Poland is a huge country when it comes to European football, with sixteen teams competing in the Polish Ekstraklasa every season and this is the top professional Polish football division, with Legia Warsaw and Lech Poznan among the leading teams who compete for the major honours.
There is also Piast Gliwice who won their first title at the end of the 2018-19 season, with Lechia Gdansk and Cracovia the other teams who are regularly battling it out near the top of the Ekstraklasa each season.
The sixteen teams in the Ekstraklasa play each other home and away during the regular season. The division is then effectively split into two and the top half battle it out in the Championship round where there are a further seven games to be played.
The team who finish top of the standings after the Championship round are not only crowned champions but also qualify for the first round of the Champions League, while the teams finishing second and third make it through to the first qualifying round of the Europa League. The Polish Cup winners also enter this competition at the second qualifying round stage.
There is also a Relegation round where the bottom half teams in the Polish Ekstraklasa compete to avoid the drop, with the fifteenth and sixteenth-placed sides going down to I liga and they are replaced by the two leading teams from that division.
How to Bet on the Polish Ekstraklasa
Every season, you can bet on the winner of the Polish Ekstraklasa title along with the side who finishes top of the regular standings before entering the Championship round. It’s not uncommon to have different teams topping the regular standings and then the Championship round, with seven games sometimes making a big difference.
Every bookmaker will create a Polish Ekstraklasa betting coupon for each round of matches and you have the choice to combine different selections in an accumulator or alternatively focus on one particular match and bet on the available markets for this game.
There are a range of pre-match betting markets and these might be goal or player-related. For example, you might want to bet on the number of goals that are scored during the game and there is usually an Over / Under two-way market with corresponding odds, although you can change the parameters. Similarly, you can bet on First Goalscorer, Last Goalscorer or Anytime Goalscorer.
You can also bet In-Play on the Polish top football division matches, with live betting markets available so you can enjoy the changing odds and bet according to what you think is going to happen. There is sometimes the opportunity to Build a Bet and compile a number of markets together for a healthy return.
For those who like to put their money where their mouth is and have a bet on Polish football – or just about anything else for that matter – our odds comparison is an invaluable tool. It checks the odds from all of the best betting sites and brings you the best. That means you get bigger returns on your winners and long term that can make a huge difference to your bankroll. When it comes to betting on the Ekstraklasa our odds comparison has both the outright winner market and a range of markets for each and every game.
The season starts earlier than many of Europe’s elite leagues, largely due to the harsh Polish winter that often hits parts of the country. The first game of the season usually takes place in mid-July, with the honours being handed out in May or sometimes even June the following year. This extended calendar allows for a substantial winter break, with the Ekstraklasa on hold from mid to late December through to early February.
Place Accumulator Bets on the Poland Ekstraklasa
You can put together an accumulator on the Poland Ekstraklasa every week and that means choosing the teams that you expect to win and combining them to best effect. Some customers like to place an online double which might include teams such as Legia Warsaw and Lech Poznan, while there’s the opportunity to place a treble or an acca according to how many teams you want to include in your bet.
Indeed, there is no limit as to the number of selections you can have in your football accumulator, although it becomes harder to get a return if you put a lot of teams in your multiple.
The History of the Polish Ekstraklasa
The Ekstraklasa was founded in 1926, with Wisla Krakow crowned as the first champions in 1927 and they also claimed the title in 1928. Indeed, this team are the joint-most successful team in the history of Polish club football, having won the title fourteen times and the most recent of these successes was in 2011.
Gornik Zabrze are the other Polish Ekstraklasa team who have won fourteen league titles and they enjoyed four successive victories between 1985 – 1988 although they haven’t topped the league since then and there are two teams now breathing down their necks.
Legia Warsaw are the most successful football club in Poland over the past few years, with the team enjoying five successes between 2013 – 2018, while Ruch Chorzow also have thirteen successes although they are currently not an Ekstraklasa team.
Lech Poznan are known for their supporter’s goal celebrations and they were champions of Poland as recently as 2015, with the club having enjoyed seven successes, while Piast Gliwice won their first ever Ekstraklasa title in 2019.