I liga

This article is about the second tier of Polish football. For the current first tier league previously known as I liga, see Ekstraklasa. For articles with similar names, see 1. Liga (disambiguation).

I liga (Polish: Pierwsza liga, Polish pronunciation: [ˈpjɛrfʂa ˈliɡa]), currently named Betclic I liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic,^[1] 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.^[2]

I liga

Organising body	PZPN
Founded	30 May 1948; 76 years ago (30 May 1948) 1949–2008 (as II liga) since 2009 (as I liga)
Country	Poland
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	18
Level on pyramid	2
Promotion to	Ekstraklasa
Relegation to	II liga
Domestic cup(s)	Polish Cup Polish Super Cup
International cup(s)	UEFA Europa Conference League (via Polish Cup)
Current champions	Lechia Gdańsk (4th title) (2023–24)
Most championships	Gwardia Warsaw (6 titles)
TV partners	TVP Sport
Sponsor(s)	Betclic
Website	1liga.org
Current: 2024–25 I liga

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.^[3] 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.^[4]

1970s–2008

For the 1973–74 season, the second level was changed to comprise two sections, split into north and south.^[5]

For the 1989–90 season, the league reverted to a single group.^[6]

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 2024–25 season.

ŁKS

Arka

Termalica

Chrobry

Tychy

Górnik

Kotwica

Miedź

Odra

Pogoń

Polonia

Ruch

Stal R.

Stal St. W.

Warta

Wisła K.

Wisła P.

Znicz

Location of teams in 2024–25 I liga.

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Team	Location	Venue	Capacity
Arka Gdynia	Gdynia	GOSiR Stadium	15,139
Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza	Nieciecza	Bruk-Bet Termalica Sports Stadium	4,666
Chrobry Głogów	Głogów	GOS Stadium	2,817
GKS Tychy	Tychy	Tychy Stadium	15,150
Górnik Łęczna	Łęczna	Górnik Łęczna Stadium	7,464
Kotwica Kołobrzeg	Kołobrzeg	Sebastian Karpiniuk Stadium	3,014
ŁKS Łódź	Łódź	Władysław Król Stadium	18,029
Miedź Legnica	Legnica	White Eagle Stadium	6,864
Odra Opole	Opole	Odra Stadium1 Opolski Stadium	4,560 11,600
Pogoń Siedlce	Siedlce	Siedlce Stadium	2,901
Polonia Warsaw	Warsaw	Kazimierz Sosnkowski Stadium	7,150
Ruch Chorzów	Chorzów	Śląski Stadium2	54,378
Stal Rzeszów	Rzeszów	Stal Rzeszów Stadium	11,547
Stal Stalowa Wola	Stalowa Wola	Subcarpathian Football Center	3,764
Warta Poznań	Poznań	Stadion Respect Energy3 Warta Poznań Stadium	5,383 4,694
Wisła Kraków	Kraków	Henryk Reyman Stadium	33,326
Wisła Płock	Płock	Kazimierz Górski Orlen Stadion	15,004
Znicz Pruszków	Pruszków	Pruszków Stadium	1,977

1. ^ This will be final season of Odra Opole at Odra Stadium, as they will be set to move to their new stadium.
2. ^ Since 28 October 2023 Ruch Chorzów played their matches at Śląski Stadium.^[7] It remains unclear if they will stay there or they will move to Stadion Ruchu Chorzów.
3. ^ Due to the renovation of Dębińska Road Stadium in Poznań, Warta had to play their matches at Stadion Respect Energy in Grodzisk Wielkopolski since 2020.^[8] Even though on 29 April 2024, Enea Stadion offered Warta to play their matches for the 2024–25 season,^[9] on 19 June they ultimately decided to remain in Grodzisk Wielkopolski with hopes to return to Dębińska Road Stadium.^[10]

Champions of the Polish second level

1949: Górnik Radlin, Garbarnia Kraków[11] 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 Warszawa 1993–94: Raków Częstochowa, Stomil Olsztyn 1994–95: Śląsk Wrocław, GKS Bełchatów 1995–96: Odra Wodzisław, Polonia Warszawa 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

See also

• Lower Level Football Leagues in Interwar Poland

References

1. "Betclic Sponsorem Tytularnym 1. Ligi do końca sezonu 2027/2028". I liga. 20 June 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
2. . "Foul Play". Warsaw Voice. 2003-08-28. Archived from the original on 21 February 2012. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
3. Piotr Dąbrowski, Paweł Mogielnicki and Gwidon Naskrent (20 June 2007). "Poland 1949". Poland Final Tables (1st and 2nd level). RSSSF. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
4. Pawel Mogielnicki (26 July 1998). "History, part 1 1949-1959". Poland: druga liga. RSSSF. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
5. Piotr Dąbrowski, Paweł Mogielnicki and Gwidon Naskrent (20 June 2007). "Poland 1973/74". Poland Final Tables (1st and 2nd level). RSSSF. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
6. Piotr Dąbrowski, Paweł Mogielnicki and Gwidon Naskrent (7 March 2013). "Poland 1989/90". Poland Final Tables (1st and 2nd level). RSSSF. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
7. "Ekstraklasa: Ruch Chorzów od października będzie grał na Stadionie Śląskim" (in Polish). Przegląd Sportowy. 25 June 2023.
8. "Warta Poznań awansowała do ekstraklasy, ale będzie grać nadal w Grodzisku. Dlaczego?" (in Polish). gloswielkopolski.pl. 1 August 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
9. "Warta Poznań rusza na Bułgarską" (in Polish). Radio Poznań. 29 April 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
10. "Warta Poznań liczy na powrót do "ogródka" i będzie prosić Komisję Licencyjną PZPN o dodatkowy czas na rozwiązanie problemów". gol24.pl (in Polish). 19 June 2024.
11. Gwidon Naskrent (9 June 2003). "Poland 2nd Division Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 February 2012.

External links

• Official website (in Polish)
• PSN Futbol – I liga table, results and news Archived 2017-08-06 at the Wayback Machine (in English)