Wieczysta Kraków

Wieczysta Kraków is a Polish football club, based in Kraków. As of the 2026–27 season, they compete in the Ekstraklasa, after winning the 2025–26 I liga promotion play-offs. History Wieczysta in the 20th century During the Nazi occupation of Poland, Poles were not permitted to participate in organised sports events. To circumvent these restrictions, some football competitions were secretly held on the meadows of Rakowice, then a village on the borders of Kraków. Eventually, the local community, on the initiative of Edward Ignaszewski, decided to establish a sports club, thus forming Wieczysta Kraków in 1942. During the 1950s–60s, Wieczysta played in the class A and B leagues (then the fourth and fifth tiers of the Polish football league system). In 1966 the Polish league system was reorganised, and the III Liga, the new regional third tier, was introduced. Wieczysta was included in the district league (the fourth tier) of the Polish league system. Performances at this level did not last long. In 1968 the team was relegated to class A (the fifth tier), and a year later it was relegated to the sixth tier. The latter years of the 20th century brought stabilization in the form of regular performances at the regional level. Wieczysta at the onset of the 21st century The club played the 1997–98 season in the IV liga, after winning promotion to the fourth tier. After six years at this level the club was relegated, finishing the 2002–03 season in the 18th position at the bottom of the table. For the following twelve seasons, Wieczysta played in the Liga okręgowa, the fifth and subsequently the sixth tier of the Polish football league after another reorganization in 2008. In the 2014–15 season, the club finished 13th (second from bottom) in the Liga okręgowa, thus getting relegated to the seventh tier. In the first season in Klasa A, the club finished second, therefore missing out on immediate promotion back into the sixth tier. The next season, 2016–17, they finished first in the league, winning promotion back to the Liga okręgowa. Wieczysta's rise under new ownership Wieczysta attracted attention in June 2020 when the businessman Wojciech Kwiecień invested in the club. Under the new owner, Wieczysta invested substantial funds and attracted well-known coaches and players from higher leagues. In 2021, Wieczysta won promotion to IV liga, finishing first in the Liga okręgowa's Kraków II group. They were the richest amateur club in the country at the time, and won the league with 28 wins out of 28 games, scoring 216 and conceding only 8. On 29 September 2021, they achieved their first victory at the central level of the Polish Cup, winning 2–1 against the I liga club Chrobry Głogów and advancing to the cup's round of 32. In the 2021–22 season, Wieczysta finished in first place, with 93 points and losing only one game all season, finishing eleven points ahead of second-placed Wiślanie Jaśkowice. The team then had to face the champions of the other Lesser Poland group: the Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza reserves. The first leg took place on 25 June 2022 in Kraków which Wieczysta won 4–0 with all goals coming from Maciej Jankowski. Wieczysta won the second leg 3–0, winning the tie 7–0 on aggregate, and were promoted to the III liga, thereby securing a second consecutive promotion. Wieczysta started the 2022–23 season in the III liga with two wins, a draw and two defeats. On 29 August 2022, after a home tie against Stal Stalowa Wola, coach Franciszek Smuda left the club. On 6 September 2022, Dariusz Marzec became Wieczysta's coach, followed by Wojciech Łobodzinski on 22 March 2023. His team recorded a disappointing end to the season. The key moment turned out to be a series of five out of six matches without a win, which contributed to the loss of the chance for promotion after the penultimate round, when promotion to the II liga was secured by Stal Stalowa Wola, and Wieczysta was further surpassed by Avia Świdnik, falling to third place in the table before the last round of the III liga. In the last match of a disappointing season, to make up for it, Wieczysta won the final of the Małopolska Polish Cup against Spójnia Osiek-Zimnodół 5–0, which guaranteed their participation in the 2023–24 Polish Cup at the central level. In June 2023, Wieczysta replaced Łobodziński with Maciej Musiał, who signed a one-year contract. Wieczysta strengthened their squad for the 2023–24 campaign with the arrival of former Poland internationals Michał Pazdan, Rafał Pietrzak and Jacek Góralski, as well as veteran players Saša Živec and Christoph Knasmüllner. After suffering a 1–0 loss in the first round of the 2023–24 season, Wieczysta went on to win five out of the next seven games played. On 18 August, despite being only one point behind group IV leaders Siarka Tarnobrzeg, Musiał was sacked and replaced with former Wieczysta player Sławomir Peszko. On 18 May 2024, following a 1–0 win over Świdniczanka Świdnik, and with second-placed Siarka Tarnobrzeg losing their game hours later, Wieczysta secured promotion to the II liga (third tier of the Polish football system), three rounds before the end of the season. In the 2024–25 II liga, despite a significant budget advantage and finishing the first half of the season four points behind leaders, Wieczysta were unable to claim an automatic promotion spot. On 15 June 2025, they won their promotion to I liga (Poland's second tier) after beating Chojniczanka Chojnice 2–0 in the promotion play-off final. At the end of the 2025–26 season, Wieczysta secured a spot in the I liga promotion play-offs having finished in third place. They beat Polonia Warsaw 3–2 in the play-off semi-finals to reach the final against Chrobry Głogów. On 31 May 2026, Wieczysta beat Chrobry 2–1 to secure promotion to the Ekstraklasa for the first time, their third consecutive promotion. Honours III liga, group IV Champions: 2023–24 IV liga Lesser Poland West Champions: 2021–22 Regional league Kraków Division Group II Champions: 2020–21 Runners-up: 2018–19, 2019–20 Klasa A Kraków Division Group II Champions: 2016–17 Runners-up: 2015–16 Polish Cup: National Round of 32: 2021–22 Lesser Poland (regional) Winners: 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23 Runners-up: 2019–20 Kraków District Winners: 2019–20, 2020–21 Runners-up: 1952, 2016–17 Players Current squad As of 23 July 2026 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Notable players Had international caps for their respective countries at any time. Players with names listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Wieczysta. Managerial history Caretaker managers listed in italics. Seasons Notes: P – Promoted, R – Relegated Polish Cup records References External links Official website