Zaglebie Lubin v Widzew Lodz

Posted on November 14, 2023

Date: 11 November 2023 / League: Polish top tier

Final Score: 1-1 / Attendance: 7,619

Experience

If you’re travelling to Poland for football you need to think smart – more often than not, Brits have seen pictures of the pyro and watched a documentary by Ross Kemp and assume that every match played out here is some loony kind of bloodbath. Maybe twenty-years back they’d have been right, but times have definitely changed.

Being choosy is essential to your enjoyment of the Polish experience – with a bit of background research, you’re going to have a cracking old time. Playing inside a plastic orange toy box, that’s definitely the case with Zaglebie Lubin. Quite often entertaining crowds of around five thousand, for the right games this arena transforms into a seething volcano. In my six or so trips here, I’ve never come away anything but glowing.

Again, that was the case on Saturday. With their ultras – the Orange City Boys – celebrating their 20^th anniversary of formation, and the match falling on Poland’s Independence Day, this was always guaranteed to be a night to remember. And so it proved.

Kicking off in front of a bumper crowd of over 7,000, Widzew’s following were the ones that got things started with a patriotic show featuring the red and white colours of Poland. Lively as this corner of the ground was, all eyes were on the home end – making three flag drops over the course of the game, the highlight was without doubt a creative banner depicting a group of masked fans hauled in front of the court to answer to the police, the Polish FA and the regional authorities.

Complemented by bursts of red flares and orange smoke, this was a night to make the hair stand on end. Modern football grounds might well be rubbish, but when they’re filled with these kind of fans then your enjoyment is guaranteed.

Of course, I’ve got a hell of a lot more to same, but my time is tighter than ever and my pint awaits! For more background gubbins on this stadium, take a butcher’s at some of my previous entries – CLICK ME or CLICK ME!