It seems that the global financial crisis has reached Polish football, having a particularly severe effect in Division I where the running costs are not much different to those in Ekstraklasa but clubs cannot bank on millions of zloty rolling into their coffers from Canal+. Things are getting pretty desperate - training facilities are being sold off, clubs are cutting back on everyday costs such as meals and match time liquids for the players and squads are being trimmed and filled up with youth team players.
Ruch Chorzow are currently sitting in mid table in Ekstraklasa and looking fairly certain of retaining their seat at the top table for next season but their chairman Mariusz Klimek is still worried by what he's seeing in the lower leagues - "I don't want to be too pessimistic about it but I have a real concern that most of the clubs in Division I will go under". Now if that's not being pessimistic I hate to think what he would have said were he a "glass half empty" type of chap. It has to be said that he has a point though. A lot of the sponsorship deals at the lower levels of Polish football are with small to medium sized local businesses and as these are being hit by ever declining income it is unlikely that they will want to support their local side with little or no benefit to their business.
Surprisingly, news of the impending crisis has filtered through to the Polish FA, an organisation which is usually so slow on the uptake that it has probably only just realised that the Berlin Wall has come down. There have however already been rumblings from ul. Miodowa that a number of clubs are behind on the payments for referees, observers and delegates attending their games thus starving PZPN of the cash they need to do whatever vital service it is they perform (answers on a postcard please - I've not figured it out yet).
Apart from a small group of clubs fighting for the promised land of Ekstraklasa (Widzew, Zaglebie Lubin, Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biala) the majority are struggling to make ends meet and teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
GKS Katowice, currently bottom of Division I, are suffering more than most. Staring at almost inevitable relegation this season they have been unable to secure sponsorship and are culling their squad and will be fielding their junior side in the coming round. There was a chink of light which could have kept them going for a bit longer, namely a 300,000 PLN grant from the city council, but this has been withdrawn due to the 300,000 PLN the club owes in unpaid National Insurance. This same debt could also see the club lose its right to the grant it would normally receive for youth and junior player development.
The lack of funds is having a knock-on effect on the players themselves. At GKS Jastrzebie the players have not been paid for over three months and according to an un-named source at the club the squads nutritional supplements consist of "whatever the physio can find and mix up in a 10 litre barrel". Last season Jastrzebie could rely upon 500,000 PLN provided by sponsors Jastrzebska Spólka Weglowa (a coal company) but, according to JSW spokesperson Katarzyna Jablonska-Bajer, "Due to the global financial crisis funds available to the club will decrease in the order of 30%".
Two other clubs in trouble are Odra Opole with over 1 million PLN owed in taxes and National Insurance and Kmita Zabierzów who have lost 10 first teamers and whose entry into the coming round depends on a 400,000 PLN donation from the local council.
It seems that the ambition for many of Poland's smaller clubs in the near future will not be to achieve sporting success but simply to remain in existence. Some have over-exerted themselves financially with sides that should, in truth, be in the lower leagues rising way above their natural level through the generosity of local businessmen who can no longer bankroll their hobby. The knock on effect could be extremely serious for the future of Polish football as a whole, particularly the national side with many clubs going bust and many others taking the decision that a move to amateur status is the only option. If this proves to be the case then who will provide the youth players who will one day go on to make their names on the international stage? It certainly won't be the Ekstraklasa sides who more and more seem to be moving towards foreign imports to satisfy their playing needs.
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