The eyes of the football world will fall on Warsaw this evening as Real Madrid take on Atalanta in the final of the UEFA Super Cup—but as intriguing as the match promises to be, the venue itself is not short of stories.
Costing half a billion euros, the PGE Narodowy Stadium (a.k.a. The Kazimierz Górski National Stadium) was completed just in time for Euro 2012 and hosted the opening game of the tournament—a 1-1 draw between Poland and Greece.
Home to the national football side ever since, the 58,500-seater arena has proven nothing if not versatile—over the years, the area covered by the pitch has found itself temporarily transformed to contain a giant ice rink, a speedway track, to hold windsurfing events, and even house a race track for a sell-out Top Gear event.
When the pandemic struck, it took on a more somber role, and its halls became an emergency hospital catering to the sick.
With these times now a best-forgotten footnote, the stadium has established a name as Poland’s premier concert venue: Beyoncé, Sheeran, Swift, Madonna, McCartney, Styles, and the Stones—all have played here at one time or another.
Home to the national football side ever since, the 58,500-seater arena has proven nothing if not versatile—over the years, the area covered by the pitch has found itself temporarily transformed to contain a giant ice rink, a speedway track, to hold windsurfing events, and even house a race track for a sell-out Top Gear event.
When the pandemic struck, it took on a more somber role, and its halls became an emergency hospital catering to the sick.
With these times now a best-forgotten footnote, the stadium has established a name as Poland’s premier concert venue: Beyoncé, Sheeran, Swift, Madonna, McCartney, Styles, and the Stones—all have played here at one time or another.
Arguably, though, football remains the stadium’s true calling. Each year, the Polish Cup Final sees the stands submerged under a sea of XL banners, providing a striking backdrop for such a marquee event. That said, not all matches have gone smoothly.
Although fitted with a state-of-the-art retractable roof, this was mystifyingly designed to only slide shut before rain began. When England visited for a World Cup qualifying match in 2012, a flash torrential downpour meant that the tie was postponed just as fans started to mass.
Although fitted with a state-of-the-art retractable roof, this was mystifyingly designed to only slide shut before rain began. When England visited for a World Cup qualifying match in 2012, a flash torrential downpour meant that the tie was postponed just as fans started to mass.
For Poles, it was a moment of crushing embarrassment, albeit one that was greeted with a pinch of humor. Online, the stadium found itself rechristened, among other names, ‘the National Swimming Pool.’
This blip aside, few would argue that it has been anything but a resounding success; when illuminated at night, this striking object is representative of Warsaw’s dynamic reinvention.
This blip aside, few would argue that it has been anything but a resounding success; when illuminated at night, this striking object is representative of Warsaw’s dynamic reinvention.
Early Beginnings
Yet as futuristic as it now appears, the story of this plot goes way further back. Once little more than sandy dunes and marshy meadows, the area was earmarked for a monolithic stadium in 1950.
It was opened in 1955 to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the establishment of communist Poland and fittingly named Stadion Dziesięciolecia (the 10th Anniversary Stadium). Dziesięciolecia was constructed on top of war rubble carted over from the city’s left bank and typified the bowl-shaped arenas being built across the Eastern Bloc.
Almost dehumanizing in its scale, it was soon attracting huge crowds for various events: in 1957, for instance, 107,000 gathered to watch a ‘Peace Race.’
The Making of a Martyr
In 1968, it gained infamy when a 59-year-old accountant called Ryszard Siwiec attended the annual Harvest Festival. Over 100,000 were in attendance, including the nation’s de facto leader, Władysław Gomułka, and Prime Minister Józef Cyrankiewicz.
During one of the synchronized group dance performances on the field, Siwiec doused himself in flammable liquid and then set himself alight while holding a banner announcing ‘For our freedom and yours.’
Motivated to take action following the Soviet Union’s invasion of Czechoslovakia, Siwiec was undoubtedly inspired by the self-immolation of the monk Thich Quang Duc five years earlier in Saigon.
However, unlike Duc, his actions went largely unnoticed. With the crowd focused on the happenings on the pitch, it was simple for the authorities to shrug the episode off as the work of an unbalanced alcoholic who had set himself on fire while lighting a cigarette.
Siwiec died four days later, and it would take another year for Radio Free Europe to report the truth. A small memorial to Siwiec can be found outside the National Stadium.
Siwiec died four days later, and it would take another year for Radio Free Europe to report the truth. A small memorial to Siwiec can be found outside the National Stadium.
In Later Years
In 1983, the stadium returned to the news with the visit of Pope John Paul II. Preaching to a crowd numbering “several hundred thousand,” the sermon was one of many given by the Pontiff in Poland that helped ignite a flame of hope in a nation shackled by communism.
Within less than a decade, the system had folded, and Dziesięciolecia—once a symbol of the socialist vision—lost its sporting relevance and instead came to embody the wild times that followed. Soon, its shell found itself swallowed whole by what would become Europe’s largest open-air bazaar.
Nicknamed the “Russian Market” on account of the sheer volume of traders hailing from the former Soviet Union, here capitalism flourished in its rawest sense: bootleg cigarettes, counterfeit clothes, pirated music, rusting detritus, and fake documents became its calling card. In its earliest days, it’s said that even guns could be bought from the grubby-looking stalls.
Finally ceasing business in 2008, Dziesięciolecia was razed shortly after to make way for the National Stadium. However, while it now requires leaping into the imagination to picture what came before, a discreet bridge to the past exists in the form of a monument by one of the gates depicting three relay athletes poised in mid-race. Sculpted in Socialist Realist style, it’s a lingering remnant of what came before.
Finally ceasing business in 2008, Dziesięciolecia was razed shortly after to make way for the National Stadium. However, while it now requires leaping into the imagination to picture what came before, a discreet bridge to the past exists in the form of a monument by one of the gates depicting three relay athletes poised in mid-race. Sculpted in Socialist Realist style, it’s a lingering remnant of what came before.
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