Polish bringing back lustre

Miserable supporters
Such memories have kept hopes alive in the nation of 40 million that one day Polish football could be a major force in the world again. And while most recent seasons have ended in disappointment for Polish supporters, there are signs that better results might be expected in the future.

Willing sponsors
Back in that golden age for Polish sides, football was very rich. The coal industry, the police and the army were all happy to use their sizeable budgets under the old communist system to sponsor football, although the process of signing players was somewhat unconventional by western standards.

Communist protocol
With no official professional footballers, players were given token job titles while concentrating entirely on football. Legia Warszawa, for example, built their strength by simply enlisting the best players they could find into the Polish army with their only military duties being to play for the club.

Concentrated talent
The communist system further strengthened the bloodstock of local football by stopping players under the age of 28 from playing abroad, but when the Solidarity movement prompted the collapse of the communist regime in 1989, clubs were not necessarily to benefit from the huge social change.

Gold-rush days
All the traditional sources of funding for football vanished at a stroke, and clubs were left at the whim of new sponsors. In the gold rush days after independence, that meant that many clubs fell into the hands of charismatic nouveau riche investors, many of whom ended up in prison.

Sudden influx
"Communism in Poland may have ended in 1989, but communism in Polish football ended ten years later," said Polish Football Federation (PZPN) director Marcin Stefanski. The reason for that was the sudden influx of television money which encouraged a different attitude among clubs.

Modern deal
In 1998, Canal+ established the first modern TV rights deal in Poland. The money earned from this five-year contract, worth €100m, saved a raft of Polish clubs from bankruptcy, and a modest deal agreed this year - which will run for three years - will provide a further lifeline to clubs.

Business involvement
As sponsors rediscovered the value of football, things have continued to improve. Mobile telecommunications company IDEA now feed money into the game as sponsors of the Ekstraklasa, while the clubs themselves have begun to operate on a much more sensible business plan.

'Work to do'
Inter Groclin Auto magnate Zbigniew Drzymala, the owner of Groclin Grodzisk Wielkopolski, is hopeful for the future, saying: "We have a lot of work to do in Polish sport. I don't think we'll be ready to beat the European giants, but we could find our level in European football. We just have to continue changing the mentality and management of our football."

Professional attitude
Most Ekstraklasa clubs now have powerful financial backers, and the PZPN have mirrored this increasingly businesslike situation with a more serious approach to administration. For example, a recent match-fixing scandal prompted a wholesale overhaul of the Polish refereeing system and the appointment of legendary goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski as head of an ethics commission.

New hope
Once more, Poles are taking their football seriously. And while capitalism is far less indulgent of football than the old communist system, a new, financially-sound Polish football may yet emerge to challenge the world anew.