This is part XI of The Story Of Polonia Warsaw. This piece is divided into two parts from the past two seasons. In the first part we go through our FA Cup run in the 2027/2028 season and in the second part, we follow our 2028/2029 season in Polish First Division, which we titled "The Last Dance". You can find the previous parts of our story here: https://tomikorkeamaki.wixsite.com/impactsub
First part: The Cup run
The Polish FA Cup hasn´t been our cup of tea these past six seasons. Three times we have dropped out in the first round. Hopes for a cup run weren´t written on the sky based on our history but we decided to take it round by round.
First round we were drawn away game against Wisloka, a 4. division side and our hopes of getting through this time around were higher than ever. We scored five goals in the first 18 minutes and the game was over. Wisloka managed to crawl back with a sensational hat trick from Krystian Rybicki but we eventually went through the first round for the first time with a 5-3 win.
The second round brought a home time against Miedz, a side that spent a few seasons with us in the First Divison but has then established its status as a premier division side in the Ekstraklasa. Facing a top-division side presented us with a chance to see where we were as a club. With the support of our faithful supporters, we managed to get a surprise 3-1 victory.
We just knocked out an Ekstraklasa side so why not draw us against another one in the next round? That´s what the Polish Football Association did. We were drawn another home game, this time against Gornik who has been ever-present in the top tier since the beginning of the save. Gornik jumped to a lead after 30 minutes but Abba Bichi levelled the game just before the break. It looked for a long time that the game was heading into extra time. Then in the 81st minute, a Rayan Djedje screamer from 30 yards erupted the Konwiktorska. Final whistle, a 2-1 victory and another giant killer victory in the books!
Then it came. We have been waiting for them to arrive and now we got them, at home. In the quarter-finals, we were drawn against our fierce rival Legia Warsaw. We had already beaten their reserve side in the First Division but now it was time for the big one.
This was it. The Warsaw Derby. I felt before the game like we could not even lose this game. We had just knocked off two Premier Division sides. We had confidence and that showed on the field that day. We stormed out of the gate, Bichi getting us the early lead, Set pieces turned out to be the turning point as we scored all our goals from free kicks. Amazing 3-1 victory in our very first Warsaw Derby and we were heading into the semi-finals!
Semi-finals brought us yet again another home game and when you are this far in the cup, it was certain that we would get another Ekstraklasa side. Now it was time for Pogon. A six-goal first half with us leading 4-2 was another proof that this cup run was looking madder after every day passed. We eventually crushed the Pogon side 5-3 and after 27 years, we were finally heading for the Cup Final!
The final was against KGHM Zaglebie, an Ekstraklasa side that had its reserve team playing in the First Division. As some of you might recall, we have played three Promotion Playoff finals and we have lost every one of them. So having a bit of an uncertain feeling going into this game wasn´t a surprise. Our players do not like big games and now we had the biggest game in our recent history.
And just like the promotion playoff finals, our team decided that it would be great to play the worst game of the season in the biggest game of the season. An absolute horror display on our part as we did not manage to get a single shot on target in the final. Eventually, as we were only concentrating on fouls, we were overrun by KGHM Zaglebie even though the game ended just 1-0. Yet another heartbreak game for the Polonia side. It seems like the players embrace the misery.
After the game, I felt empty. Was it just a dream? In the First Division, we managed to get to the Promotion Playoffs yet again but this time we were knocked out in the semifinal by Korona.
I started to feel like this has to be the end of save. I am just cursed and we will never get promoted. Then, after a few weeks of not even thinking about the save I made a decision. Maybe we try one more time. The last time.
The last dance.
Part two: The Last Dance
This was it. Our final season and I made a promise to myself. If this is not the season we get promoted to the Ekstraklasa, I retire and bury the save. The last dance.
I decided that we use a single system and we clear the dead wood from the squad. We use a tight 21-22 man squad and just keep our fingers crossed we don´t get any major injuries. The system that we imported was a 4-2-3-1 with attacking fullbacks.
One of the key loans to support our system was a youngster from Manchester City, Lloyd Lowe. The first plan was to use him as a backup but once he arrived, he took over as the starting left back. We gave him number 99 just to mess with him.
Maybe we took a lot of confidence from the previous year's cup run as we took down so many Ekstraklasa sides that we just knew that we can cruise down the First Division and that's just how we took off from the start.
From the first 18 games before the winter break, we lost three games and drew two. During the winter break, it felt like this could be the season and after the break, we just didn´t stop the groove. From the remaining 16 games, we won 12 games and lost three games.
The game that decided that we would be crowned as the First division Champions, was a poetry of the football field. Playing against Odra Opole at home seemed like an easy victory but just as many times before, our players looked like they would choke yet again.
Abba Bichi, now already a Polonia Warsaw legend and a player who has been with us since day one, drew us level after Odra Opole had taken the surprising lead. Almost like a blessing from the sky in the 50th minute, Odra Opole was punished with a red card and we had possession. We went full steam.
The referee gave us a penalty 20 minutes later in the 69th minute. Sam Sanna, a fullback who had served mainly as a backup the whole season and had just handed in a transfer request a couple of weeks ago, stepped up to shoot the penalty kick. He missed the penalty kick and I thought, "Oh no, it´s happening again". Keep in mind that we had already secured the promotion but I wanted the title.
We created chances but nothing came up. The final highlight started showing. There were 6 minutes of extra time and the highlight started around 95:30. "This is the end of the game highlight" I thought. Jan Los, another Polonia legend at this point, took the ball down the left flank and crossed a low ball back to the centre of the box, just outside of the area.
There was our other loanee, Senny Mayulu, a towering attacking midfielder from Brest. He ripped one with his left foot and it exploded the Konwiktorska faithful and I screamed in my living room! We had just won the First Division!
We finally did it! Unbelievable! After seven seasons and so many heartbreaks and Promotion Playoff final losses, we are finally heading into the Ekstraklasa and the save stays alive!
Abba Bichi, a Nigerian youngster we signed for free almost the first day I took over the side, scored 31 goals in the First Division, winning the golden boot easily in Poland. It really felt good foo have this kind of breakthrough season. He now has Poland citizenship too so we hope he gets called up to the Poland side. He would then follow the footsteps of one Polonia Warsaw legend Emmanuel Olisadebe!
It has been quite a journey with this club and hopefully, it will continue so as we try to get some success in the top division!
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