Genesis of the football club and early successes

Although there are no official connections to the Society of Physical Development Enthusiasts in Widzewie, most interested parties believe that the registration of the Society in 1910 marked the beginning of the sports club Widzew Łódź. In 1922, the Workers' Sports Society Widzew was founded, whose aim was to "promote the idea of physical culture and physical exercise among the working masses". Under this very name, the club won its first trophy, which was the Polish Championship of Workers' Clubs in 1932. The interwar years also belonged to the younger teammates of Widzew's first eleven, who won the Polish Junior Championship in 1937 and 1938. After World War II, the team had to wait a long time for successes, both on the domestic and international arena.

Further football successes

After finishing first in the second tier of Polish league in 1975, Widzew began a long-standing tradition of placing itself at the top of the football league table. It is worth noting that almost 50 players, club graduates, played in various years in the white-and-red colors of Poland's national team. The late 1970s and early 1980s undoubtedly belonged to Widzew. This was the time when the club could boast of players such as Boniek, Smolarek, Żmuda, Młynarczyk, and they themselves formed the core of Poland's success at the FIFA World Cup in 1982. To this day, fans remember that period with tears in their eyes. Also in later years, the team remained among the top football clubs, even reaching the semi-finals of the European Cup in 1983. Twice it participated in the UEFA Cup competitions, and won the Intertoto Cup in 1976 and 1982. With mixed luck, but always at the top, the team participated in first-division matches. The club's and team's troubles began in mid-2000. First there was a drop to the second division for two seasons, but later the team returned to the Ekstraklasa (top division).

Bouncing back from the bottom

The club's troubles reached their peak in 2015. As early as 2009, due to a corruption case, the team was barred from competing in the Ekstraklasa, but returned after a great following season. Training intensively, the team achieved excellent results. Widzew is the first, and so far only men's football team in history to defend a first-division championship. Unfortunately, problems did not leave Widzew, and definitively in 2015 the club declared bankruptcy and dropped to the fourth division. After reorganization, however, it began to rebuild and already in the 2018/2019 season had a huge chance to move up to the first division. However, something extraordinary happened – Widzew recorded 10 consecutive draws, thereby breaking the record for a series of draws and wasting the opportunity for promotion. It is worth following the results of this round of second division football, as much suggests that Widzew this time will live up to expectations and achieve the long-desired success.

For several seasons now, the club has recorded a record number of season tickets sold. Each year more are sold, and as Zbigniew Boniek summed it up, delivering a painful jab at the players: "Gentlemen Players, you need to start playing a bit now". There is great hope that after the last disastrous season, Widzew will bounce back and will indeed represent Łódź in first-division competitions.

However, not only Widzew is eyeing promotion to football's first division. Stal Rzeszów could shake things up this season, which you can read about in the article: Football: Does Stal Rzeszów have a chance for promotion to first division?

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Photo: Adam Starszynski / PressFocus