Legia Warsaw

Legia Warszawa (Polish: [ˈlɛɡʲja varˈʂava] ^ⓘ), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 Ekstraklasa champions titles, a record 21 Polish Cup and 6 Polish Super Cup trophies. The club's home venue is the Polish Army Stadium (Stadion Wojska Polskiego). Legia is the only Polish club never to have been relegated from the top flight of Polish football since World War II (see: 1936 Legia Warsaw season).

Legia was formed between 5 and 15 March 1916 during military operations in World War I, as the main football club of the Polish Legions. After the war, the club was reactivated on 14 March 1920 in an officer casino in Warsaw as Wojskowy Klub Sportowy Warszawa, renamed Legia in 1923 after merger with another local club, Korona. It became the main official football club of the Polish Army – Wojskowy Klub Sportowy Legia Warszawa (lit. 'Military Sports Club Legia Warsaw'). From 1949 to 1957, Legia was known as CWKS Warszawa (lit. 'Central Military Sports Club Warsaw')

Before 8 April 2004, it was owned by Pol-Mot and from 8 April 2004 (sold for 3 million zlotys) until 9 January 2014, it was owned by media conglomerate ITI Group. The club is currently owned by Dariusz Mioduski who serves as the club's chairman.

Legia was formed between 5 and 15 March 1916 during military operations in World War I on the Eastern Front in the village of Kostiuchnówka, within the region of Volhynia (Polish: Wołyń). It served as the main football club of the Polish Legions, who at the time fought for Austria-Hungary. The formation of the club in 1916 was greatly influenced by the outbreak of the First World War, because many Polish soldiers were involved in the formation of the Polish Legions before the war. Soldiers, often young men from the south of Poland (mainly from Kraków and Lwów) played football before the war, and therefore, after the formation of the team, they soon became successful. Football was a good way of spending free time, in the calm moments at the front, football matches were organized, which required the ball, making provisional goals, and finding a dozen or so players.

The first team training began in the spring of 1915 in Piotrków, between 5 and 15 March 1916 – at the request of then Master Sergeant Zygmunt Wasserab (pre-war player of Pogoń Stryj) – who was a part of the Polish Legion's Commanding Staff in Kostiuchnówka in Volhynia to create a football club. The president of the organization was Władysław Groele, and corporal Stanisław Mielech proposed the name "Sporting Team Legia", which was adopted (more commonly used term of the team later became Legionowa). Other names were: "Legion Command Squad" and "Styr". White-black colors and arms were also shown, showing the white letter "L" (symbol of the Legions) on the black dial. The players were dressed in white clothes with sloping black belts, which was a reference to Czarni Lwów.

In the spring of 1916, the team played a number of matches with other teams, most of which ended with Legia victorious. The oldest recorded matches are: 7–0 with the Divisional Sanitary Division, 3–3 with the 6th Infantry Regiment and two victories (6–4 and 3–1) with the 4th Infantry Regiment. In July 1916 – because of the Brusilov Offensive – the Legions began to retreat west and the club relocated to Warsaw. The first match in which Polonia Warsaw was the rival was held on 29 April 1917 at Agrykola Park and ended with a 1–1 draw. Of the nine games played in Warsaw, Legia won six and drew three. At the first away game the team won a 2–1 victory over the then Polish champion KS Cracovia in Kraków, so Legia became an unofficial champion of the country. In 1918 the war ended, but the team continued to play only amateur-friendly matches.

The club was reactivated on 14 March 1920. In the officers' casinos in the Royal Castle, a group of former officers formed the Military Sports Club (WKS) -Wojskowy Klub Sportowy- Warsaw, establishing the white and red colors of the statute. Among them was Zygmunt Wasserab, one of the founders of the club.

Due to the Polish-Bolshevik war and the participation of many Warsaw players, WKS was not nominated for the premiership of the Polish championship league in 1920. In the 1921–1926 seasons, the team was not promoted beyond the A-class of the Warsaw district, but it was a very important period for the club. In 1922, a statute was passed allowing the team to play in civilian teams (as opposed to playing against only other soldiers). Zygmunt Wassarab and Jerzy Misiński worked together and the club's name was changed to the Military Sports Club "Legia" Warsaw. It was modeled on the document of Pogoń Lwów. At that time, a merger with the oldest Warsaw sports club, Korona, was created, which resulted in the acquisition of new, white-green club colors.