Ekstraklasa

Ekstraklasa, officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish football league system.
Contested by 18 clubs, operating a system of promotion and relegation with the I liga, seasons start in July, and end in May or June the following year. Teams play a total of 34 games each. Games are played on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. The winner of the Ekstraklasa qualifies for the Polish Super Cup. Since 2005, the league is operated by the Ekstraklasa Spółka Akcyjna.
The Ekstraklasa was officially formed as Liga Polska on 4–5 December 1926 in Warsaw, since 1 March 1927 as Liga Piłki Nożnej, but the Polish Football Association had been in existence since 20 December 1919, a year after the independence of Poland in 1918. The first games of the freshly created league took place on 3 April 1927, while the first national non-league football championship took place in 1920.
A total of 86 teams have played in the top division of Polish football since the founding of the league, 20 of which have won the title. The current champions are Lech Poznań, who won their 9th title in the 2024–25 season.

History

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, 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

Games of the first league championships started on 3 April 1927. All major teams took part in it. This is the list of the teams :
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 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, this was changed to 3–0 in favor of Poznań's side. As a result of the decision, Warta became the champion, Garbarnia finished second with 32 points and Klub Turystow was relegated.
In 1930, Cracovia regained the championship, 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 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 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 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.
File:Pogoń Lwów – Ruch Hajduki Wielkie 1939.jpg|thumb|Match between Pogoń Lwów and Ruch Chorzów 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 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. Another important center, Wilno, was also annexed by the Soviets. In exchange, Poland gained a large swath of formerly German territory in particular in Silesia, with its capital Wrocław and cities such as Zabrze, Bytom and 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

There are 18 clubs in the Ekstraklasa. During the course of the season each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 34 games. From the 2013–14 till the 2019–20 season, after the 30th round the table was divided into 'champion' and 'relegation' groups. Each team played seven more games. The 2016–17 season was the last when teams started an extra round with half the points achieved during the first phase of 30 matches. The changes extended the season to a total of 296 matches played. The 2021–22 season started with 18 teams, instead of 16.
Clubs as of the 2025–26 season.

Team	Location	Venue	Capacity
Arka Gdynia	Gdynia	GOSiR Stadium	15,139
Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza	Nieciecza	Bruk-Bet Stadium	4,666
Cracovia	Kraków	Józef Piłsudski Stadium	15,016
GKS Katowice	Katowice	Arena Katowice	15,048
Górnik Zabrze	Zabrze	Arena Zabrze	28,236
Jagiellonia Białystok	Białystok	Chorten Arena	22,372
Korona Kielce	Kielce	EXBUD Arena	15,700
Lech Poznań	Poznań	Enea Stadion	42,837
Lechia Gdańsk	Gdańsk	Polsat Plus Arena Gdańsk	41,620
Legia Warsaw	Warsaw	Polish Army Stadium	31,103
Motor Lublin	Lublin	Motor Lublin Arena	15,247
Piast Gliwice	Gliwice	Piotr Wieczorek Stadium	9,913
Pogoń Szczecin	Szczecin	Florian Krygier Stadium	21,163
Radomiak Radom	Radom	Czachor Brothers Stadium	8,840
Raków Częstochowa	Częstochowa	zondacrypto Arena	5,500
Widzew Łódź	Łódź	Widzew Łódź Stadium	18,018
Wisła Płock	Płock		15,004
Zagłębie Lubin	Lubin	KGHM Zagłebie Arena	16,086

Upgrading to 31,871.