Voices in Football - Football Destinations: Warsaw

As you step into the arrivals in many cities what awaits are often small club shops of the resident football sides. At Munich airport are scarves of Bayern or 1860 whilst in Turin you can buy a range of Juventus merchandise. Things are a little different at Warsaw's Chopin airport where you would be lucky to see a Poland scarf never mind anything related to green, black, white and red of Legia Warsaw.

The big match up in Poland these days is most likely to be the Wisla Krakow against Legia Warsaw match-up. The capital's main clash has re-emerged as a prestigious event but still lurks somewhat lower down the ladder of importance compared to matches involving Lech Poznan and Wisla. The Derby Stolicy sees inner city rivals Polonia Warsaw and Legia clash either side of the city's old town. Polonia's ground sits around 10minutes north from the old town. Legia meanwhile are located in the south near Lazienkowska just below the Armii Ludowej flyover highway.

For a number of years football in Warsaw had been dormant and a 'damp squib', a contrast to the pyrotechnical energy that is so typical of the terraces on a Warsaw match day. Apart from a journey to the 1996 Champions League Quarter final, Legia have had sporadic periods of success but now fall behind Wisla in terms of prestige and success. Legia are the CSKA of Poland, the archetypical communist army side once led by army representatives and followed by a fanatical following from the newly created 1960's eastern block suburbs. Polonia meanwhile have always attracted grass roots fans from inner city suburbs such as Zoliborz and Praga.

The background to the Legia part of the team name can be discovered by delving back in to the history of the club. In April 1916 a group of Polish Legion soldiers established a Legions team called Drużyna Legjonowa. Since its early history Legia played home games on the field on Agrykola street; this first field was located in the same spot as the teams current training field, which during the annexation was used to house Russian Cavalry.

After the Polish army legions were dismissed in Autumn 1917 the team members dispersed all over the country and stopped playing matches until 1920. The formal beginning of a new Legia team took place on 14th March 1920 when the Military Sports Club (WKS Warsaw) was established. In 1950 WKS Warsaw became WKS Legia Warsaw and with the breaking up of communist Poland in the early 1990's Legia itself became an autonomous football section in 1993 but not a 'football club' until 2003.

Legia play at the Stadion Legia or Wolska Polskiego Stadion near Lazienkowska just south of the city centre. The idea for a stadium for the team was not mooted until 1920 and the first game at the stadium was played in 1922. By this time the ground was owned by the army this allowed further developments to occur around 1930. However, it was not until 5th October 1960 that floodlights were used in a Champions Cup match against Århus GF. During the Second World War the ground was taken over by the Nazis and used as a military zone and artillery post looking north to the city centre. Later years saw a running track, cycle track and covered stands added as other sports activities grew.

Legia Warsaw's ground is not being used for the 2012 UEFA European Championships held in Poland and Ukraine. However, at the present time the once ramshackle communist block stadia is now being upgraded to look like a modern stadium offering more than the current 15,300. As the construction continues names of past former greats adorn the walls of the surrounds of the ground. Names such as Kazimierski, Okoński, Dziekanowski, Janas, Buncol, Kubicki and Boruc provide memories of teams of past years.

The ground has became notorious over the years for violence from resident 'Zyleti' fans of the club who have forged friendships with fans of teams from other countries notorious for violence and trouble. Whilst many clubs fans within Poland have forged internal relations such as Slask and Wisla the same cannot be said for Legia. The Zyleti tag in the name is mock reference to the Gillette advert hoarding beside which home fans used to stand rather than a loose association with carrying blades to matches. Hatred of Legia around Poland is intense meaning that match ups against Legia allow local trouble makers to target Legia fans when ever they are in town. Abroad, recent years have seen Legia Warsaw fans cause considerable problems in the earlier rounds of European competition particularly in Belarus, Lithuania and Austria. The club are also probably one more potential flash point from being thrown out of the European participation having rioted in Vilnius whilst participating in the Intertoto Cup.

The other side of the Warsaw derby involves Polonia Warsaw a traditional working class team with inner city fans. To find the ground you step out of Gdanski Metro and walk east and eventually the lights of the ground and its glorious facade appear. Polonia Warszawa was formed in the autumn of 1911 as a union of two school teams Stelli and Merkurego or Stella and Mercury. The founder of the club was the then captain Wacław Denhoff-Czarnocki who also came up with the name of the club. Polonia is Latin for 'Poland' and is often used by Polish expatriates in reference to their nationalistic communities in the countries the reside. The choice of such a name was a brave decision at that time since Poland was not an independent country and Warsaw was a part of a Russian partition.

Initially the players played in black-and-white striped shirts, but in the spring of 1912, they switched to their now traditional design of all black shirts. The explanation for this colour scheme was that it was a sign of mourning for the occupied and divided Polish motherland. The first match between Polonia and Legia Warszaw was played on 29 April 1917 a match that ended in a 1:1 draw.

This was the first historic 'Great Derby of Warsaw' the clash of the two rival Warsaw teams. Hatred divided their supporters early in the clubs' history and this dislike continues to this day, driving strong emotions during the matches and sometimes even greater emotions between matches. The walls around the current stadiums today are tarnished with a range of deroatory graffitti about each others teams, players and symbols. Legia fans will come to the Polonia ground and spray paint 'L' whilst Polonia fans will go to Legia and spray a large 'P'. The clubs badge is a white and red shield with a black circle surrounded by a laurel wreath.

Polonia have been overshadowed for a number of years pre 1992 by Legia Warsaw due to its backing from the military. Under communism Polonia Warsaw were never really considered a massive threat but recent times have seen them reaffirm there status and be confirmed as the second side of Warsaw. In 2006 the club fell to the second league but a new owner the company JWC saw new hope. By 2008 the club were back to the Ekstraklasa after a merger with Groclin Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielkopolski.

Gwardia Warszawa are the 'other team' of Warsaw. The club was founded in 1948 but current play in Polish 6th liga. It was not always like that though as the club participated in the Polish 1st League between 1953–1960 and 1962 to 1983.

The biggest success of the side was finishing 2nd at Polish Championship during the 1957 season. Playing at the crumbling Raclawicka Stadium the side are veterans of European competition and clashes against the likes of Feyenoord. The fact that the club now lurk in regional leagues means that they unlikely to ever challenge again for honours.

Many of the Polish national teams games take place in the traditonal PZPN heartland of Silesia with matches being played in Katowice, Chorzow and Katowice. With a new found pride in the Polish capital emerging since the year 2000 a planned new national football stadium was always the wish of the PZPN. With the awarding of the 2012 Euro event to Poland and Ukraine the government decided that a new national stadium would be built in Warsaw on the site of the former 10th Anniversary stadium or Stadion Dziesięciolecia.

The new stadium will have a seating capacity of 55,000 and its construction started in 2008 and is now due to finish in June 2011. During the tournament the national stadium is due to host the opening match and 2 other group matches. A quarter final and a semifinal of the UEFA Euro 2012 will also be held at the stadium.

The National Stadium will not though be the new home of Legia Warsaw or Polonia Warsaw football clubs. However, it is expected that Legia and Polonia may choose to use the National Stadium for their most prestigious matches and the Polish Cup final will be held at the ground alongside major concerts and national events.

Where as the new ground will open in 2011 the older ground opened in 1955 and was for decades the largest stadium in Warsaw, and one of the largest in Poland. Under the Polish People's Republic, it was one of the most advertised construction sites and a principal venue for Party and state festivities. In the 1980s however the stadium became dilapidated and as no funds could be found to refurbish it ruin and squalor ensued. It is only now in a newer Poland under a centre right government that the funds have been found to develop to meet the needs of the 2012 event.

Despite being a creative, artistic and modernising city with thriving districts and ancient buildings Warsaw is still a city that is misunderstood and ill judged. Essentially it is wrong to say Warsaw is simply just 'one thing' as its scope exposes something old, something new and something borrowed.

With Warsaw being called the 'phoenix city' it is a city that has died so many times but lived to tell the tale through buildings and large districts that were flattened but have been recreated where they once stood. Very few countries received such extensive damage during World War II as Poland did and Warsaw suffered more than most but it has steadily rebuilt itself with the effort of Polish citizens.

The strategic significance of Warsaw on the European map means that it has given its name to key aspects of History such as the Warsaw Confederation; the Warsaw Pact; the Warsaw Convention and the Warsaw Uprising. Today reminders stand of the Ghetto district and the heartlands of the uprising against the Nazis. Warsaw's two historic districts of the Stare Miasto and Nowe Miasto have a range of buildings that display a mixture of architectural styles reflecting the turbulent history of the city and country.

Public spaces,museums and the economy has attracted heavy investment in recent years so much so that the city has gained entirely new squares, parks and monuments. Warsaw's current urban landscape is one of modern and contemporary architecture intertwined with historical buildings and memories of the past. Outwith the city centre, mass residential blocks were erected reflecting a style typical of Eastern bloc countries but these are hidden to most visitors eyes.

In 1995 the Warsaw Metro opened and with the entry of Poland into the European Union in 2004, Warsaw is currently experiencing the biggest economic boom of its history. Warsaw is now a historical centre, media centre and an educational centre that is home to 100,000 students. Unemployment is low at 1% unlike the rest of Poland which stands at around 10%.

Despite this the economic boom is not popular with everyone with many Poles going to live abroad in the United Kingdom since 2004 in an effort to find better paying jobs and prospects. In Warsaw itself there is an ever growing pay divide between rich and poor with many young people unable to purchase property due to the rise in house prices. Some have even claimed that any resemblance of Soviet rule - such as the Palace of Science and Culture - should be wiped from the face of Warsaw. Against this some revel in the memories of socialist rule, the Warsaw uprising and despair at modern credit excess seeping into Warsaw society.

Whilst Warsaw can be called an educational, historic and cultural centre it is not a football centre of any esteemed sort. Recent times have seen Lech Poznan and Wisla Krakow emerge as stronger footballing sides leaving Legia and Polonia behind. The growth and development of the newer Legia Stadium may assist in attracting a newer face of fresh ideas to Legia and serve to propel it towards competing more successfully against Lech Poznan and Wisla Krakow. But these teams themselves also have developed stadiums to match and indeed if not better those of Legia.

Its said that the Premiership gets more media exposure in Poland than the current Ekstraklasa league gets. Tainted abroad as a hot bed of hooliganism, crumbling stands and poor football very few players of note come to play in Poland and its some time since any Polish team has performed well in European competition at the latter stages. Europa League qualifications are about as far as it goes but even this is struggle.

Legia Warsaw needs to rediscover itself footballing wise if it is to emerge to be a more successful and sustainable club. Legia does not need to look too far for inspiration though since the city in which it resides is a master of rising from the ashes to fight on again and successfully.


	© 2010 Voices in Football	Site built by SiteHero.com