Polonia Warsaw 1-1 ??? Sunday 24th July 2016

 Polonia Warsaw 1-1 (?) v ?? (att. c.130)

Welcome to ...

I let my feet decide my fate today and they said no – I wouldn’t be travelling to the other end of the country to see Piast Gliwice, despite me checking train times, etc. My heavily blistered feet needed rest and I was quite happy to have a day off, until a little internet research brought into possibility seeing Polonia play in a friendly. My mind was made up.

A local sculpture

I took an M1 subway to Dworzec Gdanski and walked from there. Only I initially went the wrong way, adding about 45 minutes to my walk. Those blisters ain’t getting any better. Still, I made it to the stadium 40 minutes early. Time to do a circumference of the stadium, take a few pics, that sort of thing. That was despite seeing one guy just wander straight into the main stand. There was even a police van on this side of the stadium (and the other, as it turned out), a sure-fire sign there was a game on.

Ticket office (closed).

The stadium has parkland on 2 sides and through a gap in the fence I could see the players. Warming up, I presumed, and carried on. Perhaps if I’d took my earphones out I’d have realised the match had already STARTED. I was 20 mins late, not 40 mins early. By the time I reached the main stand again, people were leaving. Luckily, it was half, not full time and a chance for some to have a fag break. I joined as the half time whistle went. A few fans nipped under the stand for refreshment, though all I could see was coke and ice cream. A beer would have gone down nice.

Behind the goal.

But what a beautiful stadium / stand. The Main Stand façade is bedecked in pillars, with an unobtrusive ‘Polonia’ in modern lettering above. The stand dwarfed the rest (a la Dukla Prague) while both ends were grassy terraces. The opposite stand has the team’s initials written into the seats, but such us the deterioration of colour that it was difficult to make them out.

KSP match action.

The match was played like a…friendly. Lots of tidy little touches, along with an avoidance of running, especially in relation to joining in attack. Well, it was hot. It was a wonder I saw any goals, given the inaction of both keepers. Both were penalties. The away side had a player tripped by a flailing leg, while Polonia were then handed a lifeline (no pun intended) when the ref decided a free kick hit a player’s arm. The defender argued he was merely covering his face, in which case he’s a bit thick, as well as cowardly. Take it like a man, man.

The 'equalising' penalty

In defence of the slow play, too many balls appeared to be held up by the grass. Too long? Unwatered? This is, after all, a 3rd tier Polish side, despite their proud history, including being the oldest team in Poland, and title winners as recently as 1999-2000. They’ve fallen on hard times since with the usual story of mismanagement and poor ownership.

However, given recent monetary troubles, I hope they come back. Their stadium is a little peach and I want to see the turnstiles in the rest of the stadium utilised – I’ve never seen such modern turnstiles overrun with weeds.

The Damage:
free ent

The Tunes:
Let England Shake (PJ Harvey)

Polonii panorama

classical design at Polonii

1st view of stadium.

Behind the goal (II).

Match action.

The exits behind the other goal.Pristine.

Behind the 'KSP Stand'

Brand new turnstiles left to nature.

The view from the main stand.

The opening pen.

The main stand at full time.