Legioniści

1916

Whereas the 1914-18 war was a time of inactivity for most European clubs, it was also a time that saw the birth of others. Legia Warszawa SA  was founded in March 1916 as Drużyna Sportowa Legia. Stanisław Mielech  was the main organizer. It was a club for serving members of the Polish army.  Initially the team played  near Maniewicze (now in Ukraine), against other military units. The move to Warsaw in the summer of 1916 came as the result of a massive Russian offensive. Whilst the war was still in progress Drużyna Sportowa Legia are recorded as having played 9 games in Warsaw in which they were undefeated, including a draw with Polonia (their first match- with Mielech getting a last minute equalizer) and a victory over Cracovia. The win over Cracovia came on August 19th, 1917 and, due to the ongoing conflict in Poland it was Legia's last game until March 14th, 1920.

1916

1916

Players of  Legia and Divisional Sanitary Department (plain shirts)- Legia won this match 7-0.

1917

Poland 1921-Cracovia

Cracovia 1921 

 Professor Henryk Jordan introduced of football Kraków. Jordan was a doctor who had been in Britain.  He actively promoted all forms of sport, and in 1889  founded the sports venue known as Jordan's Park in the city.
The earliest football in what is modern Poland was played in Lviv (Lwów), and it was following a successful encounter with a visiting team from Lviv (13th June 1906) that Akademicki Klub Footballowy, Cracovia was formally founded.
The game's development was further encouraged by an English teacher, William Calder, who arrived at Kraków in 1908.
In 1910, Cracovia joined the Austrian Football Association.

In 1913 Cracovia won their first significant honour, the Galician Championship, in which they headed a 3 team round robin also featuring Wisła Kraków and Pogoń Lwów. 

Following the 1914-1918 War the Polish Football Association was formed  But these were times of continuing conflict and instability in the area. For example, due to the  Polish–Ukrainian War and claims made by the  Ukrainian People's Republic,  Lviv was not formally recognized as being a part of Poland until 1923.
However, a Polish national championship was first contested in 1920. The teams taking part were Cracovia, Polonia Warszawa, Warta Poznań, Pogoń Lwów and ŁKS Łódź.
Cracovia won the league with 7 wins and 1 draw, scoring 31 goals and conceding only 7.

The Cracovia coach was Imre Pozsonyi (Jesza Poszony), the former Újpesti centre half who played in the 1902 Budapest v Vienna match that was later recognized as being Hungary's first international. Following Cracovia's triumph, Pozsonyi moved on to coach Barcelona, winning the Copa del Rey and the Catalan Championship in his only season with Barca.

Józef Kałuża was the top scorer in the 1921 championship, with  9 goals in 8 games. It is estimated that in a career lasting from 1913 -1931 that he played over 300 games for Cracovia, scoring somewhere in the region of  400 goals. He also made 20 appearances for the Polish national team. Interestingly as a youth Kałuża had been suspended from school due to his footballing activities, the reason being that it was considered immoral behaviour because it involved showing one's naked knees. He continued playing  using the psuedonym Kowalski.

Poland 1921

1921 also saw the entry of the Poland national team into the international arena.  There were 7 Cracovia players in the team that was beaten 1-0 by Hungary in Budapest on December 18th 1921. 
 Imre Pozsonyi was coach, and was highly likely to have been instrumental in arranging the fixture (Austria had ignored Poland's request for a match).