Aluminium Konin
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| Full name | Klub Sportowy Górnik Konin |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Łańcuchy (The Chains) |
| Founded | 1957 |
| Ground | MOSiR Marian Pasek Football Stadium, Konin |
| Capacity | 2,000 |
| Chairman |
 Piotr Bajerski |
| Manager |
Jacek Banaszk |
| League | IV liga, Greater Poland South |
| Website | Club home page |
Klub Sportowy Górnik Konin is a Polish football club based in Konin, Poland. The club currently competes in the fifth division.
Football in Konin can be traced back to the early 20th Century. The current club's predecessors have been active since 1945, after many mergers till 1954 when the Koło Sportowe Górnik was founded, which 3 years later, in 1957 became today's Klub Sportowy Górnik Konin, its registration is officially recognised as its founding date. The club spent the 1960s, 1970's and 1980's oscillating between the voivodeship-level leagues and the third tier of Polish football. In the 1991/92 season Górnik finally gained the long-awaited promotion to the Second Division for the first time, despite coming close several times before.
In 1996/97 the main sponsor of the club, the local coal mine "Konin" withdrew its funding, and the club was transferred under the wing of the local aluminium foundry. The new owners however made the very unpopular decision to change the club name to Aluminium Konin, despite many fan-protests. The following 1997/98 season was the most successful in its history, however considering the amount of funding the club received and the fact that its ultimate aim was promotion to the top tier, the season was still classed as disappointing.
Even upon reaching the Polish Cup final did little to please fans, as despite Aluminium being by far the better team, Amica Wronki won in controversial circumstances, with the help of the referee Sam Kowalczyk so obvious that he was given a 3-month ban, but the PZPN match observer Alojzy Jarguz inexplicably gave the referee a high note. Impartial observers, such the manager of Lech Poznań Adam Topolski, chairman of Olimpia Poznań (a top flight club at the time) Bolesław Krzyżostaniak, the chief of Zawisza Bydgoszcz Edward Potok and former Górnik Konin manager Janusz Białek were all highly critical of the match they have witnessed. Over 7000 Górnik fans were present at Bułgarska Street Stadium in Poznań, additionally supported by local Lech Poznań fans.
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Wikipedia