Unia Tarnów is a Polish motorcycle speedway club from Tarnów in Poland.[1] The team compete in the Polish Speedway Second League (2. Liga).[2] and have won the Team Speedway Polish Championship three times.[3]
| Unia Tarnów | |||||||||||
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| Club information | |||||||||||
| Track address | Stadion Miejski w Tarnowie Tarnów, Poland | ||||||||||
| Country | Poland | ||||||||||
| Founded | 1957 | ||||||||||
| Team manager | Tomasz Proszowski | ||||||||||
| League | 2. Liga | ||||||||||
| Website | Official Website | ||||||||||
| Club facts | |||||||||||
| Colours | White and Blue | ||||||||||
| Nickname | Swallows | ||||||||||
| Track record time | 67.49 seconds | ||||||||||
| Track record date | 8 June 2014 | ||||||||||
| Track record holder | Greg Hancock | ||||||||||
| Major team honours | |||||||||||
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History edit
1957 to 1989 edit
The club was founded 1957 as a section of a multi-sports club of the same name, which was founded in 1928. It would not be until 2001 that the club became a separate entity but retained the same historic name.[4]
The first honour was winning the second division in 1963.[5] Zygmunt Pytko later became the Polish champion in 1967.[6]
The team spent most of the 1970s and 1980s either battling relegation in the first division or challenging promotion in the second division but in general there was little in the way of success.
1990 to 1999 edit
The club gained promotion in 1990[7] and made a statement of intent in 1994 by signing one of the world's leading riders Tony Rickardsson. The impact was instant and they won a silver medal in the Polish Championship.[8] However, not even Rickardsson could save them from relegation in 1996.[9]
2000 to 2015 edit
When the Ekstraliga was introduced in 2000, the team were competing in the 2. Liga[10] but in 2001 the sealed promotion and began to build in form.[11]
Janusz Kołodziej and Tomasz Gollob were signed and Rickardsson returned for the 2004 Polish speedway season.[12] The team won the gold medal for the first time in their history and then successfully defended their title in 2005. Three Unia riders became consecutive Polish champions, Kołodziej was champion in 2005, Gollob in 2006 and Rune Holta in 2007. Gollob and Holta also won the 2007 pairs championship.
Further success came from 2012 to 2016 as the club won the gold medal in 2012, the pairs in 2013 and three consecutive bronze medals in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Maciej Janowski also won the 2013 Golden Helmet.
2016 to present edit
Since 2015, the team have experienced mediocrity with just one 1.Liga title success in 2017.
Teams edit
2023 team edit
Tero Aarnio
René Bach
Oskar Bober- William Drejer
- Mateusz Gzyl
- Kenneth Hansen
- Jan Heleniak
Matic Ivačič
Daniel Klima- Ernest Koza
Richard Lawson- Patryk Rolnicki
- Piotr Pioro
- Pawel Pikul
- Piotr Swiercz
Previous teams edit
Extended content
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2022 team |
Notable riders edit
Honours edit
- Gold: 3 (2004, 2005, 2012)
- Silver: 1 (1994)
- Bronze: 2 (2013, 2014)
- Gold: 2 (2007, 2013)
- Silver: 2 (2004, 2009)
- Gold: 5 (1967, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013)
- Silver: 3 (2005, 2007, 2010)
- Bronze: 3 (2005, 2009, 2013)
References edit
- ^ Media, Wirtualna Polska. "Unia Tarnów - WP SportoweFakty". sportowefakty.wp.pl.
- ^ "Speedway from Around the Globe - Poland PGE Ekstraliga". Speedway Star page 42. 10 September 2022.
- ^ "Historia Speedway Polsce". Historia Speedway. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
- ^ Historia speedway’a w Polsce (in Polish), speedwayw.pl
- ^ "Historia Speedway Polsce 1963". Historia Speedway. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
- ^ Bott, Richard (1980). The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 101. ISBN 0-09-141751-1.
- ^ "Historia Speedway Polsce 1990". Historia Speedway. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
- ^ "Historia Speedway Polsce 1994". Historia Speedway. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
- ^ "Historia Speedway Polsce 1996". Historia Speedway. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
- ^ "Historia Drużynowych Mistrzostw Polski". Zuzeland.com. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
- ^ "Historia Speedway Polsce 2001". Historia Speedway. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
- ^ "Tarnow team stats". Polish Speedway Database. Retrieved 9 March 2023.