Poland is a hotbed of very interesting football fan culture, one of the most interesting scenes in europe with many interesting matches and actions every week. Of course the most interesting aspect of football fan culture are derby matches between local rivals, here is a concrete list of Polish derbies:
Legia Warsaw – Polonia Warsaw:
City Derby of Warsaw, Legia are one of the best ultras groups’ in europe nevermind only in Poland. Every season they are producing some great shows and they have a huge fan base. Rivals Polonia are a much smaller club but also have allot of history, nowadays they are in the lower divisions but are no doubt Warsaw’s second club in terms of fans/ultras. Last derby between these two teams with both fans was all the way back in 2011.
Wisła Kraków – Cracovia Kraków:
The Holy War as this derby is known as. The two clubs are separated by a park called Błoń. You can easily walk between the two stadiums in 10 minutes. In the city the atmosphere is tense with graffiti of both clubs spread evenly around the city, you will not see any club colours unless you’re at the stadium on match day. There have been several deaths on both sides from hooligan fights over the years, most recent high profile death being in 2011. Derbies at Wisła’s stadium have tended to be more interesting over the years.
Ruch Chorzów – Górnik Zabrze:
Upper Silesian derby between the two biggest clubs of this football rich region. In the last few years this derby has always been played without away fans as Górnik were building their stadium and had a limited capacity. While at Ruch’s stadium Górnik fans are usually banned for whatever reason they can come up with. Last derby with away fans was back in 2012 and there were some riots at the stadium that day. Hatred between the two clubs is really big and several districts are shared between the clubs like Ruda Śląska being a good example, as recent as 2017 a Górnik fan died after being attacked by guys from Ruch in Ruda Śląska. Górnik also have a friendship with GKS Katowice who are also big enemies with Ruch, Katowice is a city shared by both GKS and Ruch fans. We will probably have a few more years to wait to see this derby played again as Ruch are in the 2nd tier and with allot of problems off the field.
Śląsk Wrocław – Zagłębie Lubin:
Regional derby, Lubin and Wrocław are separated by around 40km so its not an inner city derby so to speak. But for both fans this is their match of the season. Śląsk are the much bigger club with more fans, Wrocław is the 4th largest city in Poland and Śląsk has no competition in their city. While Lubin is much smaller with only around 80k population vs 600k+ in Wrocław. Both teams are playing in modern stadiums so some of the old school climate has gone but there was some interesting derbies in recent years also. The first visit of Zagłębie fans to Śląsk’s new stadium in 2012 was very interesting, fans from Lubin brought in 100s of pyrotechnics and made a nice show with some trouble also happening under their sector between both fans.
ŁKS Łódż – Widzew Łódż:
Derby of Łódż is one of the best matches in Poland with a rich history. Unfortunately its been many years since these teams met, until last season but both matches were played without away fans so were not very special. Both clubs have had many hard years and are currently in the 3rd and 4th tier respectively. Both clubs are on the up though with Widzew having a brand new stadium from 2 years ago and ŁKS currently building their own new stadium. The Łódż derby should return in the next few years.
Arka Gdynia – Lechia Gdańsk:
The two clubs of the tricity (Gdańsk, Sopot, Gdynia). Both with allot of fans and good groups. Arka were in the 2nd tier for quite a few years until promotion 2 years ago. October 2016 was the last derby played with both fans. Both fans had nice pyro shows + some trophy burning. The next derbies had to be without fans due to some trouble at the game in Gdynia in 2016 but with both clubs doing reasonably well this derby should be played for many years to come.
Zagłębie Sosnowiec – Ruch Chorzów:
This derby also has the nickname ‘holy war’. Sosnowiec and Chorzów are only around 10km apart. Like so many derbies in Poland these days its been a long time since this derby was played with both sets of supporters. Ruch fans were banned from their game in Sosnowiec in 2016. But the match in 2017 is set to be played at the bigger ‘stadion ślaski’ so if that happens we should see Zagłębie fans at this game also and the true return of a very interesting derby match.
GKS Katowice – Ruch Chorzów:
The upper silesian region is really one of the best in Poland or rather the best. There are so many good clubs with good support and allot of history. GKS and Ruch share the city of Katowice with both fans well represented plus several other cities nearby, fights break out regularly between both sets of fans. After many years these teams played again at GKS’ stadium but Ruch fans were banned so the match wasn’t so exciting. Though with both sides now in the 2nd division the next derby in may 2017 should be one of the best matches of the year providing GKS fans will be in attendance at the match in Chorzów.
Wisłoka Dębica – Igloopol Dębica:
Smaller derby in south-east Poland. Both clubs are in the lower divisions, currently 4th level. Wisłoka fans have a strong friendship with Górnik Zabrze who always support them well at their derbies, while Igloopol has contacts with Ruch Chorzów which gives an another interesting dynamic to this derby given the obvious hatred between Ruch and Górnik. Last derby between these two was played in October 2017, Wisłoka fans officially weren’t at the match at Igloopol stadium but marched together to the ground and supported the team outside the stadium.
Few other derbies worth mentioning without descriptions for now:
Radomiak Radom – Broń Radom
GKS Katowice – Zagłębie Sosnowiec
Piast Gliwice – Górnik Zabrze
Avia Świdnik – Motor Lublin
Korona Kielce – KSZO Ostrowiec
Row Rybnik – GKS Jastrzębie
Górnik Konin – KKS Kalisz
GKS Katowice – GKS Tychy
Górnik Zabrze – Zagłębie Sosnowiec
Resovia Rzeszów – Stal Rzeszów
Zawisza Bydgoszcz – Elana Toruń
GKS Katowice – Polonia Bytom
Górnik Zabrze – GKS Tychy
Zagłębie Lubin – Miedż Legnica
Unia Tarnów – Tarnovia Tarnów
Chrobry Głogów – Zagłębie Lubin
Czuwaj Przemyśl – Polonia Przemyśl
Stal Stalowa Wola – Siarka Tarnobrzeg
Miedż Legnica – Chrobry Głogów
Polonia Bytom – Zagłębie Sosnowiec
Ruch Chorzów – GKS Tychy
BKS Bielsko – Podbeskidzie
Gwardia Koszalin – Gryf Słupsk
Piast Gliwice – GKS Katowice
