Wieczysta Kraków completes meteoric rise from district league to Ekstraklasa with playoff final win over Chrobry Głogów

A historic night in Kraków

Wieczysta Kraków wrote the final chapter of a remarkable story on Sunday evening, beating Chrobry Głogów 2-1 in the promotion playoff final at the Synerise Arena. The victory means the club, bankrolled by pharmacy-chain owner Wojciech Kwiecień, will play in the Polish top flight for the first time ever — completing a journey that began in the seventh-tier district league just six years ago.

It is obvious that every Kraków resident has a duty to visit the stadium on Sunday at 20:45 and support Wieczysta on the road to the Ekstraklasa. Zero discussion.

The match drew a sold-out crowd of 7,000, with tickets priced at just one złoty and snapped up within hours of going on sale. Both clubs entered the final chasing a historic first promotion to the Ekstraklasa, but it was the hosts who ultimately delivered under pressure.

Chrobry strikes first

Chrobry Głogów, who had eliminated ŁKS Łódź on penalties in the semi-final, stunned the home crowd in the 14th minute. Szymon Bartlewicz swung in a free-kick and Myrosław Mazur rose above Karol Fila to head past the goalkeeper, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead and igniting celebrations among the several hundred travelling fans from Głogów.

For the next quarter of an hour, Chrobry defended deep and looked dangerous on the counter through Kelechukwu Ibe-Torti and Kacper Laskowski. The early stages suggested the underdogs might pull off another surprise.

Wieczysta turns the tide

Wieczysta found an equaliser in the 30th minute, and it came gift-wrapped. Goalkeeper Dawid Arndt parried a low cross from Mikkel Maigaard straight into the path of Lisandro Semedo, who made no mistake from close range to make it 1-1. The teams went into the break level, but the momentum had shifted.

The decisive moment arrived in the 56th minute. Miki Villar drove a low ball across the box and Stefan Feiertag — the league's top scorer with 17 goals — pounced on the rebound after Jakub Grić's goal-line block to fire Wieczysta ahead 2-1. Chrobry threw everything forward in response, and in the 65th minute Sebastian Strózik rattled the crossbar, coming within centimetres of an equaliser. But the visitors could not find a way through, and Wieczysta held on to secure promotion.

A club transformed

When Wojciech Kwiecień took over Wieczysta, it was just another neighbourhood club in Kraków. Millions of złoty in investment have since propelled the team through the divisions at breakneck speed. This season they finished third in the Betclic 1. Liga behind Wisła Kraków and Śląsk Wrocław, who earned automatic promotion, and then beat Polonia Warszawa 3-2 in the playoff semi-final.

This means that Kraków will have as many as three teams in the top division. The local rival joins Cracovia and the 1. Liga champion Wisła, who returns to the footballing salons after four years.

The promotion also carries existential weight for the club. There have been suggestions that the team could be withdrawn from central-level competition, and reaching the Ekstraklasa strengthens the case for Kwiecień to continue funding the project.

What comes next

Wieczysta will replace one of the three relegated sides — Lechia Gdańsk, Arka Gdynia, or Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza — in the 2026/27 PKO Ekstraklasa season. For Chrobry, the wait for a first top-flight appearance goes on, but their semi-final upset of ŁKS and a spirited final performance showed a side capable of competing at the top end of the second tier.