2008–09 Ekstraklasa

The 2008–09 Ekstraklasa was the 75th season of top-tier football in Poland. It began on 8 August 2008 and ended on 30 May 2009. The season was originally scheduled to start on 25 July 2008. However, the first two rounds of games were postponed because of legal uncertainties about the number of teams in the competition following an association-wide corruption scandal.

Ekstraklasa
Season2008–09
ChampionsWisła Kraków
(13th Ekstraklasa title
12th Polish title)
RelegatedGórnik Zabrze
ŁKS (license revoked)
Champions LeagueWisła Kraków
Europa LeagueLech Poznań
(via Polish Cup)
Legia Warsaw
Polonia Warsaw
Matches played240
Goals scored524 (2.18 per match)
Top goalscorerPaweł Brożek
Takesure Chinyama
(19 goals each)
Biggest home win7 matches with 4–0
Biggest away winŁKS 0–4 Wisła
Polonia B. 0–4 Polonia W.
Highest scoringŁKS 4–3 Cracovia
Highest attendance40,000[1]
Ruch 0–1 Górnik
(28 February 2009)
Total attendance1,764,240
Average attendance7,351 Increase 0.3%[2]

Wisła Kraków won the league for the second time in a row and for the 12th time in their history after defeating Śląsk Wrocław 2–0 in the final match of the season. Legia Warsaw finished as runners-up and qualified for the second qualifying round of 2009–10 UEFA Europa League. Lech Poznań finished third and qualified for the third qualifying round of the Europa League after winning the Polish Cup. Polonia Warsaw also managed to earn a spot in Europe by finishing fourth, thereby qualifying for the first qualifying round of the Europa League. Paweł Brożek of Wisła Kraków and Takesure Chinyama of Legia Warsaw finished as joint topscorers with 19 goals in the season.

On the bottom end of the table, relegation was once again subject to several non-competitive events. On competitive criteria, Górnik Zabrze and Cracovia would have been relegated to the I Liga, while Arka Gdynia would have had to compete in the relegation play-offs. However, ŁKS Łódź were denied a license for the 2009–10 season and thus were automatically relegated. The club appealed the decision without any success. Since ŁKS city rivals Widzew were also denied of promoting from the First League and appealed against this decision, thus creating uncertainties about the First League play-off participant, the Polish FA decided in June to postpone the relegation play-offs to an unknown date before eventually cancelling the matches completely. (see below).

Team changes from last season

Due to the corruption scandal several teams from last season have been punished with relegation. Those teams include Zagłębie Lubin, Korona Kielce and Zagłębie Sosnowiec.[3] Lubin and Kielce were relegated to the First League while Sosnowiec were demoted an additional level to the Second League because they also finished the season in 16th and last place, a regular demotion spot. Widzew Łódź, who ended the season in 15th place, originally were going to be penalized as well.[4] However, the club successfully appealed the decision in front of the Polish Olympic Committee,[5] so they were assigned to the First League as a regularly demoted club.

Promotion to this year's Ekstraklasa was earned by Polish First League champions Lechia Gdańsk, runners-up Śląsk Wrocław, 3rd placed Piast Gliwice and 4th placed Arka Gdynia.

Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielkopolski has been sold to an owner of First League club Polonia Warsaw. The two clubs merged, with Grodzisk's players and Ekstraklasa license transferred to Polonia.[6] The merger concluded a series of negotiations between Grodzisk and other clubs. The initially planned merger with Śląsk Wrocław was eventually denied by the latter after several months of discussions. Grodzisk chairman Zbigniew Drzymała then started conversations with Pogoń Szczecin, which were quickly stopped without an agreement as well, before eventually coming to an agreement with Polonia.

Team overview

Stadia and locations
Location of teams in 2008–09 Ekstraklasa
Location of teams in the Upper Silesian Industrial Region
Team Venue Capacity
Arka Gdynia Stadion Miejski 12,000*
Cracovia Stadion Cracovii 11,000
GKS Bełchatów Stadion GKS 5,264*
Górnik Zabrze Stadion Ernesta Pohla 17,722
Jagiellonia Białystok Stadion Miejski 10,000*
Lech Poznań Stadion Lecha 24,166*
Lechia Gdańsk Stadion Lechii 12,244
Legia Warsaw Stadion Wojska Polskiego 13,628*
Łódzki KS Stadion ŁKS 12,160
Odra Wodzisław Śląski Stadion Miejski 6,620
Piast Gliwice Stadion Piasta 6,000
Polonia Bytom Stadion Edwarda Szymkowiaka 7,000
Polonia Warsaw Stadion Polonii 7,150
Ruch Chorzów Stadion Ruchu 9,300
Śląsk Wrocław Stadion Oporowska 8,346
Wisła Kraków Stadion Henryka Reymana 15,595*

*Stadiums are under redevelopment

Personnel and sponsoring
Team Head coach Team captain Kitmaker Shirt sponsor
Arka Gdynia Poland Marek Chojnacki Poland Olgierd Moskalewicz Jako Polnord
Cracovia Poland Artur Płatek Poland Bartosz Ślusarski Zina Comarch
GKS Bełchatów Poland Rafał Ulatowski Poland Edward Cecot Adidas PGE
Górnik Zabrze Poland Henryk Kasperczak Poland Sebastian Nowak Jako Allianz
Jagiellonia Białystok Poland Michał Probierz Poland Tomasz Frankowski Joma VacansOleil
Lech Poznań Poland Franciszek Smuda Poland Rafał Murawski Puma Warka
Lechia Gdańsk Poland Tomasz Kafarski Poland Karol Piątek Jako SNG Energa
Legia Warsaw Poland Jan Urban Poland Wojciech Szala Adidas n
Łódzki KS Poland Grzegorz Wesołowski Poland Marcin Adamski Umbro BioAg Solutions
Odra Wodzisław Śląski Poland Ryszard Wieczorek Poland Jan Woś Tico Rojek-Decor
Piast Gliwice Poland Dariusz Fornalak Poland Jarosław Kaszowski Errea
Polonia Bytom Ukraine Yuri Shatalov Poland Jacek Trzeciak Tico Armanda Development
Polonia Warsaw Poland Jacek Grembocki Czech Republic Radek Mynář Zina JW Construction
Ruch Chorzów Poland Waldemar Fornalik Poland Wojciech Grzyb Colo GOCC
Śląsk Wrocław Poland Ryszard Tarasiewicz Poland Dariusz Sztylka Garman Piast
Wisła Kraków Poland Maciej Skorża Poland Marcin Baszczyński Umbro bet-at-home.com

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Wisła Kraków (C) 30 19 7 4 53 21 +32 64 Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2 Legia Warsaw 30 18 7 5 52 17 +35 61 Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round
3 Lech Poznań 30 16 11 3 51 24 +27 59 Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
4 Polonia Warsaw 30 15 9 6 40 23 +17 54[lower-alpha 2] Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
5 GKS Bełchatów 30 17 3 10 40 28 +12 54[lower-alpha 2]
6 Śląsk Wrocław 30 11 12 7 40 34 +6 45
7 Polonia Bytom 30 10 5 15 30 46 −16 35
8 Jagiellonia Białystok 30 9 7 14 28 34 −6 34[lower-alpha 3]
9 Ruch Chorzów 30 9 7 14 22 32 −10 34[lower-alpha 3]
10 Piast Gliwice 30 9 6 15 17 26 −9 33
11 Lechia Gdańsk 30 9 5 16 30 44 −14 32[lower-alpha 4]
12 Odra Wodzisław 30 8 8 14 23 40 −17 32[lower-alpha 4]
13 Arka Gdynia 30 7 9 14 27 39 −12 30[lower-alpha 5]
14 Cracovia 30 7 9 14 24 40 −16 30[lower-alpha 5]
15 Górnik Zabrze (R) 30 7 8 15 20 33 −13 29 Relegation to I liga
16 ŁKS Łódź[lower-alpha 6] (R) 30 10 5 15 27 43 −16 35
Source: 90minut.pl (in Polish)
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head goals scored; 5th head-to-head away goals scored; 6th goal difference; 7th goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Lech Poznań are the winners of the 2008–09 Polish Cup competition and therefore have qualified for the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.
  2. GKS 1–2 PWA; PWA 1–0 GKS
  3. JAG 1–0 RUC; RUC 0–0 JAG
  4. ODR 1–0 LGD; LGD 3–1 ODR
  5. ARK 2–1 CRA; CRA 0–0 ARK
  6. ŁKS Łódź did not receive a license for the 2009–10 season due to financial problems.[7][8]

Results
Home \ Away ARK CRA BEŁ GÓR JAG LPO LGD LEG ŁKS ODR PIA PBY PWA RUC ŚLĄ WIS
Arka Gdynia 2–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–1 0–1 0–1 4–0 2–1 0–1 1–3 0–1 1–2 3–3 0–1
Cracovia 0–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 0–1 3–1 0–3 2–0 0–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 1–1
GKS Bełchatów 1–1 3–0 1–0 2–0 2–3 1–0 1–0 0–2 3–0 0–0 3–1 1–2 1–0 2–1 0–0
Górnik Zabrze 2–2 0–2 2–3 1–0 1–1 2–0 0–3 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 0–1 0–0 1–2 1–1
Jagiellonia Białystok 3–0 2–0 0–2 1–0 0–3 2–0 2–1 4–0 1–2 2–0 2–2 2–1 1–0 2–2 0–2
Lech Poznań 0–0 2–2 2–3 3–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 1–1 3–1 1–0 3–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1
Lechia Gdańsk 2–1 2–0 1–2 1–0 3–1 0–3 2–3 2–1 3–1 0–0 0–1 0–0 2–0 1–1 2–4
Legia Warsaw 2–0 4–0 3–0 0–0 2–0 1–1 3–0 1–0 4–0 3–1 3–1 2–2 4–1 4–0 2–1
ŁKS Łódź 3–0 4–3 0–2 2–0 1–0 0–3 2–1 0–0 0–0 0–1 2–0 1–2 0–1 0–0 0–4
Odra Wodzisław 0–0 2–1 0–2 0–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 0–2 4–1 1–1 3–0 0–0 0–2
Piast Gliwice 1–2 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–2 0–2 0–1 2–1 0–1 1–0 0–2 0–0 0–1 1–1
Polonia Bytom 2–1 1–0 1–2 2–0 1–0 1–1 4–1 1–0 2–3 1–1 1–0 0–4 0–3 1–1 1–1
Polonia Warsaw 0–0 1–1 1–0 2–0 0–0 3–3 1–1 0–0 1–3 2–0 1–0 1–0 3–0 3–0 0–2
Ruch Chorzów 0–0 2–0 0–1 0–1 0–0 2–0 2–1 0–1 2–0 0–1 0–0 2–1 1–3 1–2 1–0
Śląsk Wrocław 2–1 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–0 0–2 1–1 1–1 3–0 4–0 0–1 3–0 0–1 3–1 2–1
Wisła Kraków 4–0 4–1 2–1 3–1 1–0 1–4 3–0 1–0 0–0 3–1 2–0 1–0 2–1 2–0 2–0
Source: 90minut.pl (in Polish)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Scoring

Team Records

Top goalscorers
Rank Player Club Goals[9]
1 Poland Paweł Brożek Wisła Kraków 19
Zimbabwe Takesure Chinyama Legia Warsaw 19
3 Poland Robert Lewandowski Lech Poznań 14
4 North Macedonia Filip Ivanovski Polonia Warsaw 12
5 Poland Dawid Nowak GKS Bełchatów 10
Poland Dariusz Pawlusiński Cracovia 10
7 Poland Rafał Boguski Wisła Kraków 9
Peru Hernan Rengifo Lech Poznań 9
Bosnia and Herzegovina Semir Štilić Lech Poznań 9
Poland Tomasz Szewczuk Śląsk Wrocław 9

Relegation play-offs

The relegation play-offs were cancelled after a series of appeals over the question in which division both ŁKS Łódź and First League 2008–09 champions Widzew Łódź will play in the 2009-10 season. Originally, Arka Gdynia as 14th-placed team (sports court decisions excluded) of the Ekstraklasa and Korona Kielce as 3rd-placed team of the First League were scheduled to play in a two-legged play-off for a spot in Ekstraklasa 2009–10. However, the Polish FA were forced to postpone the series to an unknown later date[10] due to the appeals and, after the issues could not be settled in time, eventually decided not to hold any matches.

References
  1. "Match report". 90minut.pl. Retrieved 28 February 2009.
  2. "Attendances – Archive Poland". EFS.co.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  3. "Orange Ekstraklasa 2007/2008" (in Polish). www.90minut.pl. Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
  4. "Polish club relegated after corruption probe". ESPNSoccernet. 17 January 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
  5. "Widzew win relegation appeal". PA Sport. 24 July 2008. Archived from the original on 1 June 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
  6. Dwa kluby z Warszawy w piłkarskiej ekstraklasie. (in Polish) Retrieved on 11 July 2008.
  7. "Ekstraklasa: klub zdegradowany za "złą sytuację finansową"" (in Polish). www.onet.pl. 28 May 2009. Archived from the original on 31 May 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  8. "Łódzki KS nadal bez licencji" (in Polish). www.90minut.pl. 16 June 2009. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  9. "Najlepsi strzelcy". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  10. "PZPN odwołał baraże o Ekstraklasę" (in Polish). www.90minut.pl. 12 June 2009. Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
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