Optimists were proved sadly wrong on Sunday night when violence erupted after the Cracovia vs Legia match. For a week following the extraordinary mass of remembrance at Cracovia Stadium - an event that united Cracow's warring football tribes - chants of 'nie ma lepszego od Jana Pawla' (there's none better than John Paul II) were to be heard echoing round Cracow's streets.
Warsaw football fans also led a march of peace through their city, and the Polish press has been full of touching pictures of reconciliation.
But this Sunday's game between Cracovia and Warsaw's Legia seemed to spark a business as usual approach from the fans. Five policeman were injured in the scraps outside the Hotel Cracovia, as were dozens of the supporters themselves. Residents of the Salwator district observed grown men chasing each other across the Blonia Common - one might hazard a guess that this was not a game of 'tig'.
That said, it was reported by Gazeta Wyborcza that Sunday's violence was actually the handiwork of 'pseudo-football fans' who had simply donned Cracovia shirts as a cover for their hooligan antics. There may well be some truth in this.
Either way, the event has marked something of a back to reality thump after the momentous spiritual atmosphere of the last week. It was announced by a Cracovia fan in a radio interview that the truce was in fact with other Cracow teams, not with the dastardly Warsaw crews. However, the staff of the Cracovia hotel will perhaps be rather unimpressed by this declaration. Cracow won't be holding its breath for the next encounter.
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