Ekstraklasa
 | |
| Founded | 1927 |
|---|---|
| Country |  Poland |
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Number of teams | 16 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | Polish First League |
| Domestic cup(s) | Polish Cup Polish SuperCup |
| International cup(s) | Champions League, Europa League |
| Current champions | Wisła Kraków (12th title) |
| Most championships | Górnik Zabrze, Ruch Chorzów (14 titles) |
| Website | Official |
| Current: 2009–10 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. Only 4 clubs (Polonia Warszawa, Legia Warszawa, Wisła Kraków and Zagłębie Lubin) have won the title in the last decade. The current champions are Wisła Kraków, who won their 12th title in 2008–09.
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
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 Soccer 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
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 Warszawa
- 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
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.
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
| Titles | Team | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Górnik Zabrze | 1957, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 |
| 14 | Ruch Chorzów | 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1938, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1960, 1968, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1989 |
| 12 | Wisła Kraków | 1927, 1928, 1949, 1950, 1978, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009 |
| 8 | Legia Warszawa | 1955, 1956, 1969, 1970, 1994, 1995, 2002, 2006 |
| 5 | Cracovia Kraków | 1921, 1930, 1932, 1937, 1948 |
| 5 | Lech Poznań | 1983, 1984, 1990, 1992, 1993 |
| 4 | Widzew Łódź | 1981, 1982, 1996, 1997 |
| 4 | Pogoń Lwów | 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926 |
| 2 | Polonia Warszawa | 1946, 2000 |
| 2 | Zagłębie Lubin | 1991, 2007 |
| 2 | ŁKS Łódź | 1958, 1998 |
| 2 | Stal Mielec | 1973, 1976 |
| 2 | Polonia Bytom | 1954, 1963 |
| 2 | Warta Poznań | 1929, 1947 |
| 1 | Śląsk Wrocław | 1977 |
| 1 | Szombierki Bytom | 1980 |
| 1 | Garbarnia Kraków | 1931 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| File:Slaskie flag.svg Silesia | Górnik Zabrze (14), Ruch Chorzów (14), Polonia Bytom (2), Szombierki Bytom (1) | |
 Lesser Poland
|
Wisła Kraków (12), Cracovia Kraków (5), Garbarnia Kraków (1) | |
 Masovia
|
Legia Warszawa (8), Polonia Warszawa (2) | |
 Greater Poland
|
Lech Poznań (5), Warta Poznań (2) | |
 Łódź
|
Widzew Łódź (4), ŁKS Łódź (2) | |
 Lower Silesia
|
Zagłębie Lubin (2), Śląsk Wrocław (1) | |
 Subcarpathian
|
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).- Cracovia Kraków (5, received in 1948).
- Lech Poznań (5, received in 1993).
