Geordie Al's Groundhopper Scrapbook: Nowa Hutnik Ladies 0-0 Cracovia??? Ladies (half time), Saturday 12th August 2017

Sunday, 13 August 2017

Nowa Hutnik Ladies 0-0 Cracovia??? Ladies (half time), Saturday 12th August 2017

Nowa Hutnik 0-0 Cracovia???, (half-time), att. c150

Welcome to ...

Being based in Krakow and having lined up the Krakow derby for my Saturday evening’s entertainment, I was pleasantly surprised to find I could also fit in a third tier game (Garbania Krakow) in nearby Nowa Hutnik, the Soviet realist new town built on the edge of Krakow. I didn't expect there to be a big crowd, but I'd hoped for maybe a thousand and expected probably 250. With a 5:30pm kick off I could see I'd have to miss the last half hour anyway if I was to get to Wisla on time. I was in Nowa Hutnik around 4pm. Although I worried about buying a ticket (those damned Polish queues and membership systems!), I thought I'd have a look in the Museum of Communism in Poland. However, I couldn't find it so I arrived at the Nowa Hutnik stadium early. It was deserted. This was a worry.

Back of the Main Stand.

The turnstiles facing the main road looked unused in years. I saw a young lad enter the main stand. Maybe there WAS a game on. I had a sniff around the surrounds, some giant sports centre with a multitude of perfectly groomed football pitches and the odd artificial one. A middle-aged bloke played with his drone, otherwise the deserted nature of the area was haunting.

Turnstiles nearest the main road.

I walked back to the stadium. Music was being played through the tannoy. A sign! A couple of tracksuited individuals were on the pitch. A sign! There was no-one in the stands. Definitely not a sign.

By the time I made it around to the main stand, I saw someone enter to the side of it. I followed and found myself one of half a dozen people inside. With rain threatening, I snuck into the upper tier of 3 rows and waited.

Inside the Main Stand.

Soon, a team came trotting out to perform the most thorough warm up I've ever seen. It was a women's team. This was around 5pm and it turned out the match didn't kick off till 6. As I wondered who they were or who they were playing, the stand gradually filled up and by kick-off I'd say there were 150 or so spectators.

The players warm up.

The professionally warmed up side in red (Cracovia?) were far superior, though the blues enjoyed most support (Nowa Hutnik?). Certainly the red centre forward who looked uncannily like Scottish comedian Kevin Bridges, and played like another Scot, David Speedie. Coulda, shoulda, had 5, if only she could shoot or head. Mind, she was captain so there's no dropping her.

The teams line up.

The blues had a couple of moments on the break. Only the linesman’s flag ruined a beautiful lob into the net. Both sides played a good passing game, the reds just being that bit quicker. Somehow it was still goalless at halftime. The downpour was over and I could leg it to Plac Centraly for a tram to the city centre, where I could get lost and arrive late to the Krakow derby.

The sweep of the terrace.

Nowa Hutnik stadium? The main stand looks brand new, maybe a dozen rows in the lower tier and an odd 3 rows in the upper, with a small cantilever roof overhanging the upper tier. Opposite is an older stand, roof propped up by stanchions. Behind each goal was seating dropped onto an old terrace. With the elliptical shape (though any track had long since withered) its capacity is around 12,000.

Old scoreboard and terrace.

I still haven’t found out how many Garbania Krakow get in support, but the day after, Soccerway was telling me they’d won 3-1 at Stadion Suche Stawy. Well, I was at Stadion Suche Stawy and can confirm the teams I saw were mos’ def’ WOMEN.

(As a 'ps', a more recent claim to fame for the stadium is that it's where England held training sessions during their Euro 2012 campaign.)

The Damage:

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