Stal Mielec

Stal Mielec II
League	IV liga Subcarpathia
2023–24	Regional league Dębica, 1st of 16 (promoted)
Website	http://stalmielec.com/

Stal Mielec
Full name	FKS Stal Mielec
Nickname(s)	Biało-niebiescy (White-blues)
Founded	10 April 1939; 85 years ago
Ground	Grzegorz Lato Municipal Stadium
Capacity	7,000
Chairman	Jacek Klimek
Manager	Janusz Niedźwiedź
League	Ekstraklasa
2023–24	Ekstraklasa, 11th of 18
Website	https://stalmielec.com
	Current season

FKS Stal Mielec, commonly known as Stal Mielec (Polish pronunciation: [ˈstal ˈmjɛlɛt͡s]), is a Polish professional football club based in Mielec. The team competes in the Ekstraklasa, the top level of the Polish football league system.

The club was established on 10 April 1939. Historically, the club has enjoyed great successes within Poland's top division, winning the title in 1973 and 1976, but had undergone significant management changes and financial difficulties within the past two decades, which forced the club from participation in the Poland's top league. After winning the third-tier II liga title in 2016, Stal Mielec was promoted to I liga. After finishing first in the I liga in 2020, Stal Mielec was promoted to the Ekstraklasa for the first time since the 1995–96 season.

Old Ground: Grzegorz Lato Municipal Stadium

History

Naming history

1939 – Klub Sportowy PZL Mielec
1946 – Robotniczy Klub Sportowy PZL Zryw Mielec
1948 – Związkowy Klub Sportowy Metalowców PZL Mielec
1949 – Związkowy Klub Sportowy Stal Mielec
1950 – Koło Sportowe Stal przy Wytwórni Sprzętu Komunikacyjnego Mielec
1957 – Fabryczny Klub Sportowy Stal Mielec
1977 – Fabryczny Klub Sportowy PZL Stal Mielec
1995 – Autonomiczna Sekcja Piłki Nożnej FKS PZL Stal Mielec
1997 – Mielecki Klub Piłkarski Stal Mielec
1998 – Mielecki Klub Piłkarski Lobo Stal Mielec
1999 – Mielecki Klub Piłkarski Stal Mielec
2002 – Klub Sportowy Stal Mielec
2003 – FKS Stal Mielec
2018 – PGE FKS Stal Mielec

1939–1945 - the beginning and interwar period

The football club was one of the first two (next to the volleyball club) at the PZL Mielec, established in 1939. The team was made up of players playing in other clubs in Mielec and employees of the PZL, an aerospace company. In the first match played, the team defeated the Gymnastic Society "Sokół" Mielec with 4–1 victory. Three more matches were played against Dzikovia Tarnobrzeg (2–1), Metal Tarnów (3–1) and a team made up of players from an ammunition factory in Nowa Dęba (6–1). The match against Okęcie Warszawa planned for September did not take place, because World War II started and any sports games were forbidden. However, the matches were played illegally in the meadows beyond the communal forest and in other towns (including Dębica, Kolbuszowa, Sandomierz). The only official match was played against a German military unit and ended with the score 1–2.

Honours

League

Ekstraklasa
- Champions: 1972–73, 1975–76
- Runners-up: 1974–75
I liga
- Champions: 1960, 1984–85, 1987–88
II liga
- Champions: 1955, 1968–69, 2015–16
III liga
- Champions: 2012–13 (group Lublin–Subcarpathia)
V liga
- Champions: 1998–99
Klasa A
- Champions: 1950, 1954
Klasa B
- Champions: 1949

Cup

Polish Cup
- Runners-up: 1975–76

Europe

European Cup
- First round: 1973–74, 1976–77
UEFA Cup
- Quarter-finalists: 1975–76
- First round: 1979–80, 1982–83

Youth teams

Polish U-19 Championship
- Runners-up: 1964, 2007
Polish U-17 Championship
- Champions: 2007
- Runners-up: 1996, 2012

Stadium

The construction of the club's current stadium, Municipal Stadium, was concluded in 1953. The stadium underwent a major renovation, completed in 2013. It maintains a seating capacity for 7,000 spectators. Before the 2013 renovation, it maintained seating capacity for 30,000 spectators, and hosted numerous European Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, and Poland national team matches, including FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship qualifiers.

Individual player awards

Ekstraklasa top goalscorer
- 1973 - Grzegorz Lato - 13 goals
- 1975 - Grzegorz Lato - 19 goals
- 1995 - Bogusław Cygan - 16 goals

Piłka nożna magazine plebiscite
- Player of the Year
  - 1976 - Henryk Kasperczak
  - 1977 - Grzegorz Lato
- Newcomer of the Year
  - 1975 - Zbigniew Hnatio
  - 1978 - Włodzimierz Ciołek

Przegląd Sportowy Polish Athlete of the Year
- 1974 - 4th place - Grzegorz Lato
- 1977 - 5th place - Grzegorz Lato

Sport Player of the Year
- 1974 - Grzegorz Lato
- 1976 - Henryk Kasperczak
- 1977 - Grzegorz Lato

Tempo Goalkeeper of the Year
- 1979 - Zygmunt Kukla

Reserves

The club operates a reserve team which currently plays in the Subcarpathia group of the IV liga, the fifth tier of the league pyramid. During the 2020–21 season, a third team participated in the regional league, as well as the Subcarpathian Rzeszów–Dębica Polish Cup edition.^[3]^[4]

Current squad

^[5]

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
3	DF	NED	Bert Esselink
4	DF	POL	Kamil Pajnowski
5	DF	ROU	Marco Ehmann
6	MF	MLT	Matthew Guillaumier
8	MF	JPN	Koki Hinokio
9	FW	ISR	Ravve Assayag
10	MF	POL	Maciej Domański
11	MF	POL	Krzysztof Wołkowicz
12	GK	POL	Karol Dybowski
13	GK	POL	Konrad Jałocha
15	DF	GER	Marvin Senger
17	FW	BLR	Ilya Shkurin
18	MF	POL	Piotr Wlazło


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
19	MF	POL	Dawid Tkacz (on loan from Widzew Łódź)
20	MF	POL	Karol Knap (on loan from Cracovia)
21	DF	POL	Mateusz Matras
23	DF	POL	Krystian Getinger (captain)
25	FW	POL	Łukasz Wolsztyński
27	DF	LVA	Alvis Jaunzems
32	MF	POL	Fryderyk Gerbowski
33	MF	POL	Adrian Bukowski
34	MF	POL	Alex Cetnar
39	GK	POL	Jakub Mądrzyk (on loan from Raków Częstochowa)
40	DF	GRE	Petros Bagalianis
44	MF	UKR	Serhiy Krykun (on loan from Piast Gliwice)
96	MF	POL	Robert Dadok