Terrible news for Raków. The highest penalty.

Raków Częstochowa finished the Ekstraklasa season outside the league podium, which means that it will not play in the qualifying rounds of European cups. At the end of the competition, Marek Papszun becomes the new-old coach of Raków, and the fight to regain the Polish championship is one of his main tasks. Before that, however, Raków must pay the Polish Football Association. It’s all related to the fact that Częstochowa failed to obtain the appropriate number of minutes for the youth players.

Raków Częstochowa finished the Ekstraklasa season in seventh place. The team led by Dawid Szwarga lost 1:2 against Śląsk Wrocław, and Ante Crnac scored the only goal for the outgoing Polish champions. Therefore, Raków will not play in the qualifying rounds for the European cups next season. The club already announced on May 21 this year that Marek Papszun is returning to Raków. The primary goal in Częstochowa will be to regain the Polish championship from Jagiellonia Białystok.

The changes in Raków started before the last match of the season. Tomasz Włodarek and Jakub Dziółka lost their jobs as assistants. One of Papszun’s assistants is to be Artur Węska, and the other one… probably Dawid Szwarga, although the coach himself has not yet confirmed these reports. There were speculations in the media that Raków could spend up to eight million euros on reinforcements, but president Piotr Obidziński said in an interview with us that “this is cosmic and absurd” .

Raków with the highest penalty for not meeting the youth limit. Same as last year

Even before the first whistle of the Raków – Śląsk match , it was clear that the hosts would pay the largest penalty in the Ekstraklasa for not filling the appropriate number of minutes for youth players ( players with Polish citizenship born in 2002 and younger). In order not to receive a penalty, a given team must have youth players who will play at least 3,000 minutes in the league . Before the last round, Raków had 1,419 minutes played by youth players, which was the worst result in the league. Dawid Drachal had definitely the greatest contribution to the number of minutes in Raków.

Ultimately, Raków ends the season with over 1,500 minutes played by youth players, which is just over 50 percent. Drachal played 85 minutes in the match against Śląsk, and was replaced by Jakub Myszor. Despite this, Raków will pay PZPN PLN 2 million for failing to meet the limit. For comparison: if Raków had been in the range of 2000-2499 minutes, the penalty would have been one million zlotys. In the range of 2500-2999 minutes the fine is “only” PLN 500,000. zlotys. Under 1,000 minutes, the fine is PLN 3 million, but none of the teams has found themselves in such a situation.

Last season, Raków also did not meet the youth limit and paid the federation a PLN 2 million fine. The cut-off date was July 14, 2023, and Częstochowa residents paid the fee three days before the specified date. To make matters worse for Raków, the provision regarding youth players will remain in the Ekstraklasa for the next season, even though the clubs demanded a change in the regulations.

Apart from Raków,  Radomiak Radom, Górnik Zabrze, Pogoń Szczecin and Legia Warszawa will pay the fine for not meeting the youth player limit (PLN 500,000 each).

Will Raków Częstochowa meet the minutes limit for youth players next season?