Tychy Stadium

We passed the city stadium many times, and one day reserved a free evening guided tour of the stadium. The tour guide spoke fast, as people usually do here, but we could understand the main idea, and I made some notes.

The stadium was built within the site of the old stadium of the GKS – the Coalmining Sports Club Tychy (Górniczy Klub Sportowy Tychy). The old stadium served inhabitants of Tychy from 1970 until 2013. It could admit 10,000 spectators; among them 6,000 were seated (others had to bring their own foldable chairs or remain standing).

The record attendance at the old stadium was 25,000 spectators, and it was scored twice: on March 16, 1975 against Górnik Zabrze (1: 1) and on March 31, 1976 against Ruch Chorzów (0: 1). However, our stadium guide commented that the official data was very approximate, and the record attendance number could have been much bigger.

At the beginning of 2013, the old stadium was demolished and a new stadium was built. The new stadium - Stadion Miejski Tychy - was unveiled on July 18, 2015 during a friendly match between Tychy and Köln (0-1). The rival chosen for its opening ceremony was not accidental. In 1976, GKS, as the runner-up in Poland, faced the team from Cologne in the UEFA Cup. The Germans were better, they won 2-0 at home, in the rematch at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzów it was a 1-1 draw.
Today, the stadium capacity is 15,150 seats. It complies with all UEFA and FIFA requirements and is therefore used for the organization of international matches and meetings at the highest global level. Uponor Meltaway system was used to heat the pitch surface of dimensions 105 m x 68 m.
Apart from sports events, you can also attend mass events such as concerts or fairs here. The Stadium won the sixth place at the Stadium of the Year Contest in 2015 among 22 nominated stadiums from all over the world.

The Sports Gallery at the city stadium, Tychy

Tyska Galeria Sportu is inside the stadium. It belongs to popular museums of Silesian Voivodeship. The Sports Gallery was opened in July 2016. During our visit, we learnt about Tychy's sports achievements.

A lot of space in the museum is devoted to hockey since the city has a inter stadium, where the local hockey teams plays. GKS Tychy hockey team became very popular and well-known all over Poland. Thus, hockey means a lot more than football today.

1976 vice champions from Tychy

1975-1976 soccer season in Poland, Tychy Stadium Sports Gallery

In 1976, GKS soccer team of Tychy “unexpectedly” won the vice-championship of Poland.

You can see the flag with the name "Tychy" all over the world during the biggest events in various disciplines. Łukasz Jachym, once the president of GKS, brings it with him to different matches.

In the gallery there is a large wall with a collection of club scarves. Here mass media always take pictures of new soccer players, as our stadium guide explained.

The Gaming House located on the second floor became an absolute novelty on a global scale. It is a special room for e-sportsmen and computer game enthusiasts. In addition, you can watch matches from it. This gaming house is the second such room in the world located in the stadium. We can only find something like this in Copenhagen. The room has top-notch equipment here. GKS strongly focuses on this new field. An e-sports academy and Counter-Strike team have been established. They want to organize national and even international tournaments.

In the stadium lounge, Tychy

The conference hall at the city stadium, Tychy

There is a commercial space outside the stadium: a large gym, a sports restaurant and a lounge, an advertising agency and a GKS shop, where you can buy various club gadgets and clothes such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, shorts, etc., as well as club chocolate or puzzles and even pencil cases for children.

The stadium lounge, Tychy

The City Mayor's room at the stadium (left)

It was a great evening stadium tour.