KTS Weszło,[2] informally, due to the city of its headquarters, also called KTS Weszło Warszawa,[3] is a Polish football club based in Warsaw, Masovian Voivodeship. It was founded by media and sports group Weszło and is run as a fan-owned initiative.[4]

KTS Weszło
Full nameKlub Towarzysko-Sportowy Weszło
Founded17 January 2018; 6 years ago (2018-01-17)
GroundBemowski Ośrodek Piłki Nożnej[1]
ChairmanKrzysztof Stanowski
ManagerMaciej Tarnogrodzki
LeagueIV liga Masovia
2023–24IV liga Masovia, 4th of 18
Websitehttps://kts.weszlo.com/dashboard

In the 2024–25 season, they compete in IV liga Masovia, having earned promotion from V liga in May 2023.[5]

Financing and ownership

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The club is owned by 11000 amateur investors, who bought shares in 2018, raising 20 million zł initially. It was the first such initiative in Poland.[4]

In 2021 the club was crowdfunded under the initiative led by Krzysztof Stanowski. 3963 investors were found raising 4.5 million zł in 90 minutes for 25000 shares accounting for 20% of the total.[6][7]

History

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It was established on 17 January 2018. In the first season, its team included players with experience in the Polish national team, Ekstraklasa (Wojciech Kowalczyk, Grzegorz Szamotulski,[8] Dawid Janczyk,[9] Daniel Kokosiński[10]), foreign athletes (Jonathan Simba Bwanga, Merveille Fundambu) and celebrities (Quebonafide). In the 2018–19 season, KTS was promoted to A-class.[11]

On 5 January 2020, it won the Amber Cup Tournament in Gliwice, ahead of the Polska Stars and Kamil Wilczek Team. In the following season, suspended indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland, the team placed third in its group, but retained its chances of promotion to the Warsaw regional league through play-offs.[12] In them, the KTS team lost 1–3 to Orzeł Baniocha.[13] In the 2020–21 season, KTS achieved promotion, winning 24 of its 26 matches, scoring 170 goals and losing 13.[11]

On 9 July 2022, Piotr Kobierecki became the coach,[14] replacing Piotr Dziewicki in this position.[15] In August 2022, the club organized "Summer in the City" events for children in the Warsaw district of Białołęka, with guests including Poland's national team manager Czesław Michniewicz and footballers Jakub Kosecki and Grzegorz Szamotulski.[16] At the inauguration of the 2022–23 season, Weszło defeated Drukarz Warsaw 6–0.[17] On 2 March 2022, Krzysztof Stanowski became president of KTS.

On 19 October 2022, following a 9–1 semifinal win against Ożarowianka Ozarów Mazowiecki, the club advanced to the final of the Polish Cup at the regional level of the Warsaw MZPN for the second consecutive year, where it won 4–1 against Mszczonowianka Mszczonów.[18] By winning the final, the club earned the right to participate in the Polish Cup of the Masovian level, in which it received a free draw in the 1/8 final, and lost 2–3 in the quarterfinals to third-league Pogoń Grodzisk Mazowiecki, dropping out of the competition.[19]

On 1 May 2023, KTS won 5–1 against Wkra Żuromin, securing promotion to IV liga Mazovia. On 13 May 2023, they recorded its highest victory ever, thrashing Skra Drobin, last in the table, 15–0 at the Hutnik Warsaw Stadium.[20] KTS finished the 2022–23 season with a set of victories, scoring 156 goals, losing 14.[11]

In the 2023–24 season, KTS Weszło defended the Polish Cup at the level of the Warsaw MZPN, winning 4–2 against Polonia Warsaw II in the final on 8 November 2023.[21] Kobierecki was dismissed on 6 April 2024,[22] and replaced ten days later by Bartłomiej Grzelak and Marcin Burkhardt on an interim basis, with Maciej Tarnogrodzki scheduled to take over as manager at the start of the 2024–25 season.[23]

Notable players

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KTS players were, among others, Merveille Fundambu and Jonathan Simba Bwanga, which later joined the leading clubs of the Poland First League, Wojciech Kowalczyk, the 1992 Summer Olympics medalist and Grzegorz Szamotulski, the Polish national team representative.[24][25][26] In July 2022, ex-Polish international Jakub Kosecki joined the club.[27]

Statistics

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Season League Place W D L GF GA Pts Masovian Polish Cup
2018–19 B-class (VIII)[11] 1st of 11 18 2 0 94 19 56 3R (lost to Promnik Łaskarzew 2–3)[28]
2019–20 A-class (VII)[11] 3rd of 14 10 1 2 69 15 31 5R (lost to Milan Milanówek 2–2 p. 4–5)[29]
2020–21 A-class (VII)[11] 1st of 14 24 1 1 170 13 73 Did not play
2021–22 Regional league (VI)[11] 1st of 16 22 4 4 125 32 70 Runners-up (lost to Ząbkovia Ząbki 1–5)[30]
2022–23 V liga (VI)[11] 1st 28 0 0 156 14 84 Winners
2023–24 IV liga (V)[11] 4th 22 6 6 100 39 72 Round of 16 (lost to Pogoń Grodzisk Maz. 1–4)[31]
Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation.

References

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  1. ^ "Klasa okręgowa 2021/2022, grupa: Warszawa I". www.90minut.pl.
  2. ^ "KTS Weszło S.A." weszlo.com (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  3. ^ "Skarb - KTS Weszło Warszawa". www.90minut.pl. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  4. ^ a b Nick Westerby (2 September 2021), Amateur football team raises over 20mln to be Poland's first fan-owned club
  5. ^ "Wygrywamy w Żurominie! Wygrywamy Decathlon V ligę!" [Win in Żuromin! Win in Decathlon V liga!]. kts.weszlo.com. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  6. ^ Michał Tomaszkiewicz (14 October 2021), KTS Weszło. Akcje za 4,5 mln zł sprzedane w 90 minut (in Polish), Radio Zet
  7. ^ Paweł Radny (14 October 2021), Ekspresowa sprzedaż akcji KTS Weszło. Krzysztof Stanowski zebrał 4,5 mln zł w 90 minut (in Polish), onet.pl
  8. ^ "Zaskakujący powrót do Warszawy. Golkiper pomoże w awansie?". weszlo.com (in Polish). 2018-01-19. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  9. ^ "OFICJALNIE: Dawid Janczyk ma nowy zespół". nowinkitransferowe.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  10. ^ "Peszko mógł zrobić karierę na poziomie Lewandowskiego". weszlo.com (in Polish). 2019-09-27. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Sezony - KTS Weszło Warszawa". 90minut (in Polish).
  12. ^ "KTS Weszło zagra w barażach ligi okręgowej" (in Polish). 2020-07-01. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
  13. ^ "Baraże uzupełniające o udział w lidze okręgowej, grupa: Warszawa". www.90minut.pl. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
  14. ^ Maciej Ziółkowski (2022-07-09). "Byli trenerzy i zawodnicy Legii w KTS-ie Weszło". legia.net (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  15. ^ "Piotr Dziewicki nie jest już trenerem KTS-u Weszło". kts.weszlo.com. 2022-05-18. Retrieved 2022-08-03.
  16. ^ "Spotkanie z Michniewiczem, trening pod okiem byłych reprezentantów. Lato w mieście!". weszlo.com (in Polish). 2022-08-02. Retrieved 2022-08-03.
  17. ^ "KTS Weszło z wysokim zwycięstwem na inaugurację V ligi". weszlo.com (in Polish). 2022-08-13. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
  18. ^ "forBET Puchar Polski 2022/2023, grupa: Mazowiecki ZPN - Warszawa". www.90minut.pl. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  19. ^ "forBET Puchar Polski 2022/2023, grupa: Mazowiecki ZPN". www.90minut.pl. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  20. ^ "90. minuta, KACPER RAŁOWIEC z debiutancką bramką w barwach KTS-u! Rekordowe zwycięstwo stało się faktem! KTS vs Skra 15:0". Twitter (in Polish). 2023-05-13. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  21. ^ "forBET Puchar Polski 2023/2024, grupa: Mazowiecki ZPN - Warszawa". www.90minut.pl. Retrieved 2023-09-19.
  22. ^ "Oficjalnie: KTS Weszło rozstał się z trenerem". weszlo.com (in Polish). 6 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  23. ^ "Marcin Burkhardt oraz Bartłomiej Grzelak poprowadzą KTS Weszło do końca sezonu 2023/24" (in Polish). Weszło Warsaw. 16 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  24. ^ "Merveille Fundambu, były gracz KTS Weszło zawodnikiem Widzewa Łódź". www.galaktycznyfutbol.pl. August 22, 2020.
  25. ^ "Kowal, mamy dosyć!". www.kts.weszlo.com. May 6, 2019.
  26. ^ "Zaskakujący powrót do Warszawy. Golkiper pomoże w awansie?". January 19, 2018.
  27. ^ Czaplewski, Jacek (2022-07-11). "Jakub Kosecki w V lidze. Zagra w drużynie KTS Weszło Warszawa" [Jakub Kosecki to V liga. He is to play for the KTS Weszło Warszawa team.]. Gol24 (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  28. ^ "Puchar Polski 2018/2019, grupa: Mazowiecki ZPN - Warszawa". www.90minut.pl.
  29. ^ "Puchar Polski 2019/2020, grupa: Mazowiecki ZPN - Warszawa". www.90minut.pl.
  30. ^ "Puchar Polski 2021/2022, grupa: Mazowiecki ZPN - Warszawa". www.90minut.pl.
  31. ^ "Puchar Polski 2023/2024, grupa: Mazowiecki ZPN". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 22 June 2024.
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  • [1] - 90minut.pl profile
  • [2] - Official Facebook page