After such a successful decade during the 1960’s, the 1970’s proved somewhat the opposite. For a start, they commenced the 1970 season in Division Two, and were to stay there until 1979. But as the years rolled on, positive results began to return, and the decade finished admirably.
Expected to continue their dominance of the Division Two competition, Polonia found themselves out of the semi-finals for the first time since 1959 when they were pipped out by Balgownie for fourth spot.
Some lean years followed between 1971 and 1977, with mid table finishes the best offering. The only major highlight during this period being the 1976 2nd Grade Premiership victory, with Polonia’s 31 points eclipsing Bankstown by two. The 3rd Grade side offered some light when they finished third in 1973, while in 1975, they qualified for the Grand Final, before being downed by Manly-Warringah 1-2.
Despite another arrival of players in the calibre of Kaz Szmidt, Kaz Starek, Stan Woznicka, Manfred Urbas, Zygmuunt Janiak and Polish Youth International Bogdan Wiśniewski, success was still an obstacle in these trying times. That was until 1978, which just happened to have cumulated with the club settling on a new home ground.
After using grounds including Jensen Park-Regents Park, Coleman Park-Licombe, Goodack Park-Concord, Concord Oval-Concord, North Sydney Oval-North Sydney, Doonside Oval-Doonside, from their early years, Polonia finally settled on Chopin Park in Plumpton, after the site they had previously earmarked in Doonside was denied to them as a result of subdivision in that area. Their opening match on their new turf was on Sunday 26th March 1978, against North Sydney Inter.
Relocation to a new home ground also lifted the sides’ performance that year, and they again tasted finals football, when they finished fourth. After outlasting Revesby Workers in the semi-final, prevailing on penalties, Polonia clicked into gear to demolish Premiers Ku-Ring-Gai 3-0 in the Grand Final.
1979 saw Polonia return to Division One for the first time in 10 years. Before the season proper kicked off though, Polonia contested the inaugural Umbro Shield pre-season knockout. In a successful campaign, Polonia recorded a clean sweep over their opponents, concluding with an impressive 3-0 victory over Sydney City.
In the competition proper, Polonia failed by one place to make back-to-back semi-final appearances, edged out ironically by Sydney City by a solitary point.
In the Junior Leagues, Polonia joined the Federation Youth League for the first time in 1979, and found immediate accomplishment, with the Under 15s team winning the Group B Premiership.
Other players to figure in the teams of the 1970’s include Szady, Kadyło, Boardman, Zounis, Lawson, Malysiak, the Budini brothers, Prokurat, Bradley, Polewski, Fisher, Fitzsimmons, Mikołajczyk, Round, Chodkiewicz, Wills, Cichini, Andrzejewski, Komoder, Laska, Minol, Krawiarz, Greenfield, Gibson, Pesa, Svigelj, Crowthers, Pietczyk, Oag, Sookee, Wozniczka, McRory and Strzelecki.
Some of the Presidents and Executive members to steer Polonia through the 70’s included: E. Dropczyński, G. Chrabowski, S. Baranowski, J. Wróblewski, Z. Turczak, J. Molski, A. Ratajczak, H. Dropczyńska, H. Hefka, Z. Jurczak, R. Cioruch, J. Pura and M. Kordek.