Football fans at Widzew Łódź will hope their team is back on the road to victory after a Polish billionaire bought a majority share in the club.
Property magnate Robert Dobrzycki - the president and co-owner of real estate firm Panattoni’s operations in Europe, the Middle East and India - confirmed on Friday that he now owns 76% of the Widzew Łódź’s shares.
Dobrzycki and the previous majority shareholder, Tomasz Stamirowski, agreed on commercial terms last month.
“As of today, Widzew Łódź has a new ownership structure - 76.06% Robert Dobrzycki, 20.05% Tomasz Stamirowski, 3.89% Widzew Association. I would like to thank Tomek and the Association for everything they have done for Widzew,” Dobrzycki wrote on X on Friday.
Dobrzycki now has full operational decision-making authority at the club.
Dobrzycki made his fortune in real estate, founding Panattoni Europe in Warsaw in 2005. The company has built strong links to Widzew in recent years, sponsoring the team’s academy in 2021 and becoming the club’s shirt sponsor in 2023.
In an interview with Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza in January, he spoke about how keen he was to be a part of football in Poland.
“I have one dream: to be involved in football. I’d like to buy a club and prove that it’s possible to run it meaningfully in Poland,” he said.
He said football was “a business like any other.”
Dobrzycki has not yet detailed his plans, but Widzew supporters will be hoping that his cash will restore the club’s fortunes and propel them up the Ekstraklassa (Poland’s top tier) league table and eventually back into European competition.
Despite their lack of recent success, the club regularly sells out home fixtures, with gates typically over 16,000 fans.
The club rose to prominence in the 1980s and ’90s, consistently appearing in top-level European football. They reached the semi-final of the European Cup (now Champions League) in 1982-83, defeating Liverpool en route.
They also knocked Manchester United out of the 1980–81 UEFA Cup (now the Europa League). Domestically, the club secured back-to-back league titles in 1996 and 1997.
However, Widzew has been in the doldrums since the turn of the century.
The ownership of another of Poland’s wealthiest men, Sylwester Cacek, who bought the club in 2007, ended in bankruptcy and relegations.
They fought back into the top-flight Ekstraklasa in the 2022-23 season. They are experiencing an unremarkable season, sitting 13th, seven points clear of the relegation zone, before their Friday evening fixture with Piast Gliwice.
Dobrzycki and the previous majority shareholder, Tomasz Stamirowski, agreed on commercial terms last month.
“As of today, Widzew Łódź has a new ownership structure - 76.06% Robert Dobrzycki, 20.05% Tomasz Stamirowski, 3.89% Widzew Association. I would like to thank Tomek and the Association for everything they have done for Widzew,” Dobrzycki wrote on X on Friday.
Dobrzycki now has full operational decision-making authority at the club.
Billionaire fulfills his ‘one dream’
Dobrzycki made his fortune in real estate, founding Panattoni Europe in Warsaw in 2005. The company has built strong links to Widzew in recent years, sponsoring the team’s academy in 2021 and becoming the club’s shirt sponsor in 2023.
In an interview with Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza in January, he spoke about how keen he was to be a part of football in Poland.
“I have one dream: to be involved in football. I’d like to buy a club and prove that it’s possible to run it meaningfully in Poland,” he said.
He said football was “a business like any other.”
Widzew’s glory days
Dobrzycki has not yet detailed his plans, but Widzew supporters will be hoping that his cash will restore the club’s fortunes and propel them up the Ekstraklassa (Poland’s top tier) league table and eventually back into European competition.
Despite their lack of recent success, the club regularly sells out home fixtures, with gates typically over 16,000 fans.
The club rose to prominence in the 1980s and ’90s, consistently appearing in top-level European football. They reached the semi-final of the European Cup (now Champions League) in 1982-83, defeating Liverpool en route.
They also knocked Manchester United out of the 1980–81 UEFA Cup (now the Europa League). Domestically, the club secured back-to-back league titles in 1996 and 1997.
However, Widzew has been in the doldrums since the turn of the century.
The ownership of another of Poland’s wealthiest men, Sylwester Cacek, who bought the club in 2007, ended in bankruptcy and relegations.
They fought back into the top-flight Ekstraklasa in the 2022-23 season. They are experiencing an unremarkable season, sitting 13th, seven points clear of the relegation zone, before their Friday evening fixture with Piast Gliwice.
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