Will the Ukrainian club win the Polish championship? There is a stir among the fans. “Will Never Be Ours”

The merger of Jastrzębski Węgiel with Barkom Każany Lviv has become a fact. After months of financial and sports problems, the multiple national champion disappeared from the Polish volleyball map and his place in Jastrzębie-Zdrój will be taken by a Ukrainian club. The new project will be called Jastrzębie Barkom and its matches in the TAURON Liga will be played in the hall at ul. Jana Pawła II 6.

This solution has been talked about for a long time. On the one hand, Jastrzębie-Zdrój has appropriate infrastructure and a volleyball audience, on the other After the season spent in Elbląg, Barkom Każany Lviv had to find a new place to play matches.

For Jastrzębski Węgiel, however, the situation is completely different. Dark clouds had been gathering over the club for a long time. Last season, the team managed to advance to the play-offs, but financial problems were increasing. The players stopped receiving salaries.

Tauron Liga 2026.2027. Jastrzębie Barkom. Team composition

Jastrzębie Barkom started building a new team, and Andrzej Kowal became its first coach. This is a name well known to local fans, because last season he was the manager of Jastrzębski Węgiel.

“A new chapter. New challenges. A new coach on board! An experienced coach, who was the coach of Jastrzębski Węgiel last season, will lead our team in the upcoming challenges. A lot of work, great emotions and one common goal lie ahead of us: fight together for the best results!” – the club said in a statement.

Andrzej Kowal has won the Polish Championships, the Polish Super Cup and successes in the international arena. He spent most of his career with Asseco Resovia Rzeszów, where he first played as a player and later started training. He also led teams in Romania, the Czech Republic and Poland, as well as the Polish B national team.

One of the most interesting transfers is Bartosz First. The receiver represented PGE Projekt Warszawa last season and unexpectedly became one of the biggest discoveries of the second part of the competition.

At a key moment, he replaced Bartosz Bednorz and helped the Warsaw team win the bronze medal in the Polish Championships. The player’s good attitude was noticed by Nikola Grbic, who called him up to the Polish national team for this year’s Nations League.

Jastrzębie Barkom without the support of the Fan Club

Barkom’s move to Jastrzębie-Zdrój arouses a lot of emotions even before the season starts. Reason? For some local fans, it is particularly difficult to accept the fact that in the hall where Jastrzębski Węgiel played its matches for years, there will be a team playing under a new name, and also associated with Ukraine.

July 15 The Jastrzębski Węgiel Fan Club issued a statement saying that it will not support the Jastrzębie Barkom team in the upcoming season.

“This decision is not an expression of opposition: we are not against the team, its players or its activities. We are not conducting any boycott. Our position results solely from reasons related to the tradition, history and identity of the Fan Club. For years, we have been guided by specific values ​​that have built our community, and we want to remain faithful to what constitutes the foundation of our activities,” it said.

Jastrzębski Węgiel ceased to exist. The fans do not hide their emotions

The new Jastrzębie Barkom club publishes materials in both Polish and Ukrainian on social media. Some fans do not accept the new situation. “It is a shame to destroy the multiple Polish champion Jastrzębski Węgiel and let teams from a foreign country enter this place,” wrote one of the commenters.

“This is not, was not and never will be your city, and this is not, was not and will never be our club. No Ukrainian team has the right to replace the team from Jastrzębie,” we read in another entry.