Tournament held on two occasions, initiated by "Sport" magazine. The first
edition in 1977 was contested by all 16 top level clubs in Poland (including
GKS Tychy and ROW Rybnik, who had just been relegated) and was considered an
official tournament by the PZPN (Polish FA). It started two days after the
final round of the 1976/77 league season and was finished three weeks later.
Winners Odra Opole were rewarded with a place in the 1977/78 UEFA Cup.
The second edition in 1978 also started immediately after the league season
(which ended in controversy following allegations of corruption in the final
few rounds) and just before the 1978 World Cup in Argentina (Poland played
its first match the day after the league cup final). As only eleven
top level clubs (including both relegated sides, Zawisza Bydgoszcz and
Górnik Zabrze) agreed to enter, four Hungarian clubs (of which two, Kaposvári
Rákóczi and SZEOL, had also just been relegated from the domestic top level)
were invited to make up the numbers. Because of this, the PZPN did not consider
the tournament official.
Two successor tournaments, the Puchar Ligi Polskiej (2000-2002) and
the Puchar Ekstraklasy (2007-2009) were little more successful, each
managing three editions before disappearing from the calendar.
1977 Odra Opole 1978 Górnik Zabrze
1977 Odra Opole 3-1 Widzew Łódź 1978 Górnik Zabrze 2-0 Zagłębie Sosnowiec
Group Stage Grupa I Round 1 [May 29] Arka Gdynia 0-0 Lech Poznań [Jun 1] Pogoń Szczecin 2-1 Śląsk Wrocław Round 2 [Jun 4] Śląsk Wrocław 0-1 Arka Gdynia [Jun 5] Lech Poznań 2-0 Pogoń Szczecin Round 3 [Jun 9] Lech Poznań 3-0 Śląsk Wrocław Arka Gdynia 0-1 Pogoń Szczecin Final Table: 1.Lech Poznań 3 2 1 0 5- 0 5 Qualified 2.Pogoń Szczecin 3 2 0 1 3- 3 4 3.Arka Gdynia 3 1 1 1 1- 1 3 4.Śląsk Wrocław 3 0 0 3 1- 6 0 Grupa II Round 1 [May 29] Ruch Chorzów 3-3 Odra Opole GKS Tychy 1-2 Szombierki Bytom Round 2 [Jun 5] Szombierki Bytom 1-0 Ruch Chorzów Odra Opole 1-0 GKS Tychy Round 3 [Jun 9] Ruch Chorzów 0-0 GKS Tychy Odra Opole 3-2 Szombierki Bytom Final Table: 1.Odra Opole 3 2 1 0 7- 5 5 Qualified 2.Szombierki Bytom 3 2 0 1 5- 4 4 3.Ruch Chorzów 3 0 2 1 3- 4 2 4.GKS Tychy 3 0 1 2 1- 3 1 Grupa III Round 1 [May 29] ROW Rybnik 0-5 Wisła Kraków [Jun 7] Zagłębie Sosnowiec 1-0 Górnik Zabrze Round 2 [Jun 4] Wisła Kraków 5-0 Zagłębie Sosnowiec [Jun 5] Górnik Zabrze 1-1 ROW Rybnik Round 3 [Jun 9] Górnik Zabrze 4-5 Wisła Kraków Zagłębie Sosnowiec 2-2 ROW Rybnik Final Table: 1.Wisła Kraków 3 3 0 0 15- 4 6 Qualified 2.Zagłębie Sosnowiec 3 1 1 1 3- 7 3 3.ROW Rybnik 3 0 2 1 3- 8 2 4.Górnik Zabrze 3 0 1 2 5- 7 1 Grupa IV Round 1 [May 28] ŁKS Łódź 3-0 Legia Warszawa [May 29] Widzew Łódź 1-0 Stal Mielec Round 2 [Jun 4] Legia Warszawa 0-1 Widzew Łódź [Jun 5] Stal Mielec 0-0 ŁKS Łódź Round 3 [Jun 8] Widzew Łódź 1-1 ŁKS Łódź [Jun 9] Stal Mielec 1-1 Legia Warszawa Final Table: 1.Widzew Łódź 3 2 1 0 3- 1 5 Qualified 2.ŁKS Łódź 3 1 2 0 4- 1 4 3.Stal Mielec 3 0 2 1 1- 2 2 4.Legia Warszawa 3 0 1 2 1- 5 1 Playoff Stage Semifinals [Jun 12] Widzew Łódź 2-1 Wisła Kraków Odra Opole 7-4 Lech Poznań [aet] Final [Jun 18, Częstochowa] Odra Opole 3-1 Widzew Łódź [Andrzej Grębosz 3og, Wojciech Tyc 33, 75; Zdzisław Rozborski 90]
NB: teams listed in italics were from Hungary. Group Stage Grupa I Round 1 [May 6,7] Widzew Łódź 1-1 Polonia Bytom Stal Mielec 1-2 Diósgyőri VTK (Miskolc) Round 2 [May 10] Polonia Bytom 0-3 Diósgyőri VTK (Miskolc) Stal Mielec 1-0 Widzew Łódź Round 3 [May 13,14] Widzew Łódź 1-0 Diósgyőri VTK (Miskolc) Polonia Bytom 2-1 Stal Mielec Round 4 [May 17] Polonia Bytom 1-2 Widzew Łódź Diósgyőri VTK (Miskolc) 8-0 Stal Mielec Round 5 [May 20,21] Diósgyőri VTK (Miskolc) 3-1 Polonia Bytom Widzew Łódź 2-1 Stal Mielec Round 6 [May 24] Stal Mielec 2-2 Polonia Bytom Diósgyőri VTK (Miskolc) 3-0 Widzew Łódź Final Table: 1.Diósgyőri VTK (Miskolc) 6 5 0 1 19- 3 10 Qualified 2.Widzew Łódź 6 3 1 2 6- 7 7 3.Polonia Bytom 6 1 2 3 7-12 4 4.Stal Mielec 6 1 1 4 6-16 3 Grupa II Round 1 [May 6,7] Kaposvári Rákóczi 0-2 ŁKS Łódź Zawisza Bydgoszcz 2-1 Pogoń Szczecin Round 2 [May 10] Pogoń Szczecin 1-1 ŁKS Łódź Kaposvári Rákóczi 2-1 Zawisza Bydgoszcz Round 3 [May 13,14] Kaposvári Rákóczi 1-2 Pogoń Szczecin ŁKS Łódź 0-0 Zawisza Bydgoszcz Round 4 [May 17] Pogoń Szczecin 2-1 Zawisza Bydgoszcz ŁKS Łódź 1-0 Kaposvári Rákóczi Round 5 [May 20,21] ŁKS Łódź 3-1 Pogoń Szczecin Zawisza Bydgoszcz 0-2 Kaposvári Rákóczi Round 6 [May 24] Zawisza Bydgoszcz 1-1 ŁKS Łódź Pogoń Szczecin 1-0 Kaposvári Rákóczi Final Table: 1.ŁKS Łódź 6 3 3 0 8- 3 9 Qualified 2.Pogoń Szczecin 6 3 1 2 8- 8 7 3.Kaposvári Rákóczi 6 2 0 4 5- 7 4 4.Zawisza Bydgoszcz 6 1 2 3 5- 8 4 Grupa III Round 1 [May 6,7] Szombierki Bytom 0-1 SZEOL (Szeged) Zagłębie Sosnowiec bye Round 2 [May 10] Zagłębie Sosnowiec 4-0 SZEOL (Szeged) Szombierki Bytom bye Round 3 [May 13,14] Szombierki Bytom 6-4 Zagłębie Sosnowiec SZEOL (Szeged) bye Round 4 [May 17] SZEOL (Szeged) 1-0 Szombierki Bytom Zagłębie Sosnowiec bye Round 5 [May 20,21] SZEOL (Szeged) 2-3 Zagłębie Sosnowiec Szombierki Bytom bye Round 6 [May 24] Zagłębie Sosnowiec 2-2 Szombierki Bytom SZEOL (Szeged) bye Final Table: 1.Zagłębie Sosnowiec 4 2 1 1 13-10 5 2.SZEOL (Szeged) 4 2 0 2 4- 7 4 3.Szombierki Bytom 4 1 1 2 8- 8 3 Grupa IV Round 1 [May 6,7] Tatabányai Bányász 3-1 Śląsk Wrocław Odra Opole 1-4 Górnik Zabrze Round 2 [May 10] Górnik Zabrze 3-1 Śląsk Wrocław Tatabányai Bányász 2-2 Odra Opole Round 3 [May 13,14] Śląsk Wrocław 2-1 Odra Opole Tatabányai Bányász 1-2 Górnik Zabrze Round 4 [May 17] Górnik Zabrze 2-0 Odra Opole Śląsk Wrocław 3-0 Tatabányai Bányász Round 5 [May 20,21] Odra Opole 2-2 Tatabányai Bányász Śląsk Wrocław 1-3 Górnik Zabrze Round 6 [May 24] Odra Opole 2-2 Śląsk Wrocław Górnik Zabrze 1-1 Tatabányai Bányász [before this match there was a farewell ceremony for Zygfryd Szołtysik, member of the 1972 Olympic gold medal winning side, who was ending his football career at 35 years of age (however, he then moved to Canada to play for Toronto Falcons and continued playing for minor teams in Poland and Germany into his late forties)] Final Table: 1.Górnik Zabrze 6 5 1 0 15- 5 11 Qualified 2.Śląsk Wrocław 6 2 1 3 10-12 5 3.Tatabányai Bányász 6 1 3 2 9-11 5 4.Odra Opole 6 0 3 3 8-14 3 Playoff Stage Semifinals [May 28] Diósgyőri VTK (Miskolc) o/w Zagłębie Sosnowiec [Diósgyőri VTK withdrew] Górnik Zabrze 2-0 ŁKS Łódź Final [May 31, Zabrze] Górnik Zabrze 2-0 Zagłębie Sosnowiec [Janusz Marcinkowski 15, Józef Kurzeja 27]
Sources: for 1977: Wikipedia (Polish edition); for 1978: Dziennik Polski (at Malopolska Digital Library), Trybuna Robotnicza (at Śląska Biblioteka Cyfrowa (Silesian Digital Library)), WikiGórnik; background information: Historia Polskiej Piłki Nożnej
Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Karel Stokkermans
(karel.rsssf@gmail.com)
Last updated: 10 Mar 2022
(c) Copyright Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 2022
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.