You come to a match and… a voice familiar from a Koleje Dolnośląskie train welcomes you to the “Koleje Dolnośląskie IV League” stadium and advises you to leave your luggage under the seat? Later, it wishes you a pleasant journey through the football spectacle. You can encounter such things only in Lower Silesia.
Presentations on the exemplary cooperation between Koleje Dolnośląskie and the Lower Silesian Football Association are given at nationwide sports marketing conferences. When the DZPN announces a round of football fixtures, it adds the note: “You can reach this match by Koleje Dolnośląskie train.” In the other direction, Koleje Dolnośląskie know that groundhopping—that is, tourism involving visits to successive football matches and stadiums in Lower Silesia—takes place by train. It is enjoyed not only by local fans, but also by supporters from Europe, as demonstrated perfectly by the journey of British Crystal Palace FC fans, who travelled by a white-and-yellow KD train from Wrocław to Leipzig for the UEFA Conference League final.
Both Koleje Dolnośląskie and the Lower Silesian Football Association are aware of this potential. That is why Damian Stawikowski, president of Koleje Dolnośląskie, and Łukasz Czajkowski, president of the DZPN, announced that the cooperation would continue in the next season.
The IV League boards a Koleje Dolnośląskie train once again
Koleje Dolnośląskie trains cover 15 million kilometres a year, and in 2026 the company plans to carry more than 28 million passengers. Meanwhile, more than 40,000 players take part in competitions organised by the Lower Silesian Football Association, playing in nearly 700 clubs spread throughout Lower Silesia.
– Year after year, we cover more and more kilometres, set off in increasingly new directions, and see hundreds of thousands more passengers use our trains. In recent years, rail connections have been restored for a quarter of a million Lower Silesian residents, giving them convenient access to schools, universities and workplaces. Clubs participating in the Koleje Dolnośląskie IV League play their matches in many of these towns, so the partnership with the DZPN is, in a way, a natural form of cooperation in promoting rail connections – says Damian Stawikowski, president of Koleje Dolnośląskie.
The cooperation is not limited to promoting rail connections through the Koleje Dolnośląskie IV League competition.
– Entire football teams travel to matches with Koleje Dolnośląskie using group fares. For the youngest players, it is a real treat and an attraction in itself, because you do not get to travel to a match by train every day. But Łużyce Lubań players once travelled by train to a Koleje Dolnośląskie IV League match in Środa Śląska – says Łukasz Czajkowski, president of the Lower Silesian Football Association.
Five clubs were promoted to the league for the 2026/2027 season, and four of them can be reached by Koleje Dolnośląskie trains. They are Polonia Bielany Wrocławskie, WKS Wierzbice, Polonia Świdnica and Odra Ścinawa.
By train to a match—not only to the Koleje Dolnośląskie IV League
The cooperation between Koleje Dolnośląskie and the Lower Silesian Football Association was discussed during the latest Sport for Brands press conference, where it was noted, among other things, that Lower Silesia was the first region in Poland to create a Football Railway Map, made available free of charge to all fans.
It marks the locations of all football pitches and stadiums in Lower Silesia, while also showing the locations of railway stops and stations. More than 160,000 users have already used the map.
According to calculations by “Rzeczpospolita,” the fastest regional trains in Poland operate in Lower Silesia. Year after year, the carrier breaks its own records for popularity and passenger numbers. The Lower Silesian Football Association, which organises football competitions in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, is one of the most decorated regional football associations in Europe: players representing Lower Silesia at the UEFA Regions’ Cup have won the continental title twice and silver medals once.