Full name | Morski Klub Sportowy Pogoń Szczecin |
---|---|
Nickname(s) |
Portowcy (The Dockers) Duma Pomorza (Pride of Pomerania) |
Founded | 21 April 1948 |
Ground |
Stadion Florian Kryger Szczecin, Poland |
Capacity | 18,027 |
Chairman | Jarosław Mroczek |
Manager | Kazimierz Moskal |
League | Ekstraklasa |
2015–16 | 6th |
Website | Club home page |
MKS Pogoń Szczecin (Polish pronunciation: [ˌɛmkaˈɛs ˌpɔɡɔɲ ˈʂt͡ʂɛt͡ɕin]) is a Polish professional football club, based in Szczecin, West Pomeranian Voivodeship.
The club was founded by Poles from Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine), who had been transferred west after the Soviet annexation of Poland's eastern territories in 1945. The founders of Pogoń Szczecin had previously been supporters of Pogoń Lwów and the colors of their new club reflect their old club. Polonia Bytom and Odra Opole were likewise founded or revived by the former inhabitants of Lwów.
The most popular sports organization in Szczecin was founded on April 21, 1948 as Klub Sportowy Sztorm. Its first departments were football and boxing, and the football team began playing in the local C-Class championship. In March 1949, several sports clubs in Szczecin (KS Sztorm, KS Cukrownik, KS Drukarz, Pocztowy KS) were merged into a large organization called Klub Sportowy Zwiazkowiec. The team of Zwiazkowiec joined local A-Class league, replacing Pocztowy KS. In November 1950, Zwiazkowiec was dissolved, and a new organization, Klub Sportowy Kolejarz Szczecin was formed. Its football team, supported by the Port of Szczecin, in 1953 was promoted to the newly created Interregional League (Liga Miedzywojewodzka), which covered the provinces of Szczecin, Zielona Góra and Poznań.
In autumn 1955, Kolejarz was renamed into Pogon Szczecin. The name and the hues of the club are a continuation of Pogon Lwow. In 1957, Pogon was runner up of the Interregional League, qualifying to the second division playoffs. After beating Flota Gdynia, Kujawiak Włocławek and Warta Gorzow, Pogon for the first time won promotion to the second level of Polish football system. In 1958, Pogon was the winner of Group North of the Second Division (37 points, goals 54-22, not a single game lost), winning promotion to the Ekstraklasa.