Polish vice-champions officially relegated. This is a fall into the abyss

We have reported on the disastrous 2024/25 season for footballers from the capital of Lower Silesia in WPROST several times during the current campaign. It is hard to believe that the team that had the same number of points at the end of the 2023/24 season as the champion Jagiellonia Białystok, and then represented Poland in European cups, was ultimately created as... a relegated team from PKO BP Ekstraklasa.

The end of Śląsk Wrocław's dreams. Polish vice-champions relegated!

May 11, 2025 is a sad day for football in Wrocław. WKS has been playing at the top league level continuously since the 2007/08 season. During this time, Śląsk footballers have had many truly commendable stories. The most important one, the national championship in the 2011/12 season, is one of four medals that WKS has won. To this must be added the bronze from the 2012/13 campaign and two silver medals - from the 2010/11 edition and the last one, 2023/24.

How is it possible that only ashes remain from a team fighting for the Polish championship to the very end? This is mainly the result of the transfer policy and club management. It is no secret that WKS is a club in the hands of the city authorities of Wrocław. And this might not be such a problem if it actually translated into sports results - especially in recent years. However, it must be honestly admitted that the second place won under the baton of coach Jacek Magiera was a positive, but an exception. In Wrocław, there was a bit of enthusiasm for the results achieved in the aforementioned seasons, when Śląsk players stood on the league podiums. Not to look far, there were also places in the top, but not necessarily with a medal - in 2019/20 in fifth place, and in 2020/21 in fourth place.

The next two seasons should, however, turn on the yellow or even orange light. Taking 15th place twice in an eighteen-team league means treading on very thin ice. The second case is the recruitment of the aforementioned coach Magiera to the club... previously dismissed, but still with a valid, paid contract. As a "firefighter", the former coach of Legia Warsaw and the Polish youth national team managed to save WKS at the crazy finish of the 2022/23 season. Although, in addition to the efforts of the Wrocław team, the then disastrously performing Wisła Płock contributed to this, which, in place of Śląsk, joined the relegated league trio.

The Polish vice-championship won in the 2023/24 campaign brought benefits, but mainly financial ones. Captain Erik Exposito, the top scorer in the Ekstraklasa, a leading figure of Śląsk, said goodbye to the club. Nahuel Leiva, the creator in the offensive of the Wrocław team, also followed in his footsteps. Patrick Olsen was also missing. The Dane, perhaps a bit of a second-row player during the time of Magiera's work, but he also contributed a lot to the team.

A broken spine and completely misguided transfers by the former sports director David Balda completed the tragedy of the situation in Wrocław. Exposito's and Leiva's successors found their feet only in the spring round of this season. However, Śląsk's players started 2025 as the league's "red lantern". Just as they wintered in the leader's seat (!) of the competition, at the turn of 2023 and 2024, they had to count on a miracle in the next, third - in four seasons - relegation campaign.

Ante Simundza was brought to Wrocław. The Slovenian coach got to work and proved that he is one of the best specialists currently working in Poland. From a team in crisis, he turned a team that could really scare even the best. Examples? A 3:1 win over Lech Poznań or an away triumph with Cracovia by as much as 4:2. However, there were definitely some worse moments. A lost victory against Radomiak in Radom, in the last action of the match (1:1), catastrophic mistakes against Piast Gliwice at home (1:3), or a colorless defeat against GKS Katowice (0:2) in Wrocław.

However, the Wrocław team received an additional, very strong blow during Simundza's work. After winning the aforementioned match in Krakow, Petr Schwarz fought a real fight for his life. The captain of WKS, the team's best player throughout the entire 2024/25 season, was in a truly disastrous situation - but fortunately, his life is no longer in danger. And out of respect for the player's privacy, we will not go into details. The facts are, however, that this type of story left a big mark on the team. This was visible in the aforementioned match with the newcomer from Katowice, where Śląsk woke up too late to catch up with GKS. Sportingly, the lack of Schwarz also turned out to be a very big problem. The matter was so serious that the nominal winger, Piotr Samiec-Talar, started playing in the middle.

Ultimately, however, WKS – apart from Schwarz's fateful situation, of course – has only itself to blame. Too many bad things have happened in Wrocław to cheat fate once again and secure survival. Examples? Apart from the aforementioned management, which Michał Mazur, the club's new president, will now and probably in the coming months, want to sort out, several bad decisions have been made. Balda's transfers, somewhat fixed by the later sports director Rafał Grodzicki, are another argument. Maybe if players like Jose Pozo or Assad Al Hamlawi had appeared earlier, WKS's situation would have been different.

It is also difficult to explain the move to hand over the team from Wrocław to the inexperienced duo of coaches, Michał Hetel and Marcin Dymkowski. Ultimately, the former took over, collecting one draw and four defeats in five matches. What is worse, these were defeats: at home to Puszcza Niepołomice (0:1) and Radomiak (1:2), away to Lechia Gdańsk (0:1) and, in addition, elimination from the Polish Cup to Piast Gliwice (after penalties). The latter of the mentioned cases is actually the least important in the context of the entire season, but the table showed how important the league defeats were at the end.

The two nails in the Wrocław coffin were Śląsk's defeat by Górnik in Zabrze on Friday (0:2) - although the visitors had plenty of goal-scoring opportunities - and Lechia Gdańsk's victory over Korona Kielce on Sunday (3:2). The day before, Zagłębie Lubin, which was involved in the relegation battle, also saved the day by winning against Widzew Łódź (2:1). Simundza's team lacked time and points to get out of the red zone.

Well. It has become clear that the UEFA Conference League final will be held at the venue of... the new first league team. Tarczyński Arena is, after all, one of the arenas built for Euro 2012. It is certainly a venue that has many arguments "for" big, European football. But we will have to wait a bit for such a venue in Wrocław. How long exactly? It is hard to say, because a major earthquake is probably coming - especially in terms of personnel.

The only consolation? The fans. Even when WKS was scraping the bottom of the table, they were with the team, achieving great attendance figures. It is all the more a pity that a center like Wrocław is disappearing from the Ekstraklasa map. However, this is an example and a warning to the rest - that when you stop developing - you start to regress. Let's hope that Śląsk's decline will also be cleansing for the person concerned.

Although it must be noted that the realities of the first league are a really tough piece of bread. As Wisła Kraków, among others, have been learning for a good few years now. The White Star was supposed to disappear only for a moment – looking at the brand of the Kraków club. However, as reality has shown, it was easier for Wisła players to play in… the Fortuna Polish Cup final than to advance to the elite.