POLONIA HAMILTON SOCCER CLUB

CLUB HIGHLIGHTS


1964 Founding of the Polonia Soccer Club
1969 Hamilton Polonia (Polonia) wins its first Polish tournament held in Oshawa
1978 Polonia advances to Premier Division for the first time with 72:23 goals in favour of Polonia,
1978 Adam Terepora wins the goal scoring title with 23 goals. Two Youth teams begin play

1984 Polonia are Champions of the First Division with 45 goals for and 19 against. Janusz Slota wins goal scoring title with 16 goals. Tadek Misiak had 15 goals and Darek Bonczarowski with 9 goals. Team advances to the Premier division in the SOSL.
1985 Polonia finishes in 2nd place in the Premier Division, Tadek Misiak wins goal scoring title with 12 goals.
1986 Champions of the Premier Division with 11 Wins, 1 Tie and 4 Losses. They outscore their opponents 52:29.
Gregorz Lato and Zbigniew Tracz win goal scoring title with 12 goals.
1986 Polonia wins the "Polonia Cup" in Toronto
1986 Polonia wins London White Eagles Tournament
1987 "Polonia" Old-timers are Division Champions
1988 Polonia wins the "Polonia Cup" in Toronto
1989 Polonia undefeated First Division Champions with a record of 20 Wins 1 Tie 0 Losses, 104:24 goals in favour of Polonia.

1990 to 1992 "Polonia" Old-timers Champions of Division A 3 Years in a row!
1995 Polonia undefeated First Division Champions with a record of 12 Wins 6 Ties 0 Losses
1995 Polonia White Eagles win Old-timers League Cup
1996 Polonia Club’s First Women’s Team
1999 35th Season completed.



Hamilton "Polonia" is one of the oldest and best supported polish soccer club in Canada. The team has won numerous trophies and has competed in Canada, the U.S. and even in Poland.

Other then our senior men’s team in the Hamilton & District Soccer League, we have the Polonia White Eagles who play in the Hamilton & District Old-timers Soccer League. At one time we had three teams in this over-35 league. A couple of youth teams during the late 70s and early 80s and in 1996 we entered a senior women’s team into competition.

Hamilton "Polonia" Soccer Team has had the honour of having distinguished footballers who have represented Poland in international competitions play for us. Of most significance, in 1985 the 1974 Golden Boot award winner Greg Lato who led Poland to a 3rd place finish at the 1974 World Cup competition began playing for our team. Lato played a total of 5 years with our club split between our senior team and our old-timers team.



Not only a leader on the field, Lato drew many fans who came to see him and our team play. This helped increase the popularity of our club and our sport in the Hamilton area.

The manager of the team who has been dedicated to our club for the entire 35 years is Aleksander Chrapala. Other significant contributors to our club have been the Secretary Jurek Krajewski 35 years, Henry Samoluk who has carried numerous functions through out the 35 years including President of the Club and Florian Radojewski who played for 33 years as goalie for the senior team-Hamilton Polonia and later with the Polonia White Eagles.

Hamilton "Polonia" Soccer Club gratefully thanks all the Polish organizations and our supporters in the Hamilton area who supported us financially and emotionally throughout the years. Without your support we would not have been able to develop our proud tradition as a top notch soccer club. We are a club open to players who enjoy soccer and are dedicated in bringing to our teams both a competitive and fun environment. We just hope heading into our 36th year that our club can maintain our proud tradition for another 35 years.



DETAILED HISTORY OF HAMILTON POLONIA SOCCER CLUB

The club was founded by Florian Radojewski who immigrated to Canada in 1963. The following year in 1964 Mr. Radojewski organized pickup soccer matches in the parish parking lot of St. Stanislaus Church.

From 1964 to 1966 "Polonia" played in the CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) league.

With growing enthusiasm and support for soccer, together the players along with the support of our parish priest were able to officially register our first team for league competition in 1967. The name of the team was Hamilton "Polonia" and finished in 2nd place in the Junior "B" league. The original players were goalie - Florian Radojewski; defence - Mietek Kozbor, Stasiu Rebejko, Tadek Frankiewicz, Jurek Krajewski; midfield - Janek Janiga, Andrzej Lipiec, Heniek Samoluk, Andrzej Ziolkowski; strikers - Adam Terepora, Zygmunt Cielecki, Henry Szpiech, Grzesiu Kata, and Jozek Antonczak. Coach Aleksander Chrapala.



ORIGINAL TEAM from 1967

Standing left to right: Mietek Kozbor, Janek Janiga, Stasiu Rebejko, Grzesiu Kata, Jurek Krajewski, Heniek Samoluk, Andrzej Lipiec;
Front row from left: Andrzej Ziolkowski, Zygmunt Cielecki, Jozek Antonczk, Florian Radojewski, Adam Terepora;
Absent: Aleksander Chrapala (coach), Tadek Frankiewicz, and Henry Szpiech

In 1968 play in the Junior "A" under-21 league began. This year was the first year the club and an official elected executive council. President - Leonard Skibinski, Vice-president Dominik Nowak, Secretary Jurek Krajewski, Treasurer Franek Stinia, Organizers Florian Radojewski and Stasiu Kniaz.

In 1969, Hamilton Polonia won its first Polish tournament held in Oshawa.



The 1970s

In 1970, Hamilton Polonia began play in the first division in the Southern Ontario Soccer League (SOSL). Although competition was tough, the team was able to remain in the premier division.

In 1971-72, Polonia was able to maintain its position in the middle of the standings. During this time, a player who once played with Manchester United Stefan Minkiewicz and Jozek Swistak who came from playing in West Germany joined our team. Also the brothers Jurek & Roman Smigielski joined the team.

1973 - Polonia hosts its first Polonia tournament won by Polonia Toronto. Hamilton Polonia finishes 3rd in the First Division.

1974 - Polonia finishes in 5th place in the First Division.

1975 - Polonia finishes in 2nd place in the First Division, 72:23 goals in favour of Polonia and advances to the stronger Premier Division for the 1976 season. Adam Terepora wins goal scoring title with 23 goals.

1976 - Polonia finishes in 6th place in the Premier Division.

1977 - Polonia hosts Polonia tournament won by Falcons from Toronto. Hamilton finishes in 3rd place in tournament and 7th place in the premier league.

1978 - Polonia receives a huge influx of players from Poland such as Szczepan Grazyk from Ursus Warsaw and Tadek Misiak from Brzeg Odra. They help Polonia back into the Premier Division who lead the 1st division the whole season but finishing in 2nd due to poor results in the last 2 games. Two youth teams begin play in the Hamilton area.

1979 - Polonia finishes in 4th place in the Premier Division.



The 1980s

1980 - Polonia finishes in 3rd place in the Premier Division. A second team Polonia II was started in the 1st division.

1981 - Accused of using illegal players from Poland but later withdrawn by the league as this accusation had no validity, nevertheless the team did not complete the season. PoloniaII finishes in 7th place in the first division. Polonia and PoloniaII join together to make one team.

1982 - Relegated to First Division, Polonia finished in 5th place in First Division.

1983 - Polonia finished in 5th place in the First Division.

1984 - Polonia are champions of the First Division with 45 goals for and 19 against. Janusz Slota wins goal scoring title with 16 goals. Tadek Misiak had 15 goals and Darek Bonczarowski with 9 goals. Team advances to the Premier divans in the SOSL.

1985 - Polonia finishes in 2nd place in the Premier Division, Tadek Misiak wins scoring title with 12 goals.

1986 - The Red and White are the Champions of the Premier Division with 11 Wins, 1 Tie and 4 Losses. They outscore their opponents 52:29. Gregorz Lato & Zbigniew Tracz are goal scoring champions with 12 goals each and Janusz Slota is 4th with 8 goals.
Polonia also won the "Polonia Cup" in Toronto that summer and the London White Eagles Tournament in September. Also, The old-timers team begins play in Division A of the old-timers over-35 league.

1987 - Polonia goes to Poland for the worldwide Polonia team tournament in Krakow and finishes in 4th place. Hamilton Polonia finishes in 4th place in Premier Division. Polonia Old-timers are Champions

1988 - Polonia wins the "Polonia Cup" in Toronto but drops to the First Division.





1989 UNDEFEATED TEAM

1989 - Polonia has undefeated season and is crowned champions of the First Division with a record of 20 Wins and 1 Tie, 104 goals for, and only 24 against. Polonia hosts Canada wide Polish tournament and finishes in first Place. Hamilton Polonia Soccer Club celebrates its 25th anniversary.



The 1990s

1990 - Polonia finishes in 3rd place in the Premier Division. Polonia Old-timers finish first in the Old-timers Division A and lost in the league cup finals to Europa. The first year Polonia "White Eagles" finish in 1st place in the Old-timers Division B and advance to Division A for 1991.

1991 - Polonia finishes in 4th place in Premier Division. "Polonia" old-timers are Champions of Division A, and the White Eagles finish 3rd in Division A.

1992 - Polonia finishes in 6th place in the Premier League. "Polonia" old-timers are Champions of Division A for a third year in a row. Polonia White Eagles finish in 4th place in Division A, and the first year Polonia Krakow (our third team in old-timers) finish in 5th place in Division C.

1993 - Polonia finishes in 8th place. "Polonia" old-timers finish 2nd place in Division A, Polonia White Eagles in 5th place Division A and Polonia Krakow in 2nd place Division C, therefore advancing to Division B. "Polonia" old-timers finish in 3rd Place in Chicago International Polish Soccer Tournament.

1994 - Polonia finishes in last place and drops to First Division. Polonia White Eagles old-timers are Champions of Division A who also lose in the league cup final 4to 1 to Proto. Polonia Krakow finishes in 2nd place in Division B and advances to Division A.



1995 UNDEFEATED TEAM

1995 - Polonia is undefeated and are Champions of the First Division with a record of 12 wins and 6 ties. Goals for of 46 and goals against of 16 in 18 games. Polonia advances to Premier Division. White Eagles and Polonia (previously Krakow) finish in the middle of the standings Division A. White Eagles win the League Cup defeating Polonia in the semifinal and Croatia in the finals.

1996 - Polonia finish in 8th place and remain in the Premier Division. Polonia wins the President’s trophy for Most Sportsmanlike Team. White Eagles and Polonia finish in middle of Division A. Both lost in the semi-finals of the League Cup. This is the first year and only year of the Senior Women’s Team.

1997- Polonia remains in the Premier Division and wins the Presidents Trophy for Sportmanship/Discipline.

1998- Polonia remains in the Premier Division

1999- Polonia finishes in last place and is relegated to the First Division. 35th Anniversary.



The 2000s

2000- 35th anniversary Banquet in spring to kickoff the 36th season. Polonia is playing in the First Division and Old-timers Polonia White Eagles are playing in Division A.

2005 - 40th anniversary Banquet in July. Grzegorz Lato visits from Poland to attemd the Banquet. Polonia Hamilton is playing in Premier Division and Old-Timers Polonia White Eagles are playing in Division A



Translated and updated by Adam Kolodziej

Treasurer

20 July 2005