Warsaw is home to 2 major professional football clubs and a number of smaller clubs. Those currently playing in the first division (Pierwsza Liga) are Legia Warszawa and Polonia Warszawa.
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On 9 April 2008 the President of Warsaw, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, obtained from the mayor of Stuttgart Wolfgang Schuster a challenge award – a commemorative plaque awarded to Warsaw as the European capital of Sport in 2008.[1]
The National Stadium, a planned 56,000 seat football (soccer) stadium, is currently under construction on the site of Warsaw's recently demolished 10th-Anniversary Stadium.[2] The national stadium is due to host the opening match (a group match), remaining 2 group matches, a quarterfinal, and a semifinal of the UEFA Euro 2012 hosted jointly by Poland and Ukraine.[3]
There are many sports centres in the city as well. Most of these facilities are swimming pools and sports halls, many of them built by the municipality in the past several years. The main indoor venue is Hala Torwar, used for all kinds of indoor sports (mainly, indoor skating rink). There is also open-air skating rink (Stegny) and the horse racetrack (Służewiec).
The best of the city's swimming centres is at Wodny Park Warszawianka, 4 km south of the centre at Merliniego Street, where there's an Olympic-sized pool as well as water slides and children's areas.[4]
From the Warsovian football teams, the most famous is Legia Warszawa – the army club with a nationwide following play at Polish Army Stadium, just southeast of the centre at Łazienkowska Street. Established in 1916, they have won the country’s championship 8 times (most recently in 2006) and won the Polish Cup 14 times. They have never been relegated divisions. In the Champions League season 1995/96 they reached the quarter-finals, where they lost to Panathinaikos Athens.
Their local rivals, Polonia Warsaw, have significantly fewer supporters, yet they managed to win Ekstraklasa Championship in 2000. They also won the country’s championship in 1946, and won the cup twice as well. Polonia's home venue is located at Konwiktorska Street, a ten-minute walk north from the Old Town.
Like most of Polish sport clubs, those based in Warsaw have also branches that specialize in other disciplines. The following lists the major sport clubs and the discipline the club is famous for: