Młoda Ekstraklasa
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Młoda Ekstraklasa (, official abbreviation MESA or (rarely) literally in English: The Young Ekstraklasa) was a Polish youth football league consisting of the top youth teams from the 16
Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...
clubs. The league was established to promote improved scouting and youth development in Poland, providing young players with regular competitive matches, as they often faced challenges in securing playing time with their respective first teams.


Competition format

The competition was held for players aged 21 and under, although each team was permitted to include three players exceeding the age limit (for the 2007–08 season: players born on or after 1 January 1986). Typically, matches were scheduled one day after the senior teams of the respective clubs had played, but the venues were reversed. The team accumulating the highest number of points by the season's conclusion was crowned the Młoda Ekstraklasa Champion.


History

Bogdan Basałaj conceived the idea of establishing a tournament in Poland for this age group while serving as the president of
Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. They currently compete in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system, ...
's board. He drew inspiration from Adam Nawałka, who returned to the club after completing a coaching internship at
AS Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: Help:IPA/Italian, ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier ...
and shared insights 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 the 1 ...
'' (a tournament for young players directly supporting Serie A). The inaugural match took place on 28 July 2007 at
Silesian Stadium The Silesian Stadium (; Polish: ) is a sport stadium located on the premises of Silesian Park in Chorzów, Poland. The stadium has a fully covered capacity of 54,378, after refurbishment completed in October 2017. The stadium hosted many Poland ...
in
Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; ) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Metropolis GZM – a metropolis with a population of 2 million. It is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Rawa ...
, where Ruch Chorzów suffered a 1–2 defeat to visiting Dyskobolia Grodzisk. Łukasz Janoszka of Ruch Chorzów scored the first goal in the competition's history. On 18 May 2008, Wisła Kraków secured the first championship title with a 1–0 home victory against runners-up Korona Kielce. Marcin Wodecki of Górnik Zabrze emerged as the top scorer with 17 goals, narrowly surpassing Ruch Chorzów's Artur Sobiech, who scored 16 goals. On 20 March 2013, during a meeting of the Ekstraklasa SA management board, it was decided to discontinue the Młoda Ekstraklasa (with the 2012–13 season being the last) and establish the Central Junior League in its place.


Season-by-season


References


External links


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