Polonia Warsaw

20th century

Beginnings

Polonia Warsaw was formed in the autumn of 1911 as a union of several gimnazjum school teams (including "Stella" and "Merkury"). Alongside co-founders Wacław Gebethner, Stefan Pronaszko, and Tadeusz Gebethner, Wacław "Denhoff" Czarnocki was the co-founder of the club who also came up with its name. "Polonia" is Latin for "Poland" and is often used by Polish migrants in reference to the diaspora communities of Poles living abroad in other countries. The choice of such a name was a brave decision in the early 20th century, since Poland was not an independent country at this time, and Warsaw was part of the Russian partition; Poles living there were often subjected to repression and cultural imperialism from the Russian authorities ruling the Vistula Land. Due to this, Polonia could not be registered officially until political changes brought about by the advance of German troops into Russian-controlled lands in the First World War. Initially, the players played in black-and-white striped shirts, but in the spring of 1912 they switched to their now traditional design of all black shirts. This was credited to Janusz Mück, longtime player of the team, who bought the new tops. The explanation for this patriotic colour scheme was that it was a sign of mourning for the occupied and divided Poland. This devotion to tradition resulted in the club's popular name: Czarne koszule ("The Black Shirts"). The uniform's white shorts and red socks…

Domestic

Ekstraklasa Champions: 1946, 1999–2000 I liga Champions: 1992–93 (East), 1995–96 (East) II liga Champions: 2022–23 III liga Champions: 2021–22 (group I) Polish Cup: Winners: 1952, 2000–01 Polish Super Cup: Winners: 2000 Polish League Cup Winners: 1999–2000

Youth teams

Polish U19 Championship Champions: 1977 Runners-up: 1991, 2000, 2005, 2008 Third place: 2001, 2015 Polish U17 Championship Runners-up: 1998