Śmieszne Historie o Piłce Nożnej w Polsce: KS Warka 1-1 KS Powiślanka Lipsko – Local Derby In Warka

“Suddenly I found that I’d lost my way in this city. The streets and the thousands of colours all bleed into one” – Noel Gallagher.

Śmieszne Historie o Piłce Nożnej w Polsce: KS Warka v KS Powiślanka Lipsko

My football groundhopping adventures continued in May 2023. In terms of football matches I’ve attended, I haven’t counted properly for years but it’s over 1,000 matches, watching around 500 different clubs/teams across 300 stadiums in about 150 contries! A new stadium, and two new teams on the list was in May 2023 in Warka, the home of KS Warka! This was also my first ever visit to Warka. Warka is a town in Poland’s Mazowieckie Province, and it’s a mere 1 hour train from Warszawa. It’s also very famous for beer, the name of which is Warka Beer…

Śmieszne Historie o Piłce Nożnej w Polsce: KS Warka v KS Powiślanka Lipsko

The local club in Warka, KS Warka would be at home to KS Powiślanka Lipsko – it was a feisty local derby here. I still haven’t covered most of my Polish groundhopping – there have been too many of them, but here are some I have covered before, and others I haven’t –

Kazik Deyna’s 70th Birthday match in Starogard Gdanski
Pomorskie Cup Final in 2018 in Malbork
The trainline derby in Warszawa
The boat derby in Łódź
The airport derby in Gdańsk
Kartofliska v Bar Ulubiona – Polish Cup First Round
The Under 20s World Cup in Łódź
The Polish Cup Final in Warszawa
Watching Northern Ireland play Poland in Warszawa in 2005
Watching Northern Ireland play Poland in Gliwice in 2017
Watching Northern Ireland play Poland in Swarzedz in 2022
Watching Northern Ireland play Poland in Plewiska in 2022
Watching Northern Ireland play Poland in Police in 2023
Watching Lechia Gdańsk in Gdańsk
Watching Polonia Gdańsk in Gdańsk
Watching Football in a Speedway Stadium in Gdańsk
Over 100 Legia Warszawa matches
The Women’s League Title Decider in Łęczna
Europe’s smallest village and its top flight team – Bruk Bet Termalika
Playing football in Koscian
Meeting Weronika Zawistowska in Łódź
Watching Poland women’s team beat Moldova 5-0 at Polonia Warszawa
Watching Victoria Warszawa v. Sparta Marki near Białołęka Prison
Watching UKS Siekierki Warszawa v MKS Piaseczno in Targowek
LKS Perła Złotokłos v. GKS Pogoń II Grodzisk Mazowiecki

Warka Beer

Ask anyone in Warka what the city is famous for and they will more than likely say “Warka!!” (meaning Warka Beer!). This red and white canned beer is famous all over Poland and is brewed locally. We didn’t visit the Warka Brewery on this trip as we were tight for time but also the Warka Brewery Tour needs booked in advance for a private group tour. However, I did manage to hat-trick the Warka beer (on the train, in the pub, at the stadium).

Warka Beer loyal when getting a train to Warka

Getting To Warka

We went to Warka by train. It’s the Koleje Mazowieckie network. I went with three friends – Rafal, Kamil and Przemek and we have all been to matches together before. This was just a day trip from Warszawa. We got the train from Warszawa Główna direct to Warka Miasto. The train passes through the town of Piaseczno.

Getting To Warka: Train from Warszawa Główna

Backpacking In Warka

We headed straight from the train station in Warka (Warka Miasto) to the old town. We headed to the Old Town Square – the Stary Rynek. I’m a total geek for this and I love Polish old town squares! It’s some obsession since my first experience way back in Warszawa in March 2005.

Backpacking In Warka: Stary Rynek/Old Town Square

We see the town hall, the pretty square and the main statue here is of Hetman Stefan Czarniecki. Stefan is a victorious Polish fighter from Polish history who helped defeat the Sweden.

Backpacking In Warka: Stary Rynek/Old Town Square

Weird Coincidence in the Stary Rynek?

That exact day, I was wearing my turquoise blue AFC Bournemouth away shirt. I knew that that day AFC Bournemouth were playing Manchester United. Until this point, on that day I hadn’t seen ANYONE else wearing a football shirt (neither in Warszawa, Warka, nor on the train). Yet here, on arrival into the Stary Rynek, I saw a guy wearing a white Manchester United away shirt! What a bizarre coincidence. Even crazier is that whole day until I got home, (apart from in the football stadium), that was the only other football shirt I saw! I didn’t actually shake hands with or meet that guy but we laughed at each other and I shouted “Powodzenia!” (Good luck). He’s in the photo below and for the record, Manchester United unfortunately won 1-0 with a Casemiro overhead kick.

Weird Coincidence in the Stary Rynek?

Pub Crawling in Warka

There are actually quite a few bars, cafes and restaurants here but we bought some for the football (Warka of course – the local beer). However, we did stop off for two quick beers in a local bar in the centre. There were at least 3 cool local bars here including the “Town Hall Restaurant” (Restauracja Ratuszowa).

“Town Hall Restaurant” (Restauracja Ratuszowa).

We had just over an hour before the match kicked off, so we went to a cool bar right in the Old Town square called Rynek Kawiarnia Galeria. It was 10 zlotych (£2) here for a Warka beer on tap – very decent price – this is more of a cafe and ice cream place but remember – these are the joys of Poland – this doubles up as a bar and it was a hot day so we sat out in the beer garden.

Pub Crawling in Warka – Rynek Kawiarnia Galeria

Pub Crawling in Warka – Rynek Kawiarnia Galeria – drinking Warka in Warka!

Pub Crawling in Warka – Rynek Kawiarnia Galeria

Other Sightseeing in Warka

We were here for the football but we did check out the church and castle and some streetlife in Warka.

Other Sightseeing in Warka

Geek Fact About Warka: Hosting Croatia in 2012

For the duration of the UEFA Euro 2012, Warka hosted the Croatia national football team. As a Luka Modric fan, this was a cool geek fact to learn, and also because Croatia beat Republic of Ireland at that tournament. Just to prove this isn’t a myth, I dug out some photos from the local news back then.

Croatia in Warka in 2012

Geek Fact About Warka: Hosting Croatia in 2012

Groundhopping in Warka

Next up, it’s the highlight – we enjoy the brisk walk to the stadium which took about 6 minutes from the Stary Rynek. The stadium is right on the edge of the town and this is where Croatia trained 11 years before I visited it. The stadium doesn’t disappoint! Textbook groundhopping!

Śmieszne Historie o Piłce Nożnej w Polsce: KS Warka 1-1 KS Powiślanka Lipsko – Local Derby In Warka

KS Warka 1-1 KS Powiślanka Lipsko – Local Derby In Warka

The match itself wasn’t a classic. The away side went 1-0 up in the first half. But this wasn’t the highlight – we were in the home end supporting KS Warka and the away side arrived by bus. Supporters of the home side are also fans of Legia Warszawa. Then…some drama…

Śmieszne Historie o Piłce Nożnej w Polsce: KS Warka 1-1 KS Powiślanka Lipsko – Local Derby In Warka

In true Polish hooligan style, they tried to storm into the home end – luckily the Polish Police were here to segregate! It was a few minutes of madness from away fans storming the fence and lighting flares.

Śmieszne Historie o Piłce Nożnej w Polsce: KS Warka 1-1 KS Powiślanka Lipsko – Local Derby In Warka

I’d estimate there were between 50 and 100 away fans and just over 100 home fans. In the second half, the biggest cheers as the local side nabbed the equaliser for KS Warka! Here are some more photos of the match itself.

Śmieszne Historie o Piłce Nożnej w Polsce: KS Warka 1-1 KS Powiślanka Lipsko – Local Derby In Warka

Unfortunately my video isn’t working on my phone at the moment, so no videos of this trip and I hope I can somehow get a new phone sometime soon. The match also appears not to have been filmed.

Here are the squads and the information from the KS Warka Facebook Page.

PODZIAŁ PUNKTÓW Z POWIŚLANKĄ

KS Warka 1:1 KS Powiślanka Lipsko

Bramka (Goalscorer): Michał Madej 85’

Skład (Squad): Wąszewski, Potrzebowski, Jasnoch, Madej D., Lenarczyk, Antosz, Witkowski, Rawski, Grodzki, Puzianowski, Madej M. oraz Dombek, Pomian.

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