The 1 Liga ( , ), referred to as the Betclic 1 Liga for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga via promotion/relegation systems. It is run by the Polish Football Association (PZPN) since its inception on 30 May 1948. The league was renamed from Second League (II liga) to First League (I liga) in 2008. It is currently contested by 18 teams; from 2002, all clubs onwards must have a licence, issued by the Association.
Before 1939, there were several plans to create a second, national level of Polish football system, but all failed. Instead, there were regional leagues of most Polish provinces, the so-called A Classes (see also Lower Level Football Leagues in Interwar Poland).
History State Class in Austrian Galicia In 1913 and 1914, the football championship of Austrian Galicia took place. At that time it was called the A Class Championship, with four top teams of the province (Cracovia, Wisła Kraków, Pogoń Lwów and Czarni Lwów). Since there were many more football teams in Galicia, the B Class Championship was made for them. Also, in 1921, already in the Second Polish Republic, there were two levels: winners of regional A Classes played in the national championship, while winners of the B Classes (Cracovia II, Pogoń Lwów II, AZS Warszawa and Union Łódź) had their own tournament. For financial reasons, this idea was abandoned after one year.
Second Polish Republic In the Second Polish Republic, there were regional leagues, or A Classes, which were the second level of Polish football system, behind the Ekstraklasa, which was formed in 1927, see Lower Level Football Leagues in Interwar Poland. Since in the late 1930s only two teams were promoted to the Ekstraklasa, and there were as many as fourteen regional champions, there was a complicated system of playoffs. Firstly, winners of neighbouring A Classes played each other, and in the final stage, four teams competed, with two top sides winning the promotion.
Formation Second-level league was first created for the 1949 season, and was split into northern and southern sections, each comprising 10 teams. First plans to create this league appeared in 1947. On 14 and 15 February 1948, a meeting of officials of Polish Football Association took place in Warsaw. Officials from Gdańsk promoted the creation of the league, but this idea was opposed by the delegates from the most powerful regions of Polish football: Kraków, Łódź, Upper Silesia and Warsaw. On 30 May 1948, however, the second division was officially approved, with 18 teams in one group. On 19 February 1949, Polish Football Association decided to expand the league to 20 teams, divided into northern and southern groups.
First games of the new, second division, took place on 20 March 1949, with the first goal scored by Jozef Kokot of Naprzód Lipiny, in a game between Naprzód and Błękitni Kielce. First winners of the second division were Garbarnia Kraków (northern group) and Górnik Radlin (southern group): both sides were promoted to the Ekstraklasa. To determine a winner of the 1949 season of the second division, Górnik had to play Garbarnia in three extra games (4–2, 0–2 and 4–3). The top scorer of the first season was Mieczysław Nowak of Garbarnia, with 24 goals. Relegated were the teams of Ognisko Siedlce and PTC Pabianice (northern group), and Błękitni Kielce and Pafawag Wrocław (southern group).
1950s For the 1951 season, the format was changed to four groups, with eight teams in each group.
1970s–2008 For the 1973–74 season, the second level was changed to comprise two sections, split into north and south.
For the 1989–90 season, the league reverted to a single group.
In 2000, the number of teams was limited to 20 sides, then to 18. Champions and runners-up received automatic promotion, while third place teams competed in playoffs. The bottom four teams were relegated.
New name From the 2008–09 season, the league was renamed as I liga. The number of teams competing remained at 18. Teams placed 15-18 were automatically relegated to II liga (West or East), while the top two finishers were promoted to the Ekstraklasa. In 2014, II liga merged into one group and these rules were changed – the three worst-ranked teams are relegated, and the 15th I liga club compete in playoffs with the fourth placed II liga team. In 2018, the relegation playoff was removed. Since the 2019–20 season, the top two teams are automatically promoted, whilst teams placed 3–6 compete in a playoff for the final third spot.
Clubs The following 18 clubs are competing in the I liga during the 2025–26 season.
Note: Table lists in alphabetical order. Team Location Venue Capacity Chrobry Głogów Głogów GOS Stadium 2,817 GKS Tychy Tychy Tychy Stadium 15,150 Górnik Łęczna Łęczna Górnik Łęczna Stadium 7,464 ŁKS Łódź Łódź Władysław Król Stadium 18,029 Miedź Legnica Legnica White Eagle Stadium 6,864 Odra Opole Opole Itaka Arena 11,600 Pogoń Grodzisk Mazowiecki Grodzisk MazowieckiPruszków Municipal Sports StadiumMZOS Stadium 1,0001,977 Pogoń Siedlce Siedlce ROSRRiT Stadium 2,901 Polonia Bytom Bytom Polonia Bytom Stadium 2,220 Polonia Warsaw Warsaw Kazimierz Sosnkowski Stadium 7,150 Puszcza Niepołomice Niepołomice Municipal Stadium 2,118 Ruch Chorzów Chorzów Superauto.pl Silesian Stadium54,378 Stal Rzeszów Rzeszów Stal Stadium 11,547 Stal Mielec Mielec Grzegorz Lato Stadium 6,864 Śląsk Wrocław Wrocław Tarczyński Arena Wrocław 42,771 Wieczysta Kraków SosnowiecKraków ArcelorMittal ParkHenryk Reyman Stadium 11,60033,326 Wisła Kraków Kraków Henryk Reyman Stadium33,326 Znicz Pruszków Pruszków MZOS Stadium 1,977 Due to accomodationg Municipal Sports Stadium to I liga regulations, Pogoń Grodzisk Mazowiecki will host their matches in Pruszków starting from matchday 3. Since 28 October 2023, Ruch Chorzów host their games at the Silesian Stadium. It remains unclear if they will stay there or they will move to Ruch Chorzów Stadium. Due to the fact Wieczysta Stadium doesn't meet the I liga regulations, Wieczysta Kraków will play their first half of matches in Sosnowiec and will return to Kraków to play at Wisła Kraków's stadium after winter break.
Champions of the Polish second level
1949: Górnik Radlin, Garbarnia Kraków 1950: Gwardia Szczecin, Ogniwo Bytom 1951: Budowlani Gdańsk, OWKS Kraków 1952: Gwardia Warsaw, Budowlani Opole 1953: Gwardia Bydgoszcz 1954: Stal Sosnowiec 1955: Budowlani Opole 1956: Polonia Bytom 1957: Polonia Bydgoszcz, Cracovia 1958: Pogoń Szczecin, Górnik Radlin 1959: Odra Opole, Stal Sosnowiec 1960: Lech Poznań, Stal Mielec 1961: Gwardia Warsaw 1962: Stal Rzeszów, Pogoń Szczecin 1962–63: Szombierki Bytom 1963–64: Śląsk Wrocław 1964–65: Wisła Kraków 1965–66: Cracovia 1966–67: Gwardia Warsaw 1967–68: Zagłębie Wałbrzych 1968–69: Gwardia Warsaw 1969–70: ROW Rybnik 1970–71: Odra Opole 1971–72: ROW Rybnik 1972–73: Szombierki Bytom 1973–74: Arka Gdynia, GKS Tychy 1974–75: Widzew Łódź, Stal Rzeszów
1975–76: Arka Gdynia, Odra Opole 1976–77: Zawisza Bydgoszcz, Polonia Bytom 1977–78: Gwardia Warsaw, GKS Katowice 1978–79: Zawisza Bydgoszcz, Górnik Zabrze 1979–80: Bałtyk Gdynia, Motor Lublin 1980–81: Pogoń Szczecin, Gwardia Warsaw 1981–82: GKS Katowice, Cracovia 1982–83: Górnik Wałbrzych, Motor Lublin 1983–84: Lechia Gdańsk, Radomiak Radom 1984–85: Zagłębie Lubin, Stal Mielec 1985–86: Olimpia Poznań, Polonia Bytom 1986–87: Szombierki Bytom, Jagiellonia Białystok 1987–88: Ruch Chorzów, Stal Mielec 1988–89: Zagłębie Lubin, Zagłębie Sosnowiec 1989–90: Hutnik Kraków 1990–91: Stal Stalowa Wola 1991–92: Pogoń Szczecin, Siarka Tarnobrzeg 1992–93: Warta Poznań, Polonia Warsaw 1993–94: Raków Częstochowa, Stomil Olsztyn 1994–95: Śląsk Wrocław, GKS Bełchatów 1995–96: Odra Wodzisław, Polonia Warsaw 1996–97: Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wlkp., Petrochemia Płock 1997–98: Ruch Radzionków, GKS Bełchatów 1998–99: Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wlkp., Petrochemia Płock 1999–00: Śląsk Wrocław 2000–01: RKS Radomsko
2001–02: Lech Poznań 2002–03: Górnik Polkowice 2003–04: Pogoń Szczecin 2004–05: Korona Kielce 2005–06: Widzew Łódź 2006–07: Ruch Chorzów 2007–08: Lechia Gdańsk 2008–09: Widzew Łódź 2009–10: Widzew Łódź 2010–11: ŁKS Łódź 2011–12: Piast Gliwice 2012–13: Zawisza Bydgoszcz 2013–14: GKS Bełchatów 2014–15: Zagłębie Lubin 2015–16: Arka Gdynia 2016–17: Sandecja Nowy Sącz 2017–18: Miedź Legnica 2018–19: Raków Częstochowa 2019–20: Stal Mielec 2020–21: Radomiak Radom 2021–22: Miedź Legnica 2022–23: ŁKS Łódź 2023–24: Lechia Gdańsk 2024–25: Arka Gdynia 2025–26: Wisła Kraków
See also Lower Level Football Leagues in Interwar Poland
References
External links Official website PSN Futbol – I liga table, results and news