Poland Ekstraklasa (Polish pronunciation: [ˌɛkstraˈklasa]), 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.
Contested by 18 clubs, operating a system of promotion and relegation with the I liga, seasons start in July, and end in May or June the following year. Teams play a total of 34 games each. Games are played on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. The winner of the Ekstraklasa qualifies for the Polish SuperCup. The league is now operated by the Ekstraklasa Spolka Akcyjna.
The Ekstraklasa (former I liga) was officially formed as Liga Polska on 4–5 December 1926 in Warsaw, since 1 March 1927 as Liga Pilki Noznej (Polish pronunciation: [ˈlʲiɡa ˈpiwki ˈnɔʐnɛj]), but the Polish Football Association (Polish: Polski Zwiazek Pilki Noznej, PZPN) had been in existence since 20 December 1919, a year after the independence of Poland in 1918. The first games of the freshly created league took place on 3 April 1927, while first national non-league football championship took place in 1920.
A total of 82 teams have played in the top division of Polish football since the founding of the league, of which 17 clubs have won the title. The current champions are Lech Poznan, who won their 8th title in 2021–22 season.
This page also has a version in other languages : Экстракласса (russian)