To Cymru, from Polska with love

Ahead of the Cymru women’s game against Poland in Newport on 28th October, Iwan Williams looks at the sporting connections between the nations, and the contribution of Polish people to Welsh communities

Niedzwiecki, Krzywicki, Mielczarek, Cegielski, Dabrowski, Mlynarski, Bloniarczyk, Marciniak, Tankiewicz, Czekaj, Domachowski

A Polish football XI? They’re actually the names of individuals who have represented Cymru in sport.

Goalkeeper Eddie Niedzwiecki from Bangor won two Cymru caps in the mid-eighties, Dick Krzywicki from Penley near Wrexham won eight Cymru caps between 1969 and 1971, whilst daughter Tara won six caps for Cymru women in the nineties.

Defender Ray Mielczarek from Caernarfon won one Cymru cap in 1971, whilst fellow defender Wayne Cegielski from Bedwellty won Cymru Under 21 caps in 1976-77.

Seb Dabrowski (Swansea) has represented the Cymru Under 21 team, whilst Patrick Mlynarski (Crewe), Kaven Bloniarczyk (Swansea), Alex Marciniak (Arsenal) and Rob Tankiewicz (Cardiff) have all represented the Cymru Under 17 team.

Rugby

Rugby winger Chris Czekaj from Cardiff won nine Cymru caps between 2005 and 2010, whilst prop Corey Domachowski from Church Village has won ten Cymru caps to date. In addition, Mandy Gornicki-Bond won caps for Cymru women in the nineties, Morgan Sieniawski represented the Cymru Under 20 rugby team.

Axel Donczew is the youngest player to represent Cardiff City, and a special mention for goalkeeper George Poland from Penarth, who won two Cymru caps in 1939.

The names mentioned here are an example of how Polish people have made a huge contribution to our lives, our communities, our workplaces and our sporting achievements.

A more local example is how CPD Llanybydder benefited from a few Polish footballers working at the local abattoir. And it’s nothing new: Morris Wartski, for example, was a Polish Jew who moved from Turek to Bangor and opened a jeweller’s shop on the High Street in 1895. People move around for better life outcomes, work, love and any number of reasons.

Human beings have been doing this for a very long time, migration is in our nature. Some find their way to Cymru, and ask for the opportunity to work hard, to show a good attitude towards employment and live a decent life for them and their families.

Auschwitz

Certain events have altered life courses. The Second World War resulted in a number of Polish people calling Cymru their new home. Corey Domachowski’s great-grandfather escaped the horrors of Auschwitz and eventually settled in Pencoed.

Dick Krzywicki’s father also survived Auschwitz. Their descendants are now firmly part of our communities, and as Welsh as anyone else.

Penley, Dick Krzywicki’s village, was the base for a Polish hospital that opened in 1946 and provided a home for Polish war veterans, refugees and displaced citizens. The Penley Polish Community Hospital housed generations of Polish families until its closure in 2002.

Penrhos Polish Village near Pwllheli was established in 1949 on the site of a former RAF base. A haven for other veterans and refugees, most of the village spoke Polish and retained Polish traditions. Over time, these customs and traditions were recognised by local Welsh communities on Pen Llŷn. It was a Welsh “Croeso” which we now see once again with Ukrainian families sadly seeking new homes and sanctuary since 2022.

Whilst the current drift towards far-right populism and the dismal, race-to-the bottom rhetoric around asylum seekers and refugees has largely centred around Islamophobia, recent comments by Nigel Farage are a reminder that no one is safe. A not-so-subtle threat that if you look or sound “a bit foreign”, watch your back.

Last month Farage said that eastern European migrants, including Polish people, are eating swans in Royal Parks.

Farcical and lifted straight from the MAGA Trump playbook, it builds on his 2015 comments when he said that immigrants from India and Australia would be better than eastern Europeans, including Poles.

Following Poland’s accession to the EU in 2004, the UK witnessed an increase in Polish people arriving and looking for work opportunities.

Twelve years later, anti-Polish sentiment and hate crimes were evident following the EU referendum result in 2016, with Polish people experiencing “Go Home / No Welcome Here” remarks and hostile behaviour.

Some have stayed in the UK whilst others have returned home, leaving significant gaps in a range of sectors, including health and social care, universities and hospitality.

We are literally all the poorer for their departure and the possibility of the Polish economy overtaking the UK economy by 2035-40 is loaded with irony: the sunlit uplands of Brexit Britain indeed.

And then there’s the dreary “They don’t fit in…they don’t make an effort or represent our values” accusations from some.

People who feel threatened by the sight of a Polski sklep (shop). A total of 146 Polish pilots served with the RAF during the Battle of Britain, whilst over seventeen thousand airmen served in the Polish Air Force in Britain during the Second World War and fought with the Allies.

In a Welsh context, some Polish people have made sure that their children speak Cymraeg, English and Polish effortlessly, whilst their accusers despise their own country’s language and do everything possible to belittle Cymraeg.

Ignorance is bliss and irony is everywhere.

Euro 2024 play-off final

There are plenty of Cymru-Poland football connections. Cymru women have played Poland seven times, including games in Barry (1998) and Port Talbot (1999), with one victory to date, a 5-1 win in the Algarve Cup in 2009.

The last game took place in the Cyprus Cup in 2016. Cymru men have played Poland eleven times, with the first game in 1973: Cymru won 2-0 at Ninian Park, the only victory to date.

Poland have won the last seven encounters, including the 3-2 defeat in Cardiff in 2004 (Gary Speed’s 85th and final Cymru appearance) and the heartbreaking Euro 2024 play-off final defeat in Cardiff, and that crushing penalty shootout involving Wojciech Szczęsny and Robert Lewandowski.

Adam Owen from Wrexham was Head Coach for Lechia Gdańsk in 2017/18, and Technical Advisor for Lech Poznań in 2021-24.

Wrexham played Stal Rzeszów in the European Cup Winners Cup in 1975, Newtown played Wisla Kraków in 1998, TNS played Polonia Warsaw (2001) and Amica Wronki (2002), whilst Caernarfon Town fans were cruelly denied a visit to Legia Warsaw for their UEFA Conference League game in July 2024.

Not forgetting Karol Wojtyla’s visit to Cardiff in 1982. A goalkeeper in his youth, he was best known by his other name: Pope John Paul II.

An estimated 21,000 Polish people live in Cymru, with strong Polish communities remaining in places including Wrexham and Merthyr.

The Polish Catholic Mission continues to provide services in Llanelli, Briton Ferry, Cardiff and elsewhere. In addition, there are probably a few thousand Welsh people with Polish connections. Whether you’re Polish and live in Cymru, Welsh with Polish roots, or Welsh-Polish: Diolch / Thank you / Dziękuję.

Like other nations and parts of the world, you make a difference, enrichen our lives, add value to our communities, reinforce our workplaces and strengthen our sports teams.

In the current climate of suspicion, fear, hostility and division funded by tax shy millionaires and driven by the far-right, it’s worth pointing that out. In a world of Donald Trumps, be a Donald Tusk.

The 28th October game in Casnewydd/Newport should be a great occasion, and the post-Fishlock chapter has begun: Pob Lwc / Good Luck Cymru women.