Interbellum Poland

Lower Level Football Leagues in Interwar Poland

In interbellum Poland, there was not a national, Second Division, as we know it today (although it was on several occasions proposed). For example, on Sunday, September 26, 1937 in Częstochowa a conference of A-Class teams took place, during which the possibility of creation of the Second League was discussed. Representatives of several clubs arrived, such as Brygada Częstochowa, Gryf Toruń, Śmigły Wilno, Rewera Stanisławów, Dąb Katowice, Unia Sosnowiec, Strzelec Janowa Dolina and WKS Grodno. Also, invited were officials from HCP Poznań, Podgorze Kraków, Naprzód Lipiny and Union Touring Łódź. The representatives talked about creation of a National "B-League", however, subsequently nothing came out of this project.

Instead, in the years 1921-1939, several Voivodeships held their own games and those leagues were known as "A-Classes". However, since 1927, there was an elite Polish Football League, which in late 1930s consisted of 10 teams.

A-Classes

Between 1927-1939 there were several A-Classes, such as:

Kielce A-Class, from which in mid-1930s the separate, Zagłębie Dąbrowskie A-Class emerged, with teams from such cities as Sosnowiec, Będzin, Zawiercie or Częstochowa. After this, Kielce A-Class ceased to exist, its key teams, such as Star Starachowice, moved to Warsaw A-Class,

Białystok - Grodno A-Class,

Kraków A-Class,

Łódź A-Class,

Lwów A-Class,

Pomerania A-Class,

Poznań A-Class,

Silesian A-Class (it was regarded as the strongest of all, with several top-quality teams and players),

Stanisławów A-Class,

Volhynia A-Class,

Warsaw A-Class,

Zagłębie Dąbrowskie A-Class (since mid-1930s).

It must be mentioned that not all Voivodeships held their own A-Classes. Football departments in some areas located mainly in Eastern Provinces (Kresy Wschodnie) were not developed enough (or did not have enough teams) to keep their own A-Class Leagues. So, there was no Nowogródek Voivodeship A-Class, Polesie Voivodeship A-Class or Tarnopol Voivodeship A-Class. Instead, teams from those Voivodeship played each other in knock-out stage games, thus establishing a regional Champion.

Interesting is the fact that in several cases, teams from one Voivodeship played in the A-Class of another region - e.g. Koszarawa Żywiec from Kraków Voivodeship, played in mid-1930s in the Silesian A-Class, SKS (Star) Starachowice, played in late-1930s in Warsaw A-Class, even though the city of Starachowice was located in Kielce Voivodeship, or Pogon Stryj, which played in Lwów A-Class, but the town of Stryj was located in the Stanisławów Voivodeship.

B and C Classes

Also, there were lower level Leagues in Poland - B-Classes (covering areas of some 4-5 counties) and C-Classes. Champions of these Divisions were automatically promoted to upper Levels, however the situation was different with promotion from A-Class to the Polish Football League.

Process of promotion to the Football League

To get promoted to the elite, 10-team League, it was not enough to win the A-Class games. Promotion was a long and arduous process, which can be best described by recollecting games of Śląsk Świętochłowice - winner of the 1938-1939 Silesian A-Class season, which in early summer of 1939 started its way to the Polish Football League (games of the League were held in the spring-fall system, games of A-Classes otherwise - in fall-spring way). First stage were games with Champions of neighboring A-Classes - Fablok Chrzanów (Kraków A-Class) and Unia Sosnowiec (Zagłębie Dąbrowskie A-Class). Śląsk, with such renowned players as Hubert Gad and Ewald Cebula, at home beat both Fablok and Unia 4-0. Away, they tied 1-1 with Fablok and won 3-2 with Unia, becoming the Champions of southwest Poland A-Classes.

Then, in August 1939, the second, national stage started. In it, Śląsk played champions of northwest Poland (Legia Poznań), northeast Poland (Śmigły Wilno) and southeast Poland (Junak Drohobycz). Out of the four teams, three were going to be promoted. Śląsk managed to play only two games - 0-0 in Drohobycz and 2-1 at home with Śmigły Wilno. Then, on September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland and all matches were suspended.