The Ekstraklasa returns! (plus a bit of transfer talk)

Image via Mikolaj Barbanell/Shutterstock

Always a pleasure, never a chore: the Ekstraklasa returns today from the long winter break which whilst we’re well accustomed to, does leave us having to watch better quality football in the interim period. 

I jest, but there is something fairly novel about having a season which starts earlier than many others in Europe, takes an extended break throughout winter, and then resumes in full force just as we do all start to wonder what the rest of the campaign holds for our chosen teams. 

I’m taking a very light tone with this preview/celebration, because being an ardent enjoyer and defender of Polish football these past few years, this is the first season I can remember where we’ve really got stories and narratives coming out of our ears in the Ekstraklasa. 

For many the main story is Legia Warszawa’s flirtation with relegation, which may well be arrested somewhat with the appointment of Marek Papszun as manager just before Christmas. I make no secret of the fact Legia is perhaps the Polish team I follow most closely, and it may be pure bias talking here, but I believe Papszun can get a tune out of the squad at his disposal and Legia can earn themselves a respectable top-half finish yet.

A slight second in my personal affection is the team currently topping the table, Wisła Płock. You would not have thought that a club such as they, bouncing back to the Ekstraklasa after a couple of season in the 1. Liga, would be mounting a serious title challenge but here we are: they simply kept on getting good results that few of us seriously expected them to, and now they find themselves joint-1st in what is a very congested top-half. Four points separate the positions between 1st and 8th, so it is a very wide-open title race on paper. 

So, what of the first round of fixtures upon the Ekstraklasa’s return? It kicks off tonight with Zagłębie Lubin vs GKS Katowice, followed by Radomiak Radom and Arka Gdynia. Not the most glamorous-sounding ties, but some interesting teams with good players nonetheless.

In my opinion, the match I am most looking forward to is Sunday’s clash between Wisła Płock and Raków Częstochowa, which will have implications at the summit. 

At the start of this article, I joked that whilst the Ekstraklasa was on hiatus we all had to make do with watching “better” football, a well-worn gag about our perceived inferiority as a league which has seemingly festered over the years. Quite frankly, ever since I started taking an interest and in turn writing about Polish football and the Ekstraklasa, there has been a sharp uptick in both the quality of the football and the fortunes of many Polish clubs on the European stage. 

I’ve referenced this before, but the fact that the Ekstraklasa is now undeniably one of Europe’s top 15 leagues, which means therefore that even in the three-and-a-bit years since I have run this website, the quality of the league has essentially doubled. 

A couple of quick transfers to speak about here now as well, given I haven’t been as active as perhaps I should’ve been on here throughout this month. Headline domestic moves include Bartłomiej Drągowski and Przemysław Wiśniewski at Widzew Łódź, Paweł Dawidowicz at Raków and Paweł Bochniewicz returning to Górnik Zabrze. Fully-fledged Polish internationals returning to the league is still something of a novelty, especially someone like Wiśniewski who has been enjoying something of an increased spotlight given his performances for the national team since September. 

Further afield, Sebastian Szymański has joined fellow countryman Przemysław Frankowski at Rennes in France, and Mateusz Bogusz returns to the MLS with Houston Dynamo after his adventure in Mexico with Cruz Azul. Szymański had found himself out of favour with Fenerbahce and moves to a top league, and Bogusz becomes a marquee signing for an MLS franchise, which makes sense given his history in the league. 

There will likely be another article early next month diving into a few other topics, but for now let’s all sit back and enjoy the Ekstraklasa’s first games of 2026. 

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