2008–09_Ekstraklasa

2008–09 Ekstraklasa

2008–09 Ekstraklasa

83rd season of top-tier football league in Poland

The 2008–09 Ekstraklasa was the 83rd season of the Polish Football Championship, the 75th season of the highest tier domestic division in the Polish football league system since its establishment in 1927 and the 1st season of the Ekstraklasa under its current title. The league is operated by the Ekstraklasa S.A.

Quick Facts Season, Dates ...

The season was played as a round-robin tournament. It began on 8 August 2008 and concluded on 30 May 2009. The season was originally scheduled to start on 25 July 2008. However, the first two rounds of games were postponed because of legal uncertainties about the number of teams in the competition following an association-wide corruption scandal. Each team played a total of 30 matches, half at home and half away.

Wisła Kraków won the league for the second time in a row and for the 12th time in their history after defeating Śląsk Wrocław 2–0 in the final match of the season. Legia Warsaw finished as runners-up and qualified for the second qualifying round of 2009–10 UEFA Europa League. Lech Poznań finished third and qualified for the third qualifying round of the Europa League after winning the Polish Cup. Polonia Warsaw also managed to earn a spot in Europe by finishing fourth, thereby qualifying for the first qualifying round of the Europa League. Paweł Brożek of Wisła Kraków and Takesure Chinyama of Legia Warsaw finished as joint topscorers with 19 goals in the season.

On the bottom end of the table, relegation was once again subject to several non-competitive events. On competitive criteria, Górnik Zabrze and Cracovia would have been relegated to the I liga, while Arka Gdynia would have had to compete in the relegation play-offs. However, ŁKS Łódź were denied a license for the 2009–10 season and thus were automatically relegated. The club appealed the decision without any success. Since ŁKS city rivals Widzew were also denied of promoting from the First League and appealed against this decision, thus creating uncertainties about the First League play-off participant, the Polish FA decided in June to postpone the relegation play-offs to an unknown date before eventually cancelling the matches completely. (see below).

Team changes from last season

Due to the corruption scandal several teams from last season have been punished with relegation. Those teams include Zagłębie Lubin, Korona Kielce and Zagłębie Sosnowiec.[4] Lubin and Kielce were relegated to the First League while Sosnowiec were demoted an additional level to the Second League because they also finished the season in 16th and last place, a regular demotion spot. Widzew Łódź, who ended the season in 15th place, originally were going to be penalized as well.[5] However, the club successfully appealed the decision in front of the Polish Olympic Committee,[6] so they were assigned to the First League as a regularly demoted club.

Promotion to this year's Ekstraklasa was earned by I liga champions Lechia Gdańsk, runners-up Śląsk Wrocław, 3rd placed Piast Gliwice and 4th placed Arka Gdynia.

Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielkopolski has been sold to an owner of I liga's club Polonia Warsaw. The two clubs merged, with Grodzisk's players and Ekstraklasa license transferred to Polonia.[7] The merger concluded a series of negotiations between Grodzisk and other clubs. The initially planned merger with Śląsk Wrocław was eventually denied by the latter after several months of discussions. Grodzisk chairman Zbigniew Drzymała then started conversations with Pogoń Szczecin, which were quickly stopped without an agreement as well, before eventually coming to an agreement with Polonia.

Team overview

Stadia and locations

Location of teams in 2008–09 Ekstraklasa
Location of teams in the Katowice urban area
More information Team, Venue ...

*Stadiums are under redevelopment

Personnel and sponsoring

More information Team, Head coach ...

League table

More information Pos, Team ...
Source: 90minut.pl (in Polish)
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head goals scored; 5th head-to-head away goals scored; 6th goal difference; 7th goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Lech Poznań are the winners of the 2008–09 Polish Cup competition and therefore have qualified for the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.
  2. GKS 1–2 PWA; PWA 1–0 GKS
  3. JAG 1–0 RUC; RUC 0–0 JAG
  4. ODR 1–0 LGD; LGD 3–1 ODR
  5. ARK 2–1 CRA; CRA 0–0 ARK
  6. ŁKS Łódź did not receive a license for the 2009–10 season due to financial problems.[8][9]

Results

More information Home \ Away, ARK ...
Source: 90minut.pl (in Polish)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Scoring

Team Records

Top goalscorers

More information Rank, Player ...

Relegation play-offs

The relegation play-offs were cancelled after a series of appeals over the question in which division both ŁKS Łódź and First League 2008–09 champions Widzew Łódź will play in the 2009-10 season. Originally, Arka Gdynia as 14th-placed team (sports court decisions excluded) of the Ekstraklasa and Korona Kielce as 3rd-placed team of the First League were scheduled to play in a two-legged play-off for a spot in Ekstraklasa 2009–10. However, the Polish FA were forced to postpone the series to an unknown later date[11] due to the appeals and, after the issues could not be settled in time, eventually decided not to hold any matches.

References

  1. [1]
    "Match report". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 28 February 2009.
  2. [2]
    "Podsumowanie statystyczne Ekstraklasy". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  3. [3]
    "Attendances – Archive Poland". EFS.co.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  4. [4]
    "Orange Ekstraklasa 2007/2008" (in Polish). www.90minut.pl. Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
  5. [5]
    "Polish club relegated after corruption probe". ESPNSoccernet. 17 January 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
  6. [6]
    "Widzew win relegation appeal". PA Sport. 24 July 2008. Archived from the original on 1 June 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
  7. [7]
    Dwa kluby z Warszawy w piłkarskiej ekstraklasie. (in Polish) Retrieved on 11 July 2008.
  8. [8]
    "Ekstraklasa: klub zdegradowany za "złą sytuację finansową"" (in Polish). www.onet.pl. 28 May 2009. Archived from the original on 31 May 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  9. [9]
    "Łódzki KS nadal bez licencji" (in Polish). www.90minut.pl. 16 June 2009. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  10. [10]
    "Najlepsi strzelcy". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  11. [11]
    "PZPN odwołał baraże o Ekstraklasę" (in Polish). www.90minut.pl. 12 June 2009. Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
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