Football hooliganism in Poland first developed as a recognised phenomenon in the 1970s, and has continued since then with numerous recognised hooligan firms and large scale fights. Until 1997 the number of hooligan related incidents steadily rose in Poland. ^[1] The problem of hooliganism in Poland has been compared to what are described as the dark days of football hooliganism in England in the 1980s.^[2] Hooliganism is a serious problem in Poland, comparable in its scale to countries such as Turkey and Hungary.^[3] Many Polish football clubs have hooligan firms associated with them, and Polish hooligans have a reputation for being extremely violent.^[4]

History of Polish Hooliganism

The first years

The first reports of clashes between fans during football games date back the 1930s. On 2 June 1935 after a game between Cracovia Kraków and Ruch Chorzów, the police had to "intervene and surround the field".

On 15 June 1936, the Przegląd Sportowy daily sports newspaper published an appeal by the management of Śląsk Świętochłowice, asking their fans to "control their behaviour and maintain order".

During the occupation of Poland in World War II, the Nazi German occupiers banned all sports. However, "illegal" games were played on regular basis. During one of these matches in Kraków on 17 October 1943, fans of Cracovia Kraków and Wisła Kraków interrupted the game and started fighting which spread onto the streets of the Ludwinow district in Kraków. The fighting lasted for several hours. ^[5]

After a match on 29 September 1947 in Sosnowiec, between Zagłębie Sosnowiec and AKS Chorzów fighting broke out resulting in the death of one fan and scores of others injured. Sosnowiec won the match 3-2, however in the first leg AKS Chorzow had won 3-0, meaning they were promoted to the First Division. After the match, 20,000 home fans were slowly moving out of the stadium, pushed by firemen and militia. Skirmishes broke out, and the officers, with guns, lined up on the pitch and attacked the fans with bayonets and the fighting lasted for two hours. Sosnowiec fans tried to attack AKS's players, the referees and the officers. ^[6] Although incidents from the 1920s to the 1960s were numerous, there was no organized hooliganism in Poland.

The 1970s

There is no official information about football related violence in the 1970s as any incidents that happened were not reported by the Polish media which was compliant with the policies of the Communist authorities in the People's Republic of Poland.^[1] Sporadic incidents took place, usually in the streets near to stadiums, near railway stations. By the late 1970s there were about ten hooligan firms, mostly connected to Polish First Division clubs. Few Polish football fans travelled to away matches.^[1]

The first scarfer groups

The common name for Polish football fans is scarfers (szalikowcy in Template:Pl icon). It is unclear when the first scarfers appeared. According to fans of ŁKS Łódź, they were the first, in the early 1970s.^{[citation needed]} They claim that a group of students, dressed in red and white scarves began to gather in one section in the stands, chanting songs and waving flags. The group then grew quickly, and soon after they started going to away games. Later other clubs fans started to organise groups.^{[citation needed]} As the number of scarfers grew, the Polish Football Association tried to curb these groups. The renowned referee and journalist Grzegorz Aleksandrowicz initiated the so-called "Fan Clubs", but this idea disappeared at the beginning of the 1980s, due to Martial law in Poland and Aleksandrowicz’s death.^{[citation needed]}

The first alliances

In the mid-1970s friendships between some groups began. Probably the oldest still active alliance is the one between fans of Śląsk Wrocław and Lechia Gdańsk which dates back to 1977. Other alliances, such as that between Legia Warsaw and Zagłębie Sosnowiec and that between Polonia Warsaw and Cracovia Kraków date back to the late 1970s. Usually, alliances were (and still are) created by firms of clubs that are located a considerable distance from each other. Firms of neighbouring clubs, especially in the same city, are in most cases enemies.^{[citation needed]}

1980s

The early 1980s saw a rise in the number of hooligan firms and in the number of hooligans.^[1] On 9 May 1980 Legia Warsaw faced Lech Poznań in Częstochowa in the final of the Polish Cup. The match was won by Legi Warsaw. However, it is remembered by many as one of the biggest clashes between fans. Fighting, which involved hundreds of fans, started in the streets of the city before the game. A number of people were seriously injured. The Communist government of Poland concealed all the facts about the incident. Since that game, fans of both sides have regarded each other as enemies.^[1]

The first reported incident of football hooliganism by the media happened in 1981 during a match between Widzew Lodz and Legia Warszawa which was shown live on Polish television, when Legia fans invaded the pitch. As it was transmitted live on television, the government was unable to cover up the incident.^[1]

The number of incidents during games grew in the 1980s. Although the statistics in this period are incomplete, between 1984 and 1988, 99 cases of disorder were reported, most of them in big cities. Two football fans were officially reprted to have been killed in the 198os due to football hooliganism.^[1]

1990s

In most European countries football hooliganism declined during the 1990s. However, in Poland the 1990s saw a gradual increase in football related violence and development of the football hooligan subculture. Data from the Central Police Command showed a steady increase from 1991 to 1997, although there was then a decrease in the following years.^[1] This also happened while confrontations started moving away from in and around the stadiums. Also, organised fights started, in order to avoid the police. As the decade progressed fights would start to be organised by mobile phone and over the Internet. From the early 1990s, the hooligans were heavily influenced by the skinhead culture.^[1] The firms were also better organized, with regular members, who, like their English counterparts, would dress in hooded sweatshirts and Lonsdale T-shirts.^{[citation needed]}

The 1990s also saw a rise in the number of hooligan firms up to about 70-80. Also, at times the hooligans would join forces to attack the police, as happened during a World Cup qualifying match between Poland and England on 29 May 1993 in Chorzów.^[1] Feuding between Polish hooligans escalated, when, before the match, skinheads from Cracovia Kraków, stabbed a Pogoń Szczecin fan to death. Polish hooligans from Gdańsk, Katowice and Warsaw fought each other before, during and after the match.^[7][1] Other hooligan disturbances followed the Polish national team with incidents in Zabrze in 1994, and abroad in Rotterdam in 1992 and Bratislava in 1995.^[1]

Also the violence spread through the lower leagues and into more urban areas of the country. ^[1] In May 1997, fans of 4th Division club, Sandecja Nowy Sącz clashed with the police and 54 fans were detained.^[1]

Hooligan incidents in Poland gained more media attention in the 1990s, at a time when fanzines started to be published, which included details of incidents and what was described as the Polish hooligan league.^[1]

More alliances

More alliances were created in the 1990s. Triada consists of the firms of Arka Gdynia, Cracovia Kraków and Lech Poznań. Its members are connected with several other firms, and at times the connections are difficult to figure out. For example - both Arka Gdynia and Cracovia Kraków are also allied with Polonia Warsaw, while Lech Poznańs firm dislikes Polonia Warsaw fans. Also, Arka Gdynia and Lech Poznań are allied with the firm of KSZO Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, who are enemies of Korona Kielce, an ally of Cracovia Kraków. Arka Gdynia and Lech Poznań are also allied with the firm of Zagłębie Lubin, another club who are not favoured by Cracovia Kraków fans, whose fans are known for having an unusually large number of allies - Arka Gdynia, Lech Poznan, Korona Kielce, Stal Mielec, Sandecja Nowy Sącz , Czarni Jasło, Tarnovia Tarnów and GKS Tychy.

Another group was created by the firms of Lechia Gdansk, Slask Wroclaw and Wisła Kraków. Members of this group have their own alliances, Slask Wroclaws firm has for years been friends with the firm of Motor Lublin, however, Motor's and Wisla Krakow fans hate each other.

A third one is centred around the fans of Legia Warsaw and consists of firms from Pogoń Szczecin and Zagłębie Sosnowiec, although the latter two are not officially allied. This group also contains firms allied with either Legia Warsaw or Zagłębie Sosnowiec, such as BKS Stal Bielsko-Biała or Olimpia Elblag.

In the 2000s, another large group joined these, made up of firms from Ruch Chorzów and Widzew Łódź, together with their smaller allies, such as Elana Torun. The firms of ŁKS Łódź, Zawisza Bydgoszcz and GKS Tychy are also allied.

International Alliances

Polish fans often find friends among firms of the former Czechoslovakia. The GKS Katowice firm has an ally in FC Baník Ostrava. Górnik Walbrzych firm is allied with SK Slavia Praha. KSZO Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski is allied with FC Slovan Liberec. Goral Żywiec is allied with MŠK Žilina, and Cracovia Kraków is allied with FK Viktoria Žižkov. Also the firms of Legia Warsaw and Dutch club, ADO Den Haag are allies.

2000 onward

Even though the Polish government tried to erase hooliganism, incidents were still common in Polish stadiums. However, like hooligans in Western Europe, Polish firms now pre-arrange their fights, which in Poland are known as ustawka, and are mainly fought in forests. In December 2005 a huge organised fight took place in a forest outside Frankfurt between Polish and German hooligans. Although the fight was broken up by German police, it was feared that the fight was a warm up for more fights during the World Cup which was to be held in Germany the next year.^[2]

In March 2006 a Wisła Kraków fan was dragged from a car and stabbed to death, the eighth stabbing murder in twelve months of football hooligans in Poland.^[2]

Football violence is still present even in city centres. In May 2006 over 50 police officers were injured, with over 30 hospitalised and 230 hooligans detained after disturbances in Warsaw following a match between Legia Warsaw and Wisła Kraków. Thousands of Legia fans had converged in the city centre celebrating the club winning the Polish League title, where they broke into shops, damaged cafes and restaurants and attacked the police with stones. The police had to use water cannons to contain the hooligans, most of whom it was claimed were under the influence of alcohol.^[8]

Before the 2006 World Cup in Germany, German authorities and the European media were concerned that Polish hooligans would try to disrupt the tournament.^[2] Reports stated that Polish hooligans were ready to do battle with fans from England and other countries in Germany.^[9] However, no major incidents were reported, with isolated clashes taking place such as drunken German and Polish fans clashing in Dortmund resulting in 300 arrests, half of whom were Polish.^[10]

It was stated in 2006 that the current football hooliganism in Poland is far worse than the dark days of English football hooliganism in the 1980s, with nearly every Polish professional football club having a fan base rooted in hooliganism.^[9] A match between local Warsaw rivals, Polonia and Legia in April 2006 saw over 1,300 riot police, armed with CS Gas and rifles with rubber bullets fail to control 3,000 fans. Instead of keeping the two sets of fans apart, the police shepherded them all into the city centre where running battles ensued.^[9] A common feature of Polish hooligans is also ambushing rival fans then stealing their scarves and flags, before tieing them to railings in the stadium and set on fire.^[9]

In July 2007, UEFA banned Legia Warsaw from European competition for one season and also for one more season should they qualify for any European competition in the following five years, following riots during an Intertoto Cup match in Lithuania against Vetra Vilnius forced the game to be abandoned. With Vetra Vilnius winning 2-0 at half time, several hundred Legia fans, out of the 2,500 Polish fans present, wrecked the stand they were in and invaded the pitch, where they attacked 200 police officers, throwing concrete, bottles and flares at them. They then ripped up advertising boards in an attempt to prevent the mounted police, tear gas and baton charges by the police. A total of 26 Legia fans were arrested, with ten later released. Seven fans were later jailed for between five and fifteen days and fined.^[11]

Firms

Hooligan firms in Poland seem to be organised quite formally, and are invfluenced by the skinhead subculture. Some Polish hooligans are accused of encouraging nationalism and racism among fans.^[1] The most violent confrontations between firms occurs in Kraków, where the firms of Cracovia Kraków and Wisła Kraków wage a brutal war, using knives, axes and other weapons. There have been several fatalities. In September 2007, Wisła Kraków hooligans killed a Korona Kielce fan in Kielce. The Korona Kielce firm is allied with Cracovia.^[6]

See also

• Wrocław football riot 2003
• Słupsk street riots 1998

References