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Polonia Bytom
Full name	Bytomski Sport Polonia Bytom Spółka z o.o.
Nickname(s)	Niebiesko-czerwoni (The Blue and Reds); Królowa Śląska (The Queen of Silesia)
Founded	4 January 1920; 104 years ago
Ground	Polonia Bytom Stadium
Capacity	1,175
Chairman	Sławomir Kamiński
Manager	Łukasz Tomczyk
League	II liga
2023–24	II liga, 6th of 18
Website	bs.poloniabytom.com.pl
	Current season

Polonia Bytom (Polish pronunciation: [pɔˈlɔɲja ˈbɨtɔm]) is a Polish football club based in Bytom. Founded in 1920, the team won two championships, in 1954 and 1962. As of the 2024–25 season, they compete in the II liga.

History

Beginnings

Polonia was founded on 4 January 1920 in the Upper Silesian city of Bytom, during the hectic months of the Silesian Uprisings. In late 1922, however, as a result of the Upper Silesia plebiscite, Bytom remained part of Germany and the club ceased to exist.

In May 1945, numerous players and officials of another Polish club, Pogoń Lwów, arrived in Bytom and decided to revive Polonia. On 17 May 1945, the team played its first game in over two decades, defeating Warta Poznań 3–2.

Polonia is considered the continuation of Pogoń Lwów; its logo is very similar to the logo of Lwów's team as well as their colours, red-blue.

1950s and 1960s

Polonia achieved greatest success in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was one of the top teams in Poland. It has won the Polish championship twice, in 1954 and 1962. In 1952, 1958, 1959 and 1961 Polonia Bytom was the vice-champion of Poland. It reached the Polish Cup final in 1964. It performed well in the Intertoto Cup, reaching the final in the 1963–64 season after defeating teams such as Red Star Belgrade, Sampdoria and fellow Polish side Odra Opole. It won the trophy in the 1964–65 season after defeating teams like RC Lens, Schalke 04, Liège and SC Leipzig. Polonia also won the 1965 International Soccer League and finished third in the Polish league in the 1965–66 and 1968–69 seasons.

During that period, Polish international player and goalkeeper Edward Szymkowiak played for Polonia. The club stadium is named after him, and has a capacity of 5,500 spectators.

Recent times

In June 2007 Polonia Bytom, after many years, returned to the Polish Ekstraklasa. However, in 2011, the club was relegated to the I liga after finishing bottom of the table with just six wins all season.^[3]

Honours

Domestic

Ekstraklasa
- Champions: 1954, 1962
- Runners-up: 1952, 1958, 1959, 1961
Polish Cup
- Runners-up: 1963–64, 1972–73, 1976–77

International

International Football Cup (Intertoto Cup)
- Winners: 1964–65
- Runners-up: 1963–64
Intertoto Cup
- Winners: 1967 (Group B3), 1970 (Group B8)
International Soccer League
- Winners: 1965

Youth teams

Polish U-19 Championship
- Champions: 1963, 1970, 1978
- Runners-up: 1956

Supporters

Polonia Bytom supporters were the first organised fan-club in Poland. They have introduced scarfs, flags and organised chants. Many of the other supporters groups were travelling to Bytom only to watch how Polonia's fans are cheering their club and behaving on the stadium.

The fans have friendships with fans of Arka Gdynia which dates back to 1974, one of the longest friendships in supporter history which has survived to date;^[4] and with fans of Odra Opole, since 1987.

Polonia biggest rivals are local teams Górnik Zabrze, Ruch Radzionków, Ruch Chorzów (The Oldest Silesian Derby) and Szombierki Bytom (Derby of Bytom). The other groups which are not very welcome in Bytom are fans from Zaglebie Sosnowiec, Legia Warszawa and Lechia Gdańsk.

Polonia Bytom firm is commonly known as Desperados.

League participations^[5]

Ekstraklasa: 1948–1949 (2 seasons), 1951–1955 (5 seasons), 1957–1976 (20 seasons), 1977–1980, 1986–1987, 2007–2011

I liga: 1950, 1956, 1976–1977, 1980–1986, 1987–2001, 2005–2007, 2011–2013

II liga: 2001–2005, 2013–2014, 2015–2017, 2023–

III liga: 2014–2015, 2019–2023

Current squad

As of 27 August 2024

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	POL	Karol Szymkowiak
3	DF	POL	Szymon Michalski
4	DF	POL	Remigiusz Szywacz
5	MF	POL	Piotr Topolewski
6	MF	POL	Daniel Ściślak
7	MF	POL	Lucjan Zieliński
8	MF	POL	Mikołaj Łabojko
9	FW	POL	Kamil Wojtyra
10	MF	POL	Filip Żagiel
11	MF	POL	Konrad Andrzejczak
14	DF	POL	Grzegorz Szymusik
15	MF	POL	Oliwier Kwiatkowski
16	MF	POL	Patryk Stefański


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
17	MF	POL	Sebastian Steblecki
18	MF	POL	Tomasz Gajda (captain)
19	FW	POL	Kacper Żabiński
21	MF	POL	Wojciech Szumilas
22	DF	POL	Michał Bedronka
25	MF	POL	Dominik Konieczny
26	FW	POL	Kamil Siudak
28	DF	POL	Olivier Wypart
29	DF	POL	Adrian Piekarski
31	DF	POL	Oliwier Miller
33	GK	POL	Jakub Rybacki
77	DF	POL	Radosław Seweryś (on loan from Korona Kielce)
99	GK	POL	Axel Holewiński (on loan from Pogoń Szczecin)

Out on loan

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	POL	Kamil Hajduk (at Pogoń-Sokół Lubaczów until 30 June 2025)
—	MF	POL	Dawid Krzemień (at Pniówek Pawłowice until 30 June 2025)
—	MF	POL	Łukasz Piontek (at Pniówek Pawłowice until 30 June 2025)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	POL	Paweł Zagórski (at Drama Zbrosławice until 30 June 2025)
—	MF	POL	Daniel Zieliński (at Pniówek Pawłowice until 30 June 2025)

Polonia in Europe

Season	Competition	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate/Position
1958–59	European Cup	Q		MTK Budapest	0–3	0–3	0–6
1962–63	European Cup	Q		Panathinaikos FC	2–1	4–1	6–2
1962–63	European Cup	1R		Galatasaray	1–4	1–0	2–4
1964–65	Intertoto Cup	Group C3		Lens	4–0	1–3	Winner/1st
				Schalke 04	6–0	0–2
				Degerfors IF	6–0	1–1
		1R	Bye
		Quarter final		Karl-Marx-Stadt FC	0–2	4–1	4–3
		Semi-final		RFC Liège	0–1	3–1	3–2
		Final		Lokomotive Leipzig	0–3	5–1	5–4
1966–67	Intertoto Cup^[6]	Group B6		Norrköping	3–1	1–5	3rd
				Dynamo Dresden	0–0	1–7
				Spartak Hradec Králové	0–0	0–0
1967	Intertoto Cup^[7]	Group B3		Elfsborg	3–0	2–1	Winner/1st
				Werder Bremen	2–1	0–2
				Grasshopper	5–1	4–1
1970	Intertoto Cup^[8]	Group B8		Horsens	2–2	1–1	Winner/1st
				Rot-Weiss Essen	3–2	1–1
				Tirol Innsbruck	1–0	3–2
1973	Intertoto Cup^[9]	Group 10		B 1901	6–2	2–0	3rd
				Östers	1–2	2–3
				Austria Salzburg	4–1	1–7
1975	Intertoto Cup^[10]	Group 5		Zbrojovka Brno	1–2	1–2	2nd
				AIK	5–1	3–2
				Tennis Borussia Berlin	3–0	1–1
1980	Intertoto Cup^[11]	Group 5		Nitra	1–0	0–4	4th
				Esbjerg	0–1	2–1
				LASK Linz	1–1	0–2