League Cup in Polish Football

Last updated
League Cup
Organising body Polish Football Association (1952–2002)
Ekstraklasa SA (2006–09)
Founded1952
Abolished2009
RegionFlag of Poland.svg  Poland
Number of teams12–36
Qualifier for UEFA Europa League (1977)
Related competitionsRally of Youth Leaders Cup (1952)
League Cup (1977–78)
Polish League Cup (1999–2002)
Ekstraklasa Cup (2006–09)
Last champions Śląsk Wrocław (1st title)
Most successful club(s) Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielk. (2 titles)
Television broadcasters Polsat Sport (2006–09)

In Polish football there have been four different League Cups with varying levels of success, but all were short-lived competitions, held irregularly over the years. The league cup competitions focused mainly on top division teams, in contrast to that of the Polish Cup which allows teams much lower down in the footballing pyramid to compete. The four League Cup competitions played in Poland are; the Young Leaders Rally Cup (Polish : Puchar Zlotu Młodych Przodowników) (1952), the League Cup (Polish : Puchar Ligi) (1977–1978), the Polish League Cup (Polish : Puchar Ligi Polskiej) (1999–2002), and the Ekstraklasa Cup (Polish : Puchar Ekstraklasy) (2006–2009), the former three being organised by the Polish Football Association while the most recent competition was organised by Ekstraklasa SA.

Contents

League Cups in Poland

Young Leaders Rally Cup

The Cup of the Rally of Young Leaders was the first League Cup in Poland. The tournament was created by the then president of the Polish Football Association with all 12 teams of the I liga being involved. Due to the league being delayed until after the 1952 Summer Olympics the tournament provided the players a chance to show off their skills with a chance of being called up into the Olympic squad. The tournament structure was 2 groups of 6 who played each other twice. The top team in each group played in the final of the tournament, while the teams that finished 2nd and 3rd in the group played for the third place and fifth placed playoffs. The tournament took its name from the youth rally that was taking place in the city from 20–22 July 1952. [1] [2]

1952 Final

Wawel Kraków 5–2 Cracovia
Polish Army Stadium , Warsaw
Attendance: 50,000 [3]

Wawel Kraków won the Young Leaders Rally Cup. [4] [5] [6]

League Cup

The League Cup was introduced as a cup competition due to the rising popularity of football in Poland as a result of the success of the national team and of Polish clubs in European competitions. Journalists from the Polish magazine, "Sport" promoted the idea to the Polish Football Association. [7] The format of the competition was to include all 16 teams in the I liga with 4 groups of 4. The winners of each group would then play in a knockout phase to decide the winner. While the winner of the competition won qualification to the UEFA Europa League.

The League Cup was seen in part as a failure due to the little interest from fans and dwindling attendances. For the second edition the Polish Football Association did not promote the competition, meaning it had to be held independently, and that all the teams in the top division didn't have to take part. In the second edition 5 of the 16 I liga teams refused to take part, leading to the invitation of 4 Hungarian teams and Górnik Zabrze in the II liga.

1977 Final

Odra Opole 3–1 Widzew Łódź
Andrzej Grębosz Soccerball shade.svg 1' (OG)
Wojciech Tyc Soccerball shade.svg 33', 75'		Zdzisław Rozborski Soccerball shade.svg 90'
Miejski Stadion, Częstochowa
Attendance: 12,000
Referee: Alojzy Jarguz

Odra Opole won the 1977 League Cup. [8]

1978 Final

Górnik Zabrze 2–0 Zagłębie Sosnowiec
Janusz Marcinkowski Soccerball shade.svg 15'
Józef Kurzeja Soccerball shade.svg 27'
Zabrze Stadion , Zabrze
Referee: Dobrosław Stec

Górnik Zabrze won the 1978 League Cup. [9] [10]

Polish League Cup

The Polish League Cup was created due to Zbigniew Boniek and Richard Raczkowski pushing the idea to the Polish Football Association. To try and make the tournament more successful than the previous edition large financial bonuses were used for reaching each round of the competition, with the winners receiving 1.3million PLN in total. The format of the first competition was a knockout tournament with each tie being over two legs, until the final which was a one-off for the cup win. The second edition included teams playing in the II liga, and kept its two-legged knockout rounds, including a two-legged final, this was also the same format used in the third edition. After the third edition the Polish Football Association announced that it would not be organising the tournament for the following season and the competition never returned to the footballing calendar.

2000 Final

Legia Warsaw 1–2 Polonia Warsaw
Sylwester Czereszewski Soccerball shade.svg 38'Igor Gołaszewski Soccerball shade.svg 34'
Przemysław Boldt Soccerball shade.svg 90'
Polish Army Stadium , Warsaw
Referee: Andrzej Czyżniewski

Polonia Warsaw won the 1999–2000 Polish League Cup. [11]

2001 Final

First-leg

Zagłębie Lubin 0–3 Wisła Kraków
Łukasz Sosin Soccerball shade.svg 32'
Olgierd Moskalewicz Soccerball shade.svg 33'
Ryszard Czerwiec Soccerball shade.svg 73'
Stadion Zagłębia Lubin , Lubin
Attendance: 1000
Referee: Grzegorz Gilewski

Second-leg

Wisła Kraków 1–2 Zagłębie Lubin
Tomasz Frankowski Soccerball shade.svg 47' Aleksandr Osipovich Soccerball shade.svg 39'
Jarosław Krzyżanowski Soccerball shade.svg 53'
Stadion Miejski , Kraków
Attendance: 5000
Referee: Jacek Granat

Wisła Kraków won the 2000–2001 Polish League Cup winning 4–2 on aggregate. [12] [13]

2002 Final

First-leg

Legia Warsaw 3–0 Wisła Kraków
Tomasz Sokołowski Soccerball shade.svg 17'
Radosław Wróblewski Soccerball shade.svg 67'
Stanko Svitlica Soccerball shade.svg 82'
Polish Army Stadium , Warsaw
Attendance: 8000
Referee: Piotr Święs

Second-leg

Wisła Kraków 2–1 Legia Warsaw
Tomasz Frankowski Soccerball shade.svg 31'
Kamil Kosowski Soccerball shade.svg 52'		 Moussa Yahaya Soccerball shade.svg 76'
Stadion Miejski , Kraków
Attendance: 7000
Referee: Ryszard Wójcik

Legia Warsaw won the 2001–2002 Polish League Cup winning 4–2 on aggregate. [14]

Ekstraklasa Cup

The Ekstraklasa Cup, organised by Ekstraklasa SA and not the Polish Football association was introduced in 2006. The format was similar to that of the Champions League, with four groups of four and the top two in the groups progressing to a knockout phase. The competition was cancelled in 2009 due to lack of sponsorship and no channel wanting to buy the television rights to games. It was later announced that the teams in the Ekstraklasa voted for the cup competition not to return making it impossible for the Ekstraklasa Cup in its format to return in the future.

2007 Final

Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielkopolski won the 2006–2007 Ekstraklasa Cup. [15]

2008 Final

Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielkopolski won the 2007–2008 Ekstraklasa Cup. [16]

2009 Final

Śląsk Wrocław won the 2008–2009 Ekstraklasa Cup. [17]

Finals

The Ekstraklasa Cup won by Slask Wroclaw in 2009. Puchar ekstraklasy.jpg
The Ekstraklasa Cup won by Śląsk Wrocław in 2009.
YearWinnerScoreRunner-up
Young Leaders Rally Cup
1952 Wawel Kraków 5–2 Cracovia
League Cup
1977 Odra Opole 3–1 Widzew Łódź
1978 Górnik Zabrze 2–0 Zagłębie Sosnowiec
Polish League Cup
2000 Polonia Warsaw 2–1 Legia Warsaw
2001 Wisła Kraków 4–2 agg. Zagłębie Lubin
2002 Legia Warsaw 4–2 agg. Wisła Kraków
Ekstraklasa Cup
2007 Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielk. 1–0 GKS Bełchatów
2008 Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielk. 4–1 Legia Warsaw
2009 Śląsk Wrocław 1–0 Odra Wodzisław

Future

The future of a League Cup competition in Polish football again looks bleak for now. In 2013 the Ekstraklasa introduced championship and relegation groups to conclude the season, leading to 7 additional games for each team in the league. In 2019 the I liga and leagues lower down on the pyramid introduced promotion playoffs, lengthening the season for the teams in the playoffs by at least weeks. Due to the increasing number of fixtures it is unlikely a League Cup will be introduced while the leagues are in their current format.

Related Research Articles

Polish Cup Football tournament

The Polish Cup in football is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. Due to mass participation of teams, the tournament is often called The Cup of the Thousand Teams.

The 2006–07 Ekstraklasa started on 28 July 2006 and finished on 26 May 2007. Zagłębie Lubin were crowned champions.

The 2007–08 Ekstraklasa started in July 2007 and ended in mid-May 2008. It was run by the Ekstraklasa SA.

The Ekstraklasa Cup was an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs who play in the Polish 1st Division Ekstraklasa. The Ekstraklasa Cup was the fourth attempt at introducing a League Cup competition in Poland. The first such tournament was a one-off tournament held in 1952 which Wawel Kraków won. Two other tournaments have also been held, the League Cup (1977–1978) and the Polish League Cup (1999–2002), these two tournaments mainly being cancelled after lack of interest from fans. A League Cup competition was again tried with the Ekstraklasa Cup in 2006, however this tournament again saw little interest from fans and the cup competition was cancelled in 2009 after the broadcasting rights expired.

The 2008–09 Polish Cup was the fifty-fifth season of the annual Polish cup competition. It began on July 30, 2008 with the Extra Preliminary Round and ended on May 19, 2009 with the Final, played at Stadion Śląski, Chorzów. The winners qualified for the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. Legia Warszawa were the defending champions.

The 2010–11 Polish Cup was the fifty-seventh season of the annual Polish football knockout tournament. It began on 21 July 2010 with the first matches of the Extra Preliminary Round and ended in 2011 with the Final. The winners qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. Jagiellonia Białystok were the defending champions, having won their first title in the season before.

The Ekstraklasa, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. UEFA currently (2016-2021) ranks the league 30th.

Legia Warsaw II Football club

Legia Warsaw II, in Poland known as Legia II Warszawa, is a Polish football team, which serves as the reserve side of Legia Warsaw. They compete in the III liga, the fourth division of Polish football, and play their home matches at the Legia Training Center in Książenice, Grodzisk Mazowiecki Commune, Masovian Voivodeship.

2013–14 Polish Cup football tournament season

The 2013–14 Polish Cup was the sixtieth season of the annual Polish football knockout tournament. It began on 13 July 2013 with the first matches of the Extra Preliminary Round and ended on 2 May 2014 with the Final. The winners qualified for the second qualifying round of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League.

The 2014–15 Ekstraklasa, is the 81st season of the highest level of football leagues in the Polish football league system since its establishment in 1927. It began on 18 July 2014. A total of 16 teams are participating, 14 of which competed in the league during the 2013–14 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.

The 2014–15 Polish Cup was the sixty-first season of the annual Polish football knockout tournament. It began on 19 July 2014 with the first matches of the Extra Preliminary Round and ended on 2 May 2015 with the Final, in which Legia Warsaw defeated Lech Poznań for a record 17th title. As winners, Legia qualified for the qualifying tournament of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.

The 2015–16 Ekstraklasa was the 82nd season of the highest level of football leagues in Poland since its establishment in 1927. A total of 16 teams were participating, 14 of which competed in the league during the 2014–15 season, while the remaining two were promoted from the I Liga. Each team played a total of 37 matches, half at home and half away.

The 2015–16 Polish Cup was the sixty-second season of the annual Polish football knockout tournament. It began on 18 July 2015 with the first matches of the Preliminary Round and ended on 2 May 2016 with the final at the National Stadium in Warsaw. Winners of the competition qualified for the qualifying tournament of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League.

The 2016–17 Polish Cup was the sixty-third season of the annual Polish football knockout tournament. It began on 16 July 2016 with the first matches of the Preliminary Round and ended on 2 May 2017 with the Final at PGE Narodowy. Winners of the competition will qualify for the qualifying tournament of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League.

The 2016–17 I liga was the 9th season of the Polish I liga under its current title, and the 69th season of the second highest division in the Polish football league system since its establishment in 1949. The league is operated by the Polish Football Association (PZPN). The league is contested by 18 teams. The regular season was played in a round-robin tournament. The season began on 29 July 2016, and concluded on 4 June 2017. After the 19th matchday the league will be on winter break between 28 November 2016 and 2 March 2017.

The 2017–18 Polish Cup was the sixty-fourth season of the annual Polish football knockout tournament. It began on 14 July 2017 with the first matches of the preliminary round and ended on 2 May 2018 with the final at PGE Narodowy. Winners of the competition, Legia Warsaw, qualified for the qualifying tournament of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League. They secured their 19th Polish Cup title ever, after defeating 2–1 defending champions from Arka Gdynia.

The 2018–19 I liga was the 11th season of the Polish I liga under its current title, and the 71st season of the second highest division in the Polish football league system since its establishment in 1949. The league was operated by the PZPN. The league was contested by 18 teams. The season was played in a round-robin tournament. The season started on 20 July 2018 and will conclude on 19 May 2019.

The 2019–20 I liga was the 72nd season of the second tier domestic division in the Polish football league system since its establishment in 1949 and the 12th season of the Polish I liga under its current title. The league was operated by the PZPN. The league was contested by 18 teams. The regular season was played in a round-robin tournament. The season started on 26 July 2019 and concluded on 26 July 2020. On 13 March 2020, the PZPN suspended the league due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. After consultation with the Polish government, the league resumed behind closed doors without any spectators on 2 June 2020.

The League Cup was a short lived cup competition in Poland spanning two editions in 1977 and 1978.

The Polish League Cup was a short lived cup competition in Poland spanning three editions from 1999 to 2002.

References

  1. ↑ "1952". poloniabytom.com.pl.
  2. ↑ "Odkrywamy karty historii - rok 1952". lechia.net.
  3. ↑ Przegląd Sportowy wydanie specjalne z 21 lipca 1952
  4. ↑ "Cracovia w pogoni za marzeniami". m.gpcodziennie.pl.
  5. ↑ "Wawel Kraków". 90minut.pl.
  6. ↑ "Puchar niemile widziany". watch-esa.pl.
  7. ↑ "II. Puchar Ligi, lata 1977 - 1978". hppn.pl.
  8. ↑ "Puchar Ligi 1977". wikiliga.pl.
  9. ↑ "Edycja 1978 w Pucharze Ligi". wikigornik.pl.
  10. ↑ "31.05.1978 - Górnik Zabrze - Zagłębie Sosnowiec 2:0". wikigornik.pl.
  11. ↑ "DRUGIE MISTRZOSTWO POLSKI, PUCHAR POLSKI, PUCHAR LIGI I SUPERPUCHAR". kspolonia.pl.
  12. ↑ "Sezon 2001/2002 (piłka nożna)". historiawisly.pl.
  13. ↑ "2001.06.03 Wisła Kraków - Zagłębie Lubin 1:2". historiawisly.pl.
  14. ↑ "Historia Legii: Puchar Ligi 2002". legionisci.com.
  15. ↑ "Puchar Ekstraklasy 2006/2007". 90minut.pl.
  16. ↑ "Puchar Ekstraklasy 2007/2008". 90minut.pl.
  17. ↑ "Puchar Ekstraklasy 2008/2009". 90minut.pl.
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