by November 2016.

In the 2014–15 season, Widzew played their home matches in Byczyna near Poddębice, 40 km west of Łódź.

After bankruptcy and relegation to the fifth division, a rebuilt team was forced to play its domestic games in Łódź at UKS SMS Łódź stadium, during the construction of a new Widzew Łódź Stadium.

The first match at their new stadium was played on 18 March 2017, where Widzew won 2–0 against Motor Lubawa. 17,443 fans attended the game.

Fans

thumb|[[Ultras of Widzew during a derby match against ŁKS Łódź in the 2007–08 Ekstraklasa]]

Widzew has one of the largest fan-bases in Poland with fan-clubs all around the country. Widzew's biggest rival is ŁKS Łódź, with whom they contest the Łódź Derby. Legia Warsaw are also big rivals, with whom they contest the Derby of Poland, which stems from the fact there were frequent title races between the two clubs. Their fans maintain friendly relations with fans of Ruch Chorzów, Elana Toruń, KKS Kalisz, Wisła Kraków and Pogoń Szczecin. A little group of ultras has a friendship with Hungarian side Honvéd, due to the Hungary–Poland relations.

TMRF Widzew Łódź

TMRF Widzew was a football team created by the active supporters of Widzew in 2014, who were in a long conflict with the club board. Only Widzew supporters were admitted to the squad.

References

External links

Widzew Łódź at 90minut.pl

History

Recent history

Honours

Domestic

League

Cup

Europe

Youth teams

League history

Results in Ekstraklasa

Widzew in Europe

Best results in European competitions

Players

Current squad

Other players under contract

Out on loan

Retired numbers

Notable players

Managers

Stadium

Fans

TMRF Widzew Łódź

See also

References

External links