16 Czechoslovakians: #12 Piast Gliwice
Okay, so this one is neither Czech nor Slovakian, but a weekend jaunt to Katowice allowed us to take in something a little different on football’s long awaited return to this corner of the globe. Besides, this blog is about exploring all kinds of grounds from my wonderfully located host city of Brno, so expect some ventures through Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Slovakia, Germany, and countless others in 2023.
I’d had a
pretty good start to the year in fairness, with the small matter of Stevenage
seeing off Aston Villa as if they were a poor man’s Woking, but football
returning to its weekly re-occurrence was certainly welcome. That said, I’m
still not entirely convinced Villa away actually happened.
Temperatures were expected to be around -2 degrees (at best), which meant wrapping up warm was the order of the day for most of the weekend, though nowhere more so than Piast Gliwice’s delightful ground, Stadion Miejski. It actually bore a resemblance to its near namesake the Madejski, though it would be fair to say the atmosphere was considerably more raucous in Gliwice.
The game was a bit of a relegation six-pointer between Piast Gliwice and Jagellionia Bialystok, whose boisterous fans in attire resembling Partick Thistle had travelled some distance from near the Belarussian border. Piast sat concerningly in the bottom three, one point from safety, where Jagellionia occupied 13th, though only two from the drop zone.
It was a
cagey first half, with neither team looking to take a risk – perhaps
understandably so. Jagellionia opened the scoring with a gorgeous strike
courtesy of Wojcech Laski, but Piast only took seven minutes to make it honours
even through Kamil Wilczek. In truth, Piast had countless chances to win it,
hitting the post on two occasions from point blank range. It wasn’t to be
anyone’s day, however, as it fizzled out to a 1-1 draw.
All that
said, the atmosphere is among the best I’ve experienced anywhere, with both
sets of ultras occupying either end and making an unbelievable racket in the
process. Polish football may not be the highest standard, but try telling that
to the Piast or Jagellionia fans who would not stop all game.
To my
knowledge, Tom Hateley’s brief cameo for Piast Gliwice also marks the first
instance of seeing an English player abroad – a fantastic landmark I’m sure
you’ll agree…
As for the
weekend itself, Katowice sprung a few surprises and was definitely worth the
visit. There are a lot of fantastic craft bars, featuring beers with pineapple,
coffee and even oregano. If you want a pint that tastes like pizza, give
Katowice a go. For a first venture into Poland, it was excellent.
That said, Gliwice didn’t have a great deal beyond the Carrefour and the stadium, though perhaps there is more to see toward the Old Town, where regrettably we’d lacked the time to properly explore. It had good transport links from its station, which led me to believe it to be some kind of Polish version of Crewe (disclaimer: I actually like Crewe, but this is a good analogy).
Who are
ya?
As we make
our first foray into Poland (apart from a brief ten minute train journey
through Poland, and a flight back from Katowice for that Villa game), it would
be remiss not to delve into the history of this fascinating Upper Silesian
club.
Based in the
city of Gliwice, the westernmost point of the Upper Silesian metropolis, Piastunki
(or the Custodians) are a fascinating club with a remarkable history in the Polish
game and beyond. Formed in June 1945 by Poles who’d been forced to leave due to
Soviet post-war policy. The Piast
in their name refers to the Piast dynasty – rulers of Poland from the 10th
Century until 1370.
The club
did, however, undergo numerous name changes, merging with various local sides
and taking on monikers such as Metal Piast Gliwice (a fantastic band name
surely), Stal Gliwice, and finally GKS Piast Gliwice following a merger with
GKS Gliwice, who themselves were the fusion of three clubs already. That said,
the name has changed another ten times before becoming GKS Piast Gliwice again
in 1996.
They’ve
spent the majority of their existence in the second tier, though they still
managed a couple of Polish Cup finals in 1978 and 1983 – unfortunately they
came up short in both matches.
The 1990s
saw things get particularly tumultuous, as financial difficulties forced them
to rebuild from the 7th tier, which they did a pretty good job of
considering they’d achieved four successive promotions from 1997 to 2001. It
didn’t take long for their promotion to the second tier either, which happened
in 2003.
The big time
wouldn’t be far from the horizon either, with promotion gained in 2008. That said,
relegation would follow in 2010, though 2021 would see Piast become champions
of the second tier, regaining their place in the top flight. It would be fair
to say the last few years have been pretty special for the Upper Silesian side
too.
They
finished as runners-up in 2016, though they hadn’t peaked just yet. They won
the league as recently as 2019, despite being seven points behind Lechia Gdansk
and Legia Warsaw before the split of the league.
As a result
of this success in the last decade, the club has had some flirtation with Europe,
though very little in terms of success. They are yet to venture beyond the
Europa League Third Qualifying Round, losing to the likes of Qarabag (2013-14),
IFK Goteborg (2016-17), BATE Borisov (a club they share a friendship with
incidentally) and Riga FC (both in 2019-20), and Copenhagen (2020-21).
Despite a
solid 5th placed finish last season, things are looking bleak for
Piast, as they occupy one of the relegation spots. A win against Jagiellionia,
who are directly above them in 15th, would have really eased the
pressure. They are, however, only two points adrift, with some big games on the
horizon for their survival bid.
Next week:
This weekend will see a return to Zbrojovka Brno to watch them host league leaders Viktoria Plzen. The blog, however, will focus on Slovacko v Sigma Olomouc in the city of Uherske Radiste.
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