Football in Poland
Football or soccer is probably the most popular sport in Poland. First profession clubs were started in the early 1900s and the Polish national football team played its first international match in 1921.
There are hundreds of professional and amateur football teams in Poland. The football games are organized into the national 1st league and 2nd league, 4 regional 3rd leagues, 19 regional 4th leagues, 49 regional 5th leagues and many more lower level games. There are also Polish Cup and Polish Supercup games.
History
The first Polish professional football clubs were Czarni Lwów(RIP) founded in 1903, Cracovia Kraków (1906), Wisla Krakow (1906), Widzew Łódź (1910), Polonia Warszawa (1911) and Lech Poznań (1922). The Polish national federation called Polish Football Union (Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej, PZPN) was founded on 21 December 1919 in Cracow. 31 delegates elected Edward Cetnarowski as the president. PZPN joined FIFA in 1923 and UEFA in 1954.
The first league games were started in 1920, yet the season was not finished due to Polish-Bolshevik War. The first Polish Champions were Cracovia Kraków in 1921 and
was Pogoń Lwów in 1922. The first international match was held on 28 May 1922 in Budapest: Hungary-Poland 1:0. In the third international match in Stockholm on 28 May 1922 Poland defeated Sweden 2:1.
Polish Football First league (1.liga or Ekstraklasa)
First league in season 2005/2006
The number of teams will be increased from 14 to 16.
First league in season 2004/2005 (teams in alphabethic order)
There are 14 teams this season. The first 13 teams will continue to play in the 1st league, the last one is dropped; 3 teams are promoted from the 2nd league.
- Amica Wronki, Wronki
- Cracovia Kraków, Kraków
- Dospel GKS Katowice, Katowice
- Górnik Łęczna, Łęczna
- Górnik Zabrze, Zabrze
- Groclin Dyskobolia Grodzisk, Grodzisk Wielkopolski
- Lech Poznań, Poznań
- Legia Warszawa, Warsaw
- Odra Wodzisław, Wodzisław Śląski
- Pogoń Szczecin, Szczecin
- Polonia Warszawa, Warszawa
- Wisła Kraków, Kraków
- Wisła Płock, Płock
- Zegłębie Lubin, Lubin
First league 2004/2005 (final results)
- 1. Wisła Kraków, Kraków - 65 73:30
- 2. Legia Warszawa, Warsaw - 60, 56:19
- 3. Amica Wronki, Wronki - 48, 47:25
- 4. Groclin Dyskobolia Grodzisk, Grodzisk Wielkopolski - 43, 56:31
- 5. Lech Poznań, Poznań - 37, 43:34
- 6. Wisła Płock, Płock - 35, 39:38
- 7. Górnik Zabrze, Zabrze - 33, 26:33
- 8. Górnik Łęczna, Łęczna - 33, 22:38
- 9. Odra Wodzisław, Wodzisław Śląski - 28, 26:38
- 10 Dospel GKS Katowice, Katowice - 26, 20:42
- 11. Polonia Warszawa, Warszawa - 25, 25:40
- 12. Górnik Polkowice, Polkowice - 23, 17:37
- 13. Lukullus Świt Nowy Dwór, Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki - 22, 21:42
- 14. Widzew Łódź, Łódź - 19, 25:49
Polish Football Second league (2.liga)
2nd league 2004/2005 (in alphabetic order)
- Arka Gdynia, Gdynia
- GKS Bełchatów, Bełchatow
- Górnik Polkowice, Polkowice - dropped from 1st league
- Jagiellonia Białystok, Białystok
- ŁKS Łódź, Łódź
- Lukullus Świt Nowy Dwór, Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki - dropped from 1st league
- Kolporter Korona Kielce, Kielce - promoted from 3rd league
- Kujawiak Włocławek, Włocławek - promoted from 3rd league
- MKS Mława, Mława - promoted from 3rd league
- Piast Gliwice, Gliwice
- Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała, Bielsko-Biała]
- RKS Radomsko, Radomsko
- Szczakowianka Jaworzno, Jaworzno
- Radomiak Radom, Radom - promoted from 3rd league
- Ruch Chorzów, Chorzow
- Stasiak KSZO Ostrowiec, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski
- Widzew Łódź, Łódź - dropped from 1st league
- Zagłębie Sosnowiec, Sosnowiec - promoted from 3rd league
2nd league 2004/2005 (final results)
- 1. Pogoń Szczecin, Szczecin
- 2. Zagłębie Lubin, Lublin
- 3. Cracovia Kraków, Kraków
- 4. GKS Bełchatów, Bełchatow
- 5. Szczakowianka Jaworzno, Jaworzno
- 6. RKS Radomsko, Radomsko
- 7. Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała, Bielsko-Biała]
- 8. ŁKS Łódź, Łódź
- 9. Jagiellonia Białystok, Białystok
- 10. Piast Gliwice, Gliwice
- 11. Ruch Chorzów, Chorzow
- 12. Ceramika Opoczno/Stasiak KSZO, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski
- 13. Arka Gdynia, Gdynia
- 14. Tłoki Gorzyce, Gorzyce
- 15. Polar Wrocław, Wrocław
- 16. Aluminium Konin, Konin
- Błękitni Stargard Szczeciński and KSZO Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski were withdrawn from tournament.
Polish Football Third league (3.liga)
Group 1 (Mazovia)
- 1. MKS Mława
- 2. Radomiak Radom
- 3. MG MZKS Kozienice
- 4. Gwardia Warszawa
- 5. Mlekpol Warmia Grajewo
- 6. Legionovia Legionowo
- 7. Znicz Pruszków
- 8. Unia Skierniewice
- 9. Mazowsze Grójec
- 10. Finishparkiet Drweca Nowe Miasto Lubawskie
- 11. Okęcie Warszawa
- 12. Gossoa Stal Głowno
- 13. Pelikan Łowicz
- 14. Mlekowita Wysokie Mazowieckie
- 15. Polonia Olimpia Elbląg
- 16. Pogoń Zduńska Wola
Group 2 (Greater Poland-Pomerania)
- 1. Kujawiak Włocławek 26 63 20 3 3 60-21 +39
- 2. Unia Janikowo 26 57 18 3 5 44-23 +21
- 3. Amica II Wronki 26 49 15 4 7 39-22 +17
- 4. Kotwica Kołobrzeg 26 47 14 5 7 46-37 +9
- 5. Flota Świnoujście 26 41 12 5 9 37-34 +3
- 6. Kaszubia Kościerzyna (b) 26 37 10 7 9 40-33 +7
- 7. Unia Tczew 26 35 11 2 13 34-45 -11
- 8. Warta Poznań 26 34 10 4 12 42-43 -1
- 9. Mieszko Gniezno (b) 26 30 8 6 12 30-33 -3
- 10. Gwardia Koszalin 26 29 8 5 13 24-35 -11
- 11. Chemik-Zawisza Bydgoszcz 26 28 8 4 14 21-38 -17
- 12. Tur Turek 26 27 7 6 13 29-31 -2
- 13. Obra Kościan 26 25 7 4 15 27-43 -16
- 14. Gryf Wejherowo 26 14 4 2 20 29-64 -35
- -. Polonia Bydgoszcz - withdrawn from tournament
- -. Zorza Dobrzany - withdrawn from tournament
Group 3 (Silesia)
- 1. Zagłębie Sosnowiec30 80 68-23
- 2. Śląsk Wrocław 30 68 69-28
- 3. Włókniarz Kietrz 30 50 48-36
- 4. Miedź Legnica 30 49 42-31
- 5. Odra Opole 30 49 36-30
- 6. Lech Sulma Zielona Góra 30 47 44-39
- 7. Ruch Radzionków 30 40 30-30
- 8. Walka Makoszowy Zabrze 30 38 37-37
- 9. Polonia Bytom 30 38 34-34
- 10. Rozwój Katowice 30 38 30-41
- 11. Chrobry Głogów 30 37 38-36
- 12. Promień Żary 30 34 29-31
- 13. Polonia Intermarche Słubice 30 31 30-57
- 14. Górnik MK Katowice 30 29 35-50
- 15. Swornica Czarnowąsy 30 21 22-54
- 16. Sports in Poland
