Polish Ekstraklasa
Suzuki Arena (Stadion Miejski)
March 1, 2020
Kielce was an attractive proposition as the game started 12-30 on Sunday and it’s not far from Krakow so I could put another Ekstraklasa game in the bag.
Just an hour and half and I am there. I thought Kielce would be bigger as it’s a regional center but it
turned out much smaller and much sleepier. There was barely anyone on the main pedestrian
promenade and the only thing open was the ever-present Mcdonald's.
I’ve heard that there is not much to Kielce but you can spend a few hours there and see some really nice things, including the splendid palace of Krakow bishops. You can also just walk to the stadium. It was built in 2004-2006 and at the time was one of the first new Polish stadiums. It’s nothing special, rather functional and totally fits the needs of a team like Korona. All the stands are basically identical and are totally enclosed. I also found the arena to be very similar to a stadium in Bielsko-Biala. The attendance was also very similar. The official number was over 4000 but I highly doubt it was anything like that. The entire end behind one of the goals was closed off and there were no away fans. I wonder why the attendance is low, as there definitely is not much to do in Kielce on Sunday.
I bought my ticket and also got a small enamel pin from the club shop. The match program was free of charge. My seat was in the upper part of the stand but you can totally wander the whole stadium and watch the game from anywhere. The ultras congregate behind the goal and the stand is called Mlyn (The Mill). It was also not full. The game was on some kind of Remembrance Day and they had a patriotic tifo prepared, honoring the fallen or smth. I guess it was about Armija Krajova. It did not look impressive, to be honest, not enough people were there. The overall atmosphere was rather dull, especially if you are far from Mlyn, but thankfully the stewards do not really mind if you move around the stadium after the start of the game.
Korona was occupying one of the relegation spots before the game, so there was an obvious lack of
excitement for the match among the fans. The doubts only increased when the home team conceded an early goal. But then, something clicked and Korona started to play really well and were really unlucky not to equalize in the first half. A really chubby Finnish midfielder Petteri Forsell was really noticeable and had two excellent chances from free-kicks. He already played in Poland and was a fresh new addition to Korona. It was quite unusual to see someone that slow and unathletic (and I mean fat) at such a high level of professional football. And he’s not even 30 yet.
I had a tea and a very good sausage in a bun in the intermission and was ready for the second half.
Korona pressed even harder and was clearly a much better team than Lechia. Soon the expected goal
followed from the Czech forward named Michal Popadopoulos. It sounded really funny when the home crowd started chanting his name, all 5 syllables of it. It seemed that Korona was totally on top and they decided to go for the win. Alas, as it usually happens, Lechia scored the last-minute winner instead and stole 3 points to the dismay of those few who decided to watch the game.
I watched a Remembrance torch parade organized by Korona fans in the main street and then had a
really good borsch from the Ukrainian café. Just a 2-hour suburban train ride took me back to Krakow.
Suzuki Arena (Stadion Miejski)
March 1, 2020
Kielce was an attractive proposition as the game started 12-30 on Sunday and it’s not far from Krakow so I could put another Ekstraklasa game in the bag.
Just an hour and half and I am there. I thought Kielce would be bigger as it’s a regional center but it
turned out much smaller and much sleepier. There was barely anyone on the main pedestrian
promenade and the only thing open was the ever-present Mcdonald's.
I’ve heard that there is not much to Kielce but you can spend a few hours there and see some really nice things, including the splendid palace of Krakow bishops. You can also just walk to the stadium. It was built in 2004-2006 and at the time was one of the first new Polish stadiums. It’s nothing special, rather functional and totally fits the needs of a team like Korona. All the stands are basically identical and are totally enclosed. I also found the arena to be very similar to a stadium in Bielsko-Biala. The attendance was also very similar. The official number was over 4000 but I highly doubt it was anything like that. The entire end behind one of the goals was closed off and there were no away fans. I wonder why the attendance is low, as there definitely is not much to do in Kielce on Sunday.
I bought my ticket and also got a small enamel pin from the club shop. The match program was free of charge. My seat was in the upper part of the stand but you can totally wander the whole stadium and watch the game from anywhere. The ultras congregate behind the goal and the stand is called Mlyn (The Mill). It was also not full. The game was on some kind of Remembrance Day and they had a patriotic tifo prepared, honoring the fallen or smth. I guess it was about Armija Krajova. It did not look impressive, to be honest, not enough people were there. The overall atmosphere was rather dull, especially if you are far from Mlyn, but thankfully the stewards do not really mind if you move around the stadium after the start of the game.
Korona was occupying one of the relegation spots before the game, so there was an obvious lack of
excitement for the match among the fans. The doubts only increased when the home team conceded an early goal. But then, something clicked and Korona started to play really well and were really unlucky not to equalize in the first half. A really chubby Finnish midfielder Petteri Forsell was really noticeable and had two excellent chances from free-kicks. He already played in Poland and was a fresh new addition to Korona. It was quite unusual to see someone that slow and unathletic (and I mean fat) at such a high level of professional football. And he’s not even 30 yet.
I had a tea and a very good sausage in a bun in the intermission and was ready for the second half.
Korona pressed even harder and was clearly a much better team than Lechia. Soon the expected goal
followed from the Czech forward named Michal Popadopoulos. It sounded really funny when the home crowd started chanting his name, all 5 syllables of it. It seemed that Korona was totally on top and they decided to go for the win. Alas, as it usually happens, Lechia scored the last-minute winner instead and stole 3 points to the dismay of those few who decided to watch the game.
I watched a Remembrance torch parade organized by Korona fans in the main street and then had a
really good borsch from the Ukrainian café. Just a 2-hour suburban train ride took me back to Krakow.
Comments
Post a Comment