You only have a hundredth birthday once. This was the assumption made by Lech Poznań while preparing for the celebration of the round jubilee of its foundation. Last Saturday, we personally found out that the match between Kolejorz and Jagiellonia Białystok was important not only from a sports point of view.
According to data from 2020, there are approximately 4,400 centenarians in Poland, which is a tiny percentage of the entire population. In the case of football clubs, this percentage is spread a little more impressively. In Ekstraklasa, there are currently nine with such a large pedigree: Cracovia, Wisła, Radomiak, Warta, Raków, Legia, Jagiellonia, and two bands celebrating their centenary this year – Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza (although, of course, it has been operating under its current name for a much shorter period of time). ) and just Lech Poznań.
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Fans in the capital of Wielkopolska previously complained about the lack of the atmosphere of the century in this season so important for the club. However, the very preparations for the jubilee meeting with Jagiellonia could indicate that on March 19 the club will more than catch up with the birthday. If someone did not feel the uniqueness of Saturday’s meeting at Bułgarska Street, they will probably not be able to convince them in any way. The game of the 26th round of PKO BP Ekstraklasa was a real football celebration.
You won’t meet the controllers
I start this birthday day near the Starołęka roundabout in the south-eastern part of the city. About two hours to the game. At the stop, there is already a large group of fans dressed in blue and white scarves and other accessories. Among them is, for example, Andrzej, born in 58. I know that, because on the match jersey of “Kolejorz” from two seasons ago, there is an interesting stylized… exact date of birth (with day and month) in the form of a number. Feel that he is already an experienced fan, because he does not get on the first tram. Contrary to the rest of the faith (that is, in Poznań people) gathered around him. They are getting impatient, they get on the tram no. 13, although it will go to the stadium around the city. However, this is not important to them – the key is simply to get to Bulgarian.
I want to tell Andrzej about his attachment to the club colors and a rather interesting name and number composition on his jersey, but right after the departure of the “thirteen”, the “number one” appears on the tracks, which – as I thought – is already quite crowded. It does not surprise me, as there is now only an hour and a half to the first whistle, and the club advised to be at the stadium earlier that day. Few of the fans have won their PEKI (Poznań Electronic Agglomeration Card). Perhaps most of them just have season tickets. It is possible, however, that they use the goodness of an unwritten rule that we will not usually see the controllers in the trams leading to the stadium on the match day – and certainly not those trying to perform their official duties.
There are debates between passengers on various topics. Someone complains about another increase in the price of butter, someone else recalls how once in Poznań there were three clubs in the highest league. Of course, there are also stories related to the legendary matches for “Kolejorz” fans, during which they had the opportunity to cheer Lech on in the past. You can hear the characteristic click of a can opening. Having a beer while traveling to the stadium is not unusual. Importantly, everything is accompanied by full culture. No one is drunk, no one is behaving inappropriately.
Sweet on the tram
We get to the Głogowska / Hetmańska intersection, which means we are more or less halfway there. Not far from here, in August 1920, in the then village of Dębiec near Poznań, which is today one of the districts of Poznań, a complex called Lutnia Dębiec was established. Originally, this date was celebrated by the team’s fans on the occasion of various anniversaries. Only years later it was accepted that the club celebrates its birthday in March, and it is related to the party this month, but in 1922, to the Poznań Regional Football Association.
The day before the game, a beautiful racetrack was prepared on the premises of the old, no longer existing Lech stadium in Dębiec – similar events took place also in other places in Poznań, including the Municipal Stadium. The pyrotechnic show, although beautiful, turned out to be troublesome for some of the city’s inhabitants. They indicated disturbing the night silence or quite unfortunate circumstances related to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The fans, however, denied these accusations, saying that one weekend of joy related to the birthday of their beloved club was the right reason for this. And the scuffles took place mainly on the Internet and it’s hard to find a suitable solution.
It is also in the vicinity of the intersection of Głogowska and Hetmańska in bimba (the dialect for a tram) that the first songs of Poznań fanatics appear. You can hear the characteristic “In the city of Przemysław …”, there are single outbursts aimed at finding out who will win the match. – We move, we move, we have a cake for the century – he sounds jokingly from the lips of a group of fans who are trying to get to the tram at the next stop, when it is already so crowded that there is nowhere to put a pin. Feel that the record attendance this season will fall on Bulgarska Street this day.
Fans like faithful
Getting off the tram takes a long time that day. The whole process is a bit like taxiing an airplane over an airport – each vehicle has to wait for its turn. When I finally manage to get some fresh air, I am immediately struck by the enormity of the crowd shuffling around the stadium. In the times after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, there have probably not been so many people in one place in Poznań at the same time. The lasers that project on the membrane (this one, unfortunately, due to its purity cannot make an impression) of the stadium, are also impressive, including the club’s nickname, “Kolejorz”, stylized as “Kole100rz”.
Under such an inscription, but in the form of a standing and illuminated spatial installation, I see not only bustling fans who want to take a “selfie” with it, but also a group of filmmakers. – Feel the atmosphere of a great football spectacle! – a character who turns out to be my colleague from the weekly ball kicking, Piotr Czarnota, throws at me with a smile. He is standing with Michał Wiraszko, the singer of the band “Muchy”, which five years ago together with Adam Brzozowski recorded the song “You are not going alone” on the occasion of Lech’s 95th birthday. They are shooting a new version of the music video for this song at the stadium.
– We will try to create a collective portrait of all people emotionally connected with “Kolejorz”. Its effect is to be a video in which the main role is played by those without whom no club exists, that is fans, because, as the saying goes: “a church is not a building, but the faithful.” In my mind, this clip is a cultural bridge unifying the inhabitants of Poznań, around the hundredth anniversary of its sports symbol and shows its fans from all age, social and professional groups of our city – Michał wrote on Friday on his Facebook.
Only a multi-year vision
There are crowds under the locomotive in front of the stadium. The “forest”, where you can satisfy your thirst before the meetings, is also teeming with fans dressed in blue or white – depending on whether someone will sit on the upper or lower part of the stands that day. Two fans complain about the aforementioned membrane, one of them believes that it was a mistake not to use a la Allianz Arena solution on the municipal facility, which would allow for more effective visualizations on the facade of the stadium and, above all, let more light onto the pitch.
– Just a long-term vision, not a short-term spurt. See how Józef Wojciechowski’s Polonia Warsaw ended – falls from the mouth of another group of fans. Lech fans perfectly remember how at some point after the club fell into the hands of the Rutkowski family, they were choked with successes. This is where Lech later had to tighten his belt, but now it is one of the best-run clubs in Poland. His academy produces more representatives of the country, and “Kolejorz” breaks new transfer records.
Fans in Poznań, however, are waiting above all for trophies. It is a very demanding audience whose appetite has not been satisfied for years. The club showcase has been empty since 2016, when Lech won the Polish Super Cup. He won the last championship a season earlier. This is why Kacper, one of the fans, when asked by the TV crew about what he wishes for “Duma Wielkopolski” on his birthday, answers quite briefly – a double.
The biggest concert in Poland
I check in at the stadium quite early, by my standards, more than half an hour before the first whistle. From the powerful speakers sounds an unusual, a bit more old school than usual playlist. A strong musical accent is also present just before the meeting begins. Liber comes to the pitch, performing another anniversary piece by Lech from the past – “Czystą gra” – written for the 85th anniversary. So far, the biggest concert in the history of Polish rap was the one from last year, at which Mata performed in front of 40,000 people at the Warsaw Bemowo airport. There are statements on Twitter that Liber has probably beaten his young colleague.
Others laugh that retro is not only the costumes of both teams – both Lech and Jagiellonia players come to this match in costumes stylized to those from the past – but also play them in the first half. Indeed, it is quite discreet. The hosts are trying to control the game, but it seems as if Maciej Skorża’s players are playing on the handbrake. It is not a surprise anyway, because just in recent years, when a full or almost a set of spectators checked in at Bułgarska Street, we usually witnessed colorless meetings.
– Maybe there were 20 times fewer people in Lubin, but the game was proportionally better than the one here – I throw in the break in the press stand, remembering about my quite successful visit the day before in Lower Silesia, where Warta Poznań defeated Zagłębie Lubin 4-0. Much more interesting than the finished half is the announcement of “Golden XI”, which goes, among others, Bartosz Bosacki or Robert Lewandowski, who was absent from this match due to the Bayern meeting. The biggest applause is still evoked by … Mirosław Okoński, one of the greatest legends in the history of “Kolejorz”, who, as one of the few, was forgiven in Poznań for even a temporary (and in a way forced) marriage with the Warsaw Legia.
Birthday gift
When some of the fans are still queuing to eat out, everything changes on the pitch almost at the very beginning of the second part of the match. Not even two minutes pass from the whistle of judge Paweł Raczkowski, and Lech hits the net for the first time that evening. Following Joel Pereira’s cross, Jesper Karlstroem tosses the ball to Mikael Ishak as the hosts’ captain effortlessly defeats Zlatan Alomerovic.
In the 53rd minute it is already 2-0, and this time the goal is scored after a double action by Jakub Kamiński and Joao Amaral, who was introduced during the break. The entry of the Portuguese on the pitch is one of the key decisions of coach Maciej Skorża in the context of the fate of this match. The 30-year-old also scores with the third goal for the hosts. Its author, however, is another substitute in this match, Dawid Kownacki.
“Kowno” scores his third goal for Lech just over a minute after checking in on the pitch. He enters them together with another pupil of “Duma Wielkopolski”, Tomasz Kędziora, for whom this is the first meeting since his return to Poznań. A return that would not have happened so soon, had it not been for Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the loan from Dynamo Kyiv.
“Kendi” has a huge support from the tribunes who chant his name and surname, and you really deserve on Bulgarianska street. The fans on this day also honor the true club legend of Eugeniusz Głoziński, i.e. Mr. Genia, a former footballer who died in 2020 and a long-term employee of the club, who appears on a huge sector show. Later, of course, there is also the obligatory pyrotechnic show. The whole process is accompanied by appropriate banners, which together create probably the most important message on such a special day for Lech:
“Kolejorz, we wish you … Trophies, faithful football fans, real Lechites … and a lot of fun”
And that’s probably what every birthday should be about!
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