Blind Football: This was the best year in the history of our section!

The past year will undoubtedly be remembered not only for the blind football section, but also for the entire club, under whose aegis the blind footballers from Krakow have been playing since April 2019. They were unrivaled in their home country, and during their international tours, they made a strong mark – not just on the club side.

The season, which saw the club win several trophies, began on the last weekend of April, with the debut of the local league competition – the PGF Blind Football League – fulfilling the dream of competing for the title of best team in the country.

"When at the end of 2023, in cooperation and in agreement with other clubs in Poland, we decided to create a national league, triumph and the championship title immediately became our goals for 2024. For the first time in the history of the discipline developed in our country for years, there was an opportunity to truly compete and see for ourselves over time, and not based on a single tournament, as was the case for years in the context of the Polish Cup," said Mateusz Krzyszkowski.

The opening round of matches for coach Dominik Foryś's team, played on April 27 and 28, was a true triumph, as the team secured all three points in three matches, scoring eleven goals and conceding none. The highlight of the first round of league action was the direct clash with Śląsk Wrocław BF – their most dangerous rivals in the title race. A wonderful left-footed shot by Paweł Zinkow sent the ball into the net, and the score was 1-0 for our team, allowing them to take sole possession of the top spot.

On June 8th and 9th, the second round of the PGF Blind Football League took place in Wrocław, proving to be crucial for the entire season. Bielsko-Biała played just two matches, scoring fourteen goals. Bielsko-Biała won 10-0 against BTS Rekord, and 4-0 in the return match against the hosts from Śląsk. The first match allowed Martin Jung to improve his scoring record, and the second to take a giant step towards gold.

"After two incredibly successful rounds, we felt that a historic championship was within reach. Fortunately, we didn't get complacent and continued to work on ourselves during training. We had plenty of time for this, as the final round of the league wasn't played until early September," noted Kacper Domagała.

While the Wrocław round meant a break from club competition for the section, it didn't equate to a break from competition for all Wisła BF players and staff. At the turn of June and July, the national team traveled to Morocco to compete for ranking points in the Blind Football Challenge Cup. The Polish national team triumphed in the African tournament, and Wisła players contributed a truly solid piece to this success – the duo of Jung and Zinkow contributed a significant amount of scoring, while Krzysztof Bednarkiewicz played a solid performance at the back.

"Club competition isn't everything; there's also the national team, which also takes up a significant portion of our calendar. Weekend training camps, winter and summer camps, friendly matches, and tournaments keep us very busy, but we're also happy when we can feel the results of our work in the form of victories. These also have a direct impact on the section through additional training sessions and valuable experience," added Paweł Zinkow.

On September 7th, the Kraków team stamped their PGF Blind Football League championship title with a star, as it was the White Star BF team that claimed historic gold in the league. The final round was played in Kraków, where Wisła put on a scoring display in front of their home crowd, scoring a staggering twenty-six goals. A 12-0 win over Zabrze, an 8-0 win over Bielsko, and a 6-0 victory over Warta were a testament to the relaxed spirit and joy of play that emanated from Wisła during the final round.

The historic season saw the team record incredible numbers and lift more than just the team trophy. Over eight matches, the Kraków team earned twenty-four points, scoring fifty-one goals and conceding none. The team gold medal was also adorned with well-deserved individual awards. Martin Jung was the top scorer with twenty-six goals, Paweł Zinkow received the league's best player award, and Gabriel Olech was named the young player of the season.

"The results and the table say it all. We were simply the best and became historic national champions. No one will take that away from us. You can only win such a title once, and we won it. The gold medal was duly celebrated, but not for long, as we still had two important events ahead of us, the Polish Cup at the forefront," recalled Rafał Kurlit.

After competing on the domestic stage, it was time for a small respite and participation in the Central European Cities Cup, which took place in Prague on the last weekend of September. The tournament's unique structure and rather unusual rules, significantly different from those of league or national team competitions, proved to be no major problem for the fast-paced Wisła BF team.

Saturday's group stage match ended with a positive result, earning Wisła a spot in the semifinals. In the match that secured a ticket to the final, our section had to concede the superiority of the German team. In the bronze medal match, the White Star BF team responded appropriately to their previous setback, winning 1-0 against the Bucharest team thanks to a goal by Pavel Zinkov.

"It was an important tournament, especially for our players. We were unrivaled in the league, and in the Czech Republic, several teams brought us down to earth, which was a valuable, if not particularly pleasant, experience. In retrospect, I think this trip abroad was incredibly important in the context of winning the Polish Cup," said Marcin Ryszka.

On October 12th and 13th, Wisła Kraków BF faced the opportunity to defend the Polish Cup they had won in Wrocław the previous year. Their desire for victory was further fueled by negative memories from 2023, when they failed to win gold in front of their home crowd, despite missing out by just a few dozen seconds – this time it was completely different.

Fate assigned Warta Poznań BF and Niezłomni Zabrze BF to the group, and the Krakow team defeated them without any problems – they defeated the former 6-0 and the latter 11-0, thus setting further scoring records throughout 2024. Winning the group gave them a pass to the final, where their rivals from Lower Silesia awaited.

The match against Śląsk BF was the third meeting between the two teams this year – and it was also the most difficult, with a goalless draw for much of the match and few clear-cut chances. Just when it seemed that no goals would be scored, Paweł Zinkow delivered a surprising free kick. His left-footed shot, which came from the near post, deceived the goalkeeper and caught everyone by surprise. The goal proved to be the golden goal, allowing the White Star BF team to add the Polish Cup trophy to their league triumph.

Just like at the end of the PGF Blind Football League season, Martin Jung received the top scorer award, and Paweł Zinkow received the tournament MVP title.

"It was like a beautiful dream that none of us wanted to wake up from. We achieved everything in our country last year, and on our own terms. Another season like this will never happen again, because you can only win the double crown once for the first time in history. The upcoming 2025 will be completely different, probably more difficult than this one, because our rivals have had the opportunity to get to know us. This doesn't change the fact that our fate largely depends on us," emphasized Martin Jung.

The words "historic," "first," and "best" were used several times in the above paragraphs—perhaps even too often. They were necessary, however, as 2024 passed with such adjectives and numerals. We can only congratulate the players, coaching staff, and organizational staff on such significant achievements and wish that the upcoming 2025 will be at least as good as the one that has already passed the Wisła BF section.