Newsletter
AFC Warszawa - September
A word from the manager
Hello and welcome to AFC Warszawa’s first official newsletter.
In it we’ll be taking a look back at the games played in August (nine points from nine!), explaining a bit about the history and organisation of the club, interviewing our captain and record appearance holder Corentin ‘Coco’ Razes, providing links to all of the match highlights, and we’ve also put together a Goal of the Month video for you to vote on.
First though, a huge thank you to all of you - our first AFC members. We were not sure how the membership program was going to be received when we launched it, and we’re delighted to say we have over 50 members signed up and ready to support us throughout the 25/26 season, with hopefully more to sign up.
Around 50 members may be a modest number in the grand scheme of the world game, but for us it is another step in creating a community club that can demonstrate growth and success on the pitch, as well as improving and growing stronger off it. We have an unofficial mantra at the club that we simply try to improve the club every six months, and the launch and ‘success’ of this membership program guarantees that continued growth for the next few months at least.
That is not to say we’re going to rest on our laurels now we have you signed up. Our aim is to make the membership more inclusive and more worthwhile as the months tick by, improving the newsletter as we go. As with everything at the club, the membership programme will be better in one, two or three years time than it is right now - so thank you once again for supporting the idea.
On the pitch, August is always a tricky month. Players (and coaches!) are away on holiday, visiting their home countries, or simply taking a well-earned rest. The summer break at this level of the game in Poland is incredibly short, and trying to get everything in place to start the season strongly is not easy. Full credit to the team on and off the pitch then for coming out of August with three wins from three, nine points from nine, and with 21 goals scored and, officially at least, zero goals conceded (more on that later). Not a bad start then!
Looking at the fixture list, September will be more difficult, but bring it on! Whilst scoring a lot of goals is good fun, winning by eight and nine goals is not healthy for the competition, and we’re keen to see some closer, tougher games soon. Only then will we find out where we are as a team.
A final note from me to tell you that the game against UKS Kamionek, originally scheduled for Saturday, 6th September, has been rescheduled for Tuesday, 23rd September, kick-off 20:15 CET, that's why there was no live stream this weekend.
See you all in October, but for now, Up The Knaves!
Match Reports
31/08/2025
Hutnik - pitch B
SKRA 1921 Warszawa
9-0
Scorers: Peurini x6, Danilczuk, Pott, De Felice
Plenty more goals for The Knaves in their second home match of the season and for the first time a third win in the first three games. A strong start saw a few early chances go begging until Alessandro Peurini scored his first of an eventful day for the Italian. Bartek Danilczuk quickly added another goal and further strikes from Peurini and Sebastian Pott saw a 4-0 half time scoreline for the second consecutive home match.
The second half once again saw AFC given the chance to give all substitutes some game time while further goals from Puerini x 4 and De Felice resulted in The Knaves recording their biggest ever league win. The match also saw debuts for goalkeeper Johannes Schnell-Kretschmer and winger Alessandro Paderi.
Click here to watch the highlights
our history
Association Football Club Warszawa is the creation of many factors. All beginning with regular small-sided games on a Saturday morning - locally known as Hobby Kicker - this set the foundations for a trip to Wroclaw in 2014 for a match against a local team and the formation of the legendary FC Foreigntina which played in 6 & 7 aside midweek leagues in Warsaw.
It was whilst in Krakow for a tournament with FC Foreigntina that founders Richard Harrison and Neil Riley decided the next day to go and watch their friends at Krakow Dragoons FC, a team who had visited Warsaw previously for friendly matches, play their Klasa B league match. Sitting watching on a sunny September afternoon a plan was hatched to start an 11 aside team in Warsaw.
Deciding the day after that it was still a good idea, the wheels of change stated moving quickly. Hobby Kicker became Saturday Kickabout, new players were found and two 6 a-side teams were created for the next midweek season. With numbers of willing players now enough, the paperwork was completed, solicitors contacted (and paid) and Association Football Club Warszawa was born with their first season in the Polish league pyramid beginning in August 2022.
With league rules stating that only 1 non-EU player was eligible to play (now changed to 3), initial squad options were hampered but we managed to win our first ever league match - 1-0 - and complete the 1st season in a respectable 7th place with 27 points. Although we never managed to beat a team that finished above us, we never lost to a team who finished below us. As they say, ‘the table never lies’!
Now at the beginning of our 4th season, while standards on and off the pitch have improved, the same welcoming and friendly atmosphere around the club exists.
Since that first game back in 2021 we have been represented by the following counties: Poland, England, Finland, Norway, Holland, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Egypt, Ukraine, Switzerland, Romania, Ireland, USA, Luxembourg, Latvia, Estonia, Scotland and have now players from Austria & Turkey waiting to make their debuts.
Where we’ll be in another 4 seasons is very much a mystery but with your support and as we continue to grow as a club the future looks promising. We’ve managed to increase our points tally and league position in all of our previous seasons and hopefully we can continue the trend this season.
A special mention and massive thanks to Alex Băcica of Krakow Dragoons for their help in getting our club up and running, and for explaining many of the Polish FA regulations, and to Paul Lennon for all his time during the early years of the club.
AFC Warszawa Summer Tournament 2025
Date: Saturday 23rd August 2025, 11am-3pm.
Location: Centrum Futbolu Warzawianka
On Saturday August 23rd eight teams took place in AFC Warszawa’s annual Summer 6-a-side football tournament. As always, this event was aimed at promoting sportmanship, and healthy competition among the teams.
Tournament Format:
One group of eight teams, all comprised of players from various countries, played each other once in 12 minute games, meaning each team had a minimum of 7 games over the course of four hours. There was a grand final between those teams who finished 1st and 2nd in the group with a ‘Plate’ Final between the 3rd and 4th placed teams.
Tournament highlights:
All teams were able to able to pick up points over the course of their 7 games, and the group stage saw several tightly, but fairly contested matches, with Frontex , TBS Hurricanes and Etnoliga emerging as early favourites. Three other teams, FC Foreigntina, TBS Lions and Saturday Kickabout made up the chasing pack and proved their quality, keeping the teams at the top of the table on their toes and focused throughout the day. Both The British Embassy and Bacalhau United were worthy opponents, but ended up on the wrong side of the results of some very competitive games. The majority of games were decided by a margin of 1 or 2 goals, which was evidence of the effort and motivation teams had to do well in this tournament.
Only 5 points separated 1st and 4th after the 3 and half hour group stage but Etnoliga and Frontex advanced to the final in first and second place respectively. Despite finishing 3 points behind Etnoliga, Frontex rose to the challenge and became AFC Warszawa’s Summer Tournament 2025 winners, securing victory in highly competitive final. Both spectators and fellow players could agree on the day that these two teams had deserved their places in the final, with Frontex taking home the cup. Congratulations to Nikos and his team.
TBS Lions ended the group stage with one more point in 3rd than Saturday Kickabout in 4th place and in the Plate Final, like in the grand final, there was a reverse in the order of things as Saturday Kickabout took TBS Lions to penalties and proved to be more clinical from the spot to take home their 3rd place trophy.
Special mentions:
The tournament would not have run as smoothly as it did without the stellar work of Darren and Misha at the admin table, recording the scores and updating the table throughout the day. Also, Seb, our referee kept the games running fairly and efficiently.
Conclusion
The AFC Warszawa Summer Tournament 2025 was a resounding success, providing players with a platform to showcase their talent and strengthening the spirit of camaraderie among participants. Overall, the tournament proved to be an enjoyable and competitive sporting event for everyone involved and we hope to see the 8 teams (and a few more) back when our next tournament kicks off in 2026.
The Knaves were able to bring in some new faces over the summer months. Here's some information on some of those players with more to come next month.
Alessandro Puerini
Position - Striker
D.O.B. - 29/01/1993
Last club: Krakow Dragoons FC
Born: Ancona, Italy
Favourite team: Juventus
Keeping the relationship between AFC Warszawa and Krakow Dragoons strong, Alessandro is our second Italian striker to move to Warsaw from Krakow. After helping the Dragoons to promotion from Klasa B he’ll be hoping he can do similar with AFC.
Alessandro came to Poland in 2020 and after a short return to Milan is now settling into life in Warsaw and “looking forward to getting involved with the team”.
Meet Coco - Our captain
We sat down this month with Corentin “Coco” Razes, AFC captain and the player with the second-highest number of appearances for the club, to learn more about him and what AFC means to him.
Head-to-Head v Victoria Warszawa: This season will be our first official meeting against them
First up in this Head-to-Head section, where will we turn the focus onto our future opponents, are Stołeczny Klub Piłkarski “Victoria” Warszawa, who we will be meeting on 14th September - live streamed from 20:30 CET.
Home matches: Hutnik
Home colours: Light blue
Formed in 2019 Victoria had to endure an anti-climatic first season in B Klasa as COVID meant only the autumn round of games were played. In their first full season of 2020/21 Victoria managed to finish 9th out of 12 teams with 22 points.
Since then steady progress was made culminating in promotion to Klasa A in 2024. Although only one season was spent in the higher division they will be hoping the valuable experience can help them gain a quick return.
On the 14th September The Knaves will face Victoria for the first time.
goal of the month
We were spoilt for choice this month, 3 games and 21 goals. We have selected our top 7 and now require you to pick your favourite. Please use the form below to vote.
new signings