# 1978–79 Ekstraklasa

The 1978–79 I liga was the 53rd season of the Polish Football Championship and the 45th 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 Ruch Chorzów, who won their 13th Polish title.

## Competition modus

The season started on 27 July 1978 and concluded on 10 June 1979 (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 16 teams participated, 14 of which competed in the league during the 1977–78 season, while the remaining two were promoted from the 1977–78 II liga. Each team played a total of 30 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 | Ruch Chorzów (C) | 30 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 44 | 27 | +17 | 39 | Qualification to European Cup first round |
| 2 | Widzew Łódź | 30 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 37 | 26 | +11 | 39 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Stal Mielec | 30 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 43 | 27 | +16 | 36 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Szombierki Bytom | 30 | 11 | 13 | 6 | 42 | 27 | +15 | 35 | |
| 5 | Odra Opole | 30 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 42 | 28 | +14 | 34 | |
| 6 | Legia Warsaw | 30 | 10 | 13 | 7 | 32 | 28 | +4 | 33 | |
| 7 | Lech Poznań | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 34 | 38 | −4 | 30 | |
| 8 | GKS Katowice | 30 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 28 | 36 | −8 | 30 | |
| 9 | Zagłębie Sosnowiec | 30 | 7 | 15 | 8 | 22 | 25 | −3 | 29 | |
| 10 | Śląsk Wrocław | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 23 | 27 | −4 | 29 | |
| 11 | Arka Gdynia | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 29 | 35 | −6 | 29 | Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 12 | ŁKS Łódź | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 30 | 36 | −6 | 26 | |
| 13 | Wisła Kraków | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 42 | 43 | −1 | 26 | |
| 14 | Polonia Bytom | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 23 | 39 | −16 | 24 | |
| 15 | Pogoń Szczecin (R) | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 31 | 41 | −10 | 22 | Relegated to II liga |
| 16 | Gwardia Warsaw (R) | 30 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 22 | 41 | −19 | 19 | Relegated to II liga |

## Results

| Home \ Away | ARK | KAT | GWA | LPO | LEG | ŁKS | OOP | POG | BYT | RUC | STA | SZB | ŚLĄ | WID | WIS | ZSO |
| Arka Gdynia | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 0–0 |
| GKS Katowice | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| Gwardia Warsaw | 1–0 | 2–0 | | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 4–4 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 |
| Lech Poznań | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Legia Warsaw | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | | 1–0 | 3–5 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| ŁKS Łódź | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Odra Opole | 2–3 | 1–2 | 5–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Pogoń Szczecin | 4–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 |
| Polonia Bytom | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 3–1 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Ruch Chorzów | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 6–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| Stal Mielec | 5–2 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Szombierki Bytom | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Śląsk Wrocław | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Widzew Łódź | 4–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Wisła Kraków | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | | 2–1 |
| Zagłębie Sosnowiec | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | |

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Kazimierz Kmiecik | Wisła Kraków | 17 |
| 2 | Tadeusz Małnowicz | Ruch Chorzów | 15 |
| 2 | Andrzej Szarmach | Stal Mielec | 15 |
| 4 | Roman Ogaza | Szombierki Bytom | 13 |
| 5 | Alfred Bolcek | Odra Opole | 11 |
| 5 | Jerzy Dworczyk | Zagłębie Sosnowiec | 11 |
| 7 | Tomasz Korynt | Arka Gdynia | 10 |
| 7 | Leszek Wolski | Pogoń Szczecin | 10 |
| 9 | Jan Benigier | Ruch Chorzów | 9 |
| 9 | Witold Nowak | ŁKS Łódź | 9 |