I have been to Poznan a few times, the first occasion in 1991.
It is much changed since then, nowhere more noticeably than on the railway.
There is a line which runs from Poznan Glowny (central) to a place called Wolsztyn, roughly 45 miles away (via Grodzisk). Nothing unusual about that, you will probably think, except that the service back then included 2 return workings a day with steam!
My mate rang me up when the teams were announced for the group stage, Salzburg, Juventus and Poznan were the teams we would be playing. He asked if I was interested in going to any of those games?
At first I said no and left it at that.
Then a lightbulb moment occurred and a few minutes later I rang him back. "Now, I think that we should go to the Poznan game. They still operate a steam service from there you know"?
So tickets were bought for the match and 3 of us went.
Now on the first day, in the evening, we visited Poznan Glowny station.
At that time the station was full of atmosphere, gloomy and grimy but the steam loco wasn't running due to its' failure! (Fortunately it did work the following day!).
Poznan Central is much changed now, it has been refurbished and has the usual fast food establishments as you would find in the Arndale food court and a thousand other places.
The railway too has been upgraded with new trains and signalling system.
As for the match, I remember the stadium being almost full. I think all the allocation for the home support had been taken up but not quite all for the City end.
At the Poznan end of the stadium was a bloke with 2 huge kettle drums which he used to synchronise the chants from the 3 areas of the stadium where the home fans were watching. Absolutely AWESOME to be a part of and to witness.
A very funny thing happened as we were leaving the stadium after the match.
The away supporters were being chaperoned by riot police (who were in possession of plastic shields and guns) when one half drunk loon confronted them, waving his arms around and chanting, "You'll ne-ver take the Kippax - you'll ne-ver take the Kippax". Haha.
A couple of other things.
You can stay in accommodation at Groclin Grodzisk fc stadium.
There is a war memorial in a Poznan suburb containing the remains of Polish and Commonwealth soldiers, with a small section for the S.S. Poignant.
Oh, and as for the steam train.
It still runs from time to time - usually on a Saturday and if you are really lucky you might get the chance to ride on the footplate.
Lech (locomotive) Poznan - thanks for the memories.
