In 1995, Ajax Amsterdam won the Champions League having 8 academy players in their team. Today it is hard to imagine such a situation. Why is it so?<\/p>\n
Krzysztof \u0141\u0119cki, PhD, DLitt, Associate Professor, a sociologist from the Faculty of Social Sciences has examined the process of football shift from the epoch where a club was a community bringing together local society to the moment it becomes entrepreneurship, and often a global corporation. The effects of his research work are encapsulated in the book Stadiony \u015bwiata (pomi\u0119dzy Gemeinschaft i Gesellschaft)<\/em>\u00a0he will talk about in the 18th episode of the Scientific Premiere Stage.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In his childhood, Prof. Krzysztof \u0141\u0119cki just like every Silesian boy had been spending his entire days playing football. Hundreds of matches often played on improvised local pitches called \u201cWembley\u201d or \u201cMaracana\u201d were the base of the successes of such teams as G\u00f3rnik Zabrze or Ruch Chorz\u00f3w, which built their teams on players from the region. Many of them played for a club their entire career.<\/p>\n A symbolic end of this epoch was 1989. Poland has opened to the world and our footballers had the opportunity to seek their fortune in other countries, which formerly was on the borderline of a miracle. It was the beginning of the endless transfer movement that accelerated after Poland joined the European Union in 2004. Today, loyalty to the club is rare in the world of football, which is almost entirely dominated by money.<\/p>\n \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>[vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″]\r\n Photo by Tomasz Grz\u0105\u015blewicz<\/span><\/p>\n \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″]\r\n Photo by Tomasz Grz\u0105\u015blewicz<\/span><\/p>\n \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner]\r\n The great advantage of the book by Prof. Krzysztof \u0141\u0119cki is that its \u201cempirical\u201d part is based on utterances of former and current football players, which illustrate its shift from Gemeinschaft formula to the Gesellschaft, from a club promoting youth from a district, city or region to entrepreneurship operating over the entire world and employing people from distant places.<\/p>\n As long as former academy players from a district were proud of the fact they can represent their beloved club and for winning national championship received a glass or material for new clothes, nowadays, football is dominated by \u201cvagabonds\u201d searching for a better \u201cpasture\u201d, as written by Zygmunt Bauman. Top players earn several hundred thousand pounds per month and even a seemingly spontaneous reaction can be commercialised: a few years ago Krzysztof Pi\u0105tek, Poland forward, trademarked his characteristic goal celebration.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As for national teams, the author of Stadiony \u015awiata<\/em> devoted to them a separate chapter covering the topics of identity, double citizenship, or international conflicts transferred onto the pitch and the stands. Famous manager Bill Shankly has said that football is much more important than a matter of life and death. And although we are all busy with more urgent issues related to war and refugee crisis, we will surely touch on the subject of politics and sanctions imposed on Russia. Eventually, we will meet on the day when Poland was to play in World Cup play-offs against Russia…<\/p>\n \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>[vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″]\r\n Photo by Tomasz Grz\u0105\u015blewicz<\/span><\/p>\n \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″]\r\n On Thursday 7 April 2022 at 6.00 p.m., we will talk with Prof. Krzysztof \u0141\u0119cki about football, football players, clubs, stadiums, and fans. The meeting will be broadcast live from the magical space of Stadion \u015al\u0105ski, the famous \u201cWitches Cauldron\u201d where Poland national team coached by Kazimierz G\u00f3rski won against England and the Netherlands, and G\u00f3rnik Zabrze played their legendary match against AS Roma.<\/p>\n The meeting will be hosted by Jaros\u0142aw Juszkiewicz, a journalist, science communicator, and former goalkeeper of Silesian yard teams.<\/p>\n The event will be translated into Polish sign language.<\/p>\n \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_separator]\r\n Previous meetings are available on the University’s YouTube Channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>[\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″]\r\n \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_separator][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row] […]<\/p>\nWembley on each yard<\/h3>\n
![\"Osiedlowe](\"https:\/\/us.edu.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/obrazek-wyr\u00f3\u017cniaj\u0105cy\/boiska-Tomek-Grzaslewicz-3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Boisko](\"https:\/\/us.edu.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/obrazek-wyr\u00f3\u017cniaj\u0105cy\/boiska-Tomek-Grzaslewicz-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTrademarked goal celebration<\/h3>\n
Ball under the flag<\/h3>\n
![\"\u0141\u0105ka](\"https:\/\/us.edu.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/obrazek-wyr\u00f3\u017cniaj\u0105cy\/boiska-Tomek-Grzaslewicz-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nStraight from the Witches Cauldron<\/h3>\n
Broadcast<\/h3>\n
\n
![\"Plakat](\"https:\/\/us.edu.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/obrazek-wyr\u00f3\u017cniaj\u0105cy\/plakat-4.png\")
<\/p>\n