How Kevin Blackwell ended up in the Polish second tier – and winning promotion — The Athletic 7/6/24

By Richard Sutcliffe

Kevin Blackwell has managed teams in the world football’s richest game at both Wembley and Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. He’s also been in the technical area for cup semi-finals at Old Trafford and Anfield.

Even he, though, admits to being blown away by the sheer passion and intensity of last month’s local derby between Lechia Gdansk and Arka Gdynia in the Polish second division.

“There were 37,000 fans there and you honestly couldn’t hear yourself think,” says the former Leeds United and Sheffield United manager, who since October last year has been technical director at Gdansk.

“The noise was incredible and there were all these flares being waved. I’ve never known anything like it. Same with my brother Noel, who came across for the Arka game.

“He’s been a scout for me for many years, right back to my Leeds days, and even he said to me, ‘I’ve been all over Europe for you, including the Premier League grounds, but that was as good an atmosphere as you’ll ever see’.”

Last season was the first time the Tricity derby — so-called because the two teams are the biggest in the ‘Tricity area’ on the Baltic coast of Poland that features Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot — had taken place in the Polish second tier since 2007.

Lechia’s relegation from the top flight in 2023 had followed Arka’s own demise three years earlier, so the second meeting of the season at Gdansk’s Polsat Plus Arena on the penultimate weekend always had the potential to decide one of the most keenly fought title races in years.

As it happened, Gdansk had already been crowned champions following a spectacular run of form that began when Blackwell arrived as technical director to work alongside coach Szymon Grabowski.

But bitter rivals Arka still needed a point to secure runners-up spot — and a place in the top flight next season — on May 19 when they headed to Polsat Plus Arena, a stadium built for Euro 2012.

“I’ll admit to knowing nothing about the rivalry when I joined in October,'” says Blackwell. “But I soon realised what the game means. Tickets sold out within two days. We could have sold more, too, but segregation meant around 4,000 seats on either side of the away fans had to be left empty.

“The build-up was huge. In a way, it reminded me of the Sheffield derby, in that it’s all people were talking about. We’d won promotion the previous weekend at Wisla Krakow in front of 27,000 fans. But there was still so much riding on the result for the fans.”

First blood went to the champions when Kacper Sezonienko broke the deadlock on 14 minutes. Lechia then missed a couple of opportunities to double their lead before suffering a huge setback when defender Andrei Chindris was dismissed just after half-hour.

Arka then seized control, equalising eight minutes before the break through Alassane Sidibe and then attacking the home goal. A point would be enough to go up, but the visitors wanted more — only to then be hit with an 83rd-minute sucker punch, as Camilo Mena restored Gdansk’s lead.

“The place took off,” says Blackwell. “I’m on the touchline by now after watching the first half upstairs. It was chaos, right up until the end when Arka get a penalty awarded in stoppage time.

“We couldn’t believe it but then VAR gets involved. The referee took four minutes before he turned away from the screen and made that signal to indicate he’d changed his mind. No penalty! Well, you’ve never seen anything like it, there were people running all over the f***ing place. Total madness.

“I loved it. When the president, Paolo (Urfer), first took me to the stadium, I’d been blown away. But it was empty then. Now, I could see just what a special place it can be. That atmosphere was right up there in terms of my entire career.”

Blackwell is enjoying a break with his wife Julie following the death of her mother a few months earlier. His phone rings midway through the trip, on the line is a representative of Lechia asking if he could possibly help by assessing the club’s upcoming fixture on Friday.

The Polish club had been relegated five months earlier, the caller continued, and they’d really appreciate his expertise. Blackwell had not worked since leaving Thai side Nakhon Ratchasima at Christmas; financial problems bringing to an end a stint that had seen the Englishman lead the club to the Thai Cup final.

Before that, there’d been a couple of years at Middlesbrough working under long-time ally Neil Warnock, following on from similar spells together at Cardiff City, Queens Park Rangers, Crystal Palace and Rotherham United.

“I said ‘no’, and explained I was on holiday with my wife,” Blackwell says when asked about that October phone call on behalf of Lechia’s owners, venture capitalists Mada Capital. “They were very good and said that wasn’t a problem because they’re a Dubai fund.

“After a bit of a chat, we agreed to meet at the hotel and, by 7am the following morning, there was a contract on my phone. I’d only agreed to speak to them to help out at this stage! Anyway, that was October 12. Six days later, I arrived in Gdansk.”

Lechia were not in great shape. Relegation had hit the club hard and the team lacked an identity. Worse still, they were sitting ninth in the Polish second division after winning just one of the opening eight games under new coach Grabowski.

Blackwell’s first game as technical director was at home to Stal Rzeszow on October 28. Lechia won 2-1 but the attendance was just 5,579. He quickly got to work.

Changes were made to bring more of a structure to the team, while special attention was paid to fitness and sports science. Results started to pick up and then came the winter break, which in Poland runs from Christmas to mid-February.

“The break was a totally new experience for me but something that proved crucial,” says Blackwell, who led both Leeds (2006) and Sheffield United (2009) to the Championship play-off final, where victory is now worth at least £170million ($217m) to the winning team.

“The players had a fortnight off and the great thing is you don’t lose much in those two weeks. That meant we had a bit of fitness work to do on the return but then everything was about technical work, including shape and pattern.

“Having a break like that allows you to take a step back. A similar situation is coming up soon. We’re back in for pre-season on June 16, to allow for the winter break. The players won’t lose much fitness, as we only finished a couple of weeks ago. That allows plenty of work on shape and the like.”

Included in the winter break was a stint of warm-weather training in Turkey. That meant switching temperatures of minus-six degrees Celsius on the banks of the Baltic for mid-20s. This wasn’t the only benefit, however, with Lechia lining up a friendly against Shakhtar Donetsk, also on a break ahead of returning to action in the Ukrainian Premier League and the Europa League against Marseille in the first knockout stage.

“I’d seen Shakhtar play a week earlier in Turkey so knew what a top team we’d be facing,” says Blackwell. “All their big boys played, including the Brazilian boy (Marlon Gomes) they’d just signed for €15million. The team who played Marseille, there was one change from the XI who faced us.

“Despite that, we drew 1-1. We were brilliant. After that, the lads’ confidence was sky-high. They’d seen the value of the work we’d done, the moving of the ball quicker and the patterns up front. Once our season resumed, we won eight out of eight.”

With a return to Ekstraklasa (Poland’s top flight) sealed, Lechia now hope to tie Blackwell down for the 2024-25 season. A meeting is scheduled for next week in Dubai with the owners.

“We’ll have a chat and then we’ll see where it goes from there,” adds the 65-year-old, who has also been asked by the Polish FA to help with coach development.

“The club can have a good future, as there are some very good youngsters here — including Camilo Mena, a Colombian boy who is electric. We’ve also got Ivan Zhelizko, a Ukrainian (midfielder) who reminds me of (Nemanja) Matic. Quality player.

“Paolo’s vision is to get young players in, give them two or three years, and then move them on. All the while helping the club. In the meantime, we will bring in proper training facilities, and better medical and sports science.

“I’d like to give it a little go. And it’s always nice to feel wanted. After the career I’ve had, it’s great to still be doing this at 65. I must have done something right.”