# Gwardia Opole

Gwardia Opole is a men's handball club from Opole, Poland, that plays in the Superliga.
The current name of the club is Corotop Gwardia Opole due to sponsorship reasons.

## History

The team was founded in 1945. In 1962, it was promoted to the first league. In his debut season in the top league, he took 4th place. In the 1963/1964 season, the team led by Edward Hyla won the bronze medal of the Polish championship (behind AZS Katowice and Sparta Katowice). In the following years, Gwardia continued to play in the first league. They were relegated in 1980, but returned to the 1st after a year when they won the 2nd league by eight points ahead of second-placed Posnania Poznań. In the 1981/1982 season, it was relegated to the second league again, where it spent the next ten years. The Opole team returned to the first league in the 1992/1993 season - again only for one year - when coached by Henryk Zajączkowski. The club was in the third division in the 1997/1998 season, where it played for three consecutive years. In the 2002/2003 season, the Opole team won the second division and returned to the top division after 10 years. In the 2003/2004 season, the team won only two and drew three, thus relegating it to the first league. In the years 2004-2013, Gwardia played in the first league. In this period, he achieved second place twice (2006/2007, 2010/2011) and third place twice (2007/2008, 2011/2012). In the 2012/2013 season, when Marek Jagielski was the coach, the team won the first division and got promoted to the Superliga. In the 2013/2014 season, the team won five, drew one and lost 16, finishing 11th and relegated to the First Division. During the season, in December 2013, there was a change of coach: Marek Jagielski was replaced by Tadeusz Jednoróg. In 2014, Rafał Kuptel became the new coach of Opole. In the 2014/2015 season, Gwardia dominated the second division: they won all 26 of their matches, thus once again promoted to the Superliga. The team's new home, the "Okraglak" hall, was handed over in September 2017, and since 2018 the facility has been called the Stegu Arena. In the 2017/2018 season, the team debuted on the international cup circuit, when they were eliminated in the third round against RD Koper of Slovenia in the EHF Cup. In the 2018/2019 season, Opole finished the regular season in 4th place. In the semifinals of the playoffs, they lost to the favorite Vive Kielce (32:31; 28:37). However, a one-goal victory (32:31) in the first meeting was a sensation: Gwardia's victory ended Kielce's 103-match winning streak since March 2016. In the race for 3rd place, Gwardia faced MMTS Kwidzyn. He lost the first match 25:26, but won the rematch 26:24 and won the bronze medal of the Polish championship. The team's top scorers in the 2018/2019 season: Patryk Mauer (149 goals), Mateusz Jankowski (120 goals) and Antoni Łangowski (116 goals). For the third time in a row, Adam Malcher received the award for the best goalkeeper in the league, and for the second time in a row, Rafał Kuptel was recognized as the best coach in the Superliga.

## Crest, colours, supporters
### Kits

HOME :
| 2017–18 | 2018–20 |
AWAY :
| 2017–18 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 |
THIRD :
| 2017–18 | 2019–20 |

## Sports Hall information

* Arena: - Stegu Arena
* City: - Opole
* Capacity: - 3378
* Address: - Oleska 72, 45-222 Opole, Poland.

## Management

| Position | Name |
| President | Paweł Dołhańczuk |
| Sports Director | Tomasz Wróbel |

## Team
### Current squad

    Squad for the 2024–25 season
Gwardia Opole :
Goalkeepers
01 Jakub Ałaj
12 Mateusz Lellek
16 Adam Malcher
Left Wingers
22 Michał Milewski
23 Kacper Aksamit
88 Daniel Jendryca
Right Wingers
07 Mateusz Wojdan
11 Marek Hryniewicz
77 Kacper Wilsowski
Line Players
20 Paweł Stempin
43 Janusz Wandzel
66 Admir Pelidija
Left Backs
06 Filip Wrzesiński
08 Antoni Łangowski
21 Jakub Luksa
Central Backs
04 Piotr Jędraszczyk
05 Fabian Sosna
09 Piotr Zawadzki
Right Backs
17 Andrzej Widomski
99 Oliwier Kamiński :

### Technical staff

* Head coach: Bartosz Jurecki
* Assistant coach: Bogumił Baran
* Fitness coach: Marek Dominiak
* Physiotherapist: Kacper Abrahamek
* Physiotherapist: Bartosz Smarzych

### Transfers

    Transfers for the 2025–26 season

### Transfer History

Transfers for the 2024–25 season :
Joining
Admir Pelidija (LP) from GRK Ohrid
Filip Wrzesiński (LB) from Pogoń Szczecin
Oliwier Kamiński (RB) from Wisła Płock
Leaving :

## Previous squads

2018–2019 Team :
| Shirt No | Nationality | Player | Birth Date | Position |
| 1 | Poland | Mateusz Zembrzycki | (1997-03-18) 18 March 1997 (age 27) | Goalkeeper |
| 2 | Poland | Michał Lemaniak | (1997-02-15) 15 February 1997 (age 27) | Right Winger |
| 5 | Poland | Karol Siwak | (1997-08-29) 29 August 1997 (age 27) | Left Winger |
| 7 | Poland | Maciej Zarzycki | (1998-07-26) 26 July 1998 (age 26) | Central Back |
| 8 | Poland | Antoni Łangowski | (1990-04-19) 19 April 1990 (age 34) | Left Back |
| 10 | Poland | Jan Klimków | (1998-12-21) 21 December 1998 (age 26) | Line Player |
| 12 | Poland | Dawid Skrzypczyk | (1998-04-23) 23 April 1998 (age 26) | Goalkeeper |
| 13 | Lithuania | Mindaugas Tarcijonas | (1984-09-20) 20 September 1984 (age 40) | Line Player |
| 14 | Poland | Kamil Mokrzki | (1991-10-29) 29 October 1991 (age 33) | Central Back |
| 16 | Poland | Adam Malcher | (1986-05-21) 21 May 1986 (age 38) | Goalkeeper |
| 17 | Poland | Jędrzej Zieniewicz | (1997-04-02) 2 April 1997 (age 27) | Right Back |
| 18 | Poland | Mateusz Jankowski | (1988-03-22) 22 March 1988 (age 36) | Line Player |
| 19 | Poland | Przemysław Zadura | (1988-04-26) 26 April 1988 (age 36) | Right Back |
| 20 | Poland | Wiktor Kawka | (1996-03-28) 28 March 1996 (age 28) | Left Back |
| 21 | Poland | Patryk Mauer | (1998-09-02) 2 September 1998 (age 26) | Right Winger |
| 22 | Poland | Michał Milewski | (1998-09-10) 10 September 1998 (age 26) | Left Winger |
| 23 | Poland | Mateusz Morawski | (1997-05-12) 12 May 1997 (age 27) | Central Back |
| 27 | Poland | Dariusz Skraburski | (2000-02-27) 27 February 2000 (age 24) | Left Back |

## Honours

* Polish Superliga:
** Bronze (2): 1964, 2019
* Polish Cup:
** Bronze (3): 2017, 2018, 2019

## EHF ranking

    As of 13/1/2025
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 227 | HC ZTR Zaporizhzhia | 7 |
| 228 | İzmir BSB SK | 7 |
| 229 | Helvetia Anaitasuna | 6 |
| 230 | Gwardia Opole | 6 |
| 231 | RK Prevent Slovenj Gradec | 6 |
| 232 | ThSV Eisenach | 6 |
| 233 | Budakalász FKC | 6 |

## Former club members
### Notable former players

The list includes players who have played at least once for their national team or spent at least 10 years with the team.

#### Goalkeepers

* Władysław Fąfara
* Paweł Malaka (1960–1976)
* Adam Malcher (2003–2005, 2013–)
* Andrzej Mientus (1976–1979)
* Sebastian Suchowicz (2015)
* Sławomir Szmal (1996–1997)
* Robert Wasilewski (1982–1988, 2000–2003)
* Mateusz Zembrzycki (2014–2016, 2017–2020)
* Vladimir Božić (2013)

#### Right wingers

* Patryk Mauer (2017–2022)

#### Left wingers

* Gerard Piechota (1973–1990)

#### Line players

* Piotr Czaczka (1978–1982)
* Mateusz Jankowski (2014–2019)
* Jan Klimków (2017–2022)
* Andrzej Sokołowski (1964–1968)
* Mindaugas Tarcijonas (2015–2019)
* Admir Pelidija (2024–)

#### Left backs

* Kacper Adamski (2016–2017)
* Antoni Łangowski (2015–2019, 2022–)
* Piotr Przybecki (1987–1991)
* Ivan Milas (2015–2016)

#### Central backs

* Piotr Jędraszczyk (2023–)
* Kamil Mokrzki (2014–2020)
* Maciej Zarzycki (2017–2022)

#### Right backs

* Piotr Adamczak (2013–2014)
* Ignacy Bąk (2016–2017)
* Szymon Działakiewicz (2019–2021)
* Jerzy Klempel (1970–1971)
* Sebastian Rumniak (2014–2018)
* Przemysław Zadura (2010–2012, 2016–2022)
* Nikola Kedžo (2015)
* Roman Chychykalo (2022–2024)

### Former coaches

| Seasons | Coach |
| 2013–2014 | Tadeusz Jednoróg |
| 2014–2023 | Rafał Kuptel |
| 2023– | Bartosz Jurecki |