t.mendak
RTS
And now for a little bit of urban anthropology.
The city of Łódź hosts two major football teams, RTS Widzew and ŁKS. RTS stands for 'Robotnicze Towarzystwo Sportowe' - Workers' Sports Association and ŁKS for 'Łódzki Klub Sportowy' - Łódź Sports Club. They were founded in 1908 and 1910 respectively. Widzew is the name of a major eastern district of the city.
The two clubs are known for the rivalry between their supporters. They are very territorial and as things stand, the city is split more or less in half between the respective groups (roughly East vs. West). Various graffiti marking the local allegiance are commonly seen. The photo shows one such graffiti.
'RTS' in large letters stands for the Widzew team. 'ŚRÓDMIEŚCIE' means 'City Centre' or 'Downtown', the name of the local district. A small 'ŁKS' logo can be seen in the bottom right; it is drawn upside-down as a sign of disrespect. One can summarize the intended meaning as: 'We, the people of the Downtown district, support the Widzew team, and despise the ŁKS team' or, alternatively, 'We, the supporters of Widzew, who despise the ŁKS team, claim the Downtown district as our own'.
RTS
And now for a little bit of urban anthropology.
The city of Łódź hosts two major football teams, RTS Widzew and ŁKS. RTS stands for 'Robotnicze Towarzystwo Sportowe' - Workers' Sports Association and ŁKS for 'Łódzki Klub Sportowy' - Łódź Sports Club. They were founded in 1908 and 1910 respectively. Widzew is the name of a major eastern district of the city.
The two clubs are known for the rivalry between their supporters. They are very territorial and as things stand, the city is split more or less in half between the respective groups (roughly East vs. West). Various graffiti marking the local allegiance are commonly seen. The photo shows one such graffiti.
'RTS' in large letters stands for the Widzew team. 'ŚRÓDMIEŚCIE' means 'City Centre' or 'Downtown', the name of the local district. A small 'ŁKS' logo can be seen in the bottom right; it is drawn upside-down as a sign of disrespect. One can summarize the intended meaning as: 'We, the people of the Downtown district, support the Widzew team, and despise the ŁKS team' or, alternatively, 'We, the supporters of Widzew, who despise the ŁKS team, claim the Downtown district as our own'.