Football hooliganism in Poland
Encyclopedia
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
. 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. Hooliganism in Poland is comparable in its scale to countries such as Turkey
. Many Polish football clubs
have hooligan firms associated with them, and Polish hooligans have a reputation for being extremely violent.
The most violent confrontations between firms occurs in Kraków
, where the firms of Cracovia and Wisła Kraków wage a brutal war, using knives, axes and other weapons. There have been several fatalities. Some Polish hooligans are accused of encouraging nationalism
and racism
among fans.
Hooligan firms in Poland seem to be organised quite formally, and are influenced by the skinhead
subculture. Some skinhead members of firms are described as "official hooligans", and their role is to take part in disturbances at the stadiums. They often use weapons, such as wooden sticks, bats, baseball bats and knives.
, 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 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.
After a match on 29 September 1947 in Sosnowiec
, between RKU Sosnowiec and AKS Chorzów
(ethnic rivalry, derby) 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 Chorzów 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 Milicja Obywatelska
. Skirmishes broke out, and the Milicja Obywatelska functionaries, 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 Milicjants. Although incidents from the 1920s to the 1960s were numerous, there was no organized hooliganism in Poland.
which was compliant with the policies of the Communist authorities in the People's Republic of Poland
. 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.
The common name for Polish football fans is scarfers (szalikowcy in ). It is unclear when the first scarfers appeared. 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.
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 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.
in Częstochowa
in the final of the Polish Cup
. The match was won by Legia. 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.
The first reported incident of football hooliganism by the media happened in 1981
during a match between Widzew Łódź 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. 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 reported to have been killed in the 1980s due to football hooliganism.
. Hooligan incidents in Poland gained more media attention in the 1990s, at a time when fanzine
s started to be published, which included details of incidents and what was described as the "Polish hooligan league". From the early 1990s, Polish hooligans were heavily influenced by the skinhead
, UK and western hooligans culture. Data from the Komenda Główna Policji
(Central Command of the Police) showed a steady increase from 1991 to 1997, although there was then a decrease in the subsequent years. Fights became more organized, and started moving away from the stadiums - Ustawka fight. As the decade progressed, fights would be organised by mobile phone
and over the Internet
. The 1990s saw a rise in the number of hooligan firms up to about 70 or 80.
Sometimes 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
. Feuding between Polish hooligans escalated when, before the match, hool's from Cracovia, stabbed a Pogoń Szczecin
fan to death. Polish hooligans from Lechia Gdańsk
, Katowice
and Legia Warszawa fought each other before, during and after the match. Other hooligan disturbances followed the Polish national team, with incidents in Zabrze
in 1994, and abroad in Rotterdam
in 1992 and Bratislava
in 1995.
Also in the 1990s, Polish hooligan violence spread through the lower leagues and into more urban areas of the country. In May 1997, fans of Fourth Division club, Sandecja Nowy Sącz
clashed with the Policja, and 54 fans were detained.
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.
In 3 May 2004 Ruch Chorzów was playing a match with ŁKS, arch-rival of Widzew which hool's have friendship with Ruch firm Psycho Fans. Planned riots erupted in halftime. A lot of fans of three clubs were injured also policemen (55 hospitalized), 12 police cars were devastated. Despite the capture of many hool's (over 100) Policja are still looking for participants in brawl. That was a gigant brawl.
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.
Football violence is still present even in city centres. In May 2006 over 50 police functionaries 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 cannon
s to contain the hooligans.
Before the 2006 World Cup
in Germany, German authorities and the European media were concerned that Polish hooligans would try to disrupt the tournament. Reports stated that Polish hooligans were ready to do battle with fans from England
and other countries in Germany. 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.
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. A match between local Warsaw rivals, Polonia Warszawa
and Legia in April 2006 saw over 1,300 riot police, armed with CS gas
and rifles with rubber bullet
s 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. A common feature of Polish hooligans is also ambushing rival fans then stealing their scarves and flags, before tying them to railings in the stadium and set on fire.
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 charge
s 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.
In September 2007, Wisła Kraków hooligans killed a Korona Kielce
fan in Kielce
. The Korona Kielce firm had been allied with Cracovia at the time.
Football hooliganism
Football hooliganism, sometimes referred to by the British media as the English Disease, is unruly and destructive behaviour—such as brawls, vandalism and intimidation—by association football club fans...
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
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. The problem of hooliganism in Poland has been compared to what are described as the dark days of football hooliganism in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in the 1980s. Hooliganism in Poland is comparable in its scale to countries such as Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. Many Polish football clubs
Football in Poland
Football is the most popular sport in Poland. Over 400,000 Poles play football regularly, with millions more playing occasionally. The first professional clubs were founded in the early 1900s, and the Polish national football team played its first international match in 1921.There are hundreds of...
have hooligan firms associated with them, and Polish hooligans have a reputation for being extremely violent.
The most violent confrontations between firms occurs in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, where the firms of Cracovia and Wisła Kraków wage a brutal war, using knives, axes and other weapons. There have been several fatalities. Some Polish hooligans are accused of encouraging nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
and racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
among fans.
Hooligan firms in Poland seem to be organised quite formally, and are influenced by the skinhead
Skinhead
A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and then spread to other parts of the world. Named for their close-cropped or shaven heads, the first skinheads were greatly influenced by West Indian rude boys and British mods,...
subculture. Some skinhead members of firms are described as "official hooligans", and their role is to take part in disturbances at the stadiums. They often use weapons, such as wooden sticks, bats, baseball bats and knives.
Origins
The first reports of clashes between fans during football games date back to the 1930s. On 2 June 1935 after a game between Cracovia and Ruch ChorzówRuch Chorzów
Ruch Chorzów is a Polish association football club based in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. It is one of the most successful football teams in Poland: 14 time national champion, and 3 time winner of the Polish Cup. Currently the team plays in the top Polish league, the Ekstraklasa. Their stadium capacity...
, the police had to "intervene and surround the field".On 15 June 1936, the Przegląd Sportowy
Przeglad Sportowy
Przeglad Sportowy is the oldest and largest Polish sports daily, founded in 1921 in Kraków. In 1926 it initiated an annual, popular plebiscite for the Polish Sportspersonality of the Year...
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
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Nazi German occupiers
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
banned all sports. However, "illegal" games were played on regular basis. During one of these matches in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
on 17 October 1943, fans of Cracovia 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.
After a match on 29 September 1947 in Sosnowiec
Sosnowiec
Sosnowiec is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie in southern Poland, near Katowice. It is one of the central districts of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metropolis with a combined population of over two million people located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Brynica river .It is situated in...
, between RKU Sosnowiec and AKS Chorzów
AKS Chorzów
AKS Chorzów is a sports club in based in Chorzów, Poland. It is one of the earliest sports organizations in Upper Silesia and is still well-known nationally for its football and handball teams...
(ethnic rivalry, derby) 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 Chorzów 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 Milicja Obywatelska
Milicja Obywatelska
Milicja Obywatelska was a state police institution in the People's Republic of Poland. It was created in 1944 by Soviet-sponsored PKWN, effectively replacing the pre-war police force. In 1990 it was transformed back into Policja....
. Skirmishes broke out, and the Milicja Obywatelska functionaries, 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 Milicjants. Although incidents from the 1920s to the 1960s were numerous, there was no organized hooliganism in Poland.
1970s
There is no official information about football related violence in the 1970s as any incidents that happened were not reported by the Polish mediaMedia in Poland
- Media and politics :Poland has instituted freedom of press since the fall of communism. However, public TV and radio are still politically controlled, via...
which was compliant with the policies of the Communist authorities in the People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
. 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.
The common name for Polish football fans is scarfers (szalikowcy in ). It is unclear when the first scarfers appeared. As the number of scarfers grew, the Polish Football Association
Polish Football Association
The Polish Football Association is the governing body of football in Poland. It organizes the Polish football leagues , the Polish Cup, the Polish SuperCup, the Polish League Cup, and the Polish national football team...
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
Martial law in Poland
Martial law in Poland refers to the period of time from December 13, 1981 to July 22, 1983, when the authoritarian government of the People's Republic of Poland drastically restricted normal life by introducing martial law in an attempt to crush political opposition to it. Thousands of opposition...
and Aleksandrowicz's death.
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
Lechia Gdansk
Lechia Gdańsk is a Polish football club based in Gdańsk, Poland. The club's name comes from Lechia, a poetic name for Poland. The club was founded by people expelled from Lwów, who were supporters of Lechia Lwów. Founded in 1945, Lechia was a powerhouse in Polish football during the mid-1950s...
which dates back to 1977
1977 in sports
1977 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Alpine skiing:* Alpine Skiing World Cup** Men's overall season champion: Ingemar Stenmark, Sweden** Women's overall season champion: Lise-Marie Morerod, Switzerland-American football:...
. Other alliances, such as that between Legia Warsaw and Zagłębie Sosnowiec and that between Polonia Warsaw and Cracovia 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.
1980s
The early 1980s saw a rise in the number of hooligan firms and in the number of hooligans. On 9 May 1980 Legia Warsaw faced Lech PoznańLech Poznan
Lech Poznań is a Polish football club based in Poznań, Poland. The club is named after Lech, the legendary founder of Polish nation.The club was established in 1922 as Lutnia Dębiec, later changing its name several times. From 1933 until 1994, the club was closely linked to Polish State Railways...
in Częstochowa
Czestochowa
Częstochowa is a city in south Poland on the Warta River with 240,027 inhabitants . It has been situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously the capital of Częstochowa Voivodeship...
in the final of the Polish Cup
Polish Cup
The Polish Cup in football or officially Remes Puchar Polski, is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title...
. The match was won by Legia. 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
Polish United Workers' Party
The Polish United Workers' Party was the Communist party which governed the People's Republic of Poland from 1948 to 1989. Ideologically it was based on the theories of Marxism-Leninism.- The Party's Program and Goals :...
concealed all the facts about the incident. Since that game, fans of both sides have regarded each other as enemies.
The first reported incident of football hooliganism by the media happened in 1981
1981 in sports
1981 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Alpine skiing:* Alpine Skiing World Cup –** Men's overall season champion: Phil Mahre, USA** Women's overall season champion: Marie-Theres Nadig, Switzerland-American football:...
during a match between Widzew Łódź 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. 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 reported to have been killed in the 1980s due to football hooliganism.
1990s
In Poland, the 1990s saw a gradual increase in football-related violence and development of the football hooligan subcultureSubculture
In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...
. Hooligan incidents in Poland gained more media attention in the 1990s, at a time when fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
s started to be published, which included details of incidents and what was described as the "Polish hooligan league". From the early 1990s, Polish hooligans were heavily influenced by the skinhead
Skinhead
A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and then spread to other parts of the world. Named for their close-cropped or shaven heads, the first skinheads were greatly influenced by West Indian rude boys and British mods,...
, UK and western hooligans culture. Data from the Komenda Główna Policji
Policja
Policja is the generic name for the police in Poland. The Polish police force was known as policja throughout the Second Polish Republic , and in modern post-communist Republic of Poland since 1990. Its current size is 103.309 officers and ca. 12.000 civilian employees...
(Central Command of the Police) showed a steady increase from 1991 to 1997, although there was then a decrease in the subsequent years. Fights became more organized, and started moving away from the stadiums - Ustawka fight. As the decade progressed, fights would be organised by mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
and over the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. The 1990s saw a rise in the number of hooligan firms up to about 70 or 80.
Sometimes hooligans would join forces to attack the police, as happened during a World Cup
1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Listed below are the dates and results for the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the European zone . For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification....
qualifying match between Poland
Poland national football team
The Poland national football team represents Poland in association football and is controlled by the Polish Football Association, the governing body for football in Poland...
and England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
on 29 May 1993 in Chorzów
Chorzów
Chorzów is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central districts of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metropolis with a population of 2 million...
. Feuding between Polish hooligans escalated when, before the match, hool's from Cracovia, stabbed a Pogoń Szczecin
Pogon Szczecin
MKS Pogoń Szczecin is a Polish professional football club, based in Szczecin, Poland. The club was founded by Poles from Lwów , who had been transferred west after the Soviet annexation of Poland's eastern territories in 1945. The founders of Pogoń Szczecin had previously been supporters of Pogoń...
fan to death. Polish hooligans from Lechia Gdańsk
Lechia Gdansk
Lechia Gdańsk is a Polish football club based in Gdańsk, Poland. The club's name comes from Lechia, a poetic name for Poland. The club was founded by people expelled from Lwów, who were supporters of Lechia Lwów. Founded in 1945, Lechia was a powerhouse in Polish football during the mid-1950s...
, Katowice
GKS Katowice
GKS Katowice is a Polish football club based in Katowice, Poland. The club currently plays in the Polish First League.-History:In 1963 in Katowice a special organizational committee was called with the purpose of uniting all the clubs and sporting organizations of city into one large club which...
and Legia Warszawa fought each other before, during and after the match. Other hooligan disturbances followed the Polish national team, with incidents in Zabrze
Zabrze
Zabrze is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The west district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union is a metropolis with a population of around 2 million...
in 1994, and abroad in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
in 1992 and Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
in 1995.
Also in the 1990s, Polish hooligan violence spread through the lower leagues and into more urban areas of the country. In May 1997, fans of Fourth Division club, Sandecja Nowy Sącz
Sandecja Nowy Sacz
Sandecja Nowy Sącz is a Polish association football club formed in 1910, its first chairman was Józef Damse. Up to 1997 Sandecja stadium's name was XXV years of PRL. In 1998 it was renamed in honor of Father Władysław Augustynek...
clashed with the Policja, and 54 fans were detained.
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 meadows, rural terains, far from city centers and cops. In December 2005 a huge organised fight took place in a forest outside FrankfurtFrankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
between Polish and German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
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
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
which was to be held in Germany the next year.
In 3 May 2004 Ruch Chorzów was playing a match with ŁKS, arch-rival of Widzew which hool's have friendship with Ruch firm Psycho Fans. Planned riots erupted in halftime. A lot of fans of three clubs were injured also policemen (55 hospitalized), 12 police cars were devastated. Despite the capture of many hool's (over 100) Policja are still looking for participants in brawl. That was a gigant brawl.
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.
Football violence is still present even in city centres. In May 2006 over 50 police functionaries 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 cannon
Water cannon
A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-pressure stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of metres / hundreds of feet. They are used in firefighting and riot control. Most water cannon fall under the category of a fire...
s to contain the hooligans.
Before the 2006 World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
in Germany, German authorities and the European media were concerned that Polish hooligans would try to disrupt the tournament. Reports stated that Polish hooligans were ready to do battle with fans from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and other countries in Germany. However, no major incidents were reported, with isolated clashes taking place such as drunken German and Polish fans clashing in Dortmund
Dortmund
Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....
resulting in 300 arrests, half of whom were Polish.
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. A match between local Warsaw rivals, Polonia Warszawa
Polonia Warszawa
Polonia Warsaw is a Polish sports club with football and basketball teams, founded in 1911, and is the oldest such club in Warsaw, where it is based.- History :...
and Legia in April 2006 saw over 1,300 riot police, armed with CS gas
CS gas
2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile is the defining component of a "tear gas" commonly referred to as CS gas, which is used as a riot control agent...
and rifles with rubber bullet
Rubber bullet
Rubber bullets are rubber or rubber-coated projectiles that can be fired from either standard firearms or dedicated riot guns. They are intended to be a non-lethal alternative to metal projectiles...
s 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. A common feature of Polish hooligans is also ambushing rival fans then stealing their scarves and flags, before tying them to railings in the stadium and set on fire.
In July 2007, UEFA
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....
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
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
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
Mounted police
Mounted police are police who patrol on horseback or camelback. They continue to serve in remote areas and in metropolitan areas where their day-to-day function may be picturesque or ceremonial, but they are also employed in crowd control because of their mobile mass and height advantage and...
, tear gas and baton charge
Baton charge
A baton charge is a coordinated tactic for dispersing crowds of people, usually used by police or military during public order situations. In certain countries, police are not authorised to use the tactic unless no other means can be practiced....
s 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.
In September 2007, Wisła Kraków hooligans killed a Korona Kielce
Korona Kielce
Korona Kielce, , is a Polish football club, currently playing in the Ekstraklasa. In the years 2002-2008 Club belonged to Polish holding company Kolporter Holding and achieved its greatest success - in 2005, winning promotion to the first division...
fan in Kielce
Kielce
Kielce ) is a city in central Poland with 204,891 inhabitants . It is also the capital city of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship since 1999, previously in Kielce Voivodeship...
. The Korona Kielce firm had been allied with Cracovia at the time.
See also
- List of hooligan firms
- Wrocław football riot 2003
- Słupsk street riots 1998