You must have long understood Poland has no true football culture either. I mean that people like it and watch, but no significant exclusively Polish school of football thought has ever risen during the last 100 plus years. It is not rooted into the minds of people to understand the mechanics and tactitcs of the game. Players must leave the country to learn.
Im British, living in Poland, Liverpool fan. I have 2 sons, their mother is Polish, so they are half english, half Polish They both support Liverpool, because their father does, but if the Poland national team plays England which happens sometines, they very solidly support Poland. 😊 Great channel, videos by the way .
@@juliangilbert5465your sons will be Poles ,trust me. We assimilated hundred thousands of Germs throutout centuries, not to mention Dutch and Scots. 😊
as a fan of Lech Poznan I am very happy Widzew made it back to Ekstraklasa, because even if we don't like each other it is awesome to play against teams with history and such supporters and community, not some random village clubs.
Polish fan culture is very, very different to English fan culture. So much more intense and passionate. And regimented! Try getting English fans to sing in such a co-ordinated way! :)
@@aidan819 English fan culture was rejected and broken up by the rest of the English public in 80s. I don't think it's fair to blame the fans for that
What the PR guy tried to say is we sell out almost the full stadium (16k/18k) in season tickets and have an online system that allows season ticket holders to free up their place if they know they won't be attending a specific game. That way the club can generate extra revenue, fill the stadium and the more casual fans can have the chance to attend!
Next game to see in Poland is Grand Silesia derby - Górnik vs Ruch, especially at the Silesia stadium. Absolutely must see!!! You really don't wanna miss that game ;-)
For us Poles Żabka is quite a meme, too. It's almost everywhere, they problably will own a whole country someday. And it's great to see that those derby have made such an imperssion on a foreigner, for us in Łódź that match is more important than anything else. As a Widzew fan I'm proud that we won.
I'm really happy that you decided to visit our city and took participation in such wonderful and important match for fans of both clubs from Łódź. Best regards
I really enjoyed this, well done again, Nieve. You have a distinct talent for capturing the local flavor of these teams and their supporters. I end with with a real affection for these places and teams I'd never known of before.
@@bredathc What do you mean 'migrant policy'? You know, Poland let in the most people from outside of EU amongst all of the European countries in the previous 5 years, hehe. Dont fall into "immigrants are always to blame" trap... I mean, just check out the state of UK's economy since brexit, mate. And well, they say that the purchasing power of the Polish salary will actually be higher than the English one in 2030. And you see, its not about some sort of "economic miracle" in Poland, but rather stagnation in UK. Tbh Brexit was the biggest mistake in modern history of UK.
3:07 When you mentioned Bolton Wanderers you reminded me of Euzebiusz (or as we called him - "Ebi") Smolarek who was born in Łódź. He used to play for Bolton for a short time (just 12 matches) and was quite a big star then in Poland as I remember, but I was only 7 or 8 y.o then. Great video :)
Widzew used to be a great club. Widzew won and eliminated from European competitions, for example: Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Juwentus, etc. The players of this club were: Zbigniew Boniek, Józef Młynarczyk, Włodzimierz Smolarek. These were the stars of European football in the 80s.
Great video!! And great respect for the Polish fans and the huge support they give ther team, looked like an amazing atmosphere, probably so much better in real life!
I feel often as football fans we are so fixated with results, points, goals, qualification, relegation, transfers, etc that we forget to stop and appreciate the human connection of football. Thank you Nieve for traveling far and wide to unearth these fantastic footballing stories for us. You make us better football fans.
Finally, an English citizen comes to Poland and doesn't call us barbarians or bandits. Someone who shows truth, reality. Poland is far from ideal. But we are not in the middle ages as west sees us. English peoples remember well times when their football was soaked with evil and hatred. I am Polish and I know perfectly well what Margaret Thatcher did. I don't know if you were in Warsaw, at Legia Warsaw match. I encourage you :) and thank you for your video!
Hey, I hope you enjoed the match, the most important derby match in Poland. And I hope you will remember that Widzew has won 3 out of 4 clashes against English teams during history. Widzew defeated Manchester City, Manchester United & Liverpool, only loose against Ipswich Town. Best regards!
It's very beautyfull, that youre talking about what Polish cities went through in your video, most of the people dont really know what Poland had to suffer thru the years..
7:03 Adding some more context here to the answer. Widzew holds the national record when it comes to the number of season tickets sold - 16401 (16010 for this season). Considering the fact, that the stadium capacity is 18018 this basically means that the club has sold the whole stadium out minus some buffer zones and the away fans' stand. Therefore it is pretty hard to get a normal ticket for the game which, on the other hand, doesn't mean impossible. The season ticket owner can return his place back to the ticket pool for a specific game if he/she wasn't able to attend. If he/she returns it at an early stage, he/she is given a code which can be passed on to someone without a season ticket. Having the code allows to buy a ticket for that place. However, if a specific place is returned very shortly before the game, it just comes back to the pool and "first come first serve" rule applies.
it is worth noting that due to the procedures, the ticket can be returned at the latest when the stadium gates are opened, usually 2 hours before the match. If someone later returns the ticket, it will not be sold anyway
btw. w przypadku kiedy po angielsku mówimy o osobie o niewyspecyfikowanej płci (mamy na myśli fanów zarówno żeńskich jak i męskich) można używać zaimka "they" i bynajmniej nie mamy tu na myśli żadnych niebinarności czy innych dziwactw.
In lieu of the football that you weren't allowed to show, I would have liked to have seen more of the thrilling arm wrestling match from early in your journey. Great video as always, Nieve. Always love to see you show up in my feed.
So as a curiosity, RTS is short for "Robotnicze Towarzystwo Sportowe" (Workers' Sports Association). if I had to compare Lodz to any city in England, I would compare it to Manchester. Łódź, like Manchester, was associated with industry. In the case of Łódź, it was the textile industry.
What an incredible piece, thank you for making it! Funnily enough there are several documentaries made in Poland about different football clubs made in some ways similar to Amazon's football documentary series. One of them shows the adventures of none other than Widzew Łódź, though I don't think you could find this with English subs, sorry. In any case, come often! Polish football supporters rarely disappoint as you witnessed it yourself! :)
Żabka is a rip off. Prices are up to 50% more expensive compare to shops such as Lidl Aldi Kaufland etc. Only thing is that Żabka is opened on Sundays whereas all other shops are closed due to law.
Another great video, so glad I found your channel! Love the way you try to get a feel for what each club you visit means, and your wit always shines through in your videos too 😀
Love this Nieve. I’ve never watched a game in Poland and it looks great. I’m currently doing the 92 and it’s Wycombe Wanderers for me on Saturday! Nice footage of the local fans.
I wrote a comment under the Lech Poznań Wins Polish League video that sounded like "you need to see Widzew Łódź, best atmosphere in Poland". I'm glad you came and I hope you enjoyed your time with us. I hope you will visit us again, all the best.
In 6:15 he says: "Jeszcze raz apeluję o skupienie się na dopingu tylko dla własnej drużyny" - Once again I appeal you to focus on cheering only for your team. Glad you enjoyed the best derby in our country :)
Hey Pegg ❤🤍❤️ Amazing video, hope you enjoyed Łódź. AD I hope you felt the vibration of Heart of Łódź. Love your content. I've been born and raised in that city. Living for 20 years just outside the stadium. Just opposite where the petrol station is 😊😉 Come back and visit us again!
The fans of ŁKS club were not allowed into the match. As for the tickets, in Widzew, many people purchase season tickets and then share their seats for resale since they cannot attend the stadium on that day. Often, it turns out that those who bought the season tickets don't even live in Poland but still continue to support the club.
I think my favourite moment was when you paused to listen to the announcement and after said you had no idea what was said as you don't speak Polish. Priceless wit....
Again! Amazing video! And I think I can speak for most of us when I say we wouldn't be upset if the videos were longer! 😅😂I could easily watch a 20 or even 30 minutes of this!
Cheers, as a Widzew fan since 80' I find it very pleasing to see You witnessing the derby match at our small but atmospheric stadium. This time without ŁKS fans - thanks to that stadium's infrastructure wasn't destroyed again. As for the pyro display - I must honestly say the one at Stockholm's derby was more impressive. Another remark - ŁKS fans are dumb as a barn door - You could have witnessed this with the taxi driver - so-called football fan not knowing Boltow Wanderers football team.;-)
The cuteness coming from the way you saying "I love Żabka" is melting my hearth ;D BTW, I was in the middle of this pyro show, you had to cover your face with the scarf as it's hard to breath and look around you otherwise sparks might damage your clothes or even get to the eye.
My mother’s side of the family emigrated from Łódź to Philadelphia around 1905. I’ve never been but I want to go someday. Thank you for highlighting this derby…I wonder which side I’ll end up choosing!
Saw Widzew Łódź in the first round of the UEFA Cup in September 1977 when they played my team(Manchester City 🩵). 2-2 at Maine Road and 0-0 in the return leg so Łódź went through on away goals. The great Zbigniew Boniek was playing for Łódź at the time.
Boniek is one of the greatest legends of our club and one of the best players in the history of Polish football. Greetings from Łódź, from a Widzew fan!
You should definitely make a film about the Krakow derby. The oldest Derby in the history of Poland (holy war). But when will Wisła be promoted to the Ekstraklasa. Cracovia and Wisła, the oldest clubs in Poland. (1906). Both stadiums are within walking distance (15 minutes)
A'reyt Nieve. Great to see you on your travels again. I was rather expecting Sydney, so this was different. Certainly a video with flare. Imagine this at Bury?
Great atmosphere in Lodz, people live football and that's great. 15.09 are Silesia's big derby and I recommend to see this match. Watching it, you can see what football is for people from Silesia and how they cheer there. Regards.
Hope you enjoyed it here in Łódź 🔴⚪️🔴, i definitely reccomend to go see the Grand Silesia derby in march when it is at the Silesia stadium (55k seats) in Chorzów as it will be the first one at top flight level for 6 years. I will definitely be making an apperance there
You should go to see Sogndal, a team now in the second division from a picturesque little town of roughly 10 000 people in the Norwegian fjords. The team is kind of the Norwegian version of Eibar, punching above their weight and producing a steady number of great players through the years, like Tore Andre Flo, Eirik Bakke, Håvard Flo, Akor Jerome Adams (who just signed for Montpellier and featured in the team of the week) and a total of 7 players from the Flo family through the years. The club is the pride of the region, from an often neglected part of the country and there is a curious link between the club, the Western University of Norway and ambitious local businessmen.
I was once walking down the streets of Lodz (in winter) and was wearing my Sydney Swans hat when I had a guy walk in front of me and asked if I was from Australia - sure, was my response. The guy played for Widzew Lodz.
Wow! I can’t believe my favourite football youtube was at a match of MY club especially a Łodż Derby! AMAZING ATMOSPHERE!! WIDZEEEEW WIDZEW KOCHAM CIE ❤️🤍❤️
Try to make a Ruch Chorzow game next. They're playing back in the Silesian stadium from the end of autumn. Ruch v Legia, Ruch v Gornik Zabrze, Ruch v Widzew, Ruch v LKS, Ruch v Lech Poznan. All of those will be great to see.
Brilliant! The Widzew - ŁKS rivalry basically stems from the clubs being from two different parts of the city? I would love to go to a Widzew game, but they sell out every week and maybe could do with expanding the stadium to double its current 18,000 capacity. It’s difficult for foreigners to get tickets to watch them? Need another Polish football trip at some point in the future (suggestions of clubs/cities are welcome!)
Have to admit I put off watching your videos for a long time because the thumbnails threw me off, expecting a RU-vidr to make it more about her than the football. I was wrong: it's really nice put together, informative, with a great sense of humor and pleasantly surprised by your (not so typical) choice of music too. Well done!
