Sticker
1960-01-01/1995-12-31
Migration Museum
Adelaide, Australia
Red and white sticker on cardboard backing. In white is the warrior mermaid with the Polish eagle featured on her shield. She is under the words 'POLONIA ADELAIDE'. Polonia soccer club was significant within the Polish community of South Australia. Such clubs, provided a meeting opportunity for community groups, where they could converse in their native language and share other cultural experiences, such as traditional food. In the mid-1990s, Soccer Australia (the governing body for the sport) attempted to shift soccer into the Australian mainstream and away from its association with migrant roots. Many clubs across the country were required to change their names and badges, with Polonia being renamed Croydon Kings.
- Title: Sticker
- Date Created: 1960-01-01/1995-12-31
- Provenance: Donated by the Polonia Sports Club, Croydon Park. The Mermaid of Warsaw is depicted on this sticker. The Polish folk tale tells of a mermaid who swam in the river, interrupting the duties of the local fishermen. Though initially angry with the mermaid, her singing convinced them to leave her in the river. Later she was captured by a rich merchant and the fishermen saved her. Since then, she has spent her time as a protector of the city of Warsaw, in Poland. This sticker has been donated by the Polonia Sports Club, Croydon Park. The Polonia Sports Club has existed since 1950, formed by Polish Australian founders Alek Cmielewski and Karol Metanomski, with the name stemming from the country of Poland. It was one many clubs in South Australia which sprung up in post-war Australia as a meeting place for communities of Displaced Persons who came here from their war-ravaged homelands to start a new life. Polonia started up in the Adelaide Hills because of the concentration of Polish migrants in a living at Woodside migrant hostel. The club played at various parks across Adelaide until 1956, when a long-term lease was secured in northwest suburb of Croydon Park. The playing field was levelled by volunteers with shovels and rakes because they couldn't afford a tractor! Many players were brought directly from Poland to play for the team. Men were keen to migrate as Australia because offered greater opportunities than their homeland. They were sponsored by a local Polish businessman, and would secure manual labour jobs.
- Subject Keywords: Sport
- Rights: Croydon Kings, all rights reserved, photographer: Rachel Harris
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