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| Welcome to ... |
The last time I saw Zaglebie Sosnowiec, their fans were throwing flares at GKS Katowice supporters, upturning portaloos and goading the police. Little did I know this was their closest local derby (tho there's lots of local derbies in Silesia). Tonight tho it was the turn of Korona Kielce to square off with the police.
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| 1973. A classic year in the author's life. |
I'm not even sure how it started. Korona made no noise till the 66th minute, possibly cos that was when the last of them got in. It had looked empty when I got in (there were six of them). Now there were 250 to 300 of them, and they all bunched up for maximum impact. Fences were shaken and riot police appeared from nowhere. Some police then retreated, before forming three lines.
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| The Zaglebie ultras on the far side. |
At this point it was 0-0. Zaglebie, of the second tier, were more than matching their top tier rivals. With this being the cup, there had to be a result. I would see some goals one way or another. It would another. A few minutes into injury time there was a deluge of biblical proportions. (Why ‘biblical’? What if you don't believe what's written in the Bible?) Anyway, I have never seen rain like it. The warnings were there. I'd seen the lightning some distance away when visiting the toilet (a portaloo) at ‘full time’.
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| The away end in the rain. |
I was at the back of
the stand (there's only one) and felt the rain on my neck. I moved forward. The rain followed. Wind had earlier descended on the Stadion
Ludowy and the rain was sweeping in under the inadequately protected main stand
(think of a barn, no sides to protect anything, simply a roof with support). You get the idea. Before I knew it I was sheltering in the press
area. I wasn't the only one. The press meantime had grabbed their laptops
and cameras and were ready to bolt it themselves. The ref wisely took the sides
off.
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| In the press area AFTER the deluge. |
The away fans, as
well as the Zaglebie ultras in the open seating opposite, were DRENCHED, tho
most were topless anyway. The rest of
the seats in the opposite stand were quickly vacated and the rump of fans left
stood at the top of the terrace hoping the trees would give them some
protection (not likely given the wind was blowing towards them).
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| The rump set off their flares. |
The rain eased and
the ref called the teams back out. While there were puddles around the pitch,
the match was deemed playable. Were this
anything other than extra time it would have been called off. Balls got stuck in the extra moisture,
passing on the floor was at a premium and long balls became the order of the
day. It was farcical. I loved it.
At one point, with Korona 1-0 up, their centre forward ran clear, the
ball got stuck in a puddle and he couldn't help but run straight past it.
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| Puddles like this. |
Oh yes. Korona had taken the lead within a couple of
minutes of the restart. How odd that
their best move coincided with the worst conditions. I suspect the Zaglebie players couldn't hold
their footing, allowing the right winger free to provide the trigger for the
onrushing attacker.
Both sets of fans
were now very animated (while the police had made the quickest of tactical
retreats when the rain came down), but it was Kielce who provided the killer
touch with one of the softest finishes I've ever seen. The ball dribbled in
from 10 yards. A deflection? A slip? I couldn't tell.
It was over, but no
one left. The home fans were finally rewarded,
a last-second consolation goal. The ref,
not wanting to risk an equlaiser and a penalty shoot-out, immediately blew for
full-time.
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| Full-time. |
Before the match,
when it was still hot and sunny, I was very optimistic. I'd make my first kick-off in forever. Some hope. I arrived in Sosnowiec a full hour before kick-off
but it still took the best part of half an hour to walk to the stadium. Then the vagaries of the Polish ticketing system
took hold, once I’d found where you buy tickets, a good couple of hundred
metres from the stadium.
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| Gates into the stadium. |
Being that it wasn't
the first home game of the season, I was hoping the ticket office queue would
run smoothly. It wasn't a massive queue
but it took 20 minutes to deal with two customers (and they were Polish). I feared I wouldn't get in till half time. With my passport to hand I took less than 5,
so why the hold-up? Still, I was mightily relieved I only missed the first 10
minutes and zero goals
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| Ticket office queue. |
I considered queuing
for a beer but as there was no waiting time for Pepsi (no wonder) and a kielbasa
(sausage) I couldn't resist. It was hot
and I was hungry. With 10 minutes to go
to half-time I went for a beer. It took
half an hour, so I missed the second half kickoff as the beer coughed and
spluttered through the pump. Why does it
do this? (I know nought about beer pumps.)
To my mind, the more you can pump out the more you can sell. Am I explaining capitalism? In the end I got
two. I'm not standing that long for ONE
beer. Mind, I’d yet to know it but there was extra time to come.
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| The Main Stand. |
The Damage:
PLZ 30 ent
PLZ 12 beer (x2)
PLZ 5 pepsi
PLZ 10 kielbasa
= PLZ 69
Programme? Well, they had a souvenir shop (a portable trailer) but it was
shut. On a matchday.
The Tunes:
Late Night Tales (Jon Hopkins)
Pet Sounds (Beach Boys)
Resist (Kosheen)
Summer Special (Euros Childs)
Situation Comedy (Euros Childs)
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| Match action. |
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| The rudimentary Main Stand seating. |
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| Looking towards the scoreboard end. |
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| Zaglebie fans in the open, pre-rain. |
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| Summer tour...beer, spliffs and...pineapples? |
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| Welcome to ...(II) |
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| Pre-match snack vendor. |
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| The view from the ticket office. |
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| Barely a Korona fan in early doors. |
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| The sweep of the banking towards the Main Stand. |
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| Terracing left to rack and ruin. This stadium once held 40,000 (capacity now: 7,500). |
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| The police send their squadrons in. |
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| The local journo's match report. |
