Football in Poland

Football is the most popular sport in Poland. Over 400,000 Poles play football regularly, with millions more playing occasionally. The first professional clubs were founded in the early 1900s, and the Polish national football team played its first international match in 1921.

There are hundreds of professional and amateur football teams in Poland; which are organized into the national 1st league, 2nd level, 2 regional 3rd levels, 8 regional 4th levels, 19 regional 5th leagues and a variety of other lower level leagues. Additionally, there are the Polish Cup and Polish Supercup competitions.

History

The history of football in Poland started in the late 19th century with the rising popularity of the new sport. At the time, the Polish state was partitioned. The first decades of Polish football are therefore connected with the history of Football in Austria and the Austrian Football Association, which was founded in 1904.

The first Polish football clubs were Lechia Lwów (1903), Czarni Lwów (1903), Pogoń Lwów (1904, KS Cracovia (1906) and Wisła Kraków (1906). The Polish national federation, called the Polish Football Union (Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej, PZPN), was founded on December 20, 1919, in Kraków when 31 delegates elected Edward Cetnarowski as the first president. The PZPN joined FIFA in 1923 and UEFA in 1955.

Football association

A football association is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world governing body, FIFA. A small number have not yet applied for or been granted entry to these higher bodies. Below is a list of football associations for which there are articles.

Asia

Asian Football Confederation affiliated

Polish Football Association

The Polish Football Association (Polish: Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej; PZPN) is the governing body of football in Poland. It organizes the Polish football leagues (top division: the Ekstraklasa), the Polish Cup, the Polish SuperCup, the Polish League Cup, and the Polish national football team. It is based in the Polish capital of Warsaw.

History

The fully independent federation was established in April 1919 engulfing the autonomous Polish Football Union (PFU) that was part of the disintegrated Austrian Football Union. The PFU was established on 25 June 1911 in Lwow. Between 1911 and 1919 the national team of Poland played three games at the "Czarni" stadium. The team was composed mainly of players from the city of Lwow.

In September 2008, the leadership of the PZPN was suspended by the Polish Olympic Committee for "[violating] its statutes in a continuous and flagrant fashion." A year earlier, the Polish sports ministry also made an attempt to address corruption within the PZPN, but was threatened with suspension by FIFA, which forbids any form of government intervention. On 30 October 2008, Grzegorz Lato became the president of the PZPN. On 26 October 2012, Zbigniew Boniek was elected president after winning 61 votes from 118 delegates.

The Football Association

The Football Association, also known simply as The FA, is the governing body of association football in England, and the Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the amateur and professional game in its territory.

The FA sanctions all competitive football matches within its remit at national level, and indirectly at local level through the County Football Associations. It runs numerous competitions, the most famous of which is the FA Cup. It is also responsible for appointing the management of the men's, women's and youth national football teams.

The FA is a member of both UEFA and FIFA and holds a permanent seat on the International Football Association Board (IFAB) which is responsible for the laws of the game. As the first football association, it does not use the national name "English" in its title. The FA is based at Wembley Stadium, London. The FA is a member of the British Olympic Association, meaning that the FA has control over the men's and women's Great Britain Olympic football team.