Much is made of the power of football : the way `` the beautiful game '' transcends cultural boundaries , knits together communities and makes grown men cry . But perhaps football 's greatest -- and most little-known -- achievement was its role in the downfall of communism in Europe . When Polish team Lechia Gdansk faced off against Italian club Juventus in the 1983 UEFA Cup Winner 's Cup , Gdansk 's stadium was packed with Polish supporters . And , while the Italian side may have won the match ( a respectable 3-2 ) , the truest triumph belonged to Gdansk . At the time , Poland was under martial law : soldiers patrolled the streets , the country 's borders were sealed and activists were imprisoned without charge . Defiance of communist rule was considered crushed . But here , in this stadium , something shifted . At half-time , the thousands-strong crowd began chanting the name of revolutionary Polish trade union Solidarity , which , in trying to activate social change , had been banned under martial law . Solidarity 's leader , the charismatic Lech Walesa , stood , revered , among the unified crowd . Some years later , he would be president . `` I remember the atmosphere , '' Jarzy Jastrzebowski , says the club 's trainer at the time . `` It was unforgettable . '' He recalls how , at half-time , `` In the dressing room we heard all this noise and people were chanting 'Solidarity ! ' ( Then ) we saw Lech Walesa getting up and raising his hand ( to make ) the famous Solidarity symbol . '' That Gdansk would rally behind this revolution should come as no surprise : the Solidarity movement began in the city 's shipyards . It was the birthplace of an organization that , according to Karol Nawrocki and Mariusz Kordek in their book , `` Lechia v Juventus - More Than a Game '' , 10 million people belonged to in the early 1980s . And , as the match showed , Gdansk was more than Solidarity 's birthplace , it was its beating heart . Rations , curfews , reduced civil liberties and a crumbling economy characterized Poland at this time . But , as Jastrzebowski puts it , `` This match gave us a lot . A new ideology and new freedom was born , because people could n't express what they wanted to freely in the streets . '' The stadium , the match , had become a refuge for protest . And it left no doubt that the ruling Communist government had failed to quash its opposition . State television censored transmission of the game , showing it without sound following the half-time chants , worried the rest of the country would hear the dissension . But it was too late . Walesa himself has summed up the power of that day , supposing the authorities had only allowed him to attend the match because `` they did n't think Solidarity still had any life in it . But they were wrong . That match gave us some strength for what would come next '' . What came next was years of struggle that ended with the 1989 Round Table Agreement , in which Walesa played a seminal part . This paved the way for semi-free parliamentary elections in Poland , a Solidarity-led government , and inspired a wave of revolutions that brought down communist regimes in Eastern Europe . Come 1990 , Walesa was in office as president . Not many may know what a football match in Gdansk did for democracy in Europe , but Lechia Gdansk fans will never forget . Nor will the team 's current goalkeeper , Mateusz Bak who was born the same year the match took place . `` Still , in 2014 , when you play a game here you can sometimes see a flag in the crowds with the 'Solidarity ' name on it , '' he says . `` Our fans remember the times because it happened here , you know ? Everything happened here . '' Send in your best shots from Poland .
The match between Lechia Gdansk and Juventus fueled the downfall of communism . At half time the crowd began chanting `` Solidarity '' -- a party which had been banned . It was not until after the game that it became clear what they were saying, but even then there was no way to know for sure.