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TagsOn the face of it, 2011 seems like just another year for Polish football.
The Reprezentacja’s total balance may look positive with 7 wins out of 14 games played and only 3 defeats, but the victories were all against moderate opposition including: Moldava, Norway, Georgia, Belarus, Hungary, Bosnia Herzegovina and an understrength Argentina. Of 3 matches played against the ‘big boys’, 2 resulted in defeats (France and Italy) whilst the 2-2 draw against Germany was thanks to some spectacular acrobatics by keeper Wojciech Szczezny.At club level Wisla Krakow won another Ekstraklasa championship and then carried on the tradition of Polish champions by failing to qualify for the European Champions League. The face of Polish club football had to be saved once again in the lesser of the Euro club competitions, The UEFA Europa League.
But it was beyond the football pitches where some interesting developments have been taking place, thanks to the forthcoming Euro 2012 Championships. The stadium rebuilding programme which includes clubs whose grounds will not be used for the tournament, means that for the first time in living memory, half of the Ekstraklasa clubs can entertain the best in Europe at five-star venues.
At the beginning of this year only Lech Poznan, Zaglebie Lubin, Cracovia Krakow and Korona Kielce could have made such a boast, but in the last 12 months this total has doubled. With the completion of re-building, or new construction, Legia Warsaw, Wisla Krakow, Slask Wroclaw and Lechia Gdansk now also play out of state-of-the-arts stadiums. And of course there is the brand new sparkling jewel in the crown of Polish football, Warszawa’s National Stadium. As well as being the new home of the Reprezentacja, it will also host Polish Cup Finals and possibly European club matches should Legia ever get to meet one of the giants such as Barcelona or Real Madrid
Having new stadiums does not guarantee future success on the European stage, but it could go a long way towards it by increasing revenue for the clubs. Poland’s main TV football broadcaster Canal + has stated that it will favor covering matches played in the ‘new’ stadiums and it goes without saying that this is where advertisers will want to put their money.
The problem is that advertisers would also like to see these stadiums fairly full, and once the novelty of the new luxury wears off, fans expect to see performances from their teams to match the surroundings. Not just in the Ekstraklasa but also in Europe. After decades of neglect during which clubs played out of dilapidated small grounds where, even if it was possible to get in, there was the added threat of violence, many Polish soccer followers got out of the habit of watching live football.
Nevertheless this must be the first time in ages when the start of a new year has brought much optimism, knowing that throughout June Polish football will receive a fair amount of worldwide attention.
