Trefl Gdańsk

Trefl Gdańsk, previously known as Lotos Trefl Gdańsk, is a professional men's volleyball club based in Gdańsk in northern Poland. The club was founded in 2005 and promoted to the Polish PlusLiga in 2011.

Trefl Gdańsk

Full name	Trefl Gdańsk Spółka Akcyjna
Nickname	Gdańskie Lwy (The Gdańsk Lions)
Founded	2005; 19 years ago (2005)
Ground	Ergo Arena (Capacity: 11,200)
Chairman	Dariusz Gadomski
Manager	Igor Juričić
Captain	Lukas Kampa
League	PlusLiga
2022–23	6th place
Website	Club home page
Uniforms
Home Away

Honours

• Polish Cup

Winners (2): 2014–15, 2017–18

• Polish SuperCup

Winners (1): 2015–16

Club history

 

The team during a match with PGE Skra Bełchatów on 30 September 2011.

 

Daniel Pliński (#4) and Grzegorz Łomacz (#3) during a match, Lotos Trefl Gdańsk vs. PGE Skra Bełchatów in 2013.

Trefl Gdańsk was founded in 2005, and began its history in the 2nd Polish Volleyball League, playing there until 2007. The club was promoted to PlusLiga in 2008 after spending just one season in the 1st Polish Volleyball League. Unfortunately, Trefl did not manage to stay in the league for long and has been relegated in the next season, in 2009. They had to wait until 2011 when led by Dariusz Luks the club was once again promoted to PlusLiga, playing there until this day.^[1]

In June 2014, an Italian expert Andrea Anastasi was officially presented as the club's new head coach.^[2] Anastasi was a head coach of the Polish national team in 2011–2013, and expressed a desire to work for the club from Gdańsk. Damian Schulz, Mateusz Mika and Wojciech Grzyb signed a contract with the club before the 2014–15 PlusLiga season. The team took 3rd place in the regular season of PlusLiga in which Anastasi's team won 19 and lost 7 matches. On 23 February 2015, Andrea Anastasi signed a new two–year contract, until 2017.^[3] Lotos Trefl advanced to the final of the 2014–15 PlusLiga season after winning in the semifinal against the Polish Champion PGE Skra Bełchatów in four matches (3–1). It was the first, historical promotion to the final of the Polish Championship.^[4] On 19 April 2015, the team competed in the final of the Polish Cup at Ergo Arena, and has sensationally beaten Asseco Resovia, winning the Cup for the first time in club's history.^[5] In the final of the 2014–15 PlusLiga season, Trefl Gdańsk lost to Asseco Resovia in three matches (0–3), and ended the season with silver medals.^[6]

On 28 October 2015, during the 2015 Polish SuperCup held at Arena Poznań in Poznań, Trefl defeated the Polish Champion Asseco Resovia in five sets (3–2), and won its first Polish SuperCup.^[7] During the 2015–16 PlusLiga season, the club also competed in the CEV Champions League. In the Playoff 12 stage Trefl lost to Russian club Zenit Kazan, the future competition champion (1–3, 0–3).^[8] In the domestic league, the club ended the season in 4th place.

The 2016–17 PlusLiga season did not end well for Trefl. The club did not manage to play in the PlusLiga playoffs, and lost in a match for seventh place to Cerrad Czarni Radom (3–2, 1–3).^[9]

During the 2017–18 PlusLiga season, the club won its 2nd Polish Cup, winning with PGE Skra Bełchatów in three sets (3–0).^[10] The club ended the season in 3rd place and gained the right to compete in the next CEV Champions League edition.

Anastasi remained as the club's head coach until 2019.^[11] During his last season as a head coach, the club competed in the 2018–19 CEV Champions League. The club not only won its group, losing only one time to PGE Skra Bełchatów but was also close to eliminate Zenit Kazan (the reigning European champion of that time) in the quarterfinal.^[12] Trefl lost its first match held at Ergo Arena, Gdańsk (2–3), but managed to win the second match held in Kazan (3–2). Eventually, the club lost in the golden set (12–15) and has been eliminated from the further competition.^[13][14] Andrea Anastasi was succeeded by the former Polish volleyball player – Michał Winiarski, as the head coach of Trefl on 6 June 2019.^[15]

Team

As of 2023–24 season

Coaching staff

Occupation	Name
Head coach	Igor Juričić
Assistant coach	Dominik Posmyk	Karol Rędzioch

Players

No.	Name	Date of birth	Position
1	Janusz Gałązka	(1987-04-26) 26 April 1987 (age 36)	middle blocker
3	Jan Martínez Franchi	(1998-01-28) 28 January 1998 (age 26)	outside hitter
5	Patryk Niemiec	(1997-02-18) 18 February 1997 (age 27)	middle blocker
6	Jakub Czerwiński	(2001-07-22) 22 July 2001 (age 22)	outside hitter
7	Dawid Pruszkowski	(2001-01-20) 20 January 2001 (age 23)	libero
8	Voitto Köykkä	(1999-07-09) 9 July 1999 (age 24)	libero
9	Aliaksei Nasevich	(2003-06-05) 5 June 2003 (age 20)	opposite
10	Kamil Droszyński	(1997-01-28) 28 January 1997 (age 27)	setter
11	Lukas Kampa	(1986-11-29) 29 November 1986 (age 37)	setter
12	Karol Urbanowicz	(2001-02-24) 24 February 2001 (age 23)	middle blocker
14	Dawid Pawlun	(2001-05-22) 22 May 2001 (age 22)	setter
15	Mikołaj Sawicki	(1999-11-23) 23 November 1999 (age 24)	outside hitter
17	Piotr Orczyk	(1993-03-19) 19 March 1993 (age 31)	outside hitter
23	Jordan Zaleszczyk	(2002-04-23) 23 April 2002 (age 21)	middle blocker
35	Kewin Sasak	(1997-02-20) 20 February 1997 (age 27)	opposite

Season by season

Season Tier League Pos. 2011–2012 1 PlusLiga 9 2012–2013 1 PlusLiga 8 2013–2014 1 PlusLiga 10 2014–2015 1 PlusLiga 2 2015–2016 1 PlusLiga 4 2016–2017 1 PlusLiga 8

Season Tier League Pos. 2017–2018 1 PlusLiga 3 2018–2019 1 PlusLiga 9 2019–2020 1 PlusLiga 5 2020–2021 1 PlusLiga 6 2021–2022 1 PlusLiga 7 2022–2023 1 PlusLiga 6

See also

• Trefl Gdańsk players
• Trefl Gdańsk coaches

References

1. "Dwa razy po 3:0 i Lotos Trefl Gdańsk znów w PlusLidze!". trojmiasto.sport.pl (in Polish). 1 May 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
2. "Andrea Anastasi trenerem LOTOSU Trefla Gdańsk". polsatsport.pl (in Polish). 5 June 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
3. "Andrea Anastasi poprowadzi LOTOS Trefl przez kolejne dwa lata". plusliga.pl (in Polish). 23 February 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
4. "Piękny sen gdańszczan trwa! Bełchatowianie nie obronią tytułu – relacja z meczu Lotos Trefl Gdańsk – PGE Skra Bełchatów". sportowefakty.wp.pl (in Polish). 4 April 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
5. "Lotos Trefl zdobył Puchar Polski!". sport.trojmiasto.pl (in Polish). 19 April 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
6. "Resovia cap fabulous season with seventh national league title". CEV. 1 May 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
7. "Superpuchar 2015 w piłce siatkowej mężczyzn: Asseco Resovia – LOTOS Trefl Gdańsk 2:3". plusliga.pl (in Polish). 28 October 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
8. "Zenit KAZAN rout Poland's vice champions to go for remake of 2012 final". CEV. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
9. "PlusLiga: siódme miejsce dla Cerradu Czarnych Radom, ostatni mecz Piotra Gacka". sport.onet.pl. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
10. "Trefl Gdańsk zwyciezcą Pucharu Polski 2018". plusliga.pl (in Polish). 28 January 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
11. "Oficjalnie: Andrea Anastasi nie będzie trenerem Trefla Gdańsk". sportowefakty.wp.pl (in Polish). 8 April 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
12. "Both Polish teams in Pool D - on to the next round!". CEV. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
13. "Trefl GDANSK close to causing sensation before Zenit pull out tiebreak victory". CEV. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
14. "Zenit KAZAN survive six-set thriller to stay on track towards defending European crown". CEV. 19 March 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
15. "Michał Winiarski trenerem Trefla Gdańsk". treflgdansk.pl. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2020.

External links

• Official website (in Polish)
• Team profile at PlusLiga.pl (in Polish)
• Team profile at Volleybox.net