Build A Nation-Poland

Over the Christmas and new year period I was searching for a new save for this year, I wanted a long term project to keep me interested for the next few months. Poland's more relaxed rules helped my choose them as a nation for this save. The hard part was finding a team to start with. I looked through the squads of sides who should finish mid table and I found myself a player who I'd previously loved during my FIFA days… Lukas Podolski! 

In season one my challenge was to build the squad and increase the stature of the club, and finish midtable in the league. The challenge was set. Increase Poland's co efficent ranking and build Gornik back to the glory days of 70's/80's/90's where they recorded 11 league titles and runners up of the 1969/70 UEFA Cup Winners Cup where they lost 2-1 to Manchester City. Long team aims are to take them back into the European competitions and grow the nation of Poland.

In season One we were tasked with a top half finish and a cup run. Sadly one wasn't to be as we lost be as we lost in the first round of the Polish FA Cup to Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała 3-2. With a lack of squad depth signings were required and non other than an Experienced Journey man of Steven Caulker coming in to sure up the defence. The lack of attacking midfield/ Mezzala role was quickly filled after multiple trials of non agents with Georgian international Valerian Gvilia arriving in early September.

As the February transfer window opened we knew some additions were required. Currently around the European places squad depth was needed to keep pushing ourselves to the end of the season. First signing through the door was a loan for striker Cedric from Valladolid who added a good striker off the bench after the sale of back up striker Sebastian Musiolik to Wisła Płock for £250k. Fullback additions were further added with Maqsim Medvedev coming from Coventry for £3k as a back up and free signing of a Danish left back Jonas Knudsen. 

The push continued until the end with us around the 3rd/4th spots all season. With an injury hit squad a final addition of Free agent Alex Pritchard formally of Sunderland arriving after a initial 4 week trial. He helped add depth and quality for the final few games of season one. Gornik finished the season in 4th gaining qualification for European conference league qualification. 

SEASON TWO

So going into season two our board asked for a top half finish in the league and to be competitive in the Europa League. We were drawn against Austrian side Sportklub Austria Klagenfurt where we lost 4-2 over the two legs. Sadly falling at the first hurdle but helping us to try and push up the league with less fixture congestion for the 2024/25 season. The league started just as poor falling short and losing 2-0 away at last years champions Lech. We needed to sign some quality and definitely a striker who knows where the net is.

We had over 10 trials of strikers many asking for well over our current wage structure. We eventually signed former Manchester United, Atletico Madrid, Monaco and Chelsea striker Radamel Falcao to play as our finisher. With 4 goals in his first 4 league games we cant complain so far. Joining Falcao through the door was former Birmingham City midfielder Gary Gardner as a back up for the box to box roll as he only wanted 2k per week wages. During the summer window we also added additions of ex-Tottenham midfielder Moussa Sissoko, former football manager wonderkid Eder Balanta and 26 year old Loïc Badiashile as back up goalkeeper.

The big signing came when we realised we only had one good striker for this season. We searched through the free agents, and through those available to loan but we had no luck. Until a name appeared on the suggested transfers. We looked into his stats and after scoring  13 goals with 5 assists with Yokohama FC in J2 league we decided to use our transfer budget of £2million and signed 22 year old Marcelo Ryan for £1 million. We had sales of goalkeeper Michał Szromnik for £500k to cardiff and reserve striker Mateusz Chmarek for £525k to Widzew. 

With the new signings bolstering the squad we finally picked up some points with a 4-1 win at home to newly promoted Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza. The results started flowing and after 7 games we sit in second. The table after 7 games has been attached below as well as the signings and sales during the summer window of 2024/25.

SEASON TWO- PART TWO

We've finally reached the half way point of season two where our aim is to push the top four spots and try and get ourselves back into Europe for season three. So in the previous update we sat joint first(2nd on head to head) behind Lech, last years champions and favourites for this seasons title as well. Following the update we went on a small undefeated run. Picking up a few good wins, an 88th minute own goal winner against KGHM Zagłębie Lubin 3-2, a 5-0 win over newly promoted Resovia Rzeszów with a Marcelo Ryan Hat-trick. Our impressive form was brought to an end after losing 3-2 at home to Legia Warszawa. Although we was still in the chasing pack behind league leaders Lech at this point only 2 points behind. After a FA Cup third round match at home to Cracovia finished 4-2 following two injury time goals from now back up Striker Piotr Krawczyk. Two league games left to play before the winter break, Newly promoted Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza who we previously beat 4-1 at home at the start of the season and league leaders Lech. Through a Radamel Falcao goal in the 55th minute we beat Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza 1-0 and still remained 1 points behind leader Lech. If we win we go into the winter break as league leaders, but we expected a draw as we hadn't beaten them in out previous 3 meeting with our best result as 1-1 last season. 

We started strong and after 8 minutes Robert Dadok scored to give us an early 1-0 lead. The first half was very end to end with neither side having another proper chance before the half, lots of half chances but nothing challenging either goalkeeper. At half time we settled the lads down and asked for more fight to keep the result in our favour. It took just 8 second half minutes before Robert Dadok popped up at the back post finishing a through ball off Damian Rasak, but it went to VAR for offside…. the goal stands Dadok was onside! We lead 2-0 with 35 minutes plus injury time. Our two goal cushion didn't last long with Lech striker Mikael Ishak latching onto a low driven cross by Alexis Sánchez to put pressure onto us and reduce to lead to 1 goal. Three minutes later German winger Lawrence Ennali slots through Radamel Falcao to score his 11th of the season so far and put the final nail in the coffin. They still pushed and had chances but out defence and goalkeeper kept the score at 3-1, we finally beat Lech and take the lead in the title race. I don't think we will be there come the final days of the season but were in the hunt for another year in European Competitions.

A few signings have happened during this period with the sale of Steven Caulker for 50k and Valerian Gvilia for 300k as both wanted more football which I couldn't offer with the side being in good form and other players being ahead in the hierarchy. To replace Gvilia we signed 26 year old free agent Steven Alzate who can play in many positions so improves quality and depth of the squad as we push towards our goals. Attached below is the current table, our results so far and Steven Alzate's profile.

SEASON TWO - PART THREE 

Following the Winter break we evaluated the squad we had to offer and work towards out goals as a squad. We decided that we wanted to stick with the depth we'd got and only added three youth prospects from Belgium who would be in the squad for the future. As the month of February continued we started well league wise scoring 13 goals in out first three games of the month, followed by a FA Cup quarter final game away at Lech. We knew going into this fixture it was going to be tough. Lawrence Ennali cut in from the left after just three minutes slotting it past the keeper for an early 1-0 lead. After 30 minutes Lech winger Kristoffer Velde managed to tuck in from a deep cross evening the game up. The game opened up following this with both sides having a handful of good chances but neither side managed to capitalise. The game went into extra time and with late substitution Piotr Krawczyk managing to rise above the defenders to flick a header to the far post giving us a 2-1 lead after 105 minutes. Krawczyk put the final nail in the coffin 10 minutes into the second half of extra time scoring a low driven shot to send us to the semi finals. 

As March rolled around we continued our form in the opening game of the month beating Pogoń 2-1 before we lost at home to Cracovia 1-0 as we failed to capitalise on our many chances. Although we quickly picked ourselves back up beating Warta Poznań 4-0 the following week showing we can score goals and it was just a blip in form against Cracovia. We finished the month beating fellow European pushing KGHM Zagłębie Lubin 1-0 following a Falcao goal after 70 minutes. We swiftly moved into April opening the month against second division side Puszcza Niepołomice in the FA Cup semi finals. The scoring was opened by Falcao after 20 minutes from close range finishing from an Lawrence Enalli pass. Just 10 minutes later Robert Janicki broke free from the right hand side before hitting the ball into the bottom corner beating our keeper easily. Just before the half time whistle could be blown Enalli managed to take the ball off the right backs feet hitting the ball across driven low towards the penalty spot where Marcelo Ryan smashed home to take the game back into our hands. The second half had a lot to offer with both sides trying to score and take the game but nothing would be added and we take ourselves to our first FA Cup final in over 20 years. Our fine form continued adding three more wins to our tally. We also played second placed Raków where neither side could take the edge with 2-2 result in an exciting fixture between the two sides. We sat top of the table with 5 games remaining by just 4 points. 

We started May with out FA Cup final against Widzew Łódź. We assessed the squad and went with a full strength side hoping they'd show their worth and give us a chance as favourites for the fixture. We started brilliantly with Lawrence Enalli cutting in off the left and hitting a driven shot across and past the keeper after only eleven minutes. Widzew showed fight with a low driven shot well saved before Juan Ibiza met a free header off a corner evening the game up. Enalli showed his worth again latching onto a free ball in the centre of the park driving forward before hitting a driven shot into the bottom right corner from the edge of the area. It was that man again as Enalli again cut in off the left slotting it past the keeper to give us a 3-1 lead before half time. The game was won yet though as Widzew striker Jordi Sánchez hitting a long effort into the top corner only one minute into the second half. The trailing side pushed and tried to find an equaliser but second half substitutions managed to strengthen our Gornik side defensively not allowing any easy chances and allowing us to win the game 3-2.

The final four fixtures we need to remain strong and take the title which we had full control of 4 points clear. We started badly in this run though only drawing 1-1 against Śląsk with January signing 16 year old Pieter-Jan Schumacher grabbing us a goal. This continued into the next fixture where we drew 0-0 against Piast. Our control of the title was slipping away with only a 2 point lead above Raków who had Legia and Lech to play in there final fixtures. We kept in control by beating midtable side Wisła Kraków 2-1 in a close fixture, but Raków matched our result beating Legia 2-0 meaning a draw final day would be enough for us to be champions. We didn't seem to interested in the title as we slumped to an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to Legia giving Raków the chance to go above us by one point. They played Lech who were sat Third. We have Lech to thank as they drew 2-2 meaning we take the title by one single point. The first league title since 1980's. 

Both Radamel Falcao and Marcelo Ryan being great additions this year, Falcao with 20 goals and 7 assists while Ryan added 17 goals and 11 assists across all competitions. Daniel Bielica's fine effort between the sticks keeping 11 clean sheets from 34 league games helped us amass a good goal difference scoring a total of 76 while conceding 36 from the league. Next season we will continue to build depth and rise the club. We've been given an initial £1.7 million budget and an extra £20k on the weekly wages before we assess what we will look to move on and the additions we require.

SEASON THREE- 2025/26 

The 2025/26 season started with promise for not only the club but the save with our first increase up the co-efficient rankings, raising from 26th to 24th overall which is only a slight increase but progress towards the goal of pushing to be top has begun. 

Following this good news we was given out initial Champions League qualifier opponent FC Shkupi 1927 the north Macedonian champions. Following a Marcelo Ryan Hattrick and a 5-1 away win we were expected to roll them over in the second leg. With a changed line up we managed a 2-0 win taking us into the next round. This brought Serbian side FK Partizan Beograd to play us, with another away win this time 4-2 with 2 goals in the 90+ minutes getting us the result, and then a 0-0 draw at home meaning we progress into the third qualifying round. We were draw to play Swedish side AIK, in the away leg in Sweden we slumped to a 3-2 loss. Now behind in the leg we had to bring out all the stops to get a result back at home to get through to the final round. We went all out attack from minute 1, showing our quality coming away with a 5-0 win taking us through 7-3 on aggregate.  The Final qualifying round gave us Israel side Maccabi Haifa. Away from home we carried on our goal scoring form bringing home a 4-2 win. Back at Ernest Pohl Stadium we dominated but a 2-2 result meant we would qualify for our first Champions League campaign. Following the reveal of our fixtures with a mixture of games we may get a result from and then Man City! We began our campaign with a 1-1 draw away at Olympiacos. An early Marcelo Ryan goal ruled out for offside would have given us a great start until midfielder Mady Camara gave the home side an early lead from a low driven cross. Until the 72nd minute we looked to be taking a loss back with us until a free header from Centre half Kostas Triantafyllopoulos scored into an open net to give us a 1-1 result in our first game. 

                                                                                                       Transfers 

With a few squad players exiting the club this year we ended up with £1.7m transfer budget and £40k on the wages to start building our squad for this season. We started by adding right back Trilli on a free from Barcelona, who was swiftly followed by the free signing of Striker/ Wide attacker Troy Parrott from Tottenham. We used £750k of out budget to acquire 19 year old striker Oskar Tomczyk from Lech. This would add a younger home grown player to help with squad registration. During the window we had a lot of interest in our keeper Daniel Bielica, we'd regected bids of £2.1 million from Coventry and then a £3.1 million bid from Anderlecht. Although when they came back with a £4.1 million bid the board accepted and couldn't be talked around. This meant we was without our star players last season and without a first choice keeper. We scouted many different keepers but the one we decided to go after was Carl Rushworth who we managed to get a £1.8 bid accepted by Brighton. We then added some extra depth at centre half with the additions of free transfers Marc Barta and Will Fish.

                                                                                                       Results

The league start wasn't as we hoped with a 2-2 draw to start the season with, but a 3-1 win with a Marcelo Ryan brace giving us the result away at Widzew. August started well with another 3-1 win to start the month. This was followed by the pick of our results so far with Dadok scoring from close range in the second half and Marcelo Ryan scoring on the counter to win 2-0 away at Lech. Then we slumped to two consecutive losses home to Cracovia 1-0 and then 2-1 to Legia. We got some form back with a 2-1 win at Pogoń and a 3-0 win away at Piast. 

Season Three 2025-26 Part Two

The second update on this season is a little longer due to nothing to really update on from the winter window. We start with our league form where dominated during the run up to the winter break, not dropping many points picking up 9 wins from 11 league fixtures on this run. Only dropping points in a 2-2 draw at Radomiak and a 0-0 draw at home to Widzew. As disappointing as it was to drop points we were starting to find our form and challenge for the title in our defence. Still close with Lech who also didn't drop many points on this run. Following the winter break we continued our fine league form winnings 9 straight games including a 2-1 win at home over our title challengers Lech. Even when we dropped points we managed to come away with draws. The run into the final games we started to push away from the pack and 6 points clear with 4 games left to play. All against the bottom 4 sides. We won the first three cementing the title and a back up side in the final game giving the lads who will be leaving a final goodbye we drew at home to relegated GKS Tychy.

                                                                                                                                        FA Cup

Our defence of the Fa cup began at third division KP Starogard Gdańsk where we came away victors with a 2-0 victory. We then got drawn against previously relegated Puszcza Niepołomice where a slick Troy Parrott goal in the first minute and a winner from 20 year old Oskar Tomczyk in the 80th minute gave us the win. The Quarter final draw gave us Podbeskidzie where Oskar Tomczyk domintated scoring an early penalty which he'd won and a fine finish from a cut inside at the left side of the box on a break taking us 2-0 victors. In the semi finals we finally got a home fixture as Wisła Kraków was our opponents. Lawrence Ennali cut off the left after 15 minutes hitting the ball into the far corner, followed by a cross dropping to him unmarked to smash home from close range. The cup hero Oskar Tomczyk scored another giving us a 3-0 result in the semi finals. The final would see us play Radomiak. An early break from Edi Semedo gave our opponents a 1-0 lead after 19 minutes. We pushed forward and after Parrott was fouled inside the area and won a penalty, we let him take it. Smashing it bottom left past the keeper and levelling the game up. Just 3 minutes later Parrott cut in off the right and slotted home giving us the lead. We started to dominate the game with Marcelo Ryan scoring from a parrott pass inside the area putting us 3-1 up at the half and the game in our control. Steven Alzate scored from distance after 70 minutes making sure the game was dead and buried for us. Although 21 year old Nikodem Zielonka scored his first for the club allowing us to lead 5-1 and winning us the FA cup again this season.                                              

                                                                                                                    Champions League

As the previous update suggested out champions league fixtures weren't going to be easy and a 1-1 draw with Olympiacos. We then played Wolfsburg away where a Daisuke Yokota goal gave us an early lead in the first half but Wolfsburg winger Lovro Majer cut through and got them back into the game with it finishing 1-1. Following this we lost 2-0 away at Juventus before we played RB Salzburg. A Marcelo Ryan brace in the first half helped us leave as 2-1 victors. Although this would be our only win with us then losing to PSG, Fenerbahçe, FC Köln and Man City. We finished 32nd with 5 points meaning we exited at the group stages this season.