ŁKS Łódź

For the women's basketball section of the club, see ŁKS Łódź (women's basketball).
ŁKS Łódź
Full name Łódzki Klub Sportowy Spółka Sportowa
Nickname(s) Rycerze wiosny (Spring Knights)
Founded 1908
2008 (first reformation)
2013 (second reformation)
Ground Stadion ŁKS,
Łódź, Poland
Ground Capacity 2.200
Chairman Poland Łukasz Bielawski
Manager Poland Robert Szwarc
League III liga (4th level)

ŁKS Łódź (Łódzki Klub Sportowy) (Polish pronunciation: [ˌɛwkaˈɛs ˈwut͡ɕ]) is a Polish sports club that is publicly owned by Łódź City Council. They are best known for their football club, but are represented in many sports such as basketball, volleyball, tennis, athletics and in the past ice hockey The club is based at Al. Unii Lubelskiej 2 in the West of Łódź, Poland. The club was founded in 1908. The football section had since been sold to private investors as the city could no longer afford to support it.[1] After years of financial hardships, the club declared bankruptcy in May 2013.[2] It will start from Fifth Category the next season, when it will be re-founded by a partnership between fans and local investors. It is still based at the Stadion LKS.

Their nickname Rycerze Wiosny (Spring Knights) has been given to them due to their usually strong performance in the second round of the league, after Winter break.

Facilities

1936 ŁKS side.
Club crest 2008-2013

In 2009 the new Atlas Arena [3][4] was completed adjacent to the football stadium. It is an indoor arena and has already hosted international events in basketball, volleyball and boxing.

The City council still intend to construct a brand new stadium on the site of the current football stadium. It was intended to be complete in time for Euro 2012, but now is expected to be finished in late 2013-early 2014. Although Lodz is not a Euro 2012 host city it had been believed that a failure by Ukraine to be ready on time [5] would lead to Poland hosting the entire tournament on its own and therefore requiring more host cities. There are four Polish host cities (Warsaw, Gdańsk, Poznań, Wrocław) involved in hosting the tournament. It was envisioned the new stadium will hold approx 34,000 seats as required by UEFA.[6] Due to their rivalry Widzew Łódź have ruled out using this new stadium and instead intend to rebuild their own stadium. Support for the project was undermined by the successful re-call of the Lodz City President in early 2010. The city has also announced a public auction for their stake in the club as they can no longer afford to cover the clubs loses. Due to financial constraints and lack of demand from LKS fans the stadium size was revised down to 16,500 in 2012.[7][8]

As part of this work, a new 3,000 seat arena was supposed to be built to compliment the existing Atlas Arena. All work was expected to cost 218 million PLN.

However, all plans to provide the club with new facilities have been abandoned as of 2013, due to financial constraints and the bankruptcy of the club in May 2013.[9]

Rivalries

They have a fierce rivalry with cross-town club, Widzew Łódź, with the derby match between the two clubs being intense both on and off the field. See Łódź derby

Achievements

The new ground

Current squad

As of 26 December 2014

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Poland GK Adam Sekuterski
2 Poland DF Szymon Salski
3 Poland DF Adam Filipiak
4 Poland FW Michał Zaleśny
5 Poland DF Robert Sierant
6 Poland DF Arkadiusz Mysona
7 Poland FW Artur Golański
8 Poland MF Adrian Kasztelan
10 Poland FW Adam Patora
11 Poland FW Łukasz Staroń
12 Poland GK Artur Król
13 Poland DF Jacek Karbowniak
No. Position Player
14 Poland DF Michał Bielicki
15 Poland MF Łukasz Adamski
16 Poland MF Dawid Sarafiński
17 Poland MF Przemysław Różycki
18 Poland MF Dominik Bonikowski
19 Poland MF Rafał Krysiak
20 Poland MF Aleksander Ślęzak
21 Poland FW Kamil Cupriak
23 Poland DF Oskar Szumer
25 Poland GK Szymon Gąsiński
28 Poland DF Marcin Zimoń

ŁKS in Europe

The old ground
Season Competition Round Club Score
1959/60 European Cup Q Luxembourg Jeunesse Esch 0-5, 2-1
1994/95 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1R Portugal FC Porto 0-2, 0-1
1996 Intertoto Cup GR Russia KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny 0-3
Bulgaria PFC Spartak Varna 1-1
Germany TSV 1860 München 0-5
Czech Republic Kaucuk Opava 0-3
1998/99 UEFA Champions League 1Q Azerbaijan Kapaz PFC 4-1, 3-1
2Q England Manchester United 0-2, 0-0
UEFA Cup 1R France AS Monaco 1-3, 0-0

Notable players

Managers

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://lodz.gazeta.pl/lodz/1,35142,7583116,Nowy_LKS_idzie_na_przetarg__I_do_pierwszej_ligi.html
  2. ↑ http://www.thelodz.com/lks-lodz-loses-its-battle-against-financial-problems/
  3. ↑ http://www.atlasarena.pl/
  4. ↑ http://www.lkslodz.pl/klub.php
  5. ↑ http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/2009-10-29-2669160872_x.htm
  6. ↑ http://www.polishsoca.com/newswire/ekstraklasa/1919-new-stadia-key-to-polish-footballs-rebirth
  7. ↑ http://gwizdek24.se.pl/pilka-nozna/ekstraklasa/nowy-stadion-LKS--lodz-wizualizacja_219526.html
  8. ↑ http://sport.wp.pl/kat,1715,title,W-czerwcu-przetarg-na-budowe-stadionu-LKS-u,wid,13448827,wiadomosc.html
  9. ↑ http://www.thelodz.com/no-stadiums-in-sight-in-lodz/

External links

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