2010–11 Ekstraklasa


The 2010–11 Ekstraklasa was the 77th season of the highest level of football leagues in Poland since its establishment in 1927. It began on 6 August 2010 and concluded on 29 May 2011. A total of 16 teams participated, 14 of which competed in the league during the 2009–10 season, while the remaining two were promoted from the I Liga. Each team played a total of 30 matches, half at home and half away.
Wisła Kraków won the title, which marked their 13th title in total.
Wisła Kraków qualified as champions for the 2nd qualifying round of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League, while Śląsk Wrocław, as the runner-up, entered the 2nd qualifying round of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, followed by the fourth placed Jagiellonia Białystok team that earned a place in the 1st qualifying round of the Europa League. Legia Warsaw, the winner of the 2010–11 Polish Cup, also earned a place in European competition by qualifying to the 3rd qualifying round of the Europa League.
The defending champions were Lech Poznań, who won their sixth Polish championship last season.

Teams

Promotion and relegation was established by a change, which eliminated relegation play-off games after the 2008–09 season. Thus, the 14th team from the Ekstraklasa and the 3rd team from the Polish First League no longer compete against each other in play-offs. Following the change, promotion and relegation are determined solely by a team's position in the table. As usual, the bottom two teams are directly relegated to the I Liga, while the top two teams are promoted to the Ekstraklasa.
Odra Wodzisław and Piast Gliwice finished in 15th and 16th place, respectively, and were directly relegated to the Polish First League as a result. Odra Wodzisław returned to the second tier after spending 14 years in the top division, their first appearance being in the 1996–97 season. Piast Gliwice spent just two seasons in the Ekstraklasa, after being promoted for the first time for the 2008–09 season, having spent the previous 71 seasons in the lower leagues.
Promotion was won by 2009–10 2nd level champions Widzew Łódź, who returned to the top division after being relegated in the 2007–08 season. 14-time Ekstraklasa champions Górnik Zabrze finished as runners-up in the I Liga and made their comeback to the top tier after being relegated in the 2008–09 season.

Stadiums and locations

Since and prior to the selection of Poland as co-host for Euro 2012, numerous clubs are engaged in reconstruction of their stadiums, or building a completely new stadium. Some teams in the beginning of the season played their home matches in other stadiums. For instance Wisła Kraków played their home matches at the Hutnik Kraków stadium, the Stadion Suche Stawy, which holds 12,000 spectators. However, the move to the nearly completed 33,000-plus home stadium was in effect mid-season. Legia Warsaw and Lech Poznań are playing at stadiums which remain under construction but nearing completion. Dialog Arena, the home venue of Zagłębie Lubin is the newest completely finished stadium in the Ekstraklasa this season, being completed just before the start of the season.
Arka Gdynia, and Cracovia started the season playing in their old stadiums. The two clubs moved to their completely finished new stadiums mid season. Jagiellonia Białystok, Lechia Gdańsk, and Śląsk Wrocław are currently playing in their old stadiums while their new venues are being constructed. The 40,000 plus PGE Arena Gdańsk will be the new home ground for Lechia after its completion in 2011, while Śląsk will move to the new 45,000 plus Stadium in Maślice. The two stadiums will be venues for Euro 2012.
TeamLocationVenueCapacity
Arka GdyniaGdyniaGOSiR Stadium15,139
CracoviaKrakówCracovia Stadium15,016
GKS BełchatówBełchatówGKS Stadium5,238
Górnik ZabrzeZabrzeErnest Pohl Stadium10,000
Jagiellonia BiałystokBiałystokMunicipal Stadium6,000
Korona KielceKielceArena Kielce15,550
Lech PoznańPoznańStadion Miejski43,000
Lechia GdańskGdańskLechia Stadium11,811
Legia WarsawWarsawPolish Army Stadium31,800
Polonia BytomBytomEdward Szymkowiak Stadium6,000
Polonia WarsawWarsawPolonia Stadium7,150
Ruch ChorzówChorzówRuch Stadium10,000
Śląsk WrocławWrocławOporowska Stadium8,346
Widzew ŁódźŁódźStadion Widzewa10,500
Wisła KrakówKrakówHenryk Reyman Stadium24,000
Zagłębie LubinLubinDialog Arena16,300

Sponsoring and personnel

continues as Ekstraklasa's official match ball suppliers through the 2010–11 season. All matches are played with the PUMA PowerCat 1.10 ultra balls, which is a special model created just for the Ekstraklasa.
The official presentation of the new ball for Ekstraklasa was prepared together with PUMA Poland in the beginning of August 2010 – just before the start of season. The case of prolonging the use of the match ball for the next two seasons was made official on 3 August 2010. The new model will be used through the 2011–12 season as it is regarded at the highest quality.

Managerial changes

ClubOutgoing ManagerDate of vacancyManner of departureIncoming ManagerDate of appointment
GKS Bełchatów Rafał Ulatowski21 May 2010End of Contract Maciej Bartoszek2 June 2010
Cracovia Orest Lenczyk24 May 2010Sacked Rafał Ulatowski28 May 2010
Legia Warsaw Stefan Białas25 May 2010Sacked Maciej Skorża1 June 2010
Widzew Łódź Paweł Janas21 June 2010Resigned Andrzej Kretek25 June 2010
Wisła Kraków Henryk Kasperczak6 August 2010Sacked Tomasz Kulawik '6 August 2010
Wisła Kraków Tomasz Kulawik21 August 2010Temporary Manager Robert Maaskant21 August 2010
Polonia Warsaw José Mari Bakero13 September 2010Sacked Paweł Janas13 September 2010
Śląsk Wrocław Ryszard Tarasiewicz22 September 2010Sacked Paweł Barylski '22 September 2010
Śląsk Wrocław Paweł Barylski27 September 2010Temporary Manager Orest Lenczyk27 September 2010
Cracovia Rafał Ulatowski24 October 2010Resigned Marcin Sadko '27 October 2010
Polonia Bytom Yuriy Shatalov28 October 2010Resigned Jan Urban29 October 2010
Cracovia Marcin Sadko31 October 2010Temporary Manager Yuriy Shatalov31 October 2010
Lech Poznań Jacek Zieliński2 November 2010Sacked José Mari Bakero3 November 2010
Widzew Łódź Andrzej Kretek15 November 2010Sacked Czesław Michniewicz15 November 2010
Polonia Bytom Jan Urban10 December 2010Resigned Robert Góralczyk13 December 2010
Polonia Warsaw Paweł Janas28 December 2010Sacked Theo Bos6 January 2011
Zagłębie Lubin Marek Bajor7 March 2011Sacked Jan Urban10 March 2011
Polonia Warsaw Theo Bos13 March 2011Sacked Piotr Stokowiec14 March 2011
Arka Gdynia Dariusz Pasieka23 March 2011Sacked František Straka23 March 2011
Polonia Warsaw Piotr Stokowiec24 March 2011Temporary Manager Jacek Zieliński24 March 2011
Korona Kielce Marcin Sasal12 May 2011Sacked Włodzimierz Gąsior '12 May 2011
Polonia Bytom Robert Góralczyk24 May 2011Sacked Dariusz Fornalak24 May 2011

League table

Results

Player statistics

Top goalscorers

''Source:
;14 goals
;12 goals
;11 goals
;10 goals
;9 goals
;8 goals
Source:
;10 assists
;9 assists
;8 assists
;7 assists
MonthPlayerClubMatchesGoals /
Goals Conceded		Assists /
Clean Sheets
August Andrzej NiedzielanKorona Kielce
4
4
0
September Andrzej NiedzielanKorona Kielce
3
3
1
October Tomasz FrankowskiJagiellonia Białystok
3
4
0
November Mateusz BartczakZagłębie Lubin
4
2
0
March Przemysław KaźmierczakŚląsk Wrocław
3
3
0
April Marián KelemenŚląsk Wrocław
5
5
2
May Piotr GrzelczakWidzew Łódź
6
5
1