Date: 24 March 2024 / League: Polish third tier
Final Score: 1-1 / Attendance: 1,100
Experience
Long recognised as a major tourist destination for international weekenders, it’s increasingly common to hear foreign voices at Wisla Krakow and Cracovia. But, in my mind, you haven’t done Krakow until you’ve done the third club in town. For that, step forward Hutnik.
Smuggled away in the city’s easternmost district, the Nowa Huta suburb offers a side to Krakow most don’t get to see. Built in the post-war years as a prototype Socialist Realist project, this Orwellian housing estate was constructed to house those working in the nearby steelworks. Sooty and industrial, it’s far removed from the quaint charms and peeling bells of Krakow’s Old Town.
Of course, this grime and sense of lingering blight make it perfect for some old school football, and old school is exactly what you’ll find at Hutnik Krakow’s Suche Stawy ground.
The name alone deserves attention. Translating to mean ‘Dry Ponds’, it refers to the nearby fishing ponds that were once kept by the Cistercian monks living close by. If that sounds picturesque, then first sight of the stadium soon sets you right. Oval in shape, much is overgrown and long closed to the public. Vast swathes come covered with tarpaulins.
And yet there is a real personality here, character that is emphasized by a retro main stand inside which one will find the Three Lions crest. What the f**k!? Indeed. This though has a reason, you see while other contenders taking part in Euro 2012 chose state-of-the-art facilities to use as their training bases, good old England opted for Hutnik. I would have loved to have seen the likes of Ashley Cole and John Terry walk into the changing room for the first time with their 15k washbags.
This, mind you, is not the first time that the ground has been visited enmasse by the English – in 2009 the world’s oldest club, Sheffield FC, played a friendly here as part of celebrations marking Hutnik Krakow’s 60th birthday.
It’s definitely a ground you’d describe as being ‘gritty and traditional’, but that’s what makes it special. Of the highlights, look out for a monster scoreboard; a wooden shed dealing out sausages; and press facilities set on scaffolds. As raw and rough as it looks, the ground has seen many good times with the side spending much of the 90s in Poland’s top-flight. In fact, they even made an appearance in the UEFA Cup, knocked out by a Monaco side featuring Fabien Barthez, John Collins, Enzo Scifo and Emmanuel Petit.
Times have been tough since. Bankruptcy in 2010 forced them to restart somewhere towards the bottom of the football ladder, but to their credit the club has not died. Neither has its fan scene, something I saw first-hand when I visited in 2018. That time, a memorable 5-3 win over Motor Lublin was overshadowed by incredible pyro shows and support from both sets of supporters. To this day, I rank that day as one of my favourites down Polish football.
Currently playing in the third tier, as things stand they’re not far from the playoffs, and yesterday’s game saw their rivalry with Stal Stalowa Wola resurrected. I’m told it’s been 20-years or so since Stal visited, and while I’ve not had that confirmed there was definitely something in the air when I arrived for the match. Watching Stal enter, I was struck by the number of seven foot monsters that made up their fanbase.
Though the away pen holds more, Stal had been issued with just 100 tickets, meaning that many of their fans found themselves locked outside. This, fortunately, did not impact the atmosphere, and the away side made their presence felt with an impressive smokescreen in the early second half.
As for Hutnik, they too had turned up to make a din. The Ultras main stand has been closed for sometime now, but instead the vocal fans can now be found in a set of temporary stands located even closer to the pitch. Celebrating the club’s 74th birthday, a first-half pyro show at kick-off was then complemented by a main display as the clock hit the 74th minute.
This though was preceded by some antics in the home end. Sparked by a one man suicide mission to reach the Stal fans, the heavy-handed apprehension of the culprit was met with fury from the home supporters. More jumped onto the pitch to confront security, before being quickly despatched back whence they came. With stewards firing tear gas indiscriminately at anyone in their way, for a brief moment events threatened to spiral further before the situation was controlled.
Finishing 1-1, it had been a belting throwback experience made all the better by random spring weather: downpours, hail, fierce gusts and blinding sunshine. Feeling as unpredictable as the atmosphere, the weather rhymed perfectly with the feelings in the stands.
All things considered, a wonderful day, but one stained by the knowledge that this ground is coming to the end of its life. Signing off on plans to move to some sterile plastic box in a few years’ time, it seems that fresh pastures beckon. Sadly, it appears certain that Polish football will lose another treasure as it strives to modernise.
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