# 1971–72 Ekstraklasa

The 1971–72 I liga was the 46th season of the Polish Football Championship and the 38th 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 defending champions were Górnik Zabrze, who won their 10th Polish title.

## Competition modus

The season started on 7 August 1971 and concluded on 28 June 1972 (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 1970–71 season, while the remaining two were promoted from the 1970–71 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 or relegation |
| 1 | Górnik Zabrze (C) | 26 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 45 | 23 | +22 | 37 | Qualification to European Cup first round |
| 2 | Zagłębie Sosnowiec | 26 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 31 | 26 | +5 | 33 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Legia Warsaw | 26 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 36 | 20 | +16 | 32 | Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 4 | Ruch Chorzów | 26 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 46 | 33 | +13 | 30 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Stal Mielec | 26 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 29 | 19 | +10 | 30 | |
| 6 | Gwardia Warsaw | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 28 | 21 | +7 | 28 | |
| 7 | Odra Opole | 26 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 25 | 27 | −2 | 27 | |
| 8 | Zagłębie Wałbrzych | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 22 | 21 | +1 | 26 | |
| 9 | Wisła Kraków | 26 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 29 | 34 | −5 | 25 | |
| 10 | Polonia Bytom | 26 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 19 | 31 | −12 | 21 | |
| 11 | Pogoń Szczecin | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 24 | 37 | −13 | 20 | |
| 12 | ŁKS Łódź | 26 | 3 | 13 | 10 | 24 | 39 | −15 | 19 | |
| 13 | Stal Rzeszów (R) | 26 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 20 | 32 | −12 | 18 | Relegated to II liga |
| 14 | Szombierki Bytom (R) | 26 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 24 | 39 | −15 | 18 | Relegated to II liga |

## Results

| Home \ Away | GÓR | GWA | LEG | ŁKS | OOP | POG | PBY | RUC | STM | STR | SBY | WIS | ZSO | ZWA |
| Górnik Zabrze | | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Gwardia Warszawa | 1–1 | | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 |
| Legia Warsaw | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 3–1 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 |
| ŁKS Łódź | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–2 | | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 |
| Odra Opole | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–5 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Pogoń Szczecin | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Polonia Bytom | 0–4 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Ruch Chorzów | 1–4 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 1–2 | | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Stal Mielec | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 |
| Stal Rzeszów | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | | 5–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Szombierki Bytom | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–2 | | 3–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 |
| Wisła Kraków | 1–5 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Zagłębie Sosnowiec | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 4–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | | 1–0 |
| Zagłębie Wałbrzych | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | |

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Ryszard Szymczak | Gwardia Warsaw | 16 |
| 2 | Wlodzimierz Lubanski | Górnik Zabrze | 14 |
| 3 | Joachim Marx | Ruch Chorzów | 13 |
| 4 | Kazimierz Kmiecik | Wisła Kraków | 11 |
| 4 | Grzegorz Lato | Stal Mielec | 11 |
| 6 | Kazimierz Deyna | Legia Warsaw | 10 |
| 7 | Józef Gałeczka | Zagłębie Sosnowiec | 9 |
| 7 | Jan Banaś | Górnik Zabrze | 9 |
| 9 | Jerzy Sadek | ŁKS Łódź | 8 |
| 9 | Edward Herman | Ruch Chorzów | 8 |
| 9 | Ernest Powieczko | Odra Opole | 8 |
| 9 | Jerzy Odsterczyl | Zagłębie Wałbrzych | 8 |