Football in ... Lviv

Lviv is the cradle of sport in the region, scene of the first ever football, ice hockey, basketball, water polo and rugby matches on then-Polish, now-Ukrainian territory.

It is the birthplace of Ukrainian and Polish football. The first documented match took place on 14 July 1894, a date considered the birth of the game in Ukraine. Seventeen years later the Polish Football Federation was founded there and the national team played their first three games in Lviv at the ground of Slavia (later Czarni) Lwów, Poland's first professional football club, since 1903.

LKS Lechia Lwów swiftly followed suit in moving away from amateurism, and 12 months later LKS Pogoń Lwów did likewise. It was Pogoń that enjoyed the greater success, winning the Polish championship four times between 1922 and 1926. By the end of the decade a fourth Lviv side, Hasmonea Lwów, were also in the Polish First League.

The advent of the Second World War irrevocably changed Lviv's footballing landscape. Czarni, the 1935 Polish Cup winners, were disbanded by the Soviet authorities, Lechia became FC Lokomotiv Lviv and Pogoń was disbanded after the mass emigration of Polish citizens.

Pogoń's resettled officials became involved at other clubs, and Polonia Bytom, Odra Opole, Piast Gliwice and Pogoń Szczecin can all trace their lineage back to Lviv. The story did not finish there, however: in 2009 Pogoń Lwów was reborn as an amateur side for the Polish Diaspora.

FC Karpaty Lviv are the city's biggest side now. Founded in 1963, they take their name from the Carpathian mountains and scaled a notable peak by becoming the only team from outside the top flight to win the USSR Cup in 1969. It is still their only major honour after two losing appearances in the Ukrainian Cup final. FC Lviv, founded in 2006, are actually based in nearby Dobromyl.

Notable names
Former Poland coaches Kazimierz Górski, Ryszard Koncewicz, Michał Matyas and Wacław Kuchar all hail from the city and it was in Lviv that Kazimierz Hemerling translated and published the rules of game into Polish in 1904. The Ukrainian version followed two years later courtesy of Ivan Boberskiy. Former Arsenal FC and FC Dynamo Kyiv defender Oleh Luzhny hails from the city.

Other sports
Football is No1, but Lviv holds its own in basketball, volleyball, water polo and futsal. Halychanka have been the team to beat in women's handball for the past decade while the local chess school has churned out grandmasters for the past 60 years.

Did you know?
A member of the Pogoń Lwów side that claimed four Polish titles, Wacław Kuchar was Polish champion at 800m, 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles, high jump and decathlon. He also won 22 national speed skating titles, played 23 times for Poland's football team and scored better than a goal a game in a lengthy Pogoń career.