Poland crowned a new champion on Sunday. The battle was on until the last leg of the Ekstraliga and it finished with the victory of GKS Katowice.
GKS Katowice started the 2022/2023 season by losing 3-4 against AZS UJ Kraków. These two teams were predicted to fight for fourth place, with TME SMS Łódź, Czarni Sosnowiec and Górnik Łęczna being favourites to take the medals again. However, the remaining ten legs of the autumn round were all victorious for GKS, making them the leaders at the season’s half mark.
That was parallel to the disappointments of Pogoń Szczecin that brought some strong names during the transfer window, as well as Czarni Sosnowiec taking sixth place.
Defending champions TME SMS Łódź had a good defence in the beginning, however the end of autumn saw them finish in just third place, behind Górnik Łęczna. They conceded many goals, but were also the highest-scoring team in the league with 40 in 11 games.
GKS Katowice win Ekstraliga title
Spring confirmed the top of the table with Katowice, Łódź and Łęczna battling for the title. It was eventually brought down to the battle of two, won by Katowice just on the final day. Pogoń Szczecin and Śląsk Wrocław both earned three points against the leaders, however, winning against Łódź was a big step towards Katowice’s first title.
Łódź lost their final game against Łęczna and thus took third place. They were followed by AZS UJ Kraków, Pogoń Szczecin and Śląsk Wrocław, while Czarni Sosnowiec found themselves in the lower half of the table.
Below there was also a battle to avoid relegation. As usual, the teams that came from the 1. League were the favourites to drop back to the second-tier. However, Pogoń Tczew managed to get a few victories.
HydroTruck Radom also started earning some points, but it was too late to save themselves from last place. The teams facing relegation were Medyk Konin and Sportis KKP Bydgoszcz. Both lost their last game, but it was a bigger surprise for Sportis, who were defeated by Radom.
The top scorers classification was won by Dominika Kopińska with 20 goals, defending the trophy for the league’s best scorer. Second place was taken by Magdalena Sobal, the leader of Pogoń Tczew and the U19 National Team scored 18 goals.
One trophy is still to be given — the Polish Cup final will be held on June 10th in Radom between TME SMS Łódź and AP Orlen Gdańsk, the third and eighth teams in the Ekstraliga.
