KS Cracovia - Zagłębie Lubin

Ekstraklasa Poland
August 17, 2018
Jozef Pilsudski Stadium

I always knew that Cracovia would be my first Polish groundhopping adventure. For starters, they are the oldest club in Poland. But more importantly, I just fell in love with their stadium. Yes, it’s one of those modern types, but it’s just so close to the quiet residential streets. Wisla stadium is just across the street but it’s more secluded in the park but you could actually live right next to Cracovia. That’s one very few places in Krakow I’d trade my current area for.

The game versus Zaglebie Lubin was on Friday, so I went there the day before to get tickets. It was a fairly simple task. I had my passport with me and the young and smiling girl spoke English and sold me a single game ticket that cost 35 zl. I went to the stadium at 4 PM right from my work and I decided against taking my backpack, so I had a just small shoulder bag and a phone to take pics inside the stadium.

I was in front of the gates with more than an hour to spare and predictably there was not much going on. After a short walk I returned but it was still quiet apart from small pockets of ultras gathering before the game. With about half an hour left before the game I went inside through the automatic turnstiles. The world-weary steward did not care about me at all and did not even look inside my bag. I guess I don’t really look hardcore.  I had a grilled sausage with ketchup and 3 slices of bread. Not bad.

By the way, it looks like football casual sartorialism is not really a thing in Poland. I did not see any famous brands so prevalent at the stands of other stadiums. Most fans were dressed in red and white striped Cracovia kits or had some kind of ultras or fan-made t-shirts. I was never a fan of Polish ultras stickers and here I confirmed my suspicions that football related design is not their strength. Most of those t-shirts or scarves were either anti-Wisla or in praise hooligan and gangster lifestyle. No style, subtlety or humour whatsoever…

Unfortunately the stadium was less than a third full. Cracovia ultras behind the goal were slowly hanging their banners long after the start whistle. Zaglebie brought about 40-45 fans with a single banner. My seat was on the opposite side of the main stand but most of spectators were located here. Despite lowly 4000 people, the stadium was quite noisy and that’s mostly due to the excellent Cracovia ultras. Their chants were aided by the drummer and choreographed by the guy with a mic on a pedestal. It was hard for me to decipher those chants and there was one particularly long and repetitive. Regular fans from my section would sometimes join.

I’ve heard a lot about the disdain that hardcore ultras in Poland have for “picnic” or “popcorn” fans as they call them but I don’t really understand why. Is it just because they don’t fight? Anyway, there was something present here that I could never feel back in Canada - a faint air of aggression. It mostly manifested in the swearing and abuse. Overall the fans were actively engaged in the game. I did not enjoy the cigarette smoke though.

The only familiar player to me from both teams was Olexii Dytiatiev formerly of Karpaty and Vorskla. Unfortunately I could not really follow him as black numbers were hard to read on striped shorts. The game itself was enjoyable and both teams looked rather equal. Cracovia managed to score but the goal was disallowed for some reason we did not know on the stands. Then followed around 5 full minutes of the ref just standing and talking with the players. Even the fans around me were unsure of what was going on and whether VAR would be implemented. Cracovia players found themselves on the wrong side of those 5 minutes that were added to the first half when the visitors scored in the final attack. Cracovia tried to equalize in the second half but to no avail. The only time I heard the visiting fans is right around the end of the game. 

After the game I took a leisurely stroll around Wisla bank with a bottle of kefir in the gorgeous summer evening. I really missed proper football and I had immensely enjoyable time.