Zagłębie Wałbrzych
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| Full name | GKS Zaglebie Wałbrzych |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Thorez |
| Founded | 1945 2006 (re-founded) |
| Ground | "Old Zagłębie" Stadium, Dąbrowski Street |
| Chairman | Marcin Dymecki |
| Manager | Józef Borcoń |
| League | Klasa B, Wałbrzych group |
Zaglebie Walbrzych is a Polish multisports club, located in the south-western city of Walbrzych. The club, located in Walbrzych's neighborhood of Bialy Kamien, is the most famous for its football team.
The club was founded in 1945, when former German city of Waldenburg became part of Poland. Its founders were Polish emigrees from France and Belgium, who named the club Thorez, after Maurice Thorez, a French communist leader. The name was disliked by most fans and was changed in 1968 into Zaglebie, which means coal basin in Polish, as Walbrzych was an important center of mining.
In 1968, Zaglebie Walbrzych won promotion to the Ekstraklasa, and in the 1970/1971 season, it finished in the 3rd spot, after Gornik Zabrze and Legia Warszawa. Zaglebie participated in the games of the UEFA Cup, advancing to the second round. In the first round, it beat Czechoslovakian team FK Teplice (1-0, 3-2), in the second round it lost to Romanian side UT Arad (1-1, 1-2). Team's most famous player is goalkeeper Marian Szeja, participant of the 1972 Olympic Games.
After the 1974 season, Zagłębie was relegated from the First Division and has never returned. A difficult financial situation of sports clubs in Wałbrzych meant that in the early 90's the club merged with fierce rivals Górnik Wałbrzych much to the shock of both sets of fans after over 40 years of rivalry. The new merged club then became "KP Wałbrzych", then "KP Górnik/Zagłębie Wałbrzych". Matches were played at Zagłębie's stadium but eventually the Zagłębie part was dropped from the name and the club de facto ceased to exist.
On 6 April 2006 the "Stowarzyszenie GKS Zagłębie Wałbrzych", was created, reactivating the football section of the club. From 2008, the team participates in the regional games of Lower Silesia.
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