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Cracovia Krakow

 Cracovia (or KS Cracovia, FC Cracovia) is the oldest existing football club in Poland. Formed some 100 years ago, less than a year before Wisla Krakow, it is certainly a big part of Polish football history. Although not as successful nowadays as its local rival, Cracovia maintains quite a good level and is usually in the top ten of the Polish league. This of course is far from the early successes of the club, which was the first Polish football champion in 1921 and has a long tradition of being one of Poland's best.

Cracovia's History

Although unofficial football teams, from which Cracovia and Wisla derive, existed in Krakow since the 1890s, and so did Cracovia sports club. The football section was formed a few years later, when Henryk Jordan, the founder of the Cracovia sports club, organized a football tournament, inviting professional teams from Lviv to play with local amateurs from Krakow. One of the teams, playing in red-and-white, striped jerseys, has later chosen the Latin word for Krakow – Cracovia – for its name.

The red-and-white stripes remained Cracovia's outfit throughout its history, and is often referred to as “Pasy” (The Stripes), as opposed to the White Star (Biala Gwiazda) – Wisla Krakow.

Initial successes – including being the champions of Poland for many years – ended with World War II. In the 60s and 70s Cracovia struggled to regain its power, but with little success. In the 1990s the club had severe financial problems, and it certainly did not help to improve results. Cracovia's problems were solved a few years ago thanks to its fans that fought to find a sponsor – and since 2004 Cracovia is back on high places in the Polish league.

Cracovia's Traditions

Cracovia is also known for its traditions, like the New Year's Training – an annual match between the first and the second Cracovia teams, started in the 1920s. According to one of the stories about the roots of this custom, it was established when in 1924 some of Cracovia's players decided to play a little ball on the stadium when coming back from a New Year's party. Traditionally, the first kick of the match is taken by the Krakow President.

Karol Wojtyla, the later pope John Paul II, was also a huge fan of Cracovia, when he lived in Cracow. He never forgot about his team, and often asked about their progress. In 2005, being 80 years old, he granted an audience to the Cracovia players and the staff, and ended it with the words “Cracovia Rules”.

The Stadium of FC Cracovia

The Cracovia stadium is on 1 Kaluzy Street near the Blonia Commons. It's much smaller than the Wisla stadium, and parts of it are being renovated, so it can be used as a training ground during the Euro 2012. To get to the stadium you need to take any of the buses or trams to the Cracovia stop.