The 2012–13 Ekstraklasa (also known as T-Mobile Ekstraklasa due to its sponsorship by T-Mobile Polska) 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 (financial issues) as well as Podbeskidzie and Jagiellonia (infrastructural reasons) 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 zł (Śląsk), and 20,000 zł (both Wisła and Górnik).
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
Team Location Venue Capacity GKS Bełchatów Bełchatów GIEKSA Arena 5,238 Górnik Zabrze Zabrze Stadion im. Ernesta Pohla 3,000 Jagiellonia Białystok Białystok Stadion Jagiellonii 5,345 Korona Kielce Kielce Arena Kielce 15,550 Lech Poznań Poznań Stadion Lecha 43,269 Lechia Gdańsk Gdańsk PGE Arena 43,615 Legia Warsaw Warsaw Pepsi Arena 31,103 Piast Gliwice Gliwice Arena Gliwice 10,037 Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała Bielsko-Biała Stadion BBOSiR 4,279 Pogoń Szczecin Szczecin Stadion im. Floriana Krygera 18,023 Polonia Warsaw Warsaw Stadion Polonii 7,150 Ruch Chorzów Chorzów Stadion Ruchu Chorzów 10,000 Śląsk Wrocław Wrocław Stadion Wrocław 43,308 Widzew Łódź Łódź Stadion Widzewa 10,773 Wisła Kraków Kraków Stadion im. Henryka Reymana 33,326 Zagłębie Lubin Lubin Stadion Zagłębia 16,086 1. Upgrading to 31,871. 2. Upgrading to 22,400. 3. Upgrading to 15,200.
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. Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsorGKS Bełchatów Michał Probierz Grzegorz Baran adidas PGEGórnik Zabrze Adam Nawałka Adam Danch Erima Allianz, Kompania Węglowa S.A., Śląskie Jagiellonia Białystok Tomasz Hajto Tomasz Frankowski Under Armour Eurocash, Wschodzący BiałystokKorona Kielce Leszek Ojrzyński Kamil Kuzera adidas Lewiatan, Targi KielceLech Poznań Mariusz Rumak Rafał Murawski Puma Sokołów, STS Lechia Gdańsk Bogusław Kaczmarek Łukasz Surma adidas LOTOS, Gdańsk, Energa SALegia Warsaw Jan Urban Michał Żewłakow adidas ActiveJet, KrólewskiePiast Gliwice Marcin Brosz Tomasz Podgórski adidas Miasto GliwicePodbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała Marcin Sasal Marek Sokołowski adidas Murapol, AquaPogoń Szczecin Artur Skowronek Bartosz Ława Nike BosmanPolonia Warsaw Piotr Stokowiec Łukasz Piątek hummel IDEONRuch Chorzów Jacek Zieliński Marcin Malinowski adidas WęglokoksŚląsk Wrocław Stanislav Levý Sebastian Mila Puma TAURONWidzew Łódź Radosław Mroczkowski Maciej Mielcarz Vigo HarnaśWisła Kraków Tomasz Kulawik Radosław Sobolewski adidas Tele-Fonika KableZagłębie Lubin Pavel Hapal Adam Banaś Nike KGHM 1. On the back of shirt. 2. Lech Poznań makes a donation to wygrajzycie.pl (it's a charity website) in order to display the charity's logo on the club's kit. 3 On the left sleeve. Puma is the official ball supplier for Ekstraklasa.
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment Polonia Warsaw Czesław Michniewicz Mutual consent 23 July Pre-season Piotr Stokowiec Pre-season Śląsk Wrocław Orest Lenczyk Mutual consent 31 August 2012 9th Paweł Barylski (caretaker) 31 August 2012 Śląsk Wrocław Paweł Barylski (caretaker) Caretaking spell over 3 September 2012 5th Stanislav Levý 3 September 2012 Ruch Chorzów Tomasz Fornalik Mutual consent 5 September 2012 15th Jacek Zieliński 5 September 2012 GKS Bełchatów Kamil Kiereś Mutual consent 25 September 2012 16th Jan Złomańczuk 25 September 2012 Wisła Kraków Michał Probierz Resignation 3 October 2012 11th Tomasz Kulawik 3 October 2012 Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała Robert Kasperczyk Mutual consent 22 October 2012 16th Andrzej Wyroba (caretaker) 22 October 2012 Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała Andrzej Wyroba (caretaker) Caretaking spell over 29 October 2012 16th Marcin Sasal 29 October 2012 GKS Bełchatów Jan Złomańczuk Mutual consent 14 August 2012 16th Michał Probierz 14 August 2012 Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała Marcin Sasal Sacked 3 January 2013 16th Dariusz Kubicki 4 January 2013 GKS Bełchatów Michał Probierz Resignation 21 December 2012 15th Kamil Kiereś 9 January 2013 Pogoń Szczecin Artur Skowronek Sacked 19 March 2013 13th Dariusz Wdowczyk 20 March 2013 Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała Dariusz Kubicki Resigned 20 March 2013 15th Czesław Michniewicz 22 March 2013
League table
Positions by round
The following table represents the teams position after each round in the competition.
Results
Season statistics
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Róbert DemjanPodbeskidzie142 Danijel LjubojaLegia Warsaw12 Vladimir DvalishviliLegia Warsaw4 Bartosz ŚlusarskiLech Poznań11 Michal PapadopulosZagłębie Lubin6 Marek SaganowskiLegia Warsaw107 Abdou Razack TraoréLechia Gdańsk9 Maciej KorzymKorona Kielce Jakub KoseckiLegia Warsaw10 Szymon PawłowskiZagłębie Lubin8 Piotr ĆwielongŚląsk Wrocław Łukasz BroźWidzew Łódź
Top assists
RankPlayerClubAssists1 Sebastian MilaŚląsk Wrocław132 Miroslav RadovićLegia Warsaw113 Paweł GolańskiKorona Kielce84 Łukasz TeodorczykLech Poznań75 Dawid PlizgaJagiellonia6 Róbert DemjanPodbeskidzie6 Marek SaganowskiLegia Warsaw6 Szymon PawłowskiZagłębie Lubin69 Abdou Razack TraoréLechia Gdańsk5 Mateusz MachajLechia Gdańsk5 Paweł WszołekPolonia Warsaw5 Róbert JežZagłębie Lubin5 Tomasz BrzyskiLegia Warsaw5 Paweł WszołekPolonia Warsaw5 Filip StarzyńskiLechia Gdańsk5 Marek ZieńczukRuch Chorzów5 Waldemar SobotaŚląsk Wrocław5 Tomasz FrankowskiJagiellonia5
Clean sheets
RankPlayerClubClean sheets1 Jasmin BurićLech Poznań132 Dušan KuciakLegia Warsaw103 Łukasz SkorupskiGórnik Zabrze8 Michał GliwaZagłębie Lubin8 Emilijus ZubasGKS Bełchatów86 Sergei PareikoWisła Kraków7 Dariusz TrelaPiast Gliwice78 Jakub SłowikJagiellonia5 Marián KelemenŚląsk Wrocław5 Michał BuchalikLechia Gdańsk5
Awards Monthly awards
Player of the Month MonthPlayerClubAugust 2012 Arkadiusz MilikGórnik ZabrzeSeptember 2012 Marek SaganowskiLegia WarsawOctober 2012 Abdou Razack TraoréLechia GdańskNovember 2012 Jakub KoseckiLegia WarsawMarch 2013 Emilijus ZubasGKS BełchatówApril 2013 Róbert DemjanPodbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała
Coach of the Month MonthCoachClubAugust 2012 Radosław MroczkowskiWidzew ŁódźSeptember 2012 Adam NawałkaGórnik ZabrzeOctober 2012 Adam NawałkaGórnik ZabrzeNovember 2012 Jan UrbanLegia WarsawMarch 2013 Kamil KiereśGKS BełchatówApril 2013 Mariusz RumakLech Poznań
Annual awards AwardPlayerClubPlayer of the Season Róbert DemjanPodbeskidzie Bielsko-BiałaGoalkeeper of the Season Emilijus ZubasGKS BełchatówDefender of the Season Artur JędrzejczykLegia WarsawMidfielder of the Season Sebastian MilaŚląsk WrocławForward of the Season Róbert DemjanPodbeskidzie Bielsko-BiałaCoach of the Season Jan UrbanLegia WarsawGoal of the Season Przemysław KaźmierczakŚląsk WrocławDiscovery of the Season Bartosz BereszyńskiLech Poznań & Legia WarsawFair Play Award of the SeasonGórnik Zabrze
Attendances
No. Club Average 1 Lech Poznań 22,640 2 Legia Warszawa 17,906 3 Śląsk Wrocław 15,137 4 Wisła Kraków 13,929 5 Lechia Gdansk 13,274 6 Zagłębie Lubin 7,133 7 Korona Kielce 6,913 8 Pogoń Szczecin 6,354 9 Piast 5,839 10 Widzew Łódź 5,170 11 Ruch Chorzów 4,934 12 Polonia Warszawa 4,116 13 Jagiellonia Białystok 3,377 14 Górnik Zabrze 3,000 15 Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biala 2,840 16 Bełchatów 1,985Source:
References
External links