Sandecja Nowy Sącz

Sandecja Nowy Sącz is a Polish football club formed in 1910. In the 2024–25 season, they will compete in group IV of the III liga, the fourth tier of Polish football, after suffering back-to-back relegations.

Sandecja Nowy Sącz

Full name	Miejski Klub Sportowy Sandecja Nowy Sącz
Nickname(s)	Pride of Nowy Sącz, Sączersi, Bianconeri
Founded	1910; 114 years ago (1910)
Ground	Stadion im. Ojca Władysława Augustynka
Capacity	2,850[1]
Chairman	Tomasz Bałdys
Manager	Łukasz Mierzejewski
League	III liga, group IV
2023–24	II liga, 17th of 18 (relegated)
Website	http://www.sandecja.pl/
Home colours Away colours

In the 2016–17 season, Sandecja won I liga, which promoted the club to the Polish Ekstraklasa, Poland's highest professional football league, for the first time in the club's history.

Stadium

Main article: Stadion im. Ojca Władysława Augustynka

Up to 1979, Sandecja stadium was named XXV years of PRL at the initiative of the then Communist leaders of the city. In 1998, nine years after the fall of communism in Poland, it was then renamed in honor of Father Władysław Augustynek, a popular local Catholic priest, who was a passionate fan of the club.

Stadion im. Ojca Władysława Augustynka

History

Sandecja was founded in 1910, upon the initiative of Adam Bieda, who was the chairman of the Nowy Sącz branch of the Sokol Sports Association. The name of the club comes after Latin name of the city of Nowy Sącz (Nova Civitas Sandecz), and from the very beginning, Sandecja was supported by the local Zakłady Naprawcze Taboru Kolejowego (Rail Rolling Stock Repair Workshops). For most of its history, Sandecja was closely associated with Polish Railroads, and its official name was Rail Sports Club Sandecja (since 1999: Municipal Sports Club Sandecja).

Throughout the years, Sandecja had several departments, including men's and women's volleyball (1950 - 2009), handball (1950 – 1955), basketball (1950 – 1961), track and field (1945 – 1970), skiing (1945 – 1956), ice-hockey (1951 – 1964), boxing (1948 – 1960), table tennis (1945 – 1955).

Timeline

Club badge used from 2004 until 2018.

• 1910 – Adam Bieda of the local Sokol Movement found the club,
• 1912 – the statutes of Sandecja are approved: "The purpose of the Club is to promote physical development of the youth"
• 1914–1918 – World War I. Most players serve in the Austro-Hungarian Army,
• August 1921 – Sandecja returns,
• 1924 – the club has 230 members in several departments,
• 1928–1932 – the club suspends its activities, due to the loss of its own field,
• 1933 – new field and new gym are opened, and with new manager, Franciszek Krupski of Polish Railways, Sandecja returns as Rail Club of Military Training Sandecja,
• 1934–1939 – the football team plays in the second and third levels of Polish football system (Class A, against KS Moscice, KSZO Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, WKS Kielce, Azotania Jaworzno, Riflemen Association Chełmek, and a number of teams from Kraków,
• 1939–1945 – during World War II, the athletes of Sandecja are involved in conspirational activities of the Home Army (AK) and other organizations. Football player Julian Zubek commanded the largest AK unit in the area. Klemens Gucwa, Leopold Kwiatkowski, Jan Freisler and Roman Stramka serve as couriers,
• February 1945 – Sandecja returns. First postwar game took place on 15 April 1945: KS OMTUR Sandecja beats RKS Świt 2–1,
• 30 May 1946 – Sandecja loses 0–17 to Cracovia,
• 1966 – Sandecja wins promotion to the third league ,
• 1967 – women's volleyball team becomes the regional champion ,
• 1 May 1970 – at the newly opened stadium, located at Kilińsk Street, an international U-19 friendly between Poland and Hungary is played. Poland loses 2–3, and among Polish players were Kazimierz Kmiecik, Mirosław Bulzacki, Zbigniew Plaszewski, Jerzy Kraska. The game was attended by 10 000 people,
• July 1978 – Sandecja's U-19 team becomes the fourth team in Poland,
• June 1986 – Sandecja wins promotion to the second division. In its first home game (August 1986), Sandecja beats Broń Radom 3–1, but after one year, the team is relegated back to the third division (only 10 points in 30 games, with a goal difference of 19–52),
• June 1992 – Sandecja again wins promotion to the second tier, to be again relegated after one year (19 points in 34 games, a goal difference of 27–54).
• 1998 – Sandecja's U-17 team finishes fourth in the Polish Championship,
• 27 June 1999 – Sandecja is renamed into Municipal Sports Club (MKS),
• June 2009 – Sandecja, managed by Jarosław Araszkiewicz, once again is promoted to the second division.
• May 2017 – Sandecja, managed by Radosław Mroczkowski, is promoted to the Ekstraklasa (top tier of Polish professional league) for the first time in its history.

Honours

• I liga:
  • Champions: 2016–17

Current squad

As of 8 November 2024^[2]

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  CZE Petr Buchta 6 MF  SVK Peter Kolesár 7 FW  POL Rafał Wolsztyński 9 MF  POL Wiktor Kłos 10 FW  POL Jakub Sangowski 11 MF  POL Daniel Pietraszkiewicz 16 DF  POL Karol Smajdor 17 DF  POL Tomasz Nawotka 18 MF  POL Kacper Talar 19 MF  POL Tomasz Kołbon 20 MF  POL Mikołaj Kwietniewski 22 MF  POL Igor Maślanka 23 DF  POL Piotr Kowalik 24 DF  POL Kamil Słaby (captain)

No. Pos. Nation Player 26 DF  POL Michał Rutkowski 27 MF  POL Eryk Pieczarka 28 MF  POL Bruno Żołądź 29 MF  POL Patryk Peciak 33 MF  POL Eryk Kosiński 36 MF  POL Jan Kuźma 47 MF  POL Kacper Wokacz 51 GK  POL Jakub Bednarek 74 MF  POL Przemysław Skałecki 77 MF  POL Patryk Bryła 90 MF  POL Marcin Budziński 91 GK  SVK Martin Polaček 99 FW  POL Jakub Wilczyński

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 92 FW  POL Arkadiusz Orzeł (at Karpaty Krosno until 30 June 2025)

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries. Players marked in bold have had caps while playing for Sandecja.

• David Manoyan (2018)
• Charlie Trafford (2017)
• Robert Kirss (2023)
• Karl-Romet Nõmm (2023)
• Giorgi Merebashvili (2022)
• Tomasz Brzyski (2017–2018)
• Mateusz Cetnarski (2017–2018)
• Michał Gliwa (2016–2018)
• Dawid Janczyk (2004–2005, 2016)
• Maciej Małkowski (2015–2022)
• Rudolf Urban (2010, 2014–2015)
• Pavlo Ksyonz (2018)

In addition, Marek and Piotr Świerczewski, who played for Sandecja in their youth career but not their senior career, had international caps for Poland (the latter won 70 of them).

References

1. "Stadion" (in Polish). Sandecja Nowy Sącz. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
2. "Pierwsza Drużyna" (in Polish). Sandecja Nowy Sącz. Retrieved 21 May 2024.

External links

• Official website (in Polish)
• Sandecja at 90minut.pl (in Polish)