2012–13 Ekstraklasa


The 2012–13 Ekstraklasa or T-Mobile Ekstraklasa for sponsorship reasons, was the 79th season of the highest level of football leagues in Poland since its establishment in 1927. It began on 17 August 2012 and concluded on 2 June 2013. A total of 16 teams are participating, 14 of which competed in the league during the 2011–12 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.
Śląsk Wrocław were the defending champions, winning their 2nd title last season, first since the 1976–77 season.
Śląsk Wrocław as reigning champions entered the 2nd qualifying round of the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League. Śląsk defeated the Montenegrin champions Budućnost Podgorica 2–1 on aggregate, but got eliminated in the third qualifying round by the Swedish champions Helsingborg IF 1–6 on aggregate.
Ruch Chorzów, as the runner-up, entered the 2nd qualifying round of the 2012-13 UEFA Europa League, in which they defeated the Macedonian league runners-up Metalurg Skopje 6–1 on aggregate. Ruch got eliminated in the next round by the Czech side Viktoria Plzeň 0–7 on aggregate.
Legia Warsaw whom won the 2011–12 Polish Cup, as well as finishing third last season also qualified for the 2nd qualifying of the Europa League. Legia defeated the Latvian league runner-up Liepājas Metalurgs 7–3 on aggregate. In the third round Legia defeated the Austrian side SV Ried 4–3 on aggregate. Legia were defeated in the Play-off round by the Norwegian side Rosenborg BK 2–3 on aggregate.
Lech Poznań as the fourth placed team earned a place in the 1st qualifying round of the Europa League, since Legia Warsaw won the Polish Cup. Lech first defeated the Kazakh side FC Zhetysu 3–1 on aggregate, in the next round they defeated the Azerbaijani side Khazar Lankaran 2–1 on aggregate. Lech got eliminated in the third round, losing to Swedish side AIK Fotboll 1–3 on aggregate.
On May 15, 2013 the Polish FA announced that Polonia Warsaw won't receive the Ekstraklasa license for 2013–14 season, citing financial issues. The club's appeal was rejected on May 28. As a result, Polonia was relegated to 2013–14 I Liga instead of the 15th placed Ekstraklasa team.
The Polish FA also deemed GKS, Widzew, Pogoń, Polonia and Ruch as well as Podbeskidzie and Jagiellonia ineligible to compete in UEFA competitions. Śląsk and Wisła, although initially denied the licence due to submitting incomplete financial forecasts, were able to fulfil the requirements during the appeal procedure and received the UEFA licence. Also, the FA's decision to exclude Górnik from the European competitions was cancelled, as the club, whose home stadium is undergoing renovative work, has made arrangements to use another venue as their home field in the event of their qualification to the 2013–14 Europa League. The three clubs were instead fined 100,000 , and 20,000 zł.

Teams

Promotion and relegation as usual was determined by the position in the table from prior season. The bottom two teams were directly relegated to the I Liga, while the top two teams are promoted to the Ekstraklasa.
ŁKS Łódź and Cracovia finished in 15th and 16th place, respectively, and were directly relegated to the Polish First League as a result. ŁKS Łódź returned to the second tier after just being promoted from the season before. Cracovia spent 8 consecutive seasons in the Ekstraklasa, after returning to the top division for the 2004–05 season.
Promotion was won by 2011–12 I Liga champions Piast Gliwice, who returned to the top division after being relegated in the 2009–10 season. Pogoń Szczecin finished as runners-up in the I Liga and made their comeback to the top tier after 5 years in lower divisions.

Stadiums and locations

TeamLocationVenueCapacity
GKS BełchatówBełchatówStadion PGE GKSu5,238
Górnik ZabrzeZabrzeStadion im. Ernesta Pohla3,000
Jagiellonia BiałystokBiałystokStadion Miejski 5,345
Korona KielceKielceArena Kielc15,550
Lech PoznańPoznańStadion Miejski 43,269
Lechia GdańskGdańskPGE Arena43,615
Legia WarsawWarsawPepsi Arena31,103
Piast GliwiceGliwiceStadion Miejski 10,037
Podbeskidzie Bielsko-BiałaBielsko-BiałaStadion Miejski 4,279
Pogoń SzczecinSzczecinStadion im. Floriana Krygera18,023
Polonia WarsawWarsawStadion Polonii7,150
Ruch ChorzówChorzówStadion Miejski 10,000
Śląsk WrocławWrocławStadion Miejski 43,308
Widzew ŁódźŁódźStadion Widzewa10,773
Wisła KrakówKrakówStadion im. Henryka Reymana33,326
Zagłębie LubinLubinStadion Zagłębia16,086

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
TeamManagerCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
GKS Bełchatów Michał Probierz Grzegorz BaranadidasPGE
Górnik Zabrze Adam Nawałka Adam DanchErimaAllianz, Kompania Węglowa S.A., Śląskie
Jagiellonia Białystok Tomasz Hajto Tomasz FrankowskiUnder ArmourEurocash, Wschodzący Białystok
Korona Kielce Leszek Ojrzyński Kamil KuzeraadidasLewiatan, Targi Kielce
Lech Poznań Mariusz Rumak Rafał MurawskiPumaSokołów, STS
Lechia Gdańsk Bogusław Kaczmarek Łukasz SurmaadidasLOTOS, Gdańsk, Energa SA
Legia Warsaw Jan Urban Michał ŻewłakowadidasActiveJet, Królewskie
Piast Gliwice Marcin Brosz Tomasz PodgórskiadidasMiasto Gliwice
Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała Marcin Sasal Marek SokołowskiadidasMurapol, Aqua
Pogoń Szczecin Artur Skowronek Bartosz ŁawaNikeBosman
Polonia Warsaw Piotr Stokowiec Łukasz PiątekhummelIDEON
Ruch Chorzów Jacek Zieliński Marcin MalinowskiadidasWęglokoks
Śląsk Wrocław Stanislav Levý Sebastian MilaPumaTAURON
Widzew Łódź Radosław Mroczkowski Maciej MielcarzVigoHarnaś
Wisła Kraków Tomasz Kulawik Radosław SobolewskiadidasTele-Fonika Kable
Zagłębie Lubin Pavel Hapal Adam BanaśNikeKGHM

Puma is the official ball supplier for Ekstraklasa.

Managerial changes

League table

Positions by round

The following table represents the teams position after each round in the competition.

Results

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

Top assists

RankPlayerClubAssists
1 Sebastian MilaŚląsk Wrocław13
2 Miroslav RadovićLegia Warsaw11
3 Paweł GolańskiKorona Kielce8
4 Łukasz TeodorczykLech Poznań7
5 Dawid PlizgaJagiellonia6
5 Róbert DemjanPodbeskidzie6
5 Marek SaganowskiLegia Warsaw6
5 Szymon PawłowskiZagłębie Lubin6
9 Abdou Razack TraoréLechia Gdańsk5
9 Mateusz MachajLechia Gdańsk5
9 Paweł WszołekPolonia Warsaw5
9 Róbert JežZagłębie Lubin5
9 Tomasz BrzyskiLegia Warsaw5
9 Paweł WszołekPolonia Warsaw5
9 Filip StarzyńskiLechia Gdańsk5
9 Marek ZieńczukRuch Chorzów5
9 Waldemar SobotaŚląsk Wrocław5
9 Tomasz FrankowskiJagiellonia5
9---

Clean sheets

RankPlayerClubClean sheets
1 Jasmin BurićLech Poznań13
2 Dušan KuciakLegia Warsaw10
3 Łukasz SkorupskiGórnik Zabrze8
3 Michał GliwaZagłębie Lubin8
3 Emilijus ZubasGKS Bełchatów8
6 Sergei PareikoWisła Kraków7
6 Dariusz TrelaPiast Gliwice7
8 Jakub SłowikJagiellonia5
8 Marián KelemenŚląsk Wrocław5
8 Michał BuchalikLechia Gdańsk5