Młoda Ekstraklasa (, official abbreviation MESA or (rarely) literally in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: The Young Ekstraklasa) was a Polish youth football league composed of the top youth teams of the 16

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 cl ...

sides. The games were organized with the aim of encouraging enhanced scouting and youth development in Poland and to provide regular competitive games for young players who often struggled to get playing time in the first team.

Competition format

It was contested by players 21 years of age and under, however, each side was allowed three players over the age limit (for the 2007–08 season: players born January 1, 1986, and after). In general, the matches took place a day after the two clubs' first teams have faced off, however the venues were switched. The team with the most points at the end of the season received the title of Młoda Ekstraklasa Champion.

History

Bogdan Basałaj came up with the idea of creating a tournament in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

for this age group, when he was still the President of the

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. It currently competes in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system. It ...

's board. He was inspired by

Adam Nawałka Adam Nawałka (; born 23 October 1957) is a retired Polish football player and former manager of Poland. Player career Club Nawałka comes from a footballing family. His father, Adam, played for the local team Orlęta (Eaglets) Rudawa. Nawałka ...

, who returned to the club from his coaching internship at

AS Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

and told his boss about the Italian

Campionato Nazionale Primavera The Campionato Nazionale Primavera – Trofeo Giacinto Facchetti, was an Italian football youth competition. It is organised by the Lega Serie A and the participating teams that take part in Serie A and Serie B: the first edition was held in th ...

(the tournament for young players, directly supporting Serie A).Stratuje Młoda Ekstraklasa, igol.pl
/ref> In the first ever game, played on July 28, 2007, at the

Stadion Śląski The Stadion Śląski ( en, Silesian Stadium) is a sport stadium located on the premises of Silesian Park in Chorzów, Poland. The stadium has a fully covered capacity of 55,211, after a recent refurbishment completed in October 2017. The stadium ...

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; german: link=no, Königshütte ; szl, Chorzōw) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population ...

Ruch Chorzów Ruch Chorzów () is a Polish association football club based in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. It is one of the most successful football teams in Poland: fourteen-time national champions, and three-time winners of the Polish Cup. Currently the team play ...

fell to visiting Dyskobolia Grodzisk (1–2). Ruch's

Łukasz Janoszka Łukasz Rafał Janoszka (born 18 March 1987 in Bytom) is a Polish professional footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association footb ...

scored the first ever goal. On May 18, 2008,

clinched the first title, with a 1–0 win at home against runners-up

Korona Kielce Korona Kielce, , (Korona – ''Crown'' – symbol of club and city, Kielce – name of city where club is based) is a Polish football club, which will compete in Ekstraklasa in the 2022–23 Ekstraklasa, 2022–23 season. In the year ...

Marcin Wodecki Marcin Wodecki (born 14 January 1988 in Rybnik) is a Polish professional footballer who plays for Górnik Zabrze II as a winger. Career In a past he was player of RKP Rybnik, ROW Rybnik and Odra Wodzisław Śląski Odra Wodzisław Śląski ...

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning the second-most Poli ...

was the top goalscorer with 17 goals, closely followed by

Artur Sobiech Artur Sobiech (; born 12 June 1990) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Lech Poznań. Club career Sobiech was born in Ruda Śląska. After spending four years at Ruch Chorzów, where he started his professional car ...

with 16 goals. On March 20, 2013, at the meeting of the management board of

SA, a decision was made to stop playing the games of the Młoda Ekstraklasa (2012–13 season was to be the last one) and to create the Central Junior League.

Season-by-season

References

External links

2007–08 Młoda Ekstraklasa at 90minut.pl
Football leagues in Poland Pol Ekstraklasa {{Football in Poland