and
Manchester City in the
1970–71 European Cup Winners' Cup trophy for
Widzew Łódź and
Jagiellonia Białystok (5–2) in the
2009–10 Ekstraklasa and
Lechia Gdańsk (4–0) in the
2022–23 Ekstraklasa Naming • 1927–1948: Liga • 1949–2004: I liga • 2004–2005:
Idea Ekstraklasa • 2005–2008:
Orange Ekstraklasa • 2011–2015:
T-Mobile Ekstraklasa • 2016–2019: Lotto Ekstraklasa • 2019–:
PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa
Creation of the Polish Football League On 4–5 December 1926 in
Warsaw, representatives from several Polish clubs met to discuss the creation of a league. It is unknown where the idea of a Polish league originated from, however a national league was thought to be a much more practical solution than hitherto practiced two-stage system of regional matches followed by a national match. To the dismay of clubs' officials, the PZPN was not receptive to the idea of a national league and therefore sought to thwart it. However, it turned out that virtually all but one of the Polish clubs supported the idea. The decision to create it was made regardless what PZPN's representatives thought of it. In late February 1927, at the PZPN's meeting in Warsaw, its officials openly opposed the formation of a league, but the clubs, allegedly egged on by some generals from the
Polish Army (which, after May Coup of 1926, played a key role in all aspects of public life), proceeded anyway. The creation of the League was announced on 1 March 1927.
Cracovia The only opponent of the league's formation was
Cracovia – a very influential and strong organization in Polish football of the 1920s. Cracovia's boycott was because its chairman, Dr.
Edward Cetnarowski, at the same time held the post of the director of the PZPN. Cetnarowski was a personality known not only in Poland, but also in other countries. It was due to his efforts that in September 1923, Cracovia toured Spain, drawing 1–1 with
Barcelona and losing 0–1 to
Real Madrid. In October, also thanks to Cetnarowski,
Sevilla travelled to Kraków, losing 2–3 to Cracovia.
Early years of the league and
ŁKS Łódź Games of the first league championships started on 3 April 1927. All major teams (except for Cracovia) took part in it. This is the list of the teams (in the order they finished in November 1927): In this first 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. Kraków's side won 2–0 and became the champion. 1.FC finished second, third was Warta Poznań.
1920s In 1928, Cracovia finally decided to enter the league, which was gladly accepted by all fans of football. However, championships were once again won by Wisła, with such excellent players as
Henryk Reyman,
Mieczysław Balcer and
Jan Kotlarczyk. Warta Poznań was second and Legia Warsaw third. This was also the last year of 1.FC's glory. The team finished fifth, to be relegated forever at the end of 1929 season. In 1929, another team (after Cracovia, Pogoń 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 1 December 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 walkover (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 the 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.
1930s As has been said, the early 1930s marked a decline of the dominance of Kraków and
Lwów as centers of Polish football. The point of gravity slowly moved towards west – to
Upper Silesia. In 1932 the champion was
Cracovia, but starting in 1933,
Ruch Chorzów (then:
Ruch Wielkie Hajduki) completely dominated the league, being the champion for four 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,
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. Football 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 become 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, and in 1939 the championships were not finished. By 31 August 1939, after some 12 games, Ruch was the leader of the 10-team League. Last games of this summer occurred on 20 August. Then, a break was planned, because the National Team was going to play a few international friendlies. Games were to be re-introduced on 10 September. and
Ruch Chorzów (3–2) in the
1939 season 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 31 August 1939: •
Ruch Chorzów •
Wisła Kraków •
Pogoń Lwów •
AKS Chorzów •
Warta Poznań •
Cracovia •
Polonia Warsaw •
Garbarnia Kraków •
Warszawianka Warsaw •
Union Touring Łódź After World War II As a result of the Second World War, the borders of Poland changed significantly.
Lwów, one of the centers of Polish football (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 football officials and players moved westwards, creating such clubs as
Odra Opole and
Pogoń Szczecin, and reviving
Polonia Bytom (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). In exchange, Poland gained a large swath of formerly German territory in particular in Silesia (which also formed part of Poland centuries prior), with its capital
Wrocław (home of double champion
Śląsk Wrocław) and cities such as
Zabrze (home of 14-times champion
Górnik Zabrze),
Bytom (home of champions
Polonia Bytom and
Szombierki Bytom) and
Lubin (home of double champion
Zagłębie Lubin). 18 teams played in the league between seasons of 1992 and 1998. The 2020s was marked by the league's rise in the
UEFA coefficient, boosted by the good results of Polish clubs in European competitions with Lech Poznań reaching the quarterfinals of the
UEFA Conference League in the
2022–23 season. == Clubs ==