About

GKS Górnik Łęczna is a sports club club based in Łęczna, Poland. It is best known for its men's professional football team, which competes in Ekstraklasa, the highest division in the Polish football league system. The club also fields teams in women's football and wrestling. The club was founded in 1979, as a club for the local coal miners. As the years went, the local Bogdanka Coal Mine decided to invest more and more money and as a result the club quickly rose through the leagues. The club shed its relative obscurity when it gained promotion to the Ekstraklasa ni 2003. Górnik Łęczna played in the top division from 2003 until 2007, when they were relegated to the 3rd division, as a consequence of their involvement in a match fixing scandal. However they were promoted straight back up as league winners after the 2007–08 season and competed in the I Liga for six years before winning promotion to the 2014–15 Ekstraklasa. Since January 1, 2007, the men's football department has been operating as a business entity separate from the rest of the club. In February 2011 the team was renamed GKS Bogdanka (Polish pronunciation: ) for sponsorship reasons, a decision from the local Bogdanka coal mine. As a result a group of supporters opposing the name change formed an amateur team GKS Górnik 1979 Łęczna. On 23 July 2013 GKS Bogdanka's board of directors announced the return to the former name.