Ekstraklasa

Ekstraklasa

Countries	Poland
Confederation	UEFA
Founded	1927
Number of teams	16
Levels on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Polish First League
Domestic cup(s)	Polish Cup Polish SuperCup
International cup(s)	Champions League, Europa League
Current champions	Lech Poznań (6th title)
Most championships	Górnik Zabrze, Ruch Chorzów (14 titles)
Website	Official
2010–11 season

The Ekstraklasa (Polish pronunciation: [ɛkstraˈklasa]) is a Polish professional league for football clubs. At the top of the Polish football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 16 clubs, operating a system of promotion and relegation with the Polish First League. The Ekstraklasa season starts in late July, and ends in May the following year, teams play a total of 30 games each. The Ekstraklasa (former I liga) was formed as Liga Piłki Nożnej (LPN) on 1 March 1927 in Warsaw, but Polish Championships as non-league competition and The Polish Football Federation PZPN (Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej) had been organized on 20 December 1919 in Warsaw, a year after the independence of Poland in 1918. First, historic games of the freshly created league took place on April 3, 1927.

A total of 78 clubs have played in the top division of polish football since the founding of the league in 1921, of which, 17 clubs have won the title. The current champions are Lech Poznań, who won their 6th title in 2009–10.

History

Humble beginnings

The freshly created Polish Football Association established in 1919, wanted to organize the first, historic League Championships of Poland later that year. This was a difficult task as the country's provinces had for 123 years been divided and had belonged to three different countries. Even such seemingly easy detail, as direct rail communication between main Polish cities - Warsaw, Kraków, Lwów, Wilno and Poznań, was virtually non-existent. To make matters worse, Poland was from the very beginning involved with wars with almost all neighbors (see: Polish-Soviet War, Polish-Ukrainian War, Polish-Lithuanian War, Great Poland Uprising, Silesian Uprisings, Border conflicts between Poland and Czechoslovakia).

Summer 1920 - unfinished first league championships

In spring of 1920, officials from PZPN decided to organize the first league championships of the country. Firstly, the Association divided Poland (whose borders were then not yet determined) into five soccer districts - Warsaw, Kraków, Poznań, Łódź and Lwów. It was planned that in early summer of 1920 teams from these districts would play regional qualifying games and then, five champions would play each other in a central tournament. The last games of championships were supposed to take place some time in late October 1920.

While planning those games, PZPN's officials did not predict that in summer of 1920 the Red Army would reach the outskirts of Warsaw, and Poland's fate would be in grave danger (Russian westward offensive of 1918-1919). So, under the circumstances, only Western districts of Kraków and Poznań managed to carry out its games. Kraków's champion was Cracovia Kraków, Poznań's - Warta Poznań.

1921 First Season - Cracovia Kraków first champions

Logo of Cracovia

By mid-1921, the situation in Poland had calmed down. Conflicts were over (see: Peace of Riga) and the nation, while recuperating from all wars, started to take interest in other activities, including sports. Firstly, in early summer of 1921, teams from five districts played each other, in regional championships. The regional champions were: Cracovia Kraków, ŁKS Łódź, Warta Poznań, Pogoń Lwów and Polonia Warszawa. During the final, nationwide games of the tournament, Cracovia proved to be the best, unbeaten team. Led by a legendary forward, Józef Kałuża, Kraków's squad won seven games, with only one draw (against Warta). The vicechampion of these historic games was Polonia Warsaw, third - Warta Poznań. National championships lasted for two months only - from late August until late October. The best scorer of national games was Cracovia's forward Józef Kałuża, with 9 goals.

Early 1920s - dominance of Pogoń Lwów

Since 1922, Polish teams began regular games in championships of the country. In the years 1922-1926 the games were organized in the same fashion, as in 1921. First, regional games took place, then best teams would face each other in the national tournament. As Polish borders moved eastwards (Kresy Wschodnie) as well as westwards (Kresy Zachodnie), additional PZPN's districts were added.

In 1922, in a nationwide tournament, 8 teams participated. Five of them were champions of the districts established back in 1920 (these teams were the same as in 1921), plus champions of three new districts - Upper Silesia (Ruch Chorzów), Lublin (Wojskowy KS Lublin) and Wilno (Strzelec Wilno).

Starting in 1922, Pogoń Lwów for four successive seasons dominated, except in 1924. In this year, due to the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, no championships were organized. The reason for this was so that the National Team would be adequately prepared for its games in the Olympics.

Pogoń Lwów thus was the champion in the years 1922, 1923, 1925 and 1926. Lwów's squad was unequaled in the country, with its leader in excellent athlete, Wacław Kuchar, who in 1922 and 1926 was the top scorer of Poland. Another Pogoń star was Mieczysław Batsch - also a forward, who together with Kuchar and some other Lwów's players regularly represented Polish National Team. Apart from Pogoń, in 1922-1926 other important teams were: Wisła Kraków, Warta Poznań, Polonia Warszawa, Cracovia Kraków.

In 1925, another district was added to the nationwide games. This time it was Toruń, with its champion, Toruński KS. Thus, by 1927 there were 9 districts of PZPN - Warsaw, Łódź, Poznań, Kraków, Lwów, Lublin, Wilno, Upper Silesia and Toruń. Each of them sent its champion to the national tournament.

Creation of the Polish Football League

In December 1926 in Warsaw, representatives from several Polish clubs met each other. The purpose of this meeting was simple - to discuss about possibility of creating a Soccer League. Now, it is impossible to speculate, who and why came up with this idea (some say this was due to numerous changes, introduced at that time in Poland, after May Coup). Obviously, a League was a much more practical solution than hitherto practiced two-stage (regional and then central) games.

To dismay of clubs’ officials, PZPN did not like the idea of the League and the Association wanted to thwart it. However, it turned out that virtually all but one Polish club supported the League and decided to create it, no matter what PZPN's representatives thought of it. In late February 1927, at the PZPN's meeting in Warsaw, its officials openly opposed the League, but the clubs, allegedly egged on by some generals from Polish Army (which, after May Coup of 1926, played a key role in all aspects of public life), would not obey. The creation of the League was announced on March 1, 1927.

Cracovia Kraków

It has been mentioned that all clubs but one supported the League. The only opponent was Cracovia Kraków - a very influential and strong organization in Polish soccer of the 1920s. Cracovia's boycott was because its director, Dr. Edward Cetnarowski, at the same time held the post of the director of PZPN.

It must be mentioned that Cetnarowski was a personality known not only in Poland, but also in other countries. It was due to his efforts that in September 1923 his beloved club, Cracovia, went on a tour to Spain. The Kraków side's results were impressive - a 1-1 tie with FC Barcelona and a 0-1 loss to Real Madrid. In October, also thanks to Cetnarowski, FC Sevilla came to Kraków and lost 2-3 to Cracovia.

Early years of the League - dominance of Wisła Kraków

1927 Winning Wisła Kraków side.

Games of first, historic League Championships started on April 3, 1927. All major teams (except for Cracovia) took part in it. This is the list of the teams (in the order given below the League finished in November 1927):

• Wisła Kraków
• 1. FC Katowice
• Warta Poznań
• Pogoń Lwów
• Legia Warsaw
• Klub Turystow Łódź
• ŁKS Łódź
• Polonia Warsaw
• Czarni Lwów
• Toruński KS Toruń
• Hasmonea Lwów
• Ruch Chorzów
• Warszawianka Warsaw
• Jutrzenka Kraków

Polish-German rivalry symbolized by Wisła Kraków and 1.FC Katowice

In this first, historic season of the League, fight for Championship was decided between two powerful teams - Wisła Kraków and 1.FC Katowice. This rivalry was treated very seriously, not only by the two sides involved, but also by the whole nation. 1.FC was regarded as the team supported by German minority, while Wisła, at the end of this historic season, represented ambitions of all Poles.

Some time in the fall of 1927 in Katowice, an ill-fated game between 1.FC and Wisła took place. Stakes were very high - the winner would become the Champion. According to numerous sources, PZPN's officials went out of their way not to let the Germans win. The referee, Zygmunt Hanke, clearly favored Wisła, as a result of which Kraków's side won 2-0 and became the Champion. 1.FC finished second, third was Warta Poznań.

1928-1939 Silesian Dominance

In 1928 Cracovia finally decided to enter the League, which was gladly accepted by all fans of soccer. However, Championships were once again won by Wisła, with such excellent players as Henryk Reyman, Mieczyslaw Balcer and Jan Kotlarczyk. Warta Poznań was second and Legia Warsaw third. This was also the last year of 1.FC's dominance. The team finished fifth, to be relegated forever at the end of 1929 season.

In 1929 yet another team (after Cracovia, Pogon Lwów and Wisła) was added to the list of Champions of Poland. This time it was Warta Poznań, which finished one point ahead of Garbarnia Kraków.

However, after the last game, on December 1, 1929, it was Garbarnia Kraków that was celebrating the Championship. Two weeks later, in mid-December, PZPN's officials changed the result of the Warta - Klub Turystow Łódź game. Originally, Warta lost 1-2, but due to walk-over (it was decided that one of Łódź's players did not have all necessary documents), this was changed to 3-0 in favor of Poznań's side. As a result of the decision, Warta (with 33 points) became the Champion, Garbarnia finished second with 32 points and Klub Turystow was relegated.

In 1930, Cracovia regained Championship, (to repeat this success in 1932) and a year later another Kraków's side, Garbarnia, won the League. It is clear that the 1927-1932 period was marked by dominance of teams from Kraków. During this time, only once (Warta Poznań, 1929) the Championship was won by a side from a different city. The 1931 Champion, Garbarnia, was unique as this was the first time that the League had been won by a side whose all players had been bought from other teams.

As has been said, the early 1930s marked a decline of the dominance of Kraków and Lwów as centers of Polish soccer. The point of gravity slowly moved towards west - to Polish part of Upper Silesia, which had belonged to Poland since 1921 (see: Silesian Uprisings). In 1932 the champion was Cracovia Kraków, but starting in 1933, Ruch Chorzów (then: Ruch Wielkie Hajduki) completely dominated the league, being the champion for 4 times in a row.

Ruch, with such excellent players as Teodor Peterek, Ernest Wilimowski and Gerard Wodarz was by far the best team in those years. For example, in 1934 it finished seven points ahead of second Cracovia. Other important teams of these years were: Cracovia Kraków, Wisła Kraków, Pogoń Lwów and Warta Poznań.

In 1933 and 1934 there were 12 teams in the League. In 1935 this number was cut to 11 and in 1936 - to 10. Soccer officials did it on purpose - with fewer teams, the competition was supposed to be harder, which would attract fans to the stadiums. However, supporters’ turnout was not impressive, with Ruch Chorzów as the most popular team, both at home and away.

In late 1935 (the league held its games in the spring-summer-fall system) fans were shocked to find that Cracovia, the legend of this sport, was relegated to the A-class. Kraków's side absence lasted for a year - it returned in 1937, to became the champion.

Ruch Chorzów was still the dominant team, winning the Championships in 1936 and 1938. In 1937 Ruch's streak of four consecutive champions was broken by Cracovia Kraków, and in 1939 the championships were not finished. By August 31, 1939, after some 12 games, Ruch was the leader of the 10-team League. Last games of this summer occurred on August 20. Then, a break was planned, because the National Team was going to play a few international friendlies. Games were to be re-introduced on September 10.

It must be mentioned that as a result of the Second World War, borders of Poland changed significantly. Lwów, one of the centers of Polish soccer (with such teams as Pogoń Lwów, Czarni Lwów and Lechia Lwów) was annexed by Soviet Union and all these teams ceased to exist. Lwów's soccer officials and players moved westwards, creating such clubs as Polonia Bytom, Odra Opole and Pogoń Szczecin (see: Recovered Territories). Another important center, Wilno (with the team Śmigły Wilno), was also annexed by the Soviets (see: Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union).

This is the list of the ten teams that participated in last, historic games for Championships of interwar Poland. Teams are presented according to their position on the table, as of August 31, 1939:

1. Ruch Chorzów.

2. Wisła Kraków.

3. Pogoń Lwów.

4. AKS Chorzów.

5. Warta Poznań.

6. Cracovia Kraków.

7. Polonia Warszawa.

8. Garbarnia Kraków.

9. Warszawianka Warszawa.

10. Union Touring Łódź.

Corruption scandal

Several clubs have been involved in a corruption scandal and were/are in danger of relegation:

• Arka Gdynia - relegated from 1st to 2nd division, -5 points at the start of 2007/08 season
• Górnik Łęczna - relegated from 1st to 3rd division, -6 points at the start of 2007/08 season
• Górnik Polkowice - 70 000 zł penalty, relegated from 2nd to 4th division, -6 points at the start of 2007/08 season
• Jagiellonia Białystok - docked 10 points at the start of the 2009/10 season, fine of 300,000 zloty
• KSZO Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski - relegated from 2nd to 3rd division, - 6 points at the start of 2007/08 season

• Zagłębie Sosnowiec - at the end of 2007/08 they were relegated from the top division to the 3rd, as they finished the season in the relegation zone, plus one division lower due to corruption.
• Korona Kielce - at the end of 2007/08 they were relegated one level lower due to corruption.
• Zagłębie Lubin (Polish champion 2006-2007) - at the end of 2007/08 they were relegated one level lower due to corruption.

Television

Three matches weekly - usually Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday - are telecast nationally by Canal+ Sport of Poland. Since the 2008-09 season, the remaining matches will be broadcast on Orange Sport. Telewizja Polska has the rights to air live 4 games per season on a non scrambled channel. [1]

List of champions

1921-1926, 1946, 1947 non league champions

² Not held due to the 1924 Summer Olympics

³ Abandoned due to the outbreak of World War II. On 31 August 1939 Ruch Chorzów was the leader.

Clubs by number of championships

Bold indicates clubs currently playing in the top division.

The following table lists the Polish football champions by the Polish voivodeship regions.

Region	Titles	Winning Clubs
Silesia	31	Górnik Zabrze (14), Ruch Chorzów (14), Polonia Bytom (2), Szombierki Bytom (1)
Lesser Poland	18	Wisła Kraków (12), Cracovia Kraków (5), Garbarnia Kraków (1)
Masovia	10	Legia Warszawa (8), Polonia Warszawa (2)
Greater Poland	8	Lech Poznań (6), Warta Poznań (2)
Łódź	6	Widzew Łódź (4), ŁKS Łódź (2)
Halyczina	4	Pogon Lwów (4)
Lower Silesia	3	Zagłębie Lubin (2), Śląsk Wrocław (1)
Subcarpathian	2	Stal Mielec (2)

Honored Teams

In European Football teams are especially honored for winning multiple league titles, after 10 league titles a representative golden star is placed above the teams badge to indicate 10 league titles. Ruch Chorzów became the first Polish team to achieve this prestigious honor of winning the league for the 10th time in 1968. Four years later in 1972, Górnik Zabrze matched this achievement by winning its 10th title. Most recently Wisła Kraków has been dubbed by this honor winning their 10th league title in 2005.

The current (as of August 2008) officially-sanctioned Ekstraklasa stars are:

• Golden Star 10 or more league titles won
  • Ruch Chorzów (14, received in 1968).
  • Górnik Zabrze (14, received in 1972).
  • Wisła Kraków (12, received in 2005).
• Silver Star 5-9 league titles won
  • Legia Warsaw (8, received in 1994).
  • Lech Poznań (6, received in 1993).
  • Cracovia Kraków (5, received in 1948).

All-Time League Table

The all-time league table consists off all the teams that once participated in the Ekstraklasa. Data from the 1927 - 2008-09 seasons.

Top goalscorers

Year	Tally	Player	Club
1927	37 goals	Henryk Reyman	Wisła Kraków
1928	28 goals	Ludwik Gintel	Cracovia Kraków
1929	25 goals	Rochus Nastula	Czarni Lwów
1930	24 goals	Karol Kossok	Cracovia Kraków
1931	24 goals	Walerian Kisieliński	Wisła Kraków
1932	16 goals	Kajetan Kryszkiewicz	Warta Poznań
1933	19 goals	Artur Woźniak	Wisła Kraków
1934	33 goals	Ernst Willimowski	Ruch Hajduki Wielkie
1935	22 goals	Michał Matyas	Pogoń Lwów
1936	18 goals	Teodor Peterek Ernst Willimowski	Ruch Hajduki Wielkie Ruch Hajduki Wielkie
1937	12 goals	Artur Woźniak	Wisła Kraków
1938	21 goals	Teodor Peterek	Ruch Hajduki Wielkie
1939	12 goals	Ernst Willimowski	Ruch Hajduki Wielkie
1948	31 goals	Józef Kohut	Wisła Kraków
1949	20 goals	Teodor Anioła	Lech Poznań
1950	21 goals	Teodor Anioła	Lech Poznań
1951	20 goals	Teodor Anioła	Lech Poznań
1952	11 goals	Gerard Cieślik	Ruch Chorzów
1953	24 goals	Gerard Cieślik	Ruch Chorzów
1954	13 goals	Henryk Kempny Ernst Pohl	Polonia Bytom Legia Warsaw
1955	16 goals	Stanisław Hachorek	Gwardia Warsaw
1956	21 goals	Henryk Kempny	Legia Warsaw
1957	19 goals	Lucjan Brychczy	Legia Warsaw
1958	19 goals	Władysław Soporek	ŁKS Łódź
1959	21 goals	Jan Liberda Ernst Pohl	Polonia Bytom Górnik Zabrze
1960	17 goals	Marian Norkowski	Polonia Bydgoszcz
1961	24 goals	Ernst Pohl	Górnik Zabrze
1962	16 goals	Jan Liberda	Polonia Bytom
1963	18 goals	Marian Kielec	Pogoń Szczecin
1964	18 goals	Lucjan Brychczy Józef Gałeczka Jerzy Wilim	Legia Warsaw Zagłębie Sosnowiec Szombierki Bytom
1965	18 goals	Lucjan Brychczy	Legia Warsaw
1966	23 goals	Włodzimierz Lubański	Górnik Zabrze
1967	18 goals	Włodzimierz Lubański	Górnik Zabrze
1968	24 goals	Włodzimierz Lubański	Górnik Zabrze
1969	22 goals	Włodzimierz Lubański	Górnik Zabrze
1970	18 goals	Andrzej Jarosik	Zagłębie Sosnowiec
1971	13 goals	Andrzej Jarosik	Zagłębie Sosnowiec
1972	16 goals	Ryszard Szymczak	Gwardia Warsaw
1973	13 goals	Grzegorz Lato	Stal Mielec
1974	15 goals	Zdzisław Kapka	Wisła Kraków
1975	19 goals	Grzegorz Lato	Stal Mielec
1976	20 goals	Kazimierz Kmiecik	Wisła Kraków
1977	17 goals	Włodzimierz Mazur	Zagłębie Sosnowiec
1978	15 goals	Kazimierz Kmiecik	Wisła Kraków
1979	17 goals	Kazimierz Kmiecik	Wisła Kraków
1980	24 goals	Kazimierz Kmiecik	Wisła Kraków
1981	18 goals	Krzysztof Adamczyk	Legia Warsaw
1982	15 goals	Grzegorz Kapica	Szombierki Bytom
1983	15 goals	Mirosław Okoński Mirosław Tłokiński	Lech Poznań Widzew Łódź
1984	14 goals	Włodzimierz Ciołek	Górnik Wałbrzych
1985	14 goals	Leszek Iwanicki	Motor Lublin
1986	20 goals	Andrzej Zgutczyński	Górnik Zabrze
1987	24 goals	Marek Leśniak	Pogoń Szczecin
1988	20 goals	Dariusz Dziekanowski	Legia Warsaw
1989	24 goals	Krzysztof Warzycha	Ruch Chorzów
1990	18 goals	Andrzej Juskowiak	Lech Poznań
1991	21 goals	Tomasz Dziubiński	Wisła Kraków
1992	20 goals	Jerzy Podbrożny Mirosław Waligóra	Lech Poznań Hutnik Kraków
1993	25 goals	Jerzy Podbrożny	Lech Poznań
1994	21 goals	Zenon Burzawa	Sokół Pniewy
1995	16 goals	Bogusław Cygan	Stal Mielec
1996	29 goals	Marek Koniarek	Widzew Łódź
1997	18 goals	Mirosław Trzeciak	ŁKS Łódź
1998	14 goals	Arkadiusz Bąk Sylwester Czereszewski Mariusz Śrutwa	Polonia Warsaw Legia Warsaw Ruch Chorzów
1999	21 goals	Tomasz Frankowski	Wisła Kraków
2000	19 goals	Adam Kompała	Górnik Zabrze
2001	18 goals	Tomasz Frankowski	Wisła Kraków
2002	21 goals	Maciej Żurawski	Wisła Kraków
2003	24 goals	Stanko Svitlica	Legia Warsaw
2004	20 goals	Maciej Żurawski	Wisła Kraków
2005	25 goals	Tomasz Frankowski	Wisła Kraków
2006	21 goals	Grzegorz Piechna	Korona Kielce
2007	15 goals	Piotr Reiss	Lech Poznań
2008	23 goals	Paweł Brożek	Wisła Kraków
2009	19 goals	Paweł Brożek Takesure Chinyama	Wisła Kraków Legia Warsaw
2010	18 goals	Robert Lewandowski	Lech Poznań

Players

All-time top 10 goalscorers in the Ekstraklasa
(Ekstraklasa goals only)

#	Player	Years	Goals
1	Ernst Pohl	1954-67	186
2	Lucjan Brychczy	1954-71	182
3	Gerard Cieślik	1948-59	167
4	Włodzimierz Lubański	1963-75	155
5	Teodor Peterek	1928-48	154
6	Kazimierz Kmiecik	1968-82	153
7	Jan Liberda	1955-71	145
8	Teodor Anioła	1948-57	141
9	Tomasz Frankowski	1992-	133
10	Friedrich Scherfke	1927-39	131
As of 28 April 2010 (Bold denotes players still playing in the Ekstraklasa)

Bold- Active

Most appearances

# Player Years Apps 1 Marek Chojnacki 1978-96 452 2 Dariusz Gęsior 1987-07 427 3 Janusz Jojko 1980-03 417 4 Zygfryd Szołtysik 1962-78 395 5 Paweł Janik 1967-82 389 6 Ryszard Czerwiec 1968-82 378 7 Witold Bendkowski 1981-99 376 8 Lucjan Brychczy 1954-72 368 9 Hieronim Barczak 1972-86 367 10 Marek Dziuba 1974-87 364 League presidents Nr. League President Term from to 1. Roman Górecki March 1, 1927 January 1929 2. Ignacy Izdebski January 1929 January 16, 1933 3. Zygmunt Żołędziowski January 16, 1933 January 17, 1936 4. Juliusz Geib January 17, 1936 August 30, 1936 5. Michał Jaroszyński August 30, 1936 Fall 1938 6. Karol Stefan Rudolf Fall 1938 September 17, 1939 7. Tadeusz Dręgiewicz August 10, 1946 August 18, 1946 - League suspended August 18, 1946 February 22, 1947 - VP PZPN ds. League February 22, 1947 June 14, 2005 8. Michał Tomczak June 14, 2005 November 29, 2005 9. Andrzej Rusko November 29, 2005 present

See also

• Młoda Ekstraklasa
• Football in Poland
• Polish Championship in Football - winners of Ekstraklasa
• Sports league attendances

External links

• Ekstraklasa S.A.
• Ekstraklasa goals and highlights
• Ekstraklasa online
• Polish Ekstraklasa news in English (English)
• Polish SOCA! Live Ekstraklasa league table and news (English)
• Orange Ekstraklasa Table, Fixtures and Results (English)