Rival history – Cracovia
Cracovia is the oldest continuously existing Polish sports club. The popular “Stripes” are thought to have started in 1906, when the club’s first name was the Academic Football Club. Before the start of World War I, the Cracovia team played its matches mainly against teams from Galicia and Austria-Hungary.
An interesting encounter took place in 1911, when the “Stripes” played a match
an interesting meeting took place in 1911, when the “Stripes” played a match against the Austro-Hungarian team, which at the time was regarded as the best team in Europe
in Europe. Despite a 3:6 defeat, the attitude of the players from Cracovia earned them the elite title of the Austrian first-class team of the time. In 1913 Cracovia won the Galician championship. The club from Kraków also became the first ever triumpher of the Polish Championship competition. This was done in 1921 to be precise, with the Cracovia team then ahead of Polonia Warszawa, Warta Poznań, Pogoń Lwów and ŁKS Łódź. In the inter-war period, the strip reached the championship title three more times. After the war, they managed to repeat that success in 1948. The following years were marked by many relegations and then promotions. There was a lack of stability at the club to build on. The first relegation from the top flight took place in 1954. The 1970-71 season, however, saw the first relegation to the third tier of the competition. The big problem of the 1980s and 1990s was above all the lack of finances. In 1997, the club was transformed into a joint-stock sports company, but this did not bring many positive results. The club was saved from bankruptcy by the fans.
It was they, united in the “Group of 100” at the beginning of the XXl century, who led to the appearance of a sponsor – the Comarch company. From that moment on, faith in further successes returned to the club. Already in 2004 there was a return of Cracovia to the league (then Ekstraklasa). After their return, the team reached the podium a few times, but never once ended the season with a medal.
In the 2011/12 season, however, the club in Krakow suffered relegation from the Ekstraklasa. Quite quickly, after just one season, the charges of the then coach, Wojciech Stawowy, re-entered the highest competition level in Poland.
After a very good 2015/16 season, Jacek Zieliński’s charges finished the games
in 4th place, which gave them the right to play in the Europa League qualifiers. The debut of
in the qualifiers for European cups Cracovia cannot count as a success, as already in the first round the Cracovians had to say goodbye to the competition after a two-match
with a team from Macedonia. The “Pasy” team finished the Ekstraklasa season in the last place giving them the right to stay. This situation convinced the club’s owners to appoint Michał Probierz as the new coach. It was under his leadership that the Belts enjoyed their greatest successes in recent years, of course, the winning of the 2020. Polish Cup and Polish Super Cup. Currently, the team is again led by Jacek Zieliński, who replaced Michał Probierz in this position. The team is characterised by great efficiency in fast attacks and a very good defence – the best in the league in terms of statistics. Cracovia has many talented players with great quality in their ranks, such as Virgil Ghtia, Michal Rakoczy and Karol Niemczycki.
An extremely difficult and important match awaits us on Friday, as Cracovia are our direct neighbours in the PKO BP Ekstraklasa table.
