The ball is on the side of the city of Warsaw
Zbigniew Czyż: On Saturday, in a small Warsaw derby in the 3rd league, Polonia lost at their own stadium to Legia’s reserves 2-3. Lots of fans, loud cheering, just like at other Polish matches this season. Probably just to confirm, to start a big one, that there is a potential to start at Konwitorska Street?
Gregoire Nitot, owner of Polonia Warsaw: – you know so. Polonia for a club with great history and great potential. I don’t change my mind. I knew it when I was buying the football club, I know it also today. The match with Legia’s reserves has once again shown that there is a potential for achieving better results in Polonia.
Did I meet you with the players and the coach?
– Yes, it was nervous in the locker room. The team had a lot of time not to make goals, we did not concede a penalty in the countless time of the game. I thanked the team and said, keep your head up, there are still many games ahead of us this season. I am stupid with the fight, they fought to the end, in the weekend match we have an important vice-leader, Pilica Białobrzegi.
You are in the lead of the table, but after this round you are seven points behind the leader with Legionowa, having played one game less. What is the purpose of the “Black Shirts” for ten seasons?
– The cheapest you do are 2 hours. Let’s not give up, he will try to the end, the season is long.
Is there a plan to strengthen yourself during the winter break?
– Yes, but it’s too early to talk about details. shortly thereafter to analyze in what positions they must be co-performed. It will also depend on whether someone is injured in this round and how to support the players’ assessment after all matches in the fall round. We may decide to enlist a striker, but that decision will depend on the coach and sports director who I trust.
Are you satisfied with the work of Rafał Smalt’s trainer?
– Yes, and very much. For me he is the super leader of our team. The previous coach, Wojciech Szymanek, was a good coach, but I believe that Rafał is a league with more potential. He has charisma, authority among producers and a passion for a large amount of action. You can see that the band has an idea how to play. I believe that he is the right coach and that you can do something great with him.
Does the dismissal of Wojciech Szymank prevent his criticism from fans directed at you?
– On deployment after three defeats from one or the other sports coach, to be able to work directly in the running of the workstation, to start looking at the team no longer than at the end of the season. I talked for three hours with Rafał Smalt and he delighted me. Already in May we discussed, also with Piotr Kosiorowski, what movements will be transferred to the summer break.
How is your cooperation with the sports director?
– I started working with Piotr 2 months after I became you Polonia. I rate her as very good, she knows all related matters. He has a good relationship with the coach, his own best transfers turned out to be successful this season. He can also indicate talents to play in the first team from the Polish Academy of Sciences. I trust him, he also runs the team’s financial affairs.
You became the owner of the football Polonia Warszawa in March 2020. How much money have you invested in the club since then?
– From mutual money I invested 6 million 200 thousand zlotys, in addition, each year the company Sii, of which I am the founder, quickly donating one million to the Polish diaspora.
Do you know how much money you need to invest in order to have your goal, i.e. to be promoted to Ekstraklasa in some time?
– According to my games, I will have to contest about 25 million for Polonia to play in the open class in 2029.
What is the budget of Polonia Warsaw for 2021?
– The budget of the entire football club up to PLN 4,900,000, including the sports and third league section. In addition to giving money to the money making team, training, also for youth teams. Every golden day he folded hundreds for one of the thousands of training sessions, one match group costs us 25. Our partners with smaller drops do not have general problems with rivals who have more support from the city council. Maintaining the Polish diaspora costs a lot.
You have to prepare a budget in the 3rd group league, but there is no exercise for this purpose. Not frustrating to you?
– Maybe so, but I know it is a difficult league. Spending for team expenses, we pay for players expenses. The players of Legionovia, for example, which is now the leader in our group, train for free during the week, and also play for free at weekends.
Former Ekstraklasa star Łukasz Piątek earns the most in Polonia?
– Łukasz Piątek, Krystian Pieczara and Tomasz Woło have the biggest contracts, probably the best and most frequent players in our team.
With Łukasz Piątek, contract ends around the next year, do you want to pay attention to contract extensions?
– Yes, Luke on footballers, which is very much a picture of the Polish diaspora. He came to us a year and a half ago, when you had another year with ŁKS through and where he made more money than with us. I am new from us, and you will sign a new one with him.
In 2023, work on the reconstruction of the Polonia stadium is to begin. The new facility is to accommodate 15,500 PLN. The entirety of the investment in gold. The Warsaw City Hall will spend PLN 114 million on the reconstruction. A user has posted a while ago that he is willing to put out coins if the city now has customers with 300.
– From the point of view of the stadium, the stadium is intended for the club to be successful and earn for itself. Within a month, we will set up a PLN 300 investment in the number of accounts in order to gain time to gain access to the infrastructure. a basketball hall for a minimum of 40 years. I would like it all to be a place where, when there is no match, anyone can run areas with, for example, gastronomy. I would like concerts to get married here, to be vibrant with cultural life. We are constantly in touch with the city, the ball is on their side.
Thanks to the fact that there will be even boxes on the stadiums, even permanent boxes, the facility will be able to earn for itself. For now, the city wants to be a partner in public-private business. We are waiting for the tenders to be settled, who will design and build a new stadium along with the entire sports complex.
Your long-term plan assumes the promotion of the Polish diaspora to Ekstraklasa already in the new stadium, achievements in 2029. What’s on the way?
– By 2025, we would like to be in the 1st league. I would like the fans to play an ever greater part in financing the union. Currently, we have about 10 percent of the Club’s annual budget from ticket sales. In the beginning, we write the 2nd leagues to plan the text of the first budget in about 50 percent.
Some time ago, during a Legia Warszawa match, its fans hung a transparent one in which he suggested you withdraw with the cancellation of Polonia. Have you forgotten about that?
– I hope that the fans of Legia will not be a threat to me. Nobody attacks me on the street. It is fine so far and I have the respect shown. I, however, congratulate Legia. Bravo for the pole matches from Leicester, which I watched on TV. I keep my fingers crossed for Legia, it’s good that there is one in the capital that is successful in Europe. Almost every capital city in Europe has two strong clubs and I hope that it will be the same in Warsaw soon.
On Saturday, Polonia played with Legia’s reserves, in a new game of the first team from Łazienkowska in Ekstraklasa?
– I dream about it and I will do everything to make it happen.
Zbigniew Czyż spoke to Gregoir Nitot in Warsaw