Młoda Ekstraklasa

Not to be confused with Młoda Liga.

Młoda Ekstraklasa

Founded	2007
Ceased	2013
Replaced by	Central Junior League
Owner(s)	Ekstraklasa
No. of teams	16
Country	Poland
Continent	UEFA
Last champion(s)	Legia Warsaw (2nd title)
Most titles	Legia Warsaw, Zagłębie Lubin (2 titles)

Młoda Ekstraklasa (Polish pronunciation: [ˈmwɔda ɛkstraˈklasa], official abbreviation MESA [Polish pronunciation: [ˈmɛsa] or (rarely) [ˈɛm ˈɛ ˈɛs ˈa]]; literally in English: The Young Ekstraklasa) was a Polish youth football league consisting of the top youth teams from the 16 Ekstraklasa 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's board. He drew inspiration from Adam Nawałka, who returned to the club after completing a coaching internship at AS Roma and shared insights about the Italian Campionato Nazionale Primavera (a tournament for young players directly supporting Serie A).

The inaugural match took place on 28 July 2007 at Silesian Stadium in Chorzów, 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

Edition	Season	Number of teams	Winner	Runner-up	Third place	Top scorer
I	2007–08	15	Wisła Kraków	Korona Kielce	Cracovia	17 goals – Marcin Wodecki (Górnik Zabrze)
II	2008–09	16	Ruch Chorzów	Wisła Kraków	Polonia Warsaw	21 goals – Kamil Biliński (Śląsk Wrocław)
III	2009–10	16	Zagłębie Lubin	Legia Warsaw	Lech Poznań	13 goals – Jakub Kaszuba (Cracovia)
IV	2010–11	16	Zagłębie Lubin	Legia Warsaw	Ruch Chorzów	15 goals – Łukasz Teodorczyk (Polonia Warsaw)
V	2011–12	16	Legia Warsaw	Zagłębie Lubin	Śląsk Wrocław	14 goals – Michał Grunt (Polonia Warsaw)
VI	2012–13	16	Legia Warsaw	Lech Poznań	Śląsk Wrocław	13 goals - Kamil Zieliński (Pogoń Szczecin)

External links

• 2007–08 Młoda Ekstraklasa at 90minut.pl (in Polish)