Zawisza Bydgoszcz (Polish pronunciation: [zaˈviʂa ˈbɨdɡɔʂt͡ʂ]) is a sports club from Bydgoszcz, Poland, founded in 1946. Its name commemorates a legendary Polish 15th-century knight, Zawisza Czarny (Zawisza the Black). The club holds many sections: football, track and field athletics, boxing, rowing, canoeing, weightlifting, gymnastics, shooting, and parachuting ones.[1]
The team was founded in 1946, as a military-sponsored club in Koszalin, although they only played friendly matches initially. When the army headquarters moved to Bydgoszcz a year later in 1947 the club followed.[1][2]
The football team has achieved some successes, playing for several years in the Polish First Division, first winning promotion in 1961.
Zawisza was relegated from the Second Level to the Fourth Level in the 1997–98 season. In 2001, they controversially merged with Chemik Bydgoszcz, and played as Chemik-Zawisza, whilst the reserve team was initially meant to be called Zawisza-Chemik, although ultimately the reserve team remained as simply "Zawisza". The merger turned out to be very unsuccessful, and the senior side started anew from the bottom of the league pyramid reverting to "Chemik", leaving the reserve team in the fifth division, which subsequently became Zawisza's senior team.[5]
Aside from the ongoing Hydrobudowa scandal between 2006 and 2008, the original team were promoted to the Third Level after finishing 1st in their regional Group of the III liga in the 2007–2008 season.[6] On 12 June 2011, after a 13-year absence, Zawisza was promoted to I liga after finishing second 5 points behind Olimpia Grudziądz in the II liga West Group in the 2010–11 season.[7] In 2013 Zawisza won the I liga and were promoted to the Ekstraklasa.[8]
They won the Polish Cup in the 2013–14 season, 6–5 on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes against Zagłębie Lubin,[9][10] and qualified for the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round.[11]