Wisła Kraków was founded in 1906 when students of the Second Practical School in Kraków, inspired by their professor Tadeusz Łopuszański, formed a football club. In this first, historic season of the League, the fight for the championship was decided between two teams: Wisła Kraków and
1. FC Kattowitz. This rivalry was treated very seriously, not only by the two sides involved, but also by the whole nation. 1. FC was regarded as the team supported by the German minority, while Wisła, at the end of this historic season, represented ambitions of all Poles. Some time in the fall of 1927 in
Katowice, an ill-fated game between 1.FC and Wisła took place. Stakes were very high – the winner would become the Champion. Kraków's side won 2–0 and became the Champion. 1.FC finished second, third was
Warta Poznań. During the
German occupation of Poland (
World War II), the club operated secretly. Co-founder
Franciszek Brożek and pre-war player
Adam Obrubański were among Poles murdered by the Russians in the large
Katyn massacre in April–May 1940. In 1949, the club was renamed to Gwardia-Wisła Kraków. In 1955 the club returned to its original name,
TS Wisła. In 1967, the club was once again renamed, to
GTS Wisła, a name which held until 1990 when the club reverted to its original name,
TS Wisła. In the late 1990s, the football section of the club was incorporated and was renamed
Wisła Kraków SSA. The club has had its ups and downs, winning national championships and earning European qualification. It was also relegated to the second division on three occasions. Since the football section has been bought by Tele-Fonika Kable S.A. in 1998, the team has been far and away the most successful club in Poland, winning seven national championships and finishing in second place three times, totalling ten top two finishes in 12 years. At international level, Wisła has competed in all three of the European competitions. The club's greatest success came in the
1978–79 season, when Wisła was able to reach the quarter-finals of the
European Cup, eventually to be knocked out by
Malmö FF 3–5 on aggregate. Most recently, Wisła narrowly missed out on a chance to compete in the
2005–06 UEFA Champions League group stage, being defeated 4–5 by
Panathinaikos after extra time. Wisła also twice reached the second round of the
European Cup Winners' Cup in 1967–68 and 1984–85, falling 0–5 and 2–3 by
Hamburger SV and
Fortuna Sittard, respectively. The
White Star has competed in the
UEFA Cup ten times. On 15 May 2022, Wisła was relegated to the
I liga for the first time since 1996, after losing 4–2 against
Radomiak Radom. On 2 May 2024, they won their fifth
Polish Cup title after defeating
Pogoń Szczecin 1–2 in extra time, becoming the fifth second division team to win this competition, and the first since
Ruch Chorzów in 1996. The
White Star itself finished the 2023–24 season ranked 10th in the
second tier. ==Stadium==