The Football Club Run By Hooligans 

Błaszczykowski is a warrior, who overcame personal tragedy to not only become a global star with plenty of accolades, but also save an entire Football institution for his nation. The man deserves a bloody statue.

As a polish person myself i must say that błaszczykowski saving wisła kraków is one of the most inspiring things to ever happen in polish football

I stayed in Krakow for a month due to a business trip. I was told beforehand to check for which streets belong to which club and be prepared for whatever, especially at night. Luckily i was not in any situation of this kind during my stay. I even went to both clubs home matches, unmatched atmosphere. An incredibly beautiful city overall.

U know how everyone memes London for knives and stabbing? In Poland we meme Krakow for machetes.

Wish Alfie could do more of these deep dives into lesser known clubs and crazy stories. Or videos that are longer so he can do more in depth like “Down The Rabbit Hole” or Internet Historian

"One of most famous victories of Polish European football" in Poland no one thinks about this game in this way since it was just a consolation and everybody knew it was a meaningless game from the start. Most memorable victories by Wisla came in games against Schalke & Parma in UEFA Cup

unless you’ve done a degree where you write a lot of essays i think some people might miss the fact Alfie writes a full blown essay multiple times a week. the devil works hard but Alfie works harder

I can't belive we have video about Wisła Kraków! Błaszczykowski would be proud xD Wisła is not simply run by hooligans, it's run by drugs mafia...

Hey Alfie, could you do a video about how the South African Premier Soccer League’s teams have had their top flight status bought out by other lower teams. It’s a pretty interesting topic and it isn’t really well known in Europe. For example teams like Bidvest Wits.

Imagine losing to Wisla Krakow and Numancia in your first three games, this manager will never succeed. 😂

What I get from this is the Freddos are now so expensive that even royalty cannot afford them.

Do a documentary on Larne FC, a tiny Northern Irish club run by businessmen worth over £100 million.

bruh why this man alfie so good at making documentary/podcast research videos, literally some of the most high quality and well researched football videos on yt 100%

I remember being in Krakow on a schooltrip for the last round of the ekstraklasa 2011/12 with Slask Wroclaw winning the title at Wisla's Stadium. But Wisla and Slask supporters are friends so it was just a big party on the streets that evening. No murders. I shared vodka with a couple of Slask fans and got some stickers. Good times :)

Polish football is material for at least 10 such materials.

This video presents every single issue of polish football, probably that's why I don't watch ekstraklasa and focous on Bundesliga and Premier League

What a brilliant video Alfie. I was not aware of the club's struggle and my respect for Jakub Błaszczykowski has increased. Please do more videos like this one. Loved it. An incredible tale

Oh my god! I did not expect you talking about Polish football. Thank you for talking about it 😁👍 Also for a person who doesn’t know polish, you actually pronounced the names right, especially Ekstraklasa.

Dang, that’s a whole lot of craziness surrounding one club! Thanks for the entertaining and informative vid Alfie.

Fun fact: Mysterious Cambodian businessman's name "Vanna Ly" sounds eerily similar to "Wanna lie" especially if you pronounce it with Polish accent. Also: I really admire the fact that you tried to explain antisemitism in Polish football hooliganism. It's really stupid and complicated matter at the same time, very hard to understand for anyone who is not Polish. Respect!

Alifie: sit back, relax Football hipster: ohh trust me I am just perfect

Another brilliant, well researched video. Thanks Alfie!

Thanks for spreading the story in such a great vid! Keep up the good work! Cheers from Poland 🇵🇱

I love these kinds of videos. Thanks, Alfie.

It’s so good to see yours documentary about my home town club.

The “gay” insult analogy was top notch journalism. Absolutely incredible stuff again, Alfie!

fun thing about Wisla hooligans - at some point hooligan war in Poland was so bad that they were caught with fuckin RPG on train (yep, real damn RPG) in late 90's/early 2000 (can't remember exact year). I'm from Wroclaw so our holligans were in alliance with Wisla for number of years (Poland had few alliances back then, Slask Wroclaw-Wisla-Lechia Gdansk was one of them) so our matches were pretty friendly (and I was a kid so most of stories were told to me by others ;) ) but late 90's and early 2000's were damn nuts there. Example - battle of Wroclaw (2003 Wroclaw footbal riot) where we had like 200 people jailed, 1 deaths after huge battle in middle of the goddamn city (my friend literally lost his fence because it was used as makeshift weapon).Though guy who killed another one was actually Wisla fan... We had famous 'knife in Dino Baggio head' incident (heh, Wisla again)... damn, Krakow is everywhere here... Currently it is much calmer (thanks for Poznan agreement) and apart of Wisla I don't think I heard about huge issues with other hooligans - but maybe it is because I'm from Poland (and I remmeber some shit that happen 20 years ago) and maybe because currently apparently hools preffer to meet each other in remote places (there is/was famous 'league' where different club hooligans fought group battle each other to 'crown' best hooligans in Poland - but Im actually okay with those as it is fistfighting with consent and I can't recall any instance of this going full ham). Frankly I do not recall any bigger incident in like last 10 years or so so maybe we go in proper direction there.

I live in Krakow for 3 years now, this story was so interesting despite I always heard it's Cracovia is the one run by Gangs - Look like I was hearing from Wisła fans :D - Very good one Alfie...

Alfie absolutely love your channel! The wit, the uniqueness of observations, the great writing style - love all of it. All the best from Poland :)

Went there to watch a game there last year against Lech Poznań. Honestly the anthem at the start was amazing to watch.

Wisła Kraków have a video? Thanks man, this made my day, almost nobody in Britain knows about this club!

As a Dutchman living in Kraków, I did some translating jobs for Wisla back during the 'Dutch era' (2010-2012) and I followed this whole drama unfold, knowing some key people on the inside. Missing in this vid after Jakub Blaszczykowski stepped in, is the crucial support (and marketing) of business man Jarek Królewski and more recently (the announcement was three weeks ago) the new big sponsor Orlen Oil, a state run company. As a consequence the commercial value of the club is 5x larger than during the darkest days at the end of 2018.

I love how you were talking how Legia is most ttled club in Poland now and showed Cracovia's picture

Another superb vid Alfie. Very sensitively done where necessary and as always, done with some thorough research. Never boring mate.

I love hearing about all of these different dark stories all over the world in football it really makes you think about all of the crazy things that can happen in life in general

Fantastic video, as always.

MASTERFUL WORK ALFIE🔥🤯

"After there father was sent to jail for murdering there mother" Wait dude that is a lot of information to take in

So many interesting stories in football that we don't often here, glad you're bringing some to light although not sure RU-vid will be a huge fan of this one

Another superb video, brilliantly written Alfie

Was in a bar in Krakow in 2008 and met some local "fans". One rolled his sleeve up to show his whole lower arm was purple with a giant bruise. He had me he hot it from fighting the police. As I was on my own I bought him and his friends beer as a peace offering

Your documentaries are great.Keep up the good work.

Football: "stop using weapons when fighting!" Krakow: "no, no I don't think I will"

Man, many of the issues with hooliganism in Italy sound like a walk in the park in comparison to this story... I'm happy that Wisla has eventually found some type of solace.

Outstanding research! Many of the facts presented in this video are definitely are not easy to find and check. Well done!

This is excellent content again Alfie. 👍

Love this channel

It’s kinda sad that one of the most important football clubs in Poland is known mostly for their fiasco with the hooligans, and club ownership.

Yet another video that raises the question: "Why haven't I ever thought to look into this?" 😏 Cheers Alfie, love these sort of vids!

Fantastic story, thanks for the video.

Love these sort of docs from Alfie 🙌

I watched em win the title about 15 yr ago, ended up on the pitch with the fans celebrating, I was visiting krakow, beautiful city. I even bought a scarf as a momento. A few fans I met there told me to hide the scarf when I'm in the city. I also remember seeing a bit of a kick off with the police when leaving the stadium. Great experience..

I was born and raised in Kraków, so glad you made a video about my beloved Wisła. The demise mostly started after we failed to qualify for the Champion's League against APOEL Nicosia. I remember the first leg as if it was yesterday, one of the fondest memories of my whole life is the late winner scored by Patryk Małecki which sadly wasn't enough since we were dreadful in the away leg. Our biggest source of revenue was gone at the same time as the team was starting to stagnate. My view of hooligan culture was probably very much influenced by the fact that we have one of the largest sets of hooligans in the country, it has normalised it to me quite heavily. A Cracovia vs Wisła game in a full stadium can be just as loud as a CL knockout tie at Anfield, it's absolutely incredible.

Hey Alfie, loved this video. You should do a deep dive into the corruption issues in Portuguese football! There's a lot to unload there, from hooligans, to attacks on players and international political scandals in Guinea-Bissau and Hungary!

You need to tell about the fact that Wisła had 4 Jewish players as for now - Melikson, Biton, Turgeman and Hugi and we supporters never had anything against them and everyone was playing actually very good. In general Kraków is a city of contrasts. Not that much as it was years ago, but still it's often risky to go onto districts where there is root for gangs of one club. Though I almost never heard about the story someone not involved in those wars was attacked or killed. I remember times of U21 Euro and I as a Wisła fan came onto what we call "Supermarket" - Cracovia's stadium and watched the game of Italy v Germany. No problems at all. And the last thing to say is that Wisła signed with Orlen, so pretty big step, I would even say milestone as the crisis of Wisła went off because the owner - Cupiał's Telefonika started collapsing over 10 years ago. Orlen is not necessarily in good hands right now, because Polish gov is fucked up in the head, but money is needed for the club and I would prefer spending my tax money on my loved club rather than alcoholic couples(500+). So in conclusion I would say Wisła is getting up slowly and I think in 5 years with good management they could be playing in Europe again. That would be really good story for Hollywood movie.

Wow I'm impresed by your research not even all of polish fans know about things like Poznań's pact and certainly not many includning me know about jewish ban. Great stuff. Also I need to clarify that groups like Sharks or Jude Gang are strictly hooligan concentrated only on fighting rival firms while Ultras in Poland are fans that create choreos, lead the chants etc. ultras and hooligans groups are separated.

I’m a Wisla Kraków fan but I’m not a hooligan I can assure you I’m not a nazi

Wisła hooligans also killed a fan from my team Korona Kielce a while back, we still sing songs and have banners for him. Kuba is the best thing that ever happened to Wisła and I hope the hooliganism situation continues to improve in our league

ngl this was really good video bro

I am so happy to hear things are turning around

Lovely to see a video centered around Poland! (Though your pronunciation mistakes must be forgiven, our language is pretty hard)

As a none football fan, these videos are very informative and sometime disturbing, very well done, spotlighting the not so beautiful game, every body who had an interest in football should watch these video

Great video!

Wow! Thanks for doing the bit, Alfie! Polish football fans had to go through all of that nonsense and it almost hurt. Btw there's a host of other clubs ridden by more or less overt fan mob criminality, for instance Arka Gdynia.

Alfie you done it again brilliant video mate 💯👊🏾

Hi from Kraków :), I always cry when I watch the game against Barcelona.

Since 2018 in Poland , never been in a match, happy to be back to Italy and br able to watch football again

In this and other worlds,Wisla Krakow together with other respective Polish clubs are one of my favourite clubs daily in my life forever and every generations that we would be born,good friends!!!I am extremely so happy that the hooligans did not take control of this prestigious footballing club right now after a decade of the ongoing hooliganism which disrupted the footballing community at the club and hopefully,this one of the real big footballing clubs in Poland and world would be able to compete and win most of the titles domestically,in European and world based tournaments in near future,good friends!!!:-D

Danny Dyer approves this video

I like the Polish people great workers and loyal friends , and they know how to have a good night out. They are certainly passionate about their football, great vlog enjoyed the history of Polish football.

I just played this club in career mode🤣

That little tidbit of info at the end is crazy

What a happy transition that is happening. There is a lot of hope to be had here.

Finally a video on my Country

We do have a little slice of this in London, with Tottenham being known as the Yids.

also a video on WRWE overall would be class, includes Widzew, Ruch, Wisła and Elana there’s a lot to explore to say the least

$25 million should be more than enough to compete with RM and Barca 🤣🤣

Great video!! What happened to Panathinaikos?

Poland had one of the biggest Jewish populations even before any Soviet Jews came. Also the Sharks did many other things like breaking long-standing friendship agreements with Lechia Gdansk and creating one with Ruch Chorzow among other things

I am proud to be a supporter Wisła Kraków, the great times ''White Star'' will soon return! Kuba Błaszczykowski thank you for saving the club !

ouch. homeboy's polish is horrific. never thought id see my club on hitc sevens

No one Literally no one Alfie : The Japanese football club run by the Yakuza.

You HAVE to do a “what what’s going on” derby county edition!! A story that involves: - Candy crush owner nearly bankrupting himself - An owner finding a loophole to sell a stadium to himself which might have saved the club -The EFL trying their best to relegate us and take money off us (I swear this is more than Bias paranoia) - Deals falling through with Sheik Mansours cousin - Being conned by a Spanish anti vaxing, far right nationalist supporting and former boxing con artist who owes money to Indonesia - The club being left with 13 actual players on the books So so so much more if you want to go deeper including the drink driving sacking which we’ve had to pay out our former captain 2m We’re almost bankrupt Please look into it. I love the channel ❤️

These type of stories need a movie id watch

And you're right about Kraków being the most beautiful city in the world. I have a fun story. So, during my 2nd week living in Kraków I was on a tram. I had headphones on, but still started to hear shouting to the left of me. Then i heard shouting from my right. (I was sitting perpendicularly) my first thought was, oh football fans. Cool. Then, realized they weren't just ribbing each other. I got off at a stop quite far from my flat when I didn't know the city well at all. The not time I went to watch a prem match at a pub, someone told me Wisła (btw the ł makes a w sound) and Cracovia played recently, and it was a smart decision to leave the tram.

From the title I was half expecting this to be about Millwall

you should do red star partizan next

And now they're relegated...

Damn I expect a similar video coming from Alfie for Levski Sofia in the upcoming years

Huge fan of your content! Please could you do a 23 man GB Squad excluding English Players

HITC Sevens, are you going to make a vlog about the semi final tommorow?

Time for a Wisla Krakow football manager save!

Well....Yesterday the club was relagated to the 2th tier of polish football for the first time after 26 years...

Now i know which club to rebuild in FIFA

Another version on the 2018 what of Nordics best 11 would be nice. I bet you that some changes are to be made!

Interesting video, and I was wondering when the wider world would notice what happened with what used to be almost a second-tier European club, but some points to make here, going from least to most important I think. 1, as has probably been pointed out, it's Wisła, not Wiezler. The Ł is like an English W, so say Viswa - with an s, not a z! Cupiał is pronounced 'Tsoopeeaw'. Misiek is Mishiek, it means teddy bear! Your pronunciation of Błaszczykowski is pretty good, just gotta make sure you say Ł not L. 2, you do say in fairness, that it's simplistic to simply say Wisła are antisemitic and Cracovia Jewish - the main reasons Cracovia are known as this, as well as the one you mention, is that they historically take support from the 'Jewish' district of Kazimierz, and had a couple of Jewish club officials in the early days. I think Wisła have had more Jewish players than us lately, having had two Israelis in the 2010s. 3, I'm sure for time reasons, but you missed out the first potential buyer, before Lee. This was some guy who had a previous attempt to buy out a Polish club, before the deal collapsed as he had no money. Guess what? He still had no money, and the greater publicity revealed that he even forged his high school leaving certificates. That was allegedly the move that the Sharks took to initially take control of the club, but again - no proof as yet. 4, As a Jew who supports Cracovia, I will say that for one, the club isn't remotely Jewish these days - Krakow used to have Jewish teams (Jutrzenka and Makkabi), but I think you can guess what happened to them. I will also say, therefore, that I don't really consider the stars of David used offensively by Wisła fans to be directed at me as a Jew, if you get me. Obviously I'm just one person, but that's my opinion. I actually find the fake Hebrew font used by our Jude Gang just as problematic, but that's another story. Good video though!

They just won the Polish cup by playing in the 2nd division, and they will play in the UEL qualifiers next season.

polish football hooligans are different breeds. no other ultras around the world like them

First of all, I didn't expect you to look at polish football (i'm polish if it weren't obvious) And, BTW, club's name is pronounced 'vees-wa kra-koov' 4:01 'goor-nick zab-je' (with french 'j') 4:04 I have no idea what you've just said Some of the names you tried to say i needed to decipher a good few seconds haha

Bro I'm going to live in Krakow from September to December this year and your video makes me scared about it...