Warta Poznań () is a multi-sports club based in Poznań, Poland. The name means the Guard in Polish and also the name of the river Warta on which Poznań is located. As of the 2026–27 season, they compete in the second division, after winning promotion from the 2025–26 II liga.
Founded in 1912, the association football club are two-time winners of the Polish Football Championship, in 1929 and 1947. In 2020, Warta returned to the Polish Ekstraklasa after being absent for 25 years. The club played four seasons in the top division until relegation in 2024. The club also played in the top level of the Polish football league system from 1927 to 1939, 1946 to 1950, and 1993 to 1995.
In its history, the club celebrated many successes in disciplines such as boxing (the club won the Polish championship 11 times between 1927 and 1939), field hockey (the club won the Polish championship 12 times between 1963 and 1980) and tennis (Wiesław Gąsiorek of Warta was Polish champion 12 times between 1959 and 1970). In total, Warta teams, sportsmen and sportswomen won almost 800 medals in Polish championship competitions in different sports disciplines.
History Beginnings (1912–1918)
On 15 June 1912, the Warta Poznań Sports Club (Klub Sportowy Warta Poznań) was established, which later became known as "the first lady of Wielkopolska". Its founders were young Poles who previously played in the German clubs in Poznań, including Marian Bey, Stefan Malinowski, Stefan Mórkowski, brothers Edmund and Franciszek Szyc and Ludwik Zysnarski. They were included in the first board of the club, whose first president - as the oldest member of the board - became Franciszek Szyc. His brother Edmund was appointed secretary, and Marian Bey was the team captain. At the founding meeting, white and green were chosen as statutory colours. In addition to football, Warta formed an athletics section in 1912 and then a tennis section in 1914.
During German rule, matches involving Polish teams were forbidden, which prompted the decision to organize the first Wielkopolska football championship in 1913, in which three teams participated: Warta Poznań, Posnania and Ostrovia Ostrów Wielkopolski. Warta became the first champion. The results were as follows: Posnania - Warta 1–1, Warta - Ostrovia 3–2, Ostrovia - Warta 3–4, Warta - Posnania 2–2.
The inaugural championship of the region resulted in a surge of football popularity in Poznań. New football teams emerged such as Trytonia founded in Łazarz and a team called Sparta established in Jeżyce. In 1914, despite the start of hostilities related to the outbreak of World War I, efforts were made in Poznań to organize sports events, which was made more difficult by the martial law imposed by the Germans. In general, the regulations did not allow any kind of meeting or assembly to be held without official permits. Despite these difficulties, in 1914 the second Wielkopolska Championships were held, in which only two teams participated: Warta Poznań and KS Posnania. In this two-legged tie, Warta smoothly defeated Posnania 6–3 and 2–1.
There is no reliable information about the 1915 Wielkopolska championship. But Warta also played various friendly matches against Polish and German teams during the war years, including Fever Kościan (1–3 and 5–5) and DSV Posen (2–2) in 1915, and Stella Gniezno (2–2) in 1916. Particularly noteworthy was the 4–0 victory against DSV Posen in 1916 - DSV (Deutscher Sport Verein) was a German football club considered the best football club in Poznań until then. In 1917, Warta celebrated its 5th anniversary year by organising a tournament with the participation of the best football teams from Poznań.
Also in 1917, Franciszek Rotnicki became chairman of the club and, during his chairmanship (1917–1924), he laid the structural foundations for Warta's future successes. It was said at the time: "... A man of great authority, energetic and enterprising. It is he, together with a skilfully selected group of associates, who builds solid foundations for the future size of the club in this difficult period.".
Interwar period (1918–1939)
World War I hostilities caused enormous losses. Out of 100 Warta club members in 1914, 45 fought in the war, and two founding membersEdmund Szyc and Stefan Malinowskidied in the war. During the successful Greater Poland Uprising against German partitioning authorities, many footballers from Poznań volunteered for military service to fight for their country but the restoration of an independent Polish state after 123 years in 1918 also provided new opportunities, as Polish sports clubs were able to function without interference from foreign powers.
In 1919, pre-war sports structures were re-activated, and the first post-war Wielkopolska championship was held. Five teams entered the competition, including four teams from Poznań - Unia, Warta, Posnania, and Pogoń - as well as Ostrovia from Ostrów Wielkopolski. Warta won the championship, after beating Ostrovia 7–1, Unia 3–2, Posnania 7–0 and Pogoń 7–0. In the following year, the regional championship was abandoned because of the Polish-Soviet War.
In 1921, the first Polish national football championship was successfully held (the championship was previously started and then abandoned in 1920 because of the Polish–Soviet War). It was run similar to a cup competition, according to the "spring-autumn" system, until 1927. In the spring, Warta participated in the Klasa A regional district championship (Warta became champion in 1921, 1922, 1923 and 1926, in 1924-1925 no champion was crowned), with football clubs from Wielkopolska such as Warta, Pogoń and Stella Gniezno. In the autumn, the winners from five regional districts played against each other at national level. Under the club chairmanship of Stanisław Broniarz (chairman 1924 to 1927, deputy chairman 1927 to 1929), Warta was a leading proponent and founding member of the Polish football league, which was launched in 1927.
The interwar period was Warta's golden era and Warta was a leading football team in Poland. Between 1922 and 1928, Warta was always in the top three teams in the Polish football championship (there was no championship in 1924). Finally, with the Hungarian coach Béla Fűrst in charge, Warta won its first Polish football championship in 1929. In that season, Warta won 15 out of 24 league matches, it lost fewest goals of all teams (33) and it had - jointly with Cracovia - the best goal difference (+25).
The global economic crisis of 1929 negatively affected Polish sports clubs, including Warta. Despite these difficulties, throughout the 1930s, Warta was again in the top three football clubs in the top division on four occasions. In 1932, Kajetan Kryszkiewicz and Friedrich Scherfke were jointly the top goal scorers in the league, with 15 goals each. Other sports disciplines also fared well. In 1920, the Poznań municipal government handed over large sports grounds to Warta. Warta launched new sports sections, including field hockey (1923), boxing (1924), swimming (1928) and ice hockey (1930). Warta's boxing team won the Polish championship 11 times and Warta's athletics team won the Polish championship five times.
Warta Poznań encouraged innovations in sports in the inter-war period. In 1929, the victorious Warta match against the Dutch champions Philips Eindhoven (today's PSV Eindhoven) was the first football match broadcast on Polish radio (Warta won 5–2). In September 1933, the Warta match against Legia Poznań was the first football match in Poland to be played using artificial lighting.
Polish teams did not yet participate in annual European football club competitions, but the Warta team travelled abroad on many occasions to play friendly games and to take part in football tournaments. Every year, various football teams from Germany, Hungary and elsewhere travelled to Poznań to play Warta. In September 1934, for example, FC Milan (today's AC Milan) travelled to Poznań to play against Warta (Warta lost 1–3).
World War II (1939–1945) At the start of World War II in 1939, the football season was interrupted and was never completed. The club was forced to suspend its operations. Poles were not permitted to participate in organised sports events during the German occupation, but some Warta football players clandestinely took part in an unofficial Poznań football championship in 1940 and 1941, with games played on football pitches on the outskirts of town.Nawrot, Radosław (2011) "Niemiecki piłkarz, gwiazda "Warty". Po 1939 r. grał dalej", Gazeta Wyborcza (Wielkopolska), 23 August 2011, p. 20. retrieved 14 February 2021 https://poznan.wyborcza.pl/poznan/1,36001,10155716,Niemiecki_pilkarz__gwiazda__Warty___Po_1939_r__gral.html?as=2
During the war, the German occupiers destroyed many documents and club mementos. Some former Warta sportsmen and board members were murdered in German concentration camps. For example, former Warta footballers Marian Einbacher and Adam Knioła were murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp,Nawrot, Radosław (2015) "Rocznica wyzwolenia obozu Auschwitz. Ginęli tam poznańscy sportowcy", Gazeta Wyborcza (Wielkopolska), 27 January 2015. retrieved 14 February 2021 http://www.poznan.sport.pl/sport-poznan/1,124482,17317607,Rocznica_wyzwolenia_obozu_Auschwitz__Gineli_tam_poznanscy.html while former Warta club chairman Stanisław Broniarz was murdered in the Gross-Rosen concentration camp.Powstańcy wielkopolscy w obozie w Żabikowie, https://www.zabikowo.eu/muzeum/wystawy/wystawy-czasowe/407-powstancy-wielkopolscy-w-obozie-w-zabikowie , Muzeum Martyrologiczne w Żabikowie, retrieved 14 February 2021. Three pre-war players, Marian Spoida, Konrad Ofierzyński and Telesfor Banaszkiewicz, were among Poles murdered by the Soviets in the large Katyn massacre in April–May 1940.
Postwar period (1945–1990)
A formal general meeting was held on 18 March 1945 and the club's operations were revived."Pierwszy film sportowy poznańskiej produkcji", Głos Wielkopolski, 17 December 1946. Already in the first post-war season of the Polish football league in 1946, Warta finished the season in second place, losing in the final against Polonia Warsaw (for two years after the war, the Polish championship was contested like a cup competition)."Prezentujemy piłkarskiego wicemistrza Polski drużynę "Warty". Od mistrza Okręgu do wicemistrza Polski", Głos Wielkopolski, 10 December 1946.
A year later in 1947, Warta played outstanding football under the direction of the Hungarian coach Károly Fogl. In the semi-final of the Polish championship competition, Warta won against AKS Chorzów 4–1 and 2–0. In the final, Warta beat Wisła Kraków 2–0 away in Kraków. Interest in the final match in Poznań was enormous and the stadium attendance was higher than nominal capacity (over 20 000 spectators). The exciting match finished with Warta's victory 5–2 and Warta won its second – and so far, last – championship title in its history."Warta mistrzem Polski w piłce nożnej", Głos Wielkopolski, 2 December 1947
However, the Stalinism era ended the series of Warta's successes, as regional Communist leadership favoured the local rival Lech Poznań. In 1949, Warta was de facto forced to change its name to Związkowiec Poznań, which resulted in the disappearance of the historical name Warta. In 1950, Warta was forced to merge with the sports club HCP, which belonged to the Hipolit Cegielski Poznań works – a leading industrial company in Poznań. The HCP team played under the name Stal and the merged club used the name. In the same year, Warta's football team was relegated from the top division. From 1951 to 1956, the club played under the name Stal Poznań.