New faces at ORZEŁ Łódź. “We will take care of every fan”

At the beginning of the new year, ORZEŁ Łódź announced that there were some personnel changes in the club. Jakub Zborowski has been appointed as the vice-president of the board, Jan Konikiewicz became the managing director, and Janusz Ślączka took over the role of coach. What do the new faces bring to ORZEŁ?

All the new officials appeared at the press conference organized by the Łódź club, accompanied by the president Witold Skrzydlewski, vice-president Marcin Ulacha, and coach Maciej Jąder.

– I am full of admiration for the patron of Łódź speedway, the Skrzydlewski family. The present times show that success is not about medals but financial stability. This is something that we, as people connected with the black sport, should be grateful for. There is nothing better for people who are to run a club than having a stable owner in the background who loves the club and speedway. I know that not everything here pleased everyone, but one thing must be named clearly: for twenty years, ORZEŁ together with the Skrzydlewski family have achieved great success here. We have a new stadium, one of the most modern in Poland, wonderful fans. I hope that with our entire staff we will be able to build an even stronger ORZEŁ family, and our ‘eagles’ will fly very high – began the conference Jakub Zborowski.

The Łódź team finished the last season in sixth place in the table, which, after initial difficulties, does not seem like a bad result. It is worth noting that ORZEŁ is a club that has been present among the METALKAS 2. Ekstraliga teams the longest. – We will take care of every fan, regardless of which stand they sit on. We will want to attract new investors, and by doing so, fulfill Mr. Witold’s dream of the PGE Ekstraliga. Every president aims for this, and we will strive to allow the president to feel accomplished – announces the new vice-president of the board for ORZEŁ Łódź.

How is Jan Konikiewicz approaching the new challenges? – We have a cohesive vision. It is symbolic that on the club’s 20th anniversary, President Witold Skrzydlewski reorganized the club. We are not miracle workers, and we need some time to settle everything. We have wonderful fans and we want the speedway trend in Łódź to continue. We want everything we manage to create here to be, in a few years, perhaps already at the highest level of competition, but that’s not the most important thing at the moment – says the club’s managing director.

– However, I strongly believe that by the end of the season, we will be able to recognize the year 2025 as a great success on many levels. We will not promise big things now, much is happening, and we will keep informing you about it. We want everyone to feel good. If someone is interested in ORZEŁ, we want to provide them with all information about the club through various channels. We want fans to have good contact with the players, and for them to have good cooperation with the media, to be likable and not to have the proverbial ‘flies in their noses.’ We believe we have a very ambitious team, and our speedway riders have a lot to prove – said Konikiewicz at the press conference.

After employing Janusz Ślączka, the former coach of teams such as KRONO-PLAST WŁÓKNIARZ Częstochowa and BAYERSYSTEM GKM Grudziądz, Maciej Jąder, who already led the first team last season, will focus on working with the youth. – Besides helping Janusz, I will focus on working with the youth, primarily on the development of the speedway school, which is our goal. There’s not much talk about it, but the school in Łódź is already up and running. We assume that in the coming years it will develop more vigorously. This is our goal – concluded Jąder.

Grzegorz Adamczyk

Marcin Rusewicz