Polonia Bytom (Polish pronunciation: [pɔˈlɔɲja ˈbɨtɔm]) is a Polish football club based in Bytom. Founded in 1920, the team won two championships, in 1954 and 1962. As of the 2024–25 season, they compete in the II liga.

Polonia was founded on 4 January 1920 in the Upper Silesian city of Bytom, during the hectic months of the Silesian Uprisings. In late 1922, however, as a result of the Upper Silesia plebiscite, Bytom remained part of Germany and the club ceased to exist.

In May 1945, numerous players and officials of another Polish club, Pogoń Lwów, arrived in Bytom and decided to revive Polonia. On 17 May 1945, the team played its first game in over two decades, defeating Warta Poznań 3–2.

Polonia is considered the continuation of Pogoń Lwów; its logo is very similar to the logo of Lwów's team as well as their colours, red-blue.

Polonia achieved greatest success in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was one of the top teams in Poland. It has won the Polish championship twice, in 1954 and 1962. In 1952, 1958, 1959 and 1961 Polonia Bytom was the vice-champion of Poland. It reached the Polish Cup final in 1964. It performed well in the Intertoto Cup, reaching the final in the 1963–64 season after defeating teams such as Red Star Belgrade, Sampdoria and fellow Polish side Odra Opole. It won the trophy in the 1964–65 season after defeating teams like RC Lens, Schalke 04, Liège and SC Leipzig. Polonia also won the 1965 International Soccer League and finished third in the Polish league in the 1965–66 and 1968–69 seasons.

During that period, Polish international player and goalkeeper Edward Szymkowiak played for Polonia. The club stadium is named after him, and has a capacity of 5,500 spectators.

In June 2007 Polonia Bytom, after many years, returned to the Polish Ekstraklasa. However, in 2011, the club was relegated to the I liga after finishing bottom of the table with just six wins all season.

• Ekstraklasa
  • Champions: 1954, 1962
  • Runners-up: 1952, 1958, 1959, 1961
• Polish Cup
  • Runners-up: 1963–64, 1972–73, 1976–77

• International Football Cup (Intertoto Cup)
  • Winners: 1964–65
  • Runners-up: 1963–64
• Intertoto Cup
  • Winners: 1967 (Group B3), 1970 (Group B8)
• International Soccer League
  • Winners: 1965

• Polish U-19 Championship
  • Champions: 1963, 1970, 1978
  • Runners-up: 1956

Polonia Bytom supporters were the first organised fan-club in Poland. They have introduced scarfs, flags and organised chants. Many of the other supporters groups were travelling to Bytom only to watch how Polonia's fans are cheering their club and behaving on the stadium.

The fans have friendships with fans of Arka Gdynia which dates back to 1974, one of the longest friendships in supporter history which has survived to date; and with fans of Odra Opole, since 1987.

Polonia biggest rivals are local teams Górnik Zabrze, Ruch Radzionków, Ruch Chorzów (The Oldest Silesian Derby) and Szombierki Bytom (Derby of Bytom). The other groups which are not very welcome in Bytom are fans from Zaglebie Sosnowiec, Legia Warszawa and Lechia Gdańsk.

Polonia Bytom firm is commonly known as Desperados.

• Ekstraklasa: 1948–1949 (2 seasons), 1951–1955 (5 seasons), 1957–1976 (20 seasons), 1977–1980, 1986–1987, 2007–2011

• I liga: 1950, 1956, 1976–1977, 1980–1986, 1987–2001, 2005–2007, 2011–2013

• II liga: 2001–2005, 2013–2014, 2015–2017, 2023–

• III liga: 2014–2015, 2019–2023

As of 27 August 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  POL Karol Szymkowiak 3 DF  POL Szymon Michalski 4 DF  POL Remigiusz Szywacz 5 MF  POL Piotr Topolewski 6 MF  POL Daniel Ściślak 7 MF  POL Lucjan Zieliński 8 MF  POL Mikołaj Łabojko 9 FW  POL Kamil Wojtyra 10 MF  POL Filip Żagiel 11 MF  POL Konrad Andrzejczak 14 DF  POL Grzegorz Szymusik 15 MF  POL Oliwier Kwiatkowski 16 MF  POL Patryk Stefański

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF  POL Sebastian Steblecki 18 MF  POL Tomasz Gajda (captain) 19 FW  POL Kacper Żabiński 21 MF  POL Wojciech Szumilas 22 DF  POL Michał Bedronka 25 MF  POL Dominik Konieczny 26 FW  POL Kamil Siudak 28 DF  POL Olivier Wypart 29 DF  POL Adrian Piekarski 31 DF  POL Oliwier Miller 33 GK  POL Jakub Rybacki 77 DF  POL Radosław Seweryś (on loan from Korona Kielce) 99 GK  POL Axel Holewiński (on loan from Pogoń Szczecin)

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  POL Kamil Hajduk (at Pogoń-Sokół Lubaczów until 30 June 2025) — MF  POL Dawid Krzemień (at Pniówek Pawłowice until 30 June 2025) — MF  POL Łukasz Piontek (at Pniówek Pawłowice until 30 June 2025)

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  POL Paweł Zagórski (at Drama Zbrosławice until 30 June 2025) — MF  POL Daniel Zieliński (at Pniówek Pawłowice until 30 June 2025)

Season	Competition	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate/Position
1958–59	European Cup	Q		MTK Budapest	0–3	0–3	0–6
1962–63	European Cup	Q		Panathinaikos FC	2–1	4–1	6–2
		1R		Galatasaray	1–4	1–0	2–4
1964–65	Intertoto Cup	Group C3		Lens	4–0	1–3	Winner/1st
				Schalke 04	6–0	0–2
				Degerfors IF	6–0	1–1
		1R	Bye
		Quarter final		Karl-Marx-Stadt FC	0–2	4–1	4–3
		Semi-final		RFC Liège	0–1	3–1	3–2
		Final		Lokomotive Leipzig	0–3	5–1	5–4
1966–67	Intertoto Cup	Group B6		Norrköping	3–1	1–5	3rd
				Dynamo Dresden	0–0	1–7
				Spartak Hradec Králové	0–0	0–0
1967	Intertoto Cup	Group B3		Elfsborg	3–0	2–1	Winner/1st
				Werder Bremen	2–1	0–2
				Grasshopper	5–1	4–1
1970	Intertoto Cup	Group B8		Horsens	2–2	1–1	Winner/1st
				Rot-Weiss Essen	3–2	1–1
				Tirol Innsbruck	1–0	3–2
1973	Intertoto Cup	Group 10		B 1901	6–2	2–0	3rd
				Östers	1–2	2–3
				Austria Salzburg	4–1	1–7
1975	Intertoto Cup	Group 5		Zbrojovka Brno	1–2	1–2	2nd
				AIK	5–1	3–2
				Tennis Borussia Berlin	3–0	1–1
1980	Intertoto Cup	Group 5		Nitra	1–0	0–4	4th
				Esbjerg	0–1	2–1
				LASK Linz	1–1	0–2

• Club crest (archived 13 January 2010)
• Official website
• Official fanclub

50°21′27.21″N 18°53′55.38″E / 50.3575583°N 18.8987167°E / 50.3575583; 18.8987167