1972–73 Ekstraklasa

I liga
Season1972–73
Dates26 July 1972 –
24 June 1973
ChampionsStal Mielec (1st title)
RelegatedNone
(Polonia & Odra played
playoff relegation)
European CupStal Mielec
Cup Winners' CupLegia Warsaw
UEFA CupRuch Chorzów
Gwardia Warsaw
Matches played182
Goals scored373 (2.05 per match)
Top goalscorerGrzegorz Lato
(13 goals)
Biggest home winStal 5–0 Gwardia
Legia 5–0 ŁKS
Zagłębie W. 5–0 Polonia
Biggest away winPolonia 0–6 Stal
Highest scoringGwardia 4–2 Odra
Pogoń 5–1 Odra
Polonia 0–6 Stal
Highest attendance60,000[1]
Total attendance2,690,506[1]
Average attendance14,783 Increase 14.0%[1]

The 1972–73 I liga was the 47th season of the Polish Football Championship and the 39th season of the I liga, the top Polish professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1927. The league was operated by the Polish Football Association (PZPN).

The champions were Stal Mielec, who won their 1st Polish title.

Competition modus

The season started on 26 July 1972 and concluded on 24 June 1973 (autumn-spring league). The season was played as a round-robin tournament. The team at the top of the standings won the league title. A total of 14 teams participated, 12 of which competed in the league during the 1971–72 season, while the remaining two were promoted from the 1971–72 II liga. Each team played a total of 26 matches, half at home and half away, two games against each other team. Teams received two points for a win and one point for a draw.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Stal Mielec (C) 26 13 10 3 47 21 +26 36 Qualification to European Cup first round
2 Ruch Chorzów 26 13 7 6 29 16 +13 33 Qualification to UEFA Cup first round
3 Gwardia Warsaw 26 8 14 4 31 22 +9 30
4 Górnik Zabrze 26 10 10 6 23 15 +8 30
5 Wisła Kraków 26 13 4 9 31 28 +3 30
6 ŁKS Łódź 26 9 11 6 26 26 0 29
7 ROW Rybnik 26 8 10 8 20 21 −1 26
8 Legia Warsaw 26 6 11 9 29 28 +1 23 Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup first round
9 Pogoń Szczecin 26 8 7 11 28 30 −2 23
10 Zagłębie Sosnowiec 26 8 6 12 30 31 −1 22
11 Zagłębie Wałbrzych 26 8 6 12 22 31 −9 22
12 Lech Poznań 26 6 10 10 16 26 −10 22
13 Polonia Bytom 26 7 6 13 20 42 −22 20 Qualification to Relegation playoffs
14 Odra Opole 26 3 12 11 21 36 −15 18
Source: 90minut.pl (in Polish)
(C) Champions

Results

Home \ Away GÓR GWA LPO LEG ŁKS OOP POG BYT RYB RUC STA WIS ZSO ZWA
Górnik Zabrze 0–0 3–0 2–1 1–3 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 0–1
Gwardia Warsaw 1–1 1–1 1–0 4–0 4–2 3–0 3–1 0–1 3–1 0–0 0–1 2–2 3–1
Lech Poznań 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–1 2–0 0–0 2–1 0–0 0–0 3–0 3–0 2–1 0–0
Legia Warsaw 1–4 0–0 0–0 5–0 1–1 2–3 2–1 3–0 0–0 0–3 1–1 3–1 3–0
ŁKS Łódź 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–1 3–1 1–0 0–1 0–0 1–2 0–0 1–1 2–1 3–1
Odra Opole 1–0 1–1 0–0 2–2 1–1 2–2 0–0 0–1 1–0 2–2 3–0 1–1 0–1
Pogoń Szczecin 1–0 1–1 2–0 0–1 0–0 5–1 1–0 0–0 0–1 1–3 1–3 2–0 1–0
Polonia Bytom 2–2 0–0 2–0 0–0 2–0 2–1 1–1 3–0 0–0 0–6 1–4 2–1 1–0
ROW Rybnik 1–2 0–0 4–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 2–1 4–0 1–0 0–3 2–1 1–0 1–1
Ruch Chorzów 0–0 1–1 3–0 2–0 2–1 1–0 0–2 2–0 1–0 2–2 2–0 3–0 3–1
Stal Mielec 0–0 5–0 3–2 1–0 1–1 0–0 3–1 3–0 1–1 2–1 2–0 0–0 2–0
Wisła Kraków 1–0 1–1 2–0 2–1 1–2 2–0 2–1 2–0 0–0 0–1 0–3 2–0 3–1
Zagłębie Sosnowiec 0–0 0–1 2–0 1–1 1–4 4–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 0–1 4–1 2–0 1–0
Zagłębie Wałbrzych 0–2 1–1 1–0 1–1 0–0 0–0 2–1 5–0 2–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 0–3
Source: 90minut.pl (in Polish)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation playoffs

At the end of the first and second division season, the play-off was played between:

  • the 13th placed team in the I liga and the 4th team in the II liga
  • the 14th placed team in the I liga and the 3rd team in the II liga
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Polonia Bytom 1–0 GKS Katowice 0–0 1–0
Odra Opole 2–0 Hutnik Kraków 0–0 2–0

Top goalscorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Poland Grzegorz Lato Stal Mielec 13
2 Poland Ryszard Sarnat Wisła Kraków 12
Poland Kazimierz Kmiecik Wisła Kraków 12
4 Poland Andrzej Jarosik Zagłębie Sosnowiec 11
Poland Andrzej Szarmach Górnik Zabrze 10
6 Poland Robert Gadocha Legia Warsaw 9
Poland Jan Benigier Ruch Chorzów 9
Poland Ryszard Szymczak Gwardia Warsaw 9
Poland Jan Małkiewicz Gwardia Warsaw 9
10 Poland Kazimierz Deyna Legia Warsaw 8
Poland Tadeusz Pawłowski Zagłębie Wałbrzych 8
Poland Witold Karaś Stal Mielec 8

References

  1. ^ a b c "Attendances – Archive Poland". EFS.co.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2009.

Bibliography

  • Gowarzewski, Andrzej (2000). Encyklopedia Piłkarska Fuji. Liga Polska. O tytuł mistrza Polski 1920–2000 (in Polish). GiA, Katowice. ISBN 83-88232-02-9.