Vilnius was an important sports centre during the Second Republic. Representatives of many disciplines trained and competed in the city. It will probably go without saying that football was the most popular sport. Nevertheless, volleyball, athletics and rowing also attracted crowds.

The rapid development of Śmigły
The stadium of the 1st Legionary Regiment in Vilnius in 1938 could accommodate 1,500 spectators. On 24 April the seats ran out as almost 8,000 people turned up around the pitch. Head to head, shoulder to shoulder stood the local supporters. And soldiers even donated benches from the nearby barracks. The interest was great. But also a historic occasion, as the WKS Śmigły team was making its debut in a home match in the highest Polish league. Admittedly, they had already played earlier, in the first round, but away, succumbing to Ruch Hajduki Wielkie 2:5. But Ruch was Ruch. An established brand...

That Sunday, Vilnius was visited by Pogoń Lwów. Vilnius saw their chances of a good result in the fan support and the advantage of their own turf. There were also some tactical suggestions in the local dailies before the match:

"The risk of the match is great. You have to take risks and play openly and never defensively. Playing detensively at best we will only be able to draw, while Vilnius against Pogonia should necessarily win. You have to play until the last minute, until the final referee's whistle."

So much so, it was the Lvivians who won 1:0. The Smile players, after losing the goal, tried to make up for the loss, but the visitors withstood the onslaught. Nonetheless, the event could have given hope that the Vilnius debutant team, playing at the central level, would not be financially ruined. And such opinions before the season were not uncommon. However, the city had a keen interest in football and this was to be a guarantee of stability.

Time showed that, in strictly sporting terms, Smile's players were the weakest team in the competition. The numbers did not lie. The footballers from Willn scored 11 points and finished tenth and last, relegated from the league. However, there were also some lucky moments, such as the win against Wisła Kraków in the 6th round (1:0), incidentally the team that finished third in the final standings. A valuable goal was then scored by Juliusz Ballosek. In the "Ilustrowany Kuryier Codzienny" we read:

"Wisła had more of a team and combination game, while WKS. Śmigły had only occasional forays under the opponent's goal. In general, however, both Wisła and WKS Śmigły had many under-the-ball situations which were not exploited. Both teams had the weakest attacking lines. The visitors' left side, i.e. Łyko and Artur, played better, while Gierczyński was industrious. Szumilas and Sitko played well in defence, but the latter was weaker. Wisła's goalkeeper Brudny had a lot of work to do as the shots taken by Śmigły were very dangerous.

In 1939 Śmigły Wilno could have once again been promoted to the highest level. Who knows how the club's fortunes would have turned out had it not been for the outbreak of the Second World War. For from the moment it was founded, 1933, when it was formed from the merger of WKS 6 ppLeg Wilno and WKS 1 ppLeg Wilno, it had developed very decently.

Bravo, students of Vilnius!
In the interwar period, the volleyball championship of Poland was contested ten times. From the first edition, organised in 1929, until 1937, it was played outdoors. Then it moved to sports halls. Among the leading teams, at least in the earliest stages of the competition, was Vilnius-based Ognisko, a club whose volleyball players were runners-up in 1933 and twice bronze medallists in the national championship - in 1930 and 1934.

However, the greatest volleyball success native to Vilnius belongs to AZS. At the end of January 1939, its players travelled to Lodz. The championship tournament was organised in the best way ever. It was opened by the city authorities to the sound of the national anthem and a parade of teams. Twelve teams competed, which were divided into four elimination groups. And they played for three days.

AZS Vilnius was paired in a group with Cracovia and Unia Lublin. And this team left no illusions to their opponents, confidently advancing to the final battles. And there, in the first match, the Vilnius students faced one of the best teams in the country at that time, the Warsaw AZS. After an even and exciting game, they won 2:1, presenting a very good game in attack. Subsequent victories - against Polonia Warszawa and AZS Lwów - gave the volleyball players from Vilnius the title of Polish champion. The only one in the history of this city. "Przegląd Sportowy" reported:

"The finals brought a huge surprise. The academics of Vilnius, already in the preliminary games gained a reputation as favourites. The Vilnius team consisted of Vieromey, Hoppen, Shumakovich, Kuczynski, Lapinski, Minerwin, and the soul of the team is little Vieromey, a great technician and clever tactician. Apart from that, the Vilnius players won the public's sympathy not only with their play, but also with their sporting behaviour".

The only ones who did not disappoint
The Pióromont Stadium in Vilnius was built in the early 1920s. It was the facility of the multi-sectional Military Sports Club Pogon, but also served other teams from the city. Opened on 22 August 1922. in the presence of Józef Piłsudski himself. It could accommodate - after reconstruction in 1929 - more than 15,000 fans. It was an arena for struggles of various calibres. From local matches to inter-city and national ones. In 1936, athletes appeared on its pitch to compete for the national championship.

It was the end of September. The organisers were doing their best to prepare the facility for the representatives of the Queen of Sport. And they (the preparers), as the only ones, did not disappoint. Many top athletes did not come to that 17th consecutive Polish championship. The reporter of the "Przeglad Sportowy" noted in his article "For whom actually this competition:

"At least half of the competitors who would have had a serious word to say in the fight did not turn up at the start at all. There were various reasons for this. Some were stuck in the army, others were afraid of the long journey, others stayed at home for a demonstration! The most serious reason for this collective absence, however, was the lack of fight for points, which, as it turns out not for the first time, are for our clubs the necessary and only doping".

The 10-kilometre run, won by Jozef Noji, the same one who would later die in Auschwitz, was the best scored. The other competitions fared badly or mediocrely. The weather, which was not kind, also did its part. For once Vilnius was the venue of the championships. And it was the only one that did not disappoint.

It is worth pausing here for a moment to describe one of the city's best athletes. His name was Jan Wieczorek and he was a very versatile athlete. He represented the colours of the 3rd Regiment of Sappers (1922-1933) and Smigły Wilno (1934-1937). His main speciality was polyathlon, and he was also an excellent hurdles runner. He set national records in both of these competitions. In Vilnius, of course! On 14 October 1934 he ran 110 metres over hurdles in a time of 15.5 seconds. Two years earlier, he had scored 3828.77 points in the pentathlon. Witold Gierutto, who carried Polish athletics out of the post-war turmoil after 1945, also trained in Vilnius.

Paddles, stick and skis
Vilnius was one of the most active rowing centres between the wars. The achievements of the Śmigły rowers, who managed to win a total of seven national championship titles in various competitions in a short period of time, were extremely impressive. On top of this, the club lived to see the Olympics. After all, Władysław Zawadzki and Bronisław Karwecki rowed in Berlin (1936). The rowing sections of the AZS, Pogoń and the Police Sports Club also prospered.

At the last national ice hockey championships before the outbreak of war, the players of Ognisko Wilno did well. The sports enthusiasts of the city were also familiar with ski jumping. In 1924 a ski jumping hill was opened on Trzykrzyska Hill, also known as the "Antokol ski jump". The facility was later reconstructed. Just to give an example, in 1929. "Stadion":

"In Vilnius on the new hill at Antokol there was a skiing competition for the championship of secondary schools, combined with an inter-club competition. In the school competition the winner was Wiktor Ciechanowicz (Lelewel Gymnasium) with a score of 17.000, jumps of 20 and 21 metres. Among club competitors, first place went to Stankiewicz (AZS) with a score of 13.955 and jumps of 18 and 18 m'.

The incidents from Vilnius sport described in the article are only a small part of what the fans there experienced between 1918 and 1939. After the war, the city became the capital of Lithuania.