Arka GdyniaArka Gdynia owe their existence to the rapid growth of a young port city. The club's official founding date is considered to be 1929, when the fast-expanding city of Gdynia saw the creation of the Klub Sportowy Gdynia, the first association of its kind in the city. Post-war mergers of several local clubs, including the Fishermen's Sports Club MIR founded in 1946, led in the spring of 1952 to the adoption of the name Arka, under which the team still competes today.
The first major success came at a symbolic moment - exactly seven years after the club took the name Arka, on 9 May 1979, the Gdynia side won the Polish Cup, beating Wisła Kraków 2-1 in the final, with the goal scored by team captain Janusz Kupcewicz, a club legend from 1974 to 1982. The triumph opened the door to European competition - in the 1979/80 season Arka played in the Cup Winners' Cup, which remains the club's only appearance in European football to date. Fans then had to wait 38 years for the feat to be repeated. In the 2016/17 season, as newly promoted members of the Ekstraklasa, Arka not only stayed up but won the Polish Cup for a second time, beating Lech Poznań 2-1 after extra time in the final. A year later, despite losing the cup final to Legia Warszawa, the Gdynia side got their revenge over the capital club in the Polish Super Cup, winning on penalties, and in 2018 they defended the trophy, again beating Legia 3-2.
Arka's history has also been marked by a string of highs and lows in the league, including a painful relegation linked to a match-fixing scandal. The club has, however, repeatedly returned to the top flight, and in 2025 was promoted to the Ekstraklasa for the sixth time in its history. The yellow-and-blues play their home matches at the Municipal Stadium in Gdynia, and the square beside the ground now bears the name of Janusz Kupcewicz, in honour of the hero of the club's first great triumph.