AKS Chorzów

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AKS Chorzów was a Polish sports club (Amatorski Klub Sportowy Chorzów or Amateur Sports Club Chorzow). It was one of the earliest sports organizations in Upper Silesia and was well known for its football and handball teams.

[edit] History

The origins of the club go back to the founding of the German football club VfR Königshütte in August 1910 in what was at the time the coal mining city of Königshütte in Germany. In the early 20s the region became part of Poland and both the city and the football club were re-named.

In 1927 AKS was the proud owner of one of the most modern stadium facilities in Poland at Chorzow’s Wyzwolenia Hill. The stadium was sometimes shared with another famous local team — Ruch Chorzow.

In 1937 the club earned promotion to the Polish first division and became an immediate success. They finished as vice-champions and the team's Jerzy Wostal was the top scorer in the league with 12 goals. Wostal and teammate Leonard Piatek also played for the Polish national side.

Logo of FV Germania Königshütte

After the outbreak of World War II in 1939 Germany occupied the western half of Poland. AKS became Fussball Verein Germania Königshütte and joined Germany's first division Gauliga Schliesen. Piatek Germanized his name to Piontek and was a key player as Königshütte became the dominant side in their division, far outperforming state-supported rival 1. FC Kattowitz. The club earned division titles in 1941, 1942, 1943, and 1944, advancing to play in the German national championship rounds, where they were put out in the early going each year. Germania also made first round appearances in play for the Tschammerpokal, predecessor of today's German Cup, in 1941 and 1942.

After the war, the club re-assumed its Polish name and continued to be a power in the country's football earning third place results in 1946 and 1947. In 1948 AKS joined the newly re-established Polish first division as Budowlani Chorzow and played there for seven years until being relegated after the 1954 season. The club played second division football until 1958 then faded into obscurity, with some supporters claiming that team's German origins and history of success in the Nazi-sponsored Gauliga put it into disfavour with Communist Poland's sporting authorities, contributing to the team's decline.

In the 60s the Chorzow's once beautiful stadium burned to the ground to be replaced by a supermarket. In the early 1990s the club itself folded.