First Division. Well, the orginally announced reduction of the league was apparently abandoned at the end of the season, for according to the original idea the 13th and the 14th should have been directly relegated and the 11th and the 12th – going to promotion/relegation play-offs. But instead the 13th and the 14th went to those play-offs, which only means that the league was going to be of 16 teams again. The rule of extra point for a win with 3 or more goals – and deduction of a point for a loss by 3 or more goals – makes the final records difficult to comprehend. Well… the record of the champions makes sense: 13 ‘regular’ wins – 26 points, 6 wins by 3 or more goals – 18 points, 8 ties – 8 points, 0 loses by 3 or more goals – 0 deductions, 3 ‘regular’ losses – 0 points. 26+18+8=52 points. Fine. But looking at the record of the last in table makes no sense: 4 ‘regular’ wins – 12 points, 0 wins with 3 or more goals – 0 points, 9 ties – 9 points, 4 losses by 3 or more goals – minus 4 points, 13 ‘regular’ losses – 0 points. 12+9-4=17 points. However, Szombierki (Bytom) finished with 13 points… how come? Who knows… The 1979-80 Polish champions finished last and relegated. Again.
Gornik (Walbrzych) ended 15th with 15 points and was relegated.
GKS (Jastrzebie) was 14th with 19 points. Their Cinderella story ended with the promotion/relegation play-off against Zawisza (Bydgoszcz) – they were eliminated and relegated.
Pogon (Szczecin) – 13th with 19 points – was also out of luck: they were relegated after losing the promotion/relegation play-off against Motor (Lublin).
Wisla (Krakow) – 12th with 23 points. Top row from left: Mateusz Jelonek, Zenon Małek, Marek Motyka, Krzysztof Szewczyk, Marek Świerczewski, Kazimierz Moskal
Middle row: Zdzisław Strojek, Jarosław Giszka, Artur Gaweł, Grzegorz Maśnik, Robert Gaszyński, Wojciech Bujak, Arkadiusz Wołowicz
Sitting: Dariusz Wójtowicz, Marcin Jałocha, Zbigniew Klaja, Artur Bożek, Adam Musiał, Leszek Lipka, Ryszard Karbowniczek .
The recovery from their painful decline was not yet successful and perhaps they were very happy with good luck – originally, Wisla should have been going to promotion/relegation play-off, but the sudden change of the rule saved them.
Olimpia (Poznan) – 11th with 25 points and happy with their good luck like Wisla. LKS (Lodz) – 10th with 26 points.
Jagiellonia (Bialystok) – 9th with 29 points.
Widzew (Lodz) – 8th with 29 points.
Slask (Wroclaw) – 7th with 29 points, Lech (Poznan) – 6th with 33 points, Stal (Mielec) – 5th with 33 points, Legia (Warszawa) – 4th with 43 points.
Gornik (Zabrze) – 3rd with 45 points. Standing from left: Jan Urban, Marek Piotrowicz, Ryszard Komornicki, Joachim Klemenz, Krzysztof Baran. Front row: Miroslaw Szlezak, Jozef Wandzik, Jacek Grembocki, Ryszard Cyron, Robert Warzycha, Jerzy Misztur.
It is practically impossible to tell is the photo from 1987-88 or 1988-89 – the starting 11 are practically the same. At least in the fall of 1988 – eventually, Klemenz and Baran went to play abroad, but not before playing a good part of the first half of 1988-89 season (Klemenz 8 games and Baran – 13). Hard to tell how important was the loss of Klemenz and Baran, but Gornik finished 1st in the first half of the season and looked like they were on the road to 5th consecutive title. In the spring they dropped down and ended 3rd.
GKS (Katowice) took the silver medals with 47 points. The title was out of reach, though…
Ruch (Chorzow) triumphed with 52 points: 13 ‘regular’ wins, 6 wins with 3 or more goals, 8 ties, 0 losses with 3 or more goals, only 3 ‘regular’ losses, 48-18 goal-difference. Not the best league scorers, but the best defenders. Finishing 5 points ahead of the next pursuer speaks of dominance – but it was really the spring half when Ruch made it: after the fall half they were 3rd.
Top row from left: Andrzej Kiebus, Krystian Szuster, Bonk (?), Albin Wira, Jacek Chorzewski, Waldemar Waleszczyk, Grzegorz Wagner, Ryszard Kolodziejczyk.
Middle row: Henryk Wieczorek – assistant coach, Kapitza (?), Krzysztof Warzycha, Waldemar Formalik, Mieczyslaw Szewczyk, Leszek Wrona, Grzegorz Kornas, Dariusz Fornalak, Jozef Nowak, Jerzy Wyrobek – coach.
First row: 5th from left – Genszior (?), the rest unknown juniors.
Unfortunately, available photos of Ruch present a mystery – who is who is not clear. Some players above do not appear in the list of Ruch players – at least, not in the fall of 1988. Miroslaw Bak on the other hand is missing – well, not missing, but even in the recent years he is sometime listed as Miroslaw Bonk, instead of Bak. So, the suspect Genszior most likely is Dariusz Gesior. Wrona played in the fall, then moved to play in the USA. Because the players are not all that well known, the confusion to this very day comes from Polish mistake back in 1989:
The order ‘left to right’ is wrong.
Here the order is correct. The problem is that at the time most players were not famous. But this champion team of Ruch is also very important one: they won the 14th title for the club, thus equalizing the record Gornik (Zabrze) made in the previous season. It was also the first title Ruch won in 10 years – their 13th title was won in 1978-79 and in following decade Gornik came from the back and became the most titled Polish club – but no more!