Polski Klub Sportowy Polonia Karwina (PKS Polonia Karwina) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

multi-

sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

club, located in the town of Karviná (Karwina), Zaolzie,

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. It affiliated nine sport clubs and an amateur theatre group. Most successful and most popular was a football club. Founded in 1919, as Polski Klub Sportowy Polonia, it was the strongest team of the

Polish minority in Czechoslovakia The Polish minority in the Czech Republic is a Polish national minority living mainly in the Zaolzie region of western Cieszyn Silesia. The Polish community is the only national (or ethnic) minority in the Czech Republic that is linked to a speci ...

. PKS Polonia was initially one of the sections of ''Polish Gymnastic Society Sokół'', eventually on 28 January 1931 it gained organizational independence. In 1932 it had 302 members, 65 of them in football section.Rudnik 2009, 17. In the 1920s and 1930s it played in the regional, Těšín league (żupa) of the Czechoslovak Football Association. Together with such teams from Zaolzie as Siła Trzyniec, Siła Karwina, Siła Orłowa, Siła Frysztat, Siła Karwina-Sowiniec, Polonia in 1922 was co-founder of the Polski Związek Klubów Sportowych w Czechosłowacji (Polish Association of Sport Clubs in Czechoslovakia), which in mid-1930s had some 4,000 members. Also, Polonia was very active on international stage, playing numerous friendly games with several teams from Poland. In 1934 it won the football competition of the first Polonia Games in Warsaw. It was a tournament for Polish ethnic sports organizations existing beyond borders of Poland, its official name was: "Games for Sportsmen from Abroad and The Independent City of Danzig". After the return of the team to Karwina, 10,000 Poles welcomed the winning team. In 1936 came the largest success of the team in Czechoslovakia. PKS Polonia won the Těšín league (župa) and advanced to the Moravian-Silesian Division, one of the highest leagues in the country. In the fall of 1938 Polonia came to Warsaw, to face the renowned team of

Polonia Warszawa Polonia Warsaw ( pl, Polonia Warszawa, ), founded on 19 November 1911, is the oldest existing Varsovian sports club, best known for its football and basketball teams. It also has track and field, swimming, chess, mountain biking, and contract ...

. This friendly match was connected with Polish takeover of Zaolzie and the Warsaw crowd enthusiastically welcomed players from Karwina. In March 1939 Polonia was added to the Silesian A-Class (see:

Lower Level Football Leagues in Interwar Poland In the Second Polish Republic, there was not a national, Second Division, as we know it today, although the creation of the second division was proposed on several occasions. On Sunday, September 26, 1937 in Częstochowa, a conference of regional te ...

), however its results were not impressive. The 1939 season was not finished due to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. During the war many club officials and supporters were murdered by Nazis. In February 1948 communists in Czechoslovakia staged a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

. In 1949 the club was incorporated into Polish ''Sokół'' organization and renamed Sokół-Polonia. It was liquidated in 1952 by communists when the social, cultural and sport life were curbed into several organizations controlled by communists.

Footnotes

References

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External links

Polonia Games – Meetings of Polish Olympic Committee activists
{{Authority control Polish minority in Zaolzie Football clubs in Czechoslovakia Karviná Sokół Sports clubs established in 1919 Sports clubs disestablished in 1952 Karwina Defunct football clubs in former Polish territories Polish association football clubs outside Poland