History of Poland Football Club

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Description

Name: Poland national football team
Nickname: Biało-czerwoni ("The-white-and-red") and Orły ("The Eagles")
Association: Polish Football Association
Head coach: Leo Beenhakker
Captain: vary


Early History  |  Development  |  2000 - Present  |  Statistics  |  Facts & Figures  |  World Cup record  |  European Championships record  |   [+]Add
 

Early History

Football is the traditional and most liked sports in Poland. Nearly about 400,000 Poles play the sport. There are numerous professional and amateur football teams in the county. They are organized in to National First League and Second League, four regional Third Leagues, 18 regional Fourth League, 49 regional Fifth League and several other lower leagues. The teams also participate in other competitions such as the Polish Cup and Polish SuperCup. The important football stadiums in Poland are Lech Poznan with a seating capacity of 26,500, Gornik Zabrze with seating capacity of 17,000 and Legia Warszawa with a seating capacity of 15,400.

Football rolled out in Poland’s history towards the end of the 19th Century. The advent of the sport in Poland began with the opening of a sports park by Prof. Henry K Jordon, a court physician, in Krakow’s Blonia. The park happened to be a chief centre for sports and healthy living in Poland. The beginning of the 1900s witnessed the emergence of professional clubs. Some of the initial Polish professional football clubs were Lechia Lwow, Crarni Lwow, Pogon Lwow, Cracovia Krakow and Wisla Krakow.

The first official football match in Polish history was played on 14 July, 1894 between the Sokol members of Lwow and the Krakow members. The Lwow team emerged victorious with Wlodzimierz Chomicki scoring the only goal of the match. Although the sport was discouraged by educational societies and state authorities, it became exceedingly popular with the students at Galicia’s gymnasiums. The popularity led to the formation of the first Polish national football team in 1903-1904. Eventually, on 5 August, 1906 the Polish football entered the international meeting. On that day, the team of Sobieski’s Gymnasium played against the British and American members of Buffalo Bill’s team, registering a 1-0 win. The international victory was followed by the emergence of 16 teams in the country within a short span of time.


 

Development

The Galician football players moved on to Pilsudski’s Polish Legions after the First World War began. They played matches against the Austro-Hungarian Army, popularizing the sport in different parts of Poland. On 20 December, 1919, after Poland had regained its independence, the Polish national federation called the Polish Football Association was formed. In 1923, 4 years after its inception, the union joined FIFA and later on in 1955 joined UEFA.

At the time the Polish Football Association was formed, the sport of football was disorganized in the country. The association focused on organizing the first championship. It divided the country in to 5 football districts – Warsaw, Krakow, Poznan, Lodz and Lwow. As per the championship design, district level teams would play regional qualifying games, following which 5 champions would play against each other in a central tournament. It was in 1922 that Polish teams started participating in regular games in championships.

Polish football underwent a key change in 1927 with the establishment of the Polish Football League. Although the Polish Football Association was against the formation of the League, it was nevertheless instituted with the support of a majority of Polish clubs. The creation of the League was formally announced on 1 March, 1927. The League championship games began on 3 April, 1927 with all major teams except Cracovia participating. The first season of the League saw a clash between Wisla Krakow and 1.FC Katowice. While 1.FC was believed to have a minority of German supporters, Wisla was considered to be representing the Poles. With the rivalry being very serious and the Polish Football Association determined to not let the Germans win, the Wisla Krakow team won the match using the favoritism of the referee, Zygmunt Hanke.

 
 
Poland vs Italy 1982
 
Created on: 6/1/2008
 
By: marcelo
 
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