1978–79 Ekstraklasa

53rd season of top-tier football league in Poland

Football league season

I liga
Season	1978–79
Dates	27 July 1978 – 10 June 1979
Champions	Ruch Chorzów (13th title)
Relegated	Pogoń Szczecin Gwardia Warsaw
European Cup	Ruch Chorzów
Cup Winners' Cup	Arka Gdynia
UEFA Cup	Widzew Łódź Stal Mielec
Matches played	240
Goals scored	524 (2.18 per match)
Top goalscorer	Kazimierz Kmiecik (17 goals)
Biggest home win	Ruch 6–0 ŁKS
Biggest away win	Pogoń 1–4 Szombierki Wisła 1–4 ŁKS Polonia 0–3 Odra Arka 0–3 Stal
Highest scoring	Legia 3–5 Odra Gwardia 4–4 Szombierki
Highest attendance	30,000^[1]
Total attendance	2,599,440^[1]
Average attendance	10,831 18.8%^[1]
← 1977–78 1979–80 →

The 1978–79 I liga was the 53rd season of the Polish Football Championship and the 45th 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 Ruch Chorzów, who won their 13th Polish title.

Competition modus

The season started on 27 July 1978 and concluded on 10 June 1979 (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 16 teams participated, 14 of which competed in the league during the 1977–78 season, while the remaining two were promoted from the 1977–78 II liga. Each team played a total of 30 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 or relegation
1	Ruch Chorzów (C)	30	16	7	7	44	27	+17	39	Qualification to European Cup first round
2	Widzew Łódź	30	14	11	5	37	26	+11	39	Qualification to UEFA Cup first round
3	Stal Mielec	30	14	8	8	43	27	+16	36	Qualification to UEFA Cup first round
4	Szombierki Bytom	30	11	13	6	42	27	+15	35
5	Odra Opole	30	14	6	10	42	28	+14	34
6	Legia Warsaw	30	10	13	7	32	28	+4	33
7	Lech Poznań	30	11	8	11	34	38	−4	30
8	GKS Katowice	30	10	10	10	28	36	−8	30
9	Zagłębie Sosnowiec	30	7	15	8	22	25	−3	29
10	Śląsk Wrocław	30	11	7	12	23	27	−4	29
11	Arka Gdynia	30	11	7	12	29	35	−6	29	Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup first round
12	ŁKS Łódź	30	9	8	13	30	36	−6	26
13	Wisła Kraków	30	9	8	13	42	43	−1	26
14	Polonia Bytom	30	9	6	15	23	39	−16	24
15	Pogoń Szczecin (R)	30	7	8	15	31	41	−10	22	Relegated to II liga
16	Gwardia Warsaw (R)	30	5	9	16	22	41	−19	19	Relegated to II liga

Source: 90minut.pl (in Polish)
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	ARK	KAT	GWA	LPO	LEG	ŁKS	OOP	POG	BYT	RUC	STA	SZB	ŚLĄ	WID	WIS	ZSO
Arka Gdynia		0–0	1–0	3–2	3–0	2–0	0–1	2–0	4–0	1–0	0–3	0–1	1–0	1–1	4–2	0–0
GKS Katowice	1–0		2–1	0–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	2–0	0–0	0–1	2–0	1–2	1–1	2–2
Gwardia Warsaw	1–0	2–0		1–1	0–0	2–2	0–0	0–0	0–2	2–1	1–3	4–4	0–0	1–2	3–1	0–1
Lech Poznań	0–0	3–1	3–0		2–1	1–3	2–1	0–0	2–0	1–2	1–0	2–2	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–0
Legia Warsaw	0–0	2–2	0–0	3–1		1–0	3–5	3–1	3–0	1–1	1–1	0–0	2–0	2–0	0–0	0–0
ŁKS Łódź	0–0	0–1	0–1	2–0	0–0		0–2	2–1	1–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	3–0	1–1	3–1	1–1
Odra Opole	2–3	1–2	5–0	3–1	2–1	1–0		1–0	1–2	3–1	3–2	2–2	0–1	0–0	0–0	2–0
Pogoń Szczecin	4–0	3–0	2–1	3–0	2–3	1–1	1–0		1–1	2–2	1–1	1–4	1–0	1–1	3–0	1–2
Polonia Bytom	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	0–1	2–0	0–3	3–1		0–1	0–1	1–0	3–0	2–3	1–0	0–0
Ruch Chorzów	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	3–0	6–0	0–1	1–0	2–1		1–1	2–1	3–1	1–1	3–0	2–1
Stal Mielec	5–2	4–0	2–0	0–2	1–0	4–1	2–0	2–0	0–0	1–2		3–1	1–0	1–1	2–1	1–1
Szombierki Bytom	0–1	3–0	1–0	1–1	0–0	1–1	0–0	3–0	3–0	1–1	1–0		1–1	4–1	1–1	3–1
Śląsk Wrocław	2–0	2–1	0–0	3–0	0–1	1–0	2–1	0–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	0–2		0–1	2–0	1–1
Widzew Łódź	4–0	3–0	1–0	1–2	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	1–1		2–1	1–1
Wisła Kraków	3–0	1–1	3–1	4–1	2–2	1–4	1–1	4–0	4–0	3–1	3–0	1–1	0–1	2–1		2–1
Zagłębie Sosnowiec	1–0	1–1	2–1	1–0	0–1	1–1	0–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–0

Source: 90minut.pl (in Polish)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Kazimierz Kmiecik	Wisła Kraków	17
2	Tadeusz Małnowicz	Ruch Chorzów	15
2	Andrzej Szarmach	Stal Mielec	15
4	Roman Ogaza	Szombierki Bytom	13
5	Alfred Bolcek	Odra Opole	11
5	Jerzy Dworczyk	Zagłębie Sosnowiec	11
7	Tomasz Korynt	Arka Gdynia	10
7	Leszek Wolski	Pogoń Szczecin	10
9	Jan Benigier	Ruch Chorzów	9
9	Witold Nowak	ŁKS Łódź	9

References

^ ^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.

External links

Poland – List of final tables at RSSSF (in English)
List of Polish football championships (in English)
History of the Polish League (in English)
List of Polish football championships (in Polish)

Ekstraklasa

List of Polish football champions

Seasons

Liga	1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1948
I liga	1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08
Ekstraklasa	2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

2023–24 teams

Former teams

Winners

Non-League
seasons

v t e 1978–79 in European football (UEFA)
« 1977–78 1979–80 »
Domestic leagues	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark '78 '79 England Faroe Islands '78 '79 Finland '78 '79 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '78 '79 Israel Italy Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '78 '79 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Scotland Soviet Union '78 '79 Spain Sweden '78 '79 Switzerland Turkey Yugoslavia
Domestic cups	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark England Faroe Islands '78 '79 Finland '78 '79 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '78 '79 Israel Italy Liechtenstein Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '78 '79 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania San Marino Scotland Soviet Union Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Wales Yugoslavia
League cups	England Republic of Ireland Scotland Switzerland
UEFA competitions	European Cup (Final) Cup Winners' Cup (Final) UEFA Cup (Final) Super Cup
Non-UEFA competitions	Intertoto Cup Balkans Cup '77–'78 '79–'80

v t e 1978–79 in Polish football
« 1977–78 1979–80 »
Domestic leagues	I liga II liga
Domestic cups	Polish Cup
European competitions	European Cup Cup Winners' Cup UEFA Cup
Related to national team	UEFA Euro 1980 (Qualification: Group 4)
List of Polish football transfers 1978–79