Gwardia Opole is a men's handball club from Opole, Poland, that plays in the Superliga.
The current name of the club is Corotop Gwardia Opole due to sponsorship reasons.
History
The team was founded in 1945. In 1962, it was promoted to the first league. In the debut season in the top league, the club took 4th place. In the 1963/1964 season, the team led by Edward Hyla won the bronze medals in the Polish Championship (behind AZS Katowice and Sparta Katowice).
In the following years, Gwardia continued to play in the first league, but they were relegated in 1980. They returned to the top league after one year, where they won the 2nd league by eight points ahead of second-placed Posnania Poznań. In the 1981/1982 season, they were relegated to the second league again, where they spent the next ten years.
The Opole team returned to the first league in the 1992/1993 season - again only for one year - when coached by Henryk Zajączkowski. The club was in the third division in the 1997/1998 season, where it played for three consecutive years. In the 2002/2003 season, the Opole team won the second division and returned to the top division after 10 years. In the 2003/2004 season, the team won only two and drew three, thus relegating it to the first league. In the years 2004-2013, Gwardia played in the first league. In this period, he achieved second place twice (2006/2007, 2010/2011) and third place twice (2007/2008, 2011/2012). In the 2012/2013 season, when Marek Jagielski was the coach, the team won the first division and got promoted to the Superliga. In the 2013/2014 season, the team won five, drew one and lost 16, finishing 11th and relegated to the First Division. During the season, in December 2013, there was a change of coach: Marek Jagielski was replaced by Tadeusz Jednoróg.https://sportowefakty.wp.pl/pilka-reczna/404726/marek-jagielski-nie-jest-juz-trenerem-gwardii-opole
In 2014, Rafał Kuptel became the new coach of Opole. In the 2014/2015 season, Gwardia dominated the second division: they won all 26 of their matches, thus once again promoted to the Superliga. The team's new home, the "Okraglak" hall, was handed over in September 2017, and since 2018 the facility has been called the Stegu Arena.https://web.archive.org/web/20190823161615/https://stegu.pl/stegu-arena-slynna-opolska-hala-z-nowa-nazwa/ In the 2017/2018 season, the team debuted on the international cup circuit, when they were eliminated in the third round against RD Koper of Slovenia in the EHF Cup. In the 2018/2019 season, Opole finished the regular season in 4th place. In the semifinals of the playoffs, they lost to the favorite Vive Kielce (32:31; 28:37). However, a one-goal victory (32:31)https://sportowefakty.wp.pl/pilka-reczna/821689/pgnig-superliga-sensacja-gigantycznego-kalibru-kpr-gwardia-opole-lepsza-od-pge-v in the first meeting was a sensation: Gwardia's victory ended Kielce's 103-match winning streak since March 2016.https://sportowefakty.wp.pl/pilka-reczna/821716/koniec-niesamowitej-serii-pge-vive-kielce-historyczny-wyczyn-gwardii-opole In the race for 3rd place, Gwardia faced MMTS Kwidzyn. He lost the first match 25:26, but won the rematch 26:24 and won the bronze medal of the Polish championship. The team's top scorers in the 2018/2019 season: Patryk Mauer (149 goals), Mateusz Jankowski (120 goals) and Antoni Łangowski (116 goals). For the third time in a row, Adam Malcher received the award for the best goalkeeper in the league, and for the second time in a row, Rafał Kuptel was recognized as the best coach in the Superliga.
Crest, colours, supporters
Kits
HOME
AWAY
THIRD
Sports Hall information
Arena: - Stegu Arena City: - Opole Capacity: - 3378 Address: - Oleska 72, 45-222 Opole, Poland.
Management
PositionName President Paweł Dołhańczuk Sports Director Tomasz Wróbel
Team Current squad Squad for the 2025–26 season
Goalkeepers 1 Jakub Ałaj 33 Dawid Balcerek 40 Fabian Sowiak Left wingers 22 Michał Milewski 23 Kacper Aksamit 88 Daniel Jendryca Right wingers 7 Mateusz Wojdan 14 Szymon Romanowski Line players 66 Admir Pelidija 75 Kelian Janikowski
Left backs 6 Filip Wrzesiński 10 Bartosz Kowalczyk 21 Jakub Luksa Centre backs 5 Fabian Sosna 9 Piotr Zawadzki 17 Maciej Zarzycki 73 Bartłomiej Rugała Right backs 37 Dominik Antoniak 99 Oliwier Kamiński
Transfers Transfers for the 2025–26 season
Joining Bartosz Kowalczyk (CB) from MKS Kaliszhttps://wkaliszu.pl/2025/06/04/pilka-reczna-z-mks-u-do-opola/ Maciej Zarzycki (CB) from KS Azoty-Puławyhttps://www.facebook.com/kprgwardiaopole/posts/-wraca-do-domu-witamy-ponownie-w-opolu-maciej-zarzycki-wraca-do-corotop-gwardii-/1319090459987466/ Kelian Janikowski (LP) from KS Azoty-Puławy Dawid Balcerek (GK) from KPR Legionowo Fabian Sowiak (GK) (from ASPR Zawadzkie) Bartłomiej Rugała (CB) (from SMS ZPRP Kielce) Dominik Antoniak (RB) (from AZS AWF Biała Podlaska)
Leaving Andrzej Widomski (RB) to RK Eurofarm Pelisterhttps://sportowefakty.wp.pl/pilka-reczna/1180208/opuszcza-kraj-dla-wielkiej-szansy-uczestnik-ligi-mistrzow-siegnal-po-polaka Pawel Stempin (LP) to MMTS Kwidzyn Mateusz Lellek (GK) (to ?) Adam Malcher (GK) (retires) Antoni Łangowski (LB) (retires) Marek Hryniewicz (RW) (retires) Janusz Wandzel (LP) on loan at Śląsk Wrocław Piotr Jędraszczyk (CB) loan back to Industria Kielce
Previous squads 2018–2019 Team Shirt NoNationalityPlayerBirth DatePosition 1 Mateusz Zembrzycki Goalkeeper 2 Michał Lemaniak Right Winger 5 Karol Siwak Left Winger 7 Maciej Zarzycki Central Back 8 Antoni Łangowski Left Back 10 Jan Klimków Line Player 12 Dawid Skrzypczyk Goalkeeper 13 Mindaugas Tarcijonas Line Player 14 Kamil Mokrzki Central Back 16 Adam Malcher Goalkeeper 17 Jędrzej Zieniewicz Right Back 18 Mateusz Jankowski Line Player 19 Przemysław Zadura Right Back 20 Wiktor Kawka Left Back 21 Patryk Mauer Right Winger 22 Michał Milewski Left Winger 23 Mateusz Morawski Central Back 27 Dariusz Skraburski Left Back
Honours
Polish Superliga: (2): 1964, 2019
Polish Cup: (3): 2017, 2018, 2019
EHF ranking
Rank Team Points227 HC ZTR Zaporizhzhia7228 İzmir BSB SK7229 Helvetia Anaitasuna6230 Gwardia Opole6231 RK Prevent Slovenj Gradec6232 ThSV Eisenach6233 Budakalász FKC6
Former club members
Notable former players The list includes players who have played at least once for their national team or spent at least 10 years with the team.
Goalkeepers Władysław Fąfara Paweł Malaka (1960–1976) Adam Malcher (2003–2005, 2013–) Andrzej Mientus (1976–1979) Sebastian Suchowicz (2015) Sławomir Szmal (1996–1997) Robert Wasilewski (1982–1988, 2000–2003) Mateusz Zembrzycki (2014–2016, 2017–2020) Vladimir Božić (2013)
Right wingers Patryk Mauer (2017–2022)
Left wingers Gerard Piechota (1973–1990)
Line players Piotr Czaczka (1978–1982) Mateusz Jankowski (2014–2019) Jan Klimków (2017–2022) Andrzej Sokołowski (1964–1968) Mindaugas Tarcijonas (2015–2019) Admir Pelidija (2024–)
Left backs Kacper Adamski (2016–2017) Antoni Łangowski (2015–2019, 2022–) Piotr Przybecki (1987–1991) Ivan Milas (2015–2016)
Central backs Piotr Jędraszczyk (2023–) Kamil Mokrzki (2014–2020) Maciej Zarzycki (2017–2022)
Right backs Piotr Adamczak (2013–2014) Ignacy Bąk (2016–2017) Szymon Działakiewicz (2019–2021) Jerzy Klempel (1970–1971) Sebastian Rumniak (2014–2018) Przemysław Zadura (2010–2012, 2016–2022) Nikola Kedžo (2015) Roman Chychykalo (2022–2024)
Former coaches Seasons Coach Country 2013–2014 Tadeusz Jednoróg 2014–2023 Rafał Kuptel 2023– Bartosz Jurecki
References
External links
Gwardia Opole at Handball Base