Vul. Vachnianyna, 1 – "Shkolyar" Stadium

ID: 2168

The stadium is located within the wooded Pohulyanka Park, on a gentle slope below Lychakiv Cemetery, and consists of a main pitch and two training fields. The main field is in natural grass with bleachers set on its southern end, and encircled by a grass running track. An administrative building stands at the field’s west end.

History

The Stadium cornerstone was laid in 1924 by Władysław Langner, opening on September 6^th of that year. (Lwów i Wilno, 1997, 89). Officially, the stadium was the property of the 40^th Infantry Rifle Regiment and Lechia Sports Club. Led by Tadeusz Kuchar the club had been founded in 1904-05 by students from Public Schools #3 and #4 (Piłka nożna, 1996, 75). At first the group lacked a stadium in which to work out and used the facilities of the Sokil-Mother Sport Society, located up Lychakiv Hill near the cemetery. The club’s focus began with football, entering a team in 1931 into the Polish High League, becoming the fourth such club from Lviv to do so (Piłka nożna, 1996, 75).

In 1924 club leaders reached an agreement with the 40^th Infantry Rifle Regiment Command and were granted a small playground which club members and soldiers reorganized into the stadium. On September 6, 1924, football matches and a track meet were held pitting the Lechia students against the troops. It was on April 5, 1931 that Lechia made its Polish League debut against the Chorzow (Rukhom) squad, losing 0:5 (Lwów i Wilno, 1997, 88). It was also here – one week later, April 12, 1931 – that Lechia enjoyed its first league win, defeating Warsaw’s Polonia squad 2:1. Notable players from that team include Zenon Kruk, Władysław Rusecki, Józef Aseńko, Tadeusz Szusterszycz, Jan Wasiewicz, and Ryszard Koncewicz.

During the winter the stadium was employed as a hockey rink, and the athletic track adapted for speed skating. The Lechia hockey team took second place in the 1935 Polish Championships. Its leading player, Kazimierz Sokołowski, a defenseman, twice participated in the Olympic Games: the 1932 Games in Lake Placid, New York, and the 1936 Games in Bavaria in Germany (Głuszek, 1980, 289).

The stadium underwent reconstruction in the 1980s and 90s when the main field drainage system was replaced, a new upper dirt practice field was installed, bleachers constructed, light towers erected, and an administrative center built. Ihor Kul'chyts'kyi, a former notable from Lviv’s Karpaty FC, headed the national “Specialized Children and Youth Sports Schools of the Olympic Reserve” (SDUShOR) at the time, and played a key role in the stadium’s refurbishment.

Currently Shkolyar Stadium is property of the SDUShOR Department of the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sport of Ukraine, and is chaired by Roman Ryfyak, another former Karpaty footballer. School alumni include such famous footballers as Edvard Kozynkevych, Hryhoriy Batych, and Jewhen Dulyk, with Stepan Nyrko and Sviatoslav Kanych training the boys. Current trainers at the school are former Karpaty players Bohdan Hreshchak and Ostap Savka.

Architecture

Shkolyar Stadium is located within the wooded Pohulyanka Park, sloping down from Lychakiv Cemetery. It occupies a rectangular space facing east to west. Eight rows of bleachers, seating 300, are set on the stadium’s south side. The bleachers are backed by a treeline separating them from city tramlines. On the stadium’s north side, just beyond the running track, stands a brick retaining wall from Lychakiv Cemetery. In the complex’s western end, adjoining a neighboring house, stands a two-story administration building. The entire complex consists of three fields located at different levels. The main field is natural grass with dimensions of 91 x 52 meters and is adjoined from the east by a small training field, also in grass. On slightly elevated ground sits an 80 x 42 meter dirt training field. Metal light towers are located at the four corners of the main field.

Personalities

Tadeusz Kuchar. Founder of the Lechia Sports Club.

Jan Wasiewicz. Lechia footballer, 1936 Olympian.

Ryszard Konciewicz. Lechia footballer, Polish National Team trainer 1960s.

Kazimierz Sokołowski. Lechia hockey player, competed at both the 1932 Olympic Games at Lake Placid, New York and the 1936 Gamesat Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Edvard Kozynkevych. Footballer of Lviv’s Karpaty, and European Championships silver-medalist in 1972.

Hryhoriy Batych.Footballer of Lviv’s Karpaty, 1988 Junior world champion.

Sources

Głuszek Zygmunt, Polscy olimpijczycy 1924-1976 (Warszawa, 1980), 289.

Kilka slów o piłce nożnej w okręgu Lwowskim, Sport, 1926, Nr 196, 10 lutego, 297.

LwówiWilno w ekstraklasie. Dzieje polskiego futbolu kresowego (Katowice: GIA, 1997), 83-90.

Piłka nożna na ziemi Lwowskiej 1894-1939 (Warszawa: SPAR, 1996), 75-78.