Bełchatów

The lignite mines around Bełchatów needed a football side to carry their name, and in November 1977 the town got one: Węgiel Brunatny Bełchatów, taking over the football section that had belonged to RKS Skra Bełchatów. The club was renamed GKS Bełchatów in 1983.

Promotion to the Ekstraklasa came first in 1992, then again in 2005 after years in the lower divisions, and it was on that second run that the club had its best season. In 2006–07, under Orest Lenczyk, GKS finished second in the league, a result that sent it into the UEFA Cup and earned Lenczyk the Polish Coach of the Year award. Two Polish Cup final defeats, in 1996 and 1999, and a runners-up finish in the 2007 Polish Super Cup fill out the rest of the honours list.

A month later, the Fundacja Akademia GKS Bełchatów picked up the name and started again in the fifth tier, winning promotion out of it the following season.

Built in 1977 alongside the club itself, it gained floodlights in 2003 and under-soil heating in 2006. It holds just 5,264 now, rebranded GIEKSA Arena.