Disaster in Tarnów: Speedway Club Unia hands over stadium keys and withdraws from league

Unia Tarnów will not join the Krajowa Liga Żużlowa (National Speedway League) in the 2026 season, officially confirmed by the handover of the keys to the municipal stadium in Mościce to representatives of the Tarnów city hall on March 10, 2026. This decision marks the tragic finale of months-long struggles to save the decorated club, which for years has been grappling with mounting financial and organizational problems. Although the club received a supervised license as recently as February 2026, the management failed to meet the stringent conditions set by the Polish speedway authorities. The lack of a stable title sponsor and the inability to settle arrears owed to riders led to a situation where the company's continued operation became impossible. Fans in Tarnów must come to terms with the fact that for the first time in decades, engines will not roar at the Mościce track as part of official league competition. The process of liquidation or suspension of sports activities gained momentum in recent hours as office workers and technical staff began leaving the club buildings.

Unia Tarnów is one of the most distinguished clubs in the history of Polish speedway, boasting three Team Polish Championship titles won in 2004, 2005, and 2012. In the past, the biggest stars of world speedway have raced for the Swallows, including multiple world champion Tony Rickardsson and Polish champion Tomasz Gollob.

The team's squad situation has completely disintegrated, and the existing coaching staff has begun seeking employment at other speedway centers in the country. Coach Stanisław Burza, who until the last moment believed in saving Tarnów speedway, officially ended his cooperation with the club and has become one of the most sought-after specialists on the transfer market. According to media reports, several teams from higher competition classes have already contacted the experienced coach, offering him a role as an advisor or coach of junior formations. Stanisław Burza enjoys great respect in the community, but his departure from Tarnów is seen as final proof that the Unia rebuilding project has definitively collapsed. Riders who tied their future to this center have been placed in an extremely difficult situation shortly before the planned start of the season. Most of them have contracts that, in the current legal situation, become worthless, forcing them to seek engagements through loans or temporary contracts.

„To, co dzieje się w klubie, to absolutna katastrofa, ponieważ od dłuższego czasu nie mamy żadnego kontaktu z zarządem i nikt nie odbiera od nas telefonów. Jedyną osobą, która z nami rozmawiała i starała się cokolwiek wyjaśnić, był trener Stanisław Burza, ale on sam był pozostawiony bez wsparcia ze strony działaczy.” — Wiktor Trofimow

The team leader, 27-year-old Wiktor Trofimow, spoke on the matter, describing the behind-the-scenes of the team's collapse in emotional statements to sports media. The rider confirmed that communication with the club's authorities practically did not exist, and the riders were fed empty promises for many weeks. Wiktor Trofimow emphasized that the lack of professionalism from the decision-makers led to the waste of the sporting potential inherent in the Tarnów community. The supervised license, which the club received at the beginning of the year, was supposed to be the last chance, but the lack of financial transparency prevented its maintenance. The city authorities, by taking back the keys to the facility, signaled that the municipal stadium in Mościce will remain under the care of the local government, but its future sporting purpose is a big question mark. The Krajowa Liga Żużlowa will therefore start with a reduced lineup, which will affect the competition calendar and force the league authorities to make adjustments to the schedule.

3 (titles) — Number of gold medals in the Team Polish Championships won by Unia Tarnów in the history of its appearances.

The fall of Unia Tarnów has sparked a wave of comments among experts, including well-known journalists like Kamil Hynek, who have long been warning about the critical state of finances at the Tarnów city hall and the speedway company itself. The lack of reaction to earlier warnings led to the moment where the only way out was to "turn off the lights" and hand over the stadium gate keys. Fans, organized in numerous fan clubs, are announcing a fight to bring speedway back to the city, but the path to reactivating the team could take years and will require building structures from scratch. Currently, the priority for the riders is to resolve their contracts and find new employers so as not to lose the upcoming 2026 season. This situation serves as a warning to other centers, showing how fragile the stability of a club based on shaky financial foundations and a lack of real support from key business partners can be. Tarnów, a city with rich motor sports traditions, disappears from the Polish speedway map in an atmosphere of scandal and mutual accusations between officials and riders. Furthermore, the unclear future of the stadium raises concerns about the destruction of infrastructure, which without regular use and maintenance could quickly fall into ruin. Meanwhile, the fans of the Swallows must be patient, hoping that in the future people capable of rebuilding the Unia Tarnów brand on sound economic principles will be found.