The Holy War (), also known as the Kraków derby (), is a rivalry in Polish football between

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. They currently compete in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system, ...

and

KS Cracovia Cracovia () is a Polish professional Association football, football club based in Kraków. The club is five-time Polish champion, besides being the inaugural Polish champion, winner of the Polish Cup and the Polish Super Cup in 2020. Founded in ...

, the two biggest clubs in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

and reportedly the oldest in Poland, both founded in 1906. The term ''Holy War'' was coined by the defender from KS Cracovia,

Ludwik Gintel Ludwik Gintel (; 26 September 1899 – 11 July 1973) was a Polish Association football, footballer. Early and personal life Gintel was born Kraków. He was Jewish. He worked as an architect and bank clerk. Football career Gintel began his footb ...

. It is also the theme of a song devoted to their never-ending shenanigans, played by ''Andrusy''.

Highlights

The earliest extant records of the ''Holy War'' originate from the newspaper published on 20 September 1908 informing that the match played at Błonia Park between the two teams resulted in a 1:1 draw. Earlier matches were also reported, but their results are missing from archives of the local media. The first competition in accordance with the 1904 official

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

standards, took place on 8 May 1913 at the Cracovia stadium in Kraków, with the home team winning over Wisła 2:1. The ''Holy War'' is considered the most intense rivalry in Poland and one of the most intense in all of Europe. Despite the fact that the two stadiums are less than a kilometer away, the fans are two bitter rivals against each other, often resulting in fights between them as well as the police.

Clubs

Cracovia and

are two of the oldest still existing football clubs in Poland.

All-time results

* 1982 Puchar Polski match ended 2 - 2, Wisła won 5 - 3 on penalties.

Players on both sides

In the following, all players are listed who were under contract with the first team of both clubs from the first season played in the Polish First League in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

Notes and references

External links

Wisla.Krakow.pl

Cracovia.pl

FootballDerbies.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holy War (Krakow) Sport in Kraków Wisła Kraków KS Cracovia Football rivalries in Poland 1908 establishments in Poland