RKS Radomiak Radom is a Polish football club based in Radom, Poland. It was founded in 1910. It achieved 2nd place in the 3rd division in season 2003/2004 and was promoted to the 2nd division in season 2004/2005. In season 2010/2011 Radomiak achieved 4th place III liga. Promotion back to II liga was achieved in the 2011/2012 season with a first placed league finish. Radomiak spent 3 years in II liga, and in season 2014/15 club was relegated to III liga. In 2015 Radomiak finished 9th but Polish Football Association reorganized all major divisions and 10 of 18 clubs from II liga was relegated to III liga all together. Radomiak has came back to II liga next season, RKS achieved 1st place in III liga and there were two playoff matches with Wisła Sandomierz won by Radomiak. Next four seasons RKS spent in II liga and finally in the 2018/19 finished 1st and after 13 years got promoted to the I liga. Radomiak currently plays its matches at MOSiR Stadium as a new stadium is being built at the old stadium location, 63 Struga Street. Radomiak home ground was used since 1925 up to 2016. On 17th of May 2017 building has been started and, according to the plans, should be finished in June 2019. As some problems with a construction contractor occurred building should be finished by the end of 2020, but probably it'll be ready in 2021.
History
In 1910, when the football leagues had been established for a number of years, the Russian rulers of Poland gave permission for the formation of the "Radomskie Towarzystwo Sportowe". The newly formed RTS was made up of five sections, namely football, cycling, tennis, ice skating and gymnastics. By this, time Milan had been crowned champions of Italy on three separate occasions whilst Poland would have to wait until 1921 to see Cracovia crowned as its first Champions. On 18 December of the same year, the Polish national side lost 1:0 to Bulgaria in their first ever international game. It was a year before the footballers of RKS played their first game – a 5:2 loss to Stella Warszawa. These were the beginnings of the club now known as RKS Radomiak. In 1924, Radom Sports Association won promotion to WarsawClass B, which was the second level of Polish football system at that time. In 1925, it won promotion to Warsaw Class A, and in 1928, all teams from Radom were moved to Kielce League, which covered the cities of Radom, Kielce, Częstochowa and the region of Zagłębie Dąbrowskie. Radom Sports Association won promotion to the Kielce League , beating Hakoah Będzin and KS Sosnowiec. After winning the Kielce League, Radom played in the playoffs to the Ekstraklasa, to be defeated by both Podgorze Kraków and Naprzód Lipiny. For the remaining part of the 1930s, Radom was one of the top teams of the league, but failed to qualify to the top level of Polish football. During World War II, the team ceased to exist, to return in April 1945, in a game vs. Czarni Radom. In 1947, after winning regional games, Radom once again played in the Ekstraklasa playoffs, losing to Widzew Łódź. Meanwhile, in April 1945, Sports Club Bata was founded in Radom. This name remained in use until July 1945, when the team was renamed into Sports Club Radomiak. The new team quickly won regional games, and in Warsaw championship, it faced Polonia Warszawa, winning the title. In 1946, Radomiak once again won regional games. In the play-offs it beat Lublinianka Lublin 5-0, to finally lose 1-3 to ŁKS Łódź. On July 19, 1947, Marian Czachor became the first player from Radom to cap for Poland, in a match vs. Romania. In 1948, Radomiak entered the newly created Second Division, remaining there until 1952. For several years, Radomiak played in the 3rd and 4th Division. In 1967, Radomiak merged with Radom Sports Association, and new organization, Radom Sports Club Radomiak was formed. In 1969, it won promotion to the Second Division, but was quickly relegated. Once again Radomiak returned there in 1974, also to be immediately relegated. In 1977, Radomiak again was promoted to the Second Division. This time, the team from Radom remained there for several years. In the 1982/1983, it finished second, after Motor Lublin. Before the 1983/1984 season of the Second Division, Radomiak was regarded as one of the favorites, and the team proved its class, winning promotion on June 20, 1984, after beating Hutnik Warszawa 2-1. In its first, historic game in the Ekstraklasa, Radomiak beat at homeBałtyk Gdynia 3-0. After the autumn round of 1984, Radomiak was in the 5th spot, seven points behind the leader, Legia Warsaw. Spring round of 1985 turned out to be a disappointment, as Radomiak kept losing, and was relegated, together with Wisła Kraków. In 1989, Radomiak was relegated to the Third Division, to return to the second level in June 1993. With Rafal Siadaczka as its top player, the team from Radom finished the 1993/94 season in the 4th position. Next year, however, it was again relegated. In the early summer of 2004, Radomiak, which finished second in the Third League, faced Tłoki Gorzyce in the Second Division playoffs. With Maciej Terlecki and Gražvydas Mikulėnas, Radomiak avoided relegation, after once again beating Tłoki Gorzyce in the play-offs. Next year, however, Radomiak lost the play-offs to Odra Opole, and was relegated back to the third level. Radomiak was also famous for its boxers. The boxing department existed in 1945–1958, and its most famous fighter was Antoni Czortek, who settled in Radom after WW2. Furthermore, Radomiak supported other departments, such as ice hockey, judo, cycling, basketball, track and field, handball, volleyball, tennis, table tennis, and wrestling. Among national champions from Radomiak were cyclist Krzysztof Jasinski, wrestler Jan Zurawski and athletes Jakub Fijalkowski, Grzegorz Krzosek.
