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The club was founded in June 1945 by the Poles who had been forced to leave their homes in former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union (present-day Ukraine). The club's name comes from the Piast dynasty, which ruled Poland from its beginnings as an independent state in the 10th century, until 1370, and in the city itself until 1532.
In 1949, five local teams were merged with Piast, and the team was renamed to Metal Piast Gliwice, and then to Stal Gliwice, before its original name Piast Gliwice was restored in 1955. Piast continued to play their matches on ul. Robotniczej. In 1964, Piast merged with GKS Gliwice, a team formed in 1956 from a fusion of the three other local clubs, and the name was changed to GKS Piast Gliwice. Since the 1950s, Piast mostly played in the Second Division. During that period, Piast have twice (1978, 1983) managed to reach the final of the Polish Cup, losing on both occasions.
In the 1990s, due to financial difficulties, the team was rebuilt from the Klasa B (7th tier), achieving four consecutive promotions from the seventh to the third tier in 1997–2001, and afterwards it won promotion to the II liga (second tier) in 2003. Piast played as many as 33 seasons in the Polish Second Division, before finally being promoted to the Ekstraklasa in 2008. Having played two seasons in the top division, the club was relegated in 2010 to come back in 2012. It is the first football team in Poland to gain promotion from the 7th tier to the Ekstraklasa (Polish top tier of football) and later to the European club competition.[1]
In the 2010s, Piast enjoyed its greatest success, being runners-up in the 2015–16 Ekstraklasa and winning its first Polish championship in the 2018–19 season.
There is also a futsal department of Piast Gliwice, which competes in the Futsal Ekstraklasa (top division). Its home venue is the Gliwice Arena. It won its first Polish Championship in the 2021–22 season.[2]
Naming history
(18.06.1945) – KS Piast Gliwice
(23.05.1946) – KSM Piast Gliwice
(September/November 1947) – ZKSM Piast Gliwice
(05.03.1949) – ZS Metal Piast Gliwice (merged with ZKSM Huta Łabędy, ZKS Walcownia Łabędy, RKS Jedność Rudziniec, *RKS PZS Gliwice and ZKS Silesia Gliwice)
(01.11.1949) – ZKS Stal Gliwice
(11.03.1951) – ZKS Stal GZUT Gliwice
(15.03.1955) – ZKS Piast Gliwice
(20.01.1957) – KS Piast Gliwice
(01.01.1961) – SKS Piast Gliwice
(15.03.1964) – GKS Piast Gliwice (merged with GKS Gliwice and KS Metal Gliwice)
(17.10.1983) – MC-W GKS Piast Gliwice
(12.09.1989) – CWKS Piast-Bumar Gliwice
(1989) – [merged with ZTS Łabędy (Gliwice)]
(1990) – CWKS Bumar-Piast Gliwice
(04.04.1990) – KS Bumar Gliwice
(11.05.1990) – KS Bumar Łabędy (Gliwice)
(01.07.1990) – KS Bumar Gliwice
(1991) – KS Piast-Bumar Gliwice
(01.07.1992) – MC-W GKS Piast Gliwice
(01.08.1995) – KS Bojków Gliwice (merged with KS Bojków Gliwice)
The club's crest is derived from the coat of arms of the city of Gliwice, and thus contains the Piast Eagle of the Upper Silesian line of the medieval Polish Piast dynasty, which ruled the city until 1532.
Piast have a friendship with fans of Belarusian club BATE Borisov since 2011. The friendship started when BATE fans on their way to a Champions League match in Copenhagen stopped for a Piast game against local rivals GKS Katowice. The Piast fans then went to Alkmaar to support BATE versus AZ. After another visit for a Champions League game against Sturm Graz, the friendship became official and both sets of fans regularly visit each other.[4]
Piast's major rivals are Górnik Zabrze, with whom they contest the local derby.[5][6] The stadiums are located just a few kilometres from each other. Other rivals are local teams Ruch Chorzów, GKS Katowice and the two Bytom clubs, Szombierki and Polonia.
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