SPEEDWAY / INTERVIEWS / M2E: Jakub Zborowski: You Are in Łódź – Come to Speedway

ORZEŁ Łódź has completed the formalities related to participation in the upcoming METALKAS 2. Ekstraliga season. The Łódź club has signed a new lease agreement with Moto Arena Łódź, and as the Vice President of the board, Jakub Zborowski, admits in an interview with ekstraliga.pl, broader cooperation with the city is a milestone for the club.

• The new lease agreement for Moto Arena Łódź will be valid for three years.
• Jakub Zborowski explained who played a key role in securing the agreement with MAKiS, the owner of the facility.
• The City of Łódź will engage in broader promotion of the black sport (speedway).
• The new vice president of the Łódź club revealed that ORZEŁ fans can expect a big surprise in the coming days related to the organization of a major event by the club.
• The club will celebrate its twentieth anniversary in the 2025 season.

By the end of January, the authorities of ORZEŁ Łódź were obligated to present the lease agreement for the venue where METALKAS 2. Ekstraliga home games will be played in the 2025 season. After long negotiations, speedway fans in Łódź can breathe a sigh of relief. Witold Skrzydlewski along with new board members announced a significant success, which is a three-year agreement with the city for the use of Moto Arena Łódź. Although one more agreement is missing for complete happiness, the most important part is settled – the facility at 6 Sierpnia street is the home for ORZEŁ on match days. Jakub Zborowski, in an interview with ekstraliga.pl, revealed the inside story of recent weeks at the club and spoke about the goals he sets together with Jan Konikiewicz.

Grzegorz Adamczyk (ekstraliga.pl): After Thursday’s press conference, we can talk about the first success of the revamped ORZEŁ Łódź board. The stadium use agreement has finally been signed.

Jakub Zborowski (Vice President of the KŻ ORZEŁ Łódź board): This is primarily a goal accomplished by the club owner Witold Skrzydlewski. In strategic moments, we will always turn to him together with Jan, or seek his advice. As Łódź residents know, the negotiations concerning the stadium were conducted over many months, but it was the president who finalized all the formalities with the facility’s owner for the club. It’s a great day for us, and now we can be sure that we will perform at home. Soon, hopefully, we will return to the office and technical premises, and begin track work and preparing the venue for the first event. Intense activities are also ongoing regarding the club’s twentieth anniversary so that this year will be good for us, not only in sports but also organizationally. Our goal is to attract ORZEŁ fans here, so that the stadium fills up to the last seat. With over six hundred thousand residents of Łódź, not to mention the city’s outskirts, those just over ten thousand seats may seem small yet quite a large number. The past few years have shown us that, however, he who dares wins. Jan and I haven’t taken a risk; we’ve taken on a task that is fantastic. We knew that Łódź is a wonderful city filled with sport. We must act and believe that together with the players we will show character and the ORZEŁ family will be reborn. There were times when there were many fans, best exemplified by IMME or the Nations Matches. Now we just need to gather them. It smells like methanol – I’m going to speedway!

The lease agreement for Moto Arena is a success, but we also cannot overlook the transformed relationship between the club and the city, which has assured of its willingness to help promote speedway.

This is a milestone for us. I think that from now on, the difficult times on the city-club line are behind us. Both Jan and I are people who put proper cooperation with the city as a priority. There were some tensions, but ultimately we race for the city, and Łódź supports us. Here, we’ve succeeded finally, and as Deputy Mayor Piotrowski said at a press conference, the “Eagles” will soar high with the city.

The issue of events organized at Moto Arena Łódź was mentioned. There are going to be even more of them. Besides the Nations Match, can we expect more major tournaments?

Yes, in the coming days, fans will receive the biggest possible surprise outside the Individual Polish Championship or Speedway Grand Prix, with the best possible attendance. Anyone interested in speedway might guess what tournament it is. I believe the Orzeł stadium will be filled to capacity, and the organization itself, in my view, is a nod from the Polish speedway authorities to the club and the city, and we’ll repay with full stands.

Let’s move on to you. In your CV, you already have the WILKÓW Krosno project, as well as work at ARGED MALESA Ostrów Wlkp. Now it’s time for ORZEŁ Łódź. How do you see this adventure?

The WILKÓW Krosno project was born when I was drafting the idea for running a speedway club. When the project gained momentum, I invited a few people into it, but at the same time, many different issues arose that didn’t go as planned. Ultimately, none of the people who originally formed the club are in it now, but I am very pleased that the idea we created with a group of people is still being carried out and wonderfully continued, for which big congratulations to the CELLFAST WILKÓW authorities. Then there was a stage with ARGED MALESA Ostrów Wlkp., which for someone related to business and marketing, was incredibly challenging. Nonetheless, that year was fruitful and brought me a lot of learning experiences. I had a great team there, led by Mariusz Kołodziejczyk, with whom I still maintain close relationships, and I’m convinced he will soon take on the role of president of ARGED MALESA Ostrów Wlkp.

Now it’s ORZEŁ. Together with Jan Konikiewicz, we are individuals who have strength and willingness, and more importantly, love speedway. We were invited by President Skrzydlewski to talk and present our ideas for the further functioning of the club, which later turned out to have a common ground. We are confident that in a few years, with the team, president, fans, and sponsors, we can think about PGE Ekstraliga. This would be a sort of culmination of the hard work put in by the Skrzydlewski Family into speedway. Let’s not hide it, Mr. Witold remains the biggest patron of speedway in Łódź.

Summing up, entering the PGE Ekstraliga would be the perfect highlight of your contribution to the development of speedway in Łódź?

I will be somewhat diplomatic, yet not entirely. METALKAS 2. Ekstraliga is currently much more interesting than the PGE Ekstraliga. As the highest league clubs show, those budgets are abstractly high, yet they are not always balanced. I am referring to the example of STAL Gorzów, whereas clubs operating like FOGO UNIA Leszno or ORZEŁ Łódź do not allow such actions because the club owners are businessmen who simply count, and cannot permit such situations. I think the most important thing for us is stability and building a strong team. You are in Łódź – come to speedway; that’s the main slogan that will guide us. This is fun, this is a show. We all love speedway here, so let’s act accordingly. Let’s enjoy this sport and enjoy it with the fans. Let’s show all of Poland that the best speedway fans are in Łódź.