The 2012–13 I liga was the 65th season of the second tier domestic division in the Polish football league system since its establishment in 1949 and the 5th season of the Polish I liga under its current title. The league was operated by the Polish Football Association (PZPN).
The league is contested by 18 teams who competing for promotion to the 2013–14 Ekstraklasa. The regular season was played in a round-robin tournament. The champions and runners-up would receive promotion. The bottom four teams were automatically demoted to the II liga.
According to the competition rules, all clubs are required to field at least one youth player (born on 1992 or later and trained in Poland) in every game (except for the times when the only youth player on the roster is sent off or unable to continue playing, in which case he can't be substituted by a senior player).
On 28 February 2013 the Disciplinary Commission of the Polish FA suspended the ŁKS's license to compete in the I liga, because of non-payment of salaries to former players. Since the club's appeal was unsuccessful, on 5 April the Polish FA announced the cancellation of Warta–ŁKS game on the 22nd match day. On 10 April the club announced its withdrawal from the I liga. As ŁKS had already played over 50% of their games, according to the rules of I liga, they will be ranked in the final league table, with the cancelled games counted as lost 0–3.
Changes from last season From I liga Promoted to 2011–12 Ekstraklasa Piast Gliwice Pogoń Szczecin Relegated to II liga, Group East Wisła Płock Olimpia Elbląg Relegated to II liga, Group West KS Polkowice Withdrew (see below) Ruch Radzionków
To I liga Relegated from 2011–12 Ekstraklasa ŁKS Łódź Cracovia Promoted from II liga, Group East Okocimski KS Brzesko Stomil Olsztyn Promoted from II liga, Group West Miedź Legnica GKS Tychy
Additionalnotes Before the start of the season Ruch Radzionków withdrew from 2012 to 2013 I liga, citing financial problems. The club also withdrew its reserve team from Bytom region Klasa A (7th level). However, Ruch will be able to join the 2013–14 III liga, after a one-year suspension.
Ruch's I liga spot was taken by another Silesian club, Polonia Bytom, the highest placed team of the previous season's I liga relegation zone.
Team overview Stadiums and locations
Team Stadium Capacity Arka Gdynia Stadion Miejski 15,139 Cracovia Stadion im. Józefa Piłsudskiego 15,016 Dolcan Ząbki Stadion Miejski 2,100 Flota Świnoujście Stadion Miejski 4,500 GKS Bogdanka Stadion Górnika 7,200 GKS Katowice Stadion GKS Katowice 9,511 GKS Tychy Stadion Miejski w JaworznieGKS's old stadium will be undergoing renovative work. 7,000 Kolejarz Stróże Stadion Kolejarza 2,000 ŁKS Łódź Stadion ŁKS 7,000 Miedź Legnica Stadion im. Orła Białego 6,244 Okocimski KS Brzesko Stadion Miejski 3,000 Olimpia Grudziądz Stadion Centralny 5,250 Polonia Bytom Stadion im. Edwarda Szymkowiaka 6,000 Sandecja Nowy Sącz Stadion im. Ojca Władysława Augustynka 5,000 Stomil Olsztyn Stadion Miejski 16,800 Nieciecza Stadion Nieciecza 2,093 Warta Poznań Stadion Lecha 41,609 Zawisza Bydgoszcz Stadion Miejski im. Zdzisława Krzyszkowiaka 20,247
Personnel and sponsoring Team Manager Chairman Team captain Kit maker Shirt sponsor Arka Gdynia Adidas Polnord, Gdynia Cracovia Nike Comarch Dolcan Ząbki Maciej Tataj Zina Dolcan Flota Świnoujście Jako LZ GKS Bogdanka Jako Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka GKS Katowice adidas Ideon GKS Tychy Nike RPWiK Tychy, Tyski Sport Kolejarz Stróże Nike FPON ŁKS Łódź Zina Colorit Miedź Legnica Givova DSA SA Okocimski KS Brzesko Select Okocim, Imex Olimpia Grudziądz Nike Grudziądz Polonia Bytom Mateusz Mika Hummel LKJ-Bud, Bytom Sandecja Nowy Sącz Adidas AW Wiśniowski Stomil Olsztyn R-Gol DBK Termalica Bruk-Bet Nieciecza Karol Piątek Nike Termalica Warta Poznań Nike Family House Zawisza Bydgoszcz Jako Solbet Kolejarz displays the charity's logo on their kit.
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentTermalica Dušan RadolskýResigned28 May 2012Pre-season Kazimierz Moskal14 June 2011ŁKS Łódź Andrzej Pyrdoł1 June 2012Pre-season Marek Chojnacki1 June 2011Cracovia Tomasz KafarskiMutual consent11 June 2012Pre-season Wojciech Stawowy11 June 2011Sandecja Robert MoskalEnd of contract11 June 2012Pre-season Jarosław Araszkiewicz11 June 2011Olimpia Marcin KaczmarekEnd of contract15 June 2012Pre-season Tomasz Asensky15 June 2011Polonia Dariusz FornalakEnd of contract30 June 2012Pre-season Piotr Pierścionek2 July 2012Flota Ryszard KłusekFailed to renew his coaching licence26 July 2012Pre-season Dominik Nowak26 July 2012Polonia Piotr PierścionekSacked2 October 201218th Dominik Nowak2 October 2012Sandecja Jarosław AraszkiewiczSacked2 October 201211th Janusz Świerad2 October 2012Polonia Piotr Pierścionek2 October 201218th Jacek Trzeciak2 October 2012Arka Petr NěmecSacked14 November 201210th Paweł Sikora14 November 2012ŁKS Marek ChojnackiMutual consent13 December 201216th Piotr Zajączkowski15 January 2013Warta Czesław OwczarekMutual consent21 December 201210th Maciej Borowski15 January 2013Sandecja Janusz Świerad18 January 201314th Mirosław Hajdo18 January 2013Warta Maciej BorowskiAppointed goalkeeping coach2 April 201314th Krzysztof Pawlak2 April 2013Flota Dominik NowakMutual consent10 April 20132nd Tomasz Kafarski11 April 2013Okocimski KS Krzysztof Łętocha11 April 201317th Czesław Palik11 April 2013Zawisza Yuri ShatalovMutual consent26 April 20137th Ryszard Tarasiewicz27 April 2013
League table
Results
Season statistics Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Maciej KowalczykKolejarz Stróże222 Paweł AbbottZawisza Bydgoszcz15 Vladimir BoljevićCracovia Marcus ViniciusArka Gdynia5 Arkadiusz AleksanderSandecja / Flota13 Jakub GrzegorzewskiMiedź Legnica Dariusz PawlusińskiTermalica Bruk-Bet Nieciecza Mateusz PiątkowskiDolcan Ząbki Przemysław PitryGKS Katowice10 Sebastian OlszarFlota Świnoujście11 Deniss RakelsGKS Katowice
Clean sheets (player) RankPlayerClubClean sheets1 Sebastian NowakTermalica162 Piotr MisztalGKS Tychy133 Grzegorz KasprzikFlota11 Krzysztof PilarzCracovia Michał WróbelOlimpia Grudziądz6 Łukasz BudziłekGKS Katowice9 Marcin CabajSandecja Rafał LeszczyńskiDolcan9 Wojciech KaczmarekZawisza8 Piotr SkibaStomil
Scoring First goal of the season: Zbigniew Zakrzewski for Miedź against Bogdanka (4 August 2012) Largest winning margin: 6 goals ŁKS 1–7 Flota (6 October 2012) Highest scoring game: 8 goals ŁKS 1–7 Flota (6 October 2012) Most goals scored in a match by a single team: 7 goals ŁKS 1–7 Flota (6 October 2012) Most goals scored in a match by a losing team: 2 goals Stomil 2–3 Kolejarz (13 April 2013) Kolejarz 2–3 Dolcan (21 April 2013)
Clean sheets (club) Most clean sheets: 16 Termalica Fewest clean sheets: 2 ŁKS
Discipline Most yellow cards (club): 97 Sandecja Nowy Sącz Most yellow cards (player): 11 Tomáš Pešír (Bogdanka) Most red cards (club): 10 Stomil Olsztyn Warta Poznań Most red cards (player): 2 Martin Baran (Polonia Bytom) Paweł Baranowski (Stomil) Michał Benkowski (Bogdanka) Grzegorz Fonfara (Katowice) Michał Masłowski (Zawisza) Michał Nalepa (Termalica) Marcin Pietroń (Katowice) Dawid Sołdecki (Bogdanka) Łukasz Skrzyński (Zawisza) Dawid Szufryn (Kolejarz) Maciej Wichtowski (Warta) Konrad Wieczorek (Okocimski KS)
Notes
References