Holy War (Kraków)

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.^[2] 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 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.^[1]

Cracovia and Wisła Kraków are two of the oldest still existing football clubs in Poland.^[3]

More information Club comparison ...

Club comparison
Cracovia		Wisła Kraków
13 June 1906	Date founded	September 1906
5 (first championship – 1921)	Polish championship	13 (first championship – 1927)
1	Polish Cup	5
1	Polish Super Cup	1
46	Seasons played in Ekstraklasa	82
21 August 1921	Debut in the competition for the Polish championship	12 August 1923
25 March 1928	Debut in Ekstraklasa	3 April 1927
2	Top goalscorers in Ekstraklasa	20
Ekstraklasa	Current league level (2025–26)	I liga
Cracovia stadium (Capacity: 15,114)	Stadium	Wisła Kraków stadium (Capacity: 33,326)

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• 1982 Puchar Polski match ended 2–2, Wisła won 5–3 on penalties.

The following players were under contract with the first team of both clubs after the 1927 season.

More information Name, Position ...

Name	Position	Cracovia	Wisła Kraków
Artur Bugaj	Forward	1989–1990	1988–1989, 1990–1991
Jacek Bzukała	Midfielder	1984–1985	1985–1987
Radosław Cierzniak	Goalkeeper	2012	2015–2016
Adam Dąbrowski	Midfielder	1997	1996–1997
Henryk Duda	Defender	1973–1979	1968–1973
Mieczysław Dudek	Defender	1953	1949–1951, 1955–1956
Guy Feutchine	Midfielder	1997–1998	1996–1997
Mateusz Jelonek	Forward	1987–1988, 1992–1993	1988–1991
Jan Karwecki	Goalkeeper	1980–1981	1978–1980
Walerian Kisieliński	Forward	1933–1935	1930–1932
Zbigniew Klaja	Midfielder	1990	1983–1989
Wiesław Lendzion	Forward	1974–1976	1965–1973
Radosław Matusiak	Forward	2009–2011	2008
Marek Motyka	Defender	1991–1993	1978–1990
Zdzisław Mordarski	Defender	1956	1949–1956
Andrzej Niedzielan	Forward	2011	2007–2009
Paweł Nowak	Midfielder	2002–2009	1997–2003
Zbigniew Opoka	Forward	1955–1958	1959
Krzysztof Piszczek	Midfielder	2002–2004	1996–1997
Krzysztof Radwański	Defender	2002–2009	1998
Artur Sarnat	Goalkeeper	1993	1993–2001, 2002–2003
Ryszard Sarnat	Forward	1967–1970	1970–1974
Łukasz Skrzyński	Defender	1998–1999, 2002–2008	1995–2000
Łukasz Sosin	Forward	1996–1997	2000–2001
Janusz Sputo	Forward	1974	1966–1972
Henryk Stroniarz	Goalkeeper	1961–1963	1964–1971
Janusz Surowiec	Midfielder	1977–1984	1973–1977
Henryk Szymanowski	Defender	1983–1986	1971–1983
Adam Wapiennik	Midfielder	1954–1955	1946–1950
Kazimierz Węgrzyn	Defender	2003–2005	1998–2000
Dariusz Zawadzki	Midfielder	2003	2001–2004

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