Geordie Al's Groundhopper Scrapbook: Legia Warsaw 0-0 Slask Wroclaw, Saturday 23rd July 2016

Sunday 24 July 2016

Legia Warsaw 0-0 Slask Wroclaw, Saturday 23rd July 2016

Legia Warsaw 0-0 Slask Wroclaw, Ekstraklasa (att. 12,173)

Welcome to...the park.

How I managed this I still don’t know. From being in the park, walking adjacent to a motorway below, all I had to do was follow the line of the road and it would lead directly to the stadium. So I cut into the park (to do without the cars and noise)…followed roughly the same direction…and got completely lost. This park is HUGE (‘Lazienki Krolewskie’?) and used to be the king’s hunting grounds, doncha know? (I can’t remember how I found that out.)

Always a good sign when looking for a football ground.

The aforementioned fact doesn’t help as I show my inability to read a map properly by mistaking one palace for another (not a problem I’m used to dealing with) and heading in the complete oppositely direction to where I needed. Despite giving myself two and a half hours from closing time at the Warsaw Uprising Museum (FYI, the lady was right, you need two hours in there, not one) I arrived with about half an hour to go. I was mightily relieved, actually. I’d imagined myself getting there at half time, so to have a chance of seeing kick off was a bonus.

Interesting roof design.

There was now the queue to negotiate. Four perfect lines. It even seemed to be going quicker than I’ve experienced at other Polish grounds; maybe Legia’s earlier Champions League home game meant most fans had already got their membership cards/match tickets. Either way, I still managed to be outmanoeuvred / pushed in front of by 5 or 6 Poles. Still, I made KO by 10 mins.

Legia 'Fanstore'.

I’d chosen an upper tier ticket at the opposite end to the ultras. After Arka Gdynia, my feet needed a rest (the ultras will always haul you up to join in). Good call – lots of space, with only a few hundred for company. Great view and nothing beyond an excitable kid (who’d dragged his mum along) to obstruct me. He finally stopped when he realised most of this end WOULDN’T be standing up when the ultras demanded. I could also hear a German family in there too; perhaps all of us foreigners sought ‘softer’ climes?

The ultra hordes enter

The match was dire. You know that warm up exercise every team does these days, where players knock it about in a circle, using one or two touches, till the player(s) in the middle win it back, only to repeat the exercise ad infinitum? Well, I’ve seen an entire match of that, plus a couple of punts (were they bored? ‘Ave it!!!) Neither side had an inkling of how to make a chance, let alone score. So it came as some surprise to see a shot hit the bar. Whose bar? Slask’s, I think. Yeah, yeah, I should know. Header off a cross, from memory.

Looking towards the ultras.

Otherwise, I had the ultras to amuse me / keep me awake. As ever, the cheerleader ordered, the drum banged and the throngs behind the goal joined in. There were quite a few ‘calls and responses’ which the rest of the stadium joined in (though not the VIP side; one must have SOME decorum). I think the Slask fans knew exactly the fayre to be offered. That, or an 8:30pm KO on a Saturday was not conducive to their appearance. I had a trot to the lower tier at HT and sat near them – all 20. WTF? Maybe there’s ore to this than meets the eye? Are they boycotting their team?

There are Slask fans in there...somewhere.

I contemplated going back upstairs. Better view. So I stayed where I was – there was nothing happening on the pitch and what was the point of a better view of NOTHING? For a second time in 3 days the ref’s full-time whistle was met by a chorus of home boos. The soundtrack to my holiday life? As for the stadium itself, a very smart two-tiered affair – like every other 30,000 new build.

The Damage:
PLZ 45 ent
PLZ 18 sausage and Pepsi
= PLZ 63 (£12)

The Tunes:
Two Suns (Bat For Lashes)
Mixmag Apr 09 (Aeroplane)
Mixmag Sept 15 (Hannah Wants)