2008–09 Ekstraklasa
The 2008–09 Ekstraklasa was the seventy-fifth 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.
 | |
| Season | 2008–09 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Wisła Kraków 13th Ekstraklasa title 12th Polish title |
| Relegated | Górnik Zabrze ŁKS (license revoked) |
| Champions League | Wisła Kraków |
| Europa League | Lech Poznań (via Polish Cup) Legia Warsaw Polonia Warsaw |
| Matches played | 240 |
| Goals scored | 524 (2.18 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Paweł Brożek (19 goals) Takesure Chinyama (19 goals) |
| Biggest home win | 7 matches with 4–0 |
| Biggest away win | ŁKS 0–4 Wisła Pol. Bytom 0–4 Pol. Warsaw |
| Highest scoring | ŁKS 4–3 Cracovia |
| Highest attendance | 40,000[1] Ruch 0–1 Górnik (28 February 2009) |
| Total attendance | 1,764,240 |
| Average attendance | 7,351  0.3%[2] |
← 2007–08 2009–10 → | |
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
| Team | Venue | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Arka Gdynia | GOSiR Stadium | 12.000 |
| Cracovia | Marshal Józef Piłsudski Stadium | 11.000 |
| GKS Bełchatów | GIEKSA Arena | 5.238 |
| Górnik Zabrze | Ernest Pohl Stadium | 17.722 |
| Jagiellonia Białystok | Jagiellonia Stadium | 10.000* |
| Lech Poznań | Lech Stadium | 18.200* |
| Lechia Gdańsk | Lechia Stadium | 12.244 |
| Legia Warsaw | Polish Army Stadium | 13.628* |
| Łódzki KS | ŁKS Stadium | 12.160 |
| Odra Wodzisław Śląski | MOSiR Stadium | 6.620 |
| Piast Gliwice | Arena Gliwice | 6.000 |
| Polonia Bytom | Edward Szymkowiak Stadium | 7.000 |
| Polonia Warsaw | Polonia Stadium | 7.000 |
| Ruch Chorzów | Ruch Stadium | 10.000 |
| Śląsk Wrocław | Oporowska Stadium | 8.346 |
| Wisła Kraków | Henryk Reyman Stadium | 15.595* |
*Stadiums are under redevelopment
Personnel and sponsoring
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 |
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) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
- 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.
- GKS 1–2 PWA; PWA 1–0 GKS
- JAG 1–0 RUC; RUC 0–0 JAG
- ODR 1–0 LGD; LGD 3–1 ODR
- ARK 2–1 CRA; CRA 0–0 ARK
- ŁKS Łódź did not receive a license for the 2009–10 season due to financial problems.[7][8]
Results
Season statistics
Scoring
- First goal of the season: Hernán Rengifo (Lech Poznań) Match: 2-3 GKS Bełchatów, 47th minute (8 August 2008)
- Last goal of the season: Grzegorz Niciński (Arka Gdynia) Match: 2-1 Odra Wodzisław, 79th minute (30 May 2009)
- Fastest goal in a match: Arkadiusz Aleksander (Odra Wodzisław) Match: 2-0 Legia Warsaw, 1st minute (17 August 2008)
- First hat-trick of the season: Filip Ivanovski (Polonia Warsaw) Match: 3-0 Śląsk Wrocław, 21', 24', 67'.(29 August 2008);
- Fastest hat-trick of the season: Rafał Boguski (Wisła Kraków) Match: 3-1 Odra Wodzisław, 52', 62', 77', 25 minutes. (5 December 2008)
- Most goals scored by a player in one game: Daniel Mąka (Polonia Warsaw) Match: 4-0 Polonia Bytom, 64', 87', 89', 3 goals.(13 September 2008);
- Rafał Boguski (Wisła Kraków) Match: 3-1 Odra Wodzisław, 52', 62', 77', 3 goals. (5 December 2008)
- Filip Ivanovski (Polonia Warsaw) Match: 3-0 Śląsk Wrocław, 21', 24', 67', 3 goals.(29 August 2008)
- Marcin Komorowski (Polonia Bytom) Match: 4-1 Lechia Gdańsk, 9', 41', 69', 3 goals.(29 August 2008)
- Widest winning margin: 8 teams tied Match: 4-0, 4 goals.
- Most goals in a match: ŁKS Łódź Match: 4-3 Cracovia, 7 goals.(6 March 2009)
Team Records
- Most wins: Wisła Kraków (19 wins)
- Fewest wins: Cracovia, Arka Gdynia, Górnik Zabrze (7 wins)
- Most draws: Śląsk Wrocław (12 draws)
- Fewest draws: GKS Bełchatów (3 draws)
- Fewest losses: Lech Poznań (3 losses)
- Most losses: Lechia Gdańsk (16 losses)
- Most goals scored:Wisła Kraków (53 goals)
- Fewest goals scored: Piast Gliwice (17 goals)
- Most goals conceded: Polonia Bytom (46 goals)
- Fewest goals conceded: Legia Warsaw (17 goals)
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[9] due to the appeals and, after the issues could not be settled in time, eventually decided not to hold any matches.
References
- "Ekstraklasa 2008/2009 - Kolejka 18". 90minut.pl. Retrieved 28 February 2009.
- "Attendances – Archive Poland, 2008-2009, Ekstraklasa". EFS.co.uk. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
- "Orange Ekstraklasa 2007/2008" (in Polish). www.90minut.pl. Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
- "Polish club relegated after corruption probe". ESPNSoccernet. 17 January 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
- "Widzew win relegation appeal". PA Sport. 24 July 2008. Archived from the original on 1 June 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
- Dwa kluby z Warszawy w piłkarskiej ekstraklasie. (in Polish) Retrieved on 11 July 2008.
- "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.
- "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.
- "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.
External links
- Official site (in Polish)