1972–73 Ekstraklasa
# 1972–73 Ekstraklasa

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 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 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 | Qualification to Relegation playoffs |

## 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 | |

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