Founded 92 years ago, the Ekstraklasa is the first division in Poland, a football-mad country with a passionate fan base.
Sometimes a bit too passionate, though, as Polish football fans have a history of football hooliganism. However, due to sanctions from the Polish FA, football hooliganism in Poland has reduced drastically over the past few years in a bid to create a safe and conducive environment for professional football.
The league’s general style of play is centred on maintaining a tight backline, and as such teams tend to be hard to break down. Physicality is a key attribute of players in the league however, the ability to dribble past players is essential for attacking midfielders and wingers.
The Ekstraklasa sits above the I Liga in the Polish football pyramid and consists of 16 teams, all of which compete in the Polish Cup which is widely regarded as the second biggest competition in Poland behind the Ekstraklasa.
The winner of the Ekstralasa qualifies for the Polish Super Cup which is a game against the winner of the Polish Cup, somewhat like the community shield match which is played in England.
The System
The league typically kicks off in July and ends in May or June depending on the fixture calendar with teams playing a total of 37 games each throughout the course of the league campaign.
It follows a common fixture scheduling format as games are played on Fridays, Mondays and over the weekend, thus giving fans a chance to watch the games live without missing out on work and school.
The League goes on a mid-season winter break during December and typically resumes in February — the break is very ideal for players as it gives them a good opportunity to recover from fatigue.
At the end of each season, two I Liga teams get promoted to the Ekstraklasa whilst two Ekstraklasa teams succumb to relegation.
The winner of the Ekstraklasa secures qualification into the UEFA Champions League while the teams placed 2nd-4th secure qualification to the Europa League.
Rules
Polish teams must register a total of 25 players at the start of a new season — a maximum of 17 players registered can be foreign as per the Eksraklasa’s rules.
There are no restrictions on the number of non-EU players Polish clubs can sign, however, the Polish Football Association states that a team cannot field more than three non-EU players in a game.
Financials;
Average Salary
The Average Salary in the Ekstraklasa is €70,000 per year.
Value of Teams
The 16 teams in the Ekstraklasa have a total market value of €206.93m
Most Valuable Player
Valued at €6m, Lech Poznan’s Jakub Kaminski is the most valuable player in the Polish Ekstraklasa.
Biggest Transfer
Bartosz Slisz’s €1.84m move to Legia Warszawa is the league’s biggest transfer of all time.
Overview
Country: Poland
Confederation: UEFA
Founded: 1926
Number of teams: 16
Domestic cup: Polish Cup, Polish Super Cup
International Cup: UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League
Level on the pyramid: 1
Transfer window: Feb 1 — Feb 28, June 13 — August 31
Number of Players: 495
Number of Foreign Players: 176
Percentage of Foreign Players: 35.6%
Most Championships: Legia Warszawa (14 times)
Average Attendance: 9,468
Teams;
● Lech Poznan (https://www.lechpoznan.pl/)
● Legia Warszawa (https://legia.com/en)
● Jagiellonia (https://www.jagiellonia.pl/)
● Pogon Szczecin (https://pogonszczecin.pl/)
● Rakow (https://rakow.com/)
● Wisla Krakow (https://www.wisla.krakow.pl/)
● Cracovia (https://cracovia.pl/)
● Lechia Gdansk (https://lechia.pl/)
● Zaglebie Lubin (https://www.zaglebie.com/EN)
● Gornik Zabrze (https://www.gornikzabrze.pl/)
● Piast Gliwice (http://piast.gliwice.pl/)
● Slask Wroclaw (http://slaskwroclaw.pl/strona/)
● Wisla Plock (https://www.wisla-plock.pl/pl)
● Warta Poznan (https://wartapoznan.pl/)
● Stal Mielec (http://stalmielec.com/)
● Podbeskidze (https://tspodbeskidzie.pl/)
Famous Player to have played in the Ekstraklasa: World-class striker, Robert Lewandowski began his career in the Ekstraklasa at Znicz Purszkow and Lech Poznan before moving on to Borussia Dortmund in 2010.
Fieldoo’s Opinion: The Ekstraklasa is a physical league, but technically gifted players will also be able to make a name for themselves playing in Poland.
