Well done Poland - it's going to be a terrific tournament!

There was great excitement when we lived in Warsaw about the award of the Euro 2012 tournament to Poland and Ukraine.

At the time (in 2008) it seemed so far away and the ancient Communist monolith that was the National Stadium seemed a world away from somewhere that international football could ever be played. The stadium built in 1955 had once graced the Pope, but we only knew it as somewhere fallen into disrepair which held a weekly flea market where you could go to buy fake Nike shirts and Russian watches. We only went to the market a small handful of times, it wasn't particularly welcoming and was also in the Praga district; somewhere where you didn't want to find yourself at night.

Now the place is transformed. Despite early reservations that things would ever be finished on time and frantic trips by UEFA chiefs to view progress, work did get finished, the stadiums built and the grass mown. I've watched the webcam of the stadium rise over the last few years and Poland is now only a few short weeks away from welcoming fans from all over Europe to the tournament.

I hope it all goes without any problems. Polish club football has been beset with violence and allegations of corruption in recent years and hopefully the tournament will bring a resurgence in the beautiful game, rather than its more ugly elements. I still check on Polonia Warsaw's results occasionally. They gave us a nice reception when we went there for a game (with Amy heavily pregnant with Audrey!) and I still rank "Czarne koszule" (Black Shirts!) among my favourite football chants!

Europe has been financially embattled in the years since we left our temporary home, but Poland has been relatively unscathed. As the BBC points out the first game of the tournament is a microcosm of europe's finances; Poland still with its own currency versus Greece which is at the heart of so many crisis meetings for the euro.

Of course Britain's eyes will be on the Olympics which happen in London the following month. That's fine but I would still love to see an England v Poland final at Euro 2012. I'll leave it to you to pick your own result.

Here's some good pictures from the BBC's site