| 2011–12 Nemzeti Bajnokság I | |
| League: | Nemzeti Bajnokság I |
| Sport: | Team handball |
| Duration: | 4 September 2011 – 19 May 2012 |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Top Scorer: | (159 goals) |
| Playoffs: | Playoffs |
| Conf1: | NB I |
| Conf1 Champ: | Győri ETO KC |
| Conf1 Runner-Up: | Ferencvárosi TC |
| Seasonslistnames: | Nemzeti Bajnokság I |
| Prevseason Link: | 2010–11 Nemzeti Bajnokság I (women's handball) |
| Prevseason Year: | 2010–11 |
| Nextseason Link: | 2012–13 Nemzeti Bajnokság I (women's handball) |
| Nextseason Year: | 2012–13 |
The 2011–12 Nemzeti Bajnokság I was the sixty-first edition of the top level championship in the Hungarian team handball for women. The regular season began on 4 September 2011 and concluded on 31 March 2011, followed by the classification rounds and the playoff finals.
Defending champions Győri Audi ETO KC won the regular season with a perfect performance and easily absolved their semi-finals matches as well, and marched into the finals where they met FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria, which overcame Siófok KC-Galerius Fürdő with a double victory. In the closest final of the recent years, ETO eventually managed to retain their league title: they won the first leg of the finals to 37–33, coming back from 6 goals behind,[1] while in the second leg the teams went head to head till the dying minutes, when by a one-goal ETO lead, with no time left on the clock, Ferencváros was awarded a penalty. Jelena Živković stepped to the 7 meters line with the chance to equalize the match and save it for penalty shootouts. However, retiring goalkeeper Katalin Pálinger, who played her last match in Győr saved the penalty shot and ETO celebrated their fifth championship in a row and ninth overall.[2]
A total of twelve teams will compete in the league, including eleven clubs that participated in the past season's championship, joined by freshly promoted Kiskunhalas NKSE. Although officially bottom two teams get relegated and replaced by the Eastern and Western group winners of the second division, Mohácsi TE expressed that they have no desire to advance to the top division mostly for financial reasons. Therefore, following the decision of the Hungarian Handball Federation, eleventh placed UKSE Szekszárd could maintain its Nemzeti Bajnokság I membership. Twelfth placed Újbuda TC could not avoid relegation, after recorded only one victory during the whole season. Newcomers Kiskunhalas debuted in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I in 2004 and achieved their best result during the 2005–2006 season, when they finished sixth. In 2010 they suffered a level drop, but climbed back to the Nemzeti Bajnokság I immediately.
League winners Győri Audi ETO KC also entered the EHF Champions League in the group phase, while runners-up DVSC-Fórum began their European adventure in the qualifying stage of the competition. 2011 bronze medalists FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria entered the EHF Cup Winners' Cup as title holders, having defeated CB Mar Alicante in the previous year's finals to 57–52.[3] Since both 2010–2011 Hungarian cup finalists qualified for the EHF Champions League via their league position, the spot reserved for the Magyar Kupa winners was passed to cup third Alcoa FKC RightPhone, which joined Ferencvárosi TC in the EHF Cup Winners' Cup. Fourth placed Váci NKSE, that reached the quarterfinals of the EHF Cup in the past season, had the chance to repeat their good run, while Budapest Bank-Békéscsabai ENKSE, which made an early exit in the 2010–11 EHF Cup, got the opportunity to improve their European balance this time.
Previous season's semifinalist Vác announced yet during the summer break, that they have split with their main sponsor SYMA, which could not guarantee the financial background they did earlier and eventually stepped down. As a result, the team have lost some of their key players and entered the season with a number of youngsters promoted from the second team, competing under their old name Váci NKSE.[4] Meanwhile, DVSC agreed on a deal with the local mall center Fórum Debrecen, which became the club's new main sponsor, altering its name to DVSC-Fórum. In addition, on the same day they have signed a media contract with regional television Alföld TV, and under the terms of the agreement all of their matches will be live broadcast by the television station.[5]
| Team | Location | Arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alcoa FKC RightPhone | Székesfehérvár | Köfém Sportcsarnok | |
| Budapest Bank-Békéscsabai Előre NKSE | Békéscsaba | Városi Sportcsarnok | |
| Dunaújvárosi NKS | Dunaújváros | Dunaújvárosi Sportcsarnok | |
| DVSC-Fórum | Debrecen | Hódos Imre Rendezvénycsarnok | |
| ÉTV-Érdi VSE | Érd | Batthyány Sportcsarnok | |
| FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | Ferencváros, Budapest | Főtáv FTC Kézilabda Aréna | |
| Győri Audi ETO KC | Győr | Magvassy Mihály Sportcsarnok | |
| Kiskunhalas NKSE | Kiskunhalas | Vári Szabó István Sportcsarnok | |
| Siófok KC-Galerius Fürdő | Siófok | Beszédes József Sportcsarnok | |
| UKSE Szekszárd | Szekszárd | Városi Sportközpont | |
| Váci NKSE | Vác | Városi Sportcsarnok | |
| Veszprém Barabás KC | Veszprém | Március 15. úti Sportcsarnok | |
| Rank[6] | Player | Club | Matches | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Anita Bulath | Veszprém Barabás KC | 20 | 159 |
| 2 | Bernadett Ferling | Dunaújvárosi NKS | 21 | 158 |
| 3 | Kinga Klivinyi | Alcoa FKC-RightPhone | 21 | 151 |
| 4 |  Kristina Trishchuk | Alcoa FKC-RightPhone | 19 | 142 |
| 5 | Éva Barna | Kiskunhalas NKSE | 21 | 137 |
| 6 | Anita Görbicz | Győri Audi ETO KC | 21 | 135 |
| 7 | Tamara Tilinger | Alcoa FKC-RightPhone | 22 | 134 |
| 8 |  Heidi Løke | Győri Audi ETO KC | 18 | 122 |
| Katalin Jenőfi | UKSE Szekszárd | 22 | ||
| 10 | Ivett Szepesi | UKSE Szekszárd | 21 | 121 |
| Rank[7] | Player | Club | YC | 2m | RC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Leposava Glušica | Budapest Bank-Békéscsabai ENKSE | 9 | 26 | 3 | |
| 2 | Krisztina Gulya | UKSE Szekszárd | 9 | 26 | 1 | |
| 3 | Gabriella Gáspár | Dunaújvárosi NKS | 13 | 23 | 1 | |
| Szabina Mayer | Veszprém Barabás KC | 9 | 20 | 3 | ||
| 5 | Klára Szekeres | ÉTV-Érdi VSE | 12 | 21 | 1 | |
| 6 | Dusmáta Takács | Dunaújvárosi NKS | 10 | 19 | 2 | |
 Ivana Ljubas | Budapest Bank-Békéscsabai ENKSE | 12 | 23 | 0 | ||
| Katalin Jenőfi | UKSE Szekszárd | 11 | 21 | 1 | ||
| 9 |  Sara Vukčević | ÉTV-Érdi VSE | 7 | 17 | 3 | |
| 10 |  Eduarda Amorim | Győri Audi ETO KC | 14 | 15 | 1 |
Teams finished in bottom four places after the regular season entered a classification round, in which a double round-robin system was use. According to their final position in the regular season, these four teams were awarded bonus points. Ninth placed Békéscsaba got four points, tenth placed Dunaújváros were awarded three, eleventh placed Kiskunhalas got two points and finally last placed Szekszárd received one point.
Additional points that were awarded after the final positions in the regular season are indicated in bonus points column.
Teams finished between fifth and eight place also played a classification round. Similarly to the Classification round 9–12, these four teams were given bonus points depending on their position in the regular season.
Additional points that were awarded after the final positions in the regular season are indicated in the bonus points column.
Once again, title holders Győri Audi ETO KC have finished the regular season without a single defeat. Ferencváros, the club of the IXth district of Budapest, finished just behind the defending champions. The two other semi-finalists, Siófok and Érd both played in the classification round 9-12 last season, but this year they reached the last table, and fought for their first medal in the elite championship and a spot in a European cup.
Győri Audi ETO KC won series 2–0
FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria won series 2–0
Siófok KC-Galerius Fürdő won series 2–1
Győri Audi ETO KC won series 2–0
| Rank | Team | Qualification or relegation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | width=250 align="left" bgcolor=#D0F0C0 | Győri Audi ETO KC | width=380 align="center" bgcolor=#D0F0C0 | 2012–13 EHF Champions League Group stage |
| 2 | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | 2012–13 EHF Champions League Second qualifying round1 | ||
| 3 | Siófok KC-Galerius Fürdő | 2012–13 EHF Cup | ||
| 4 | ÉTV-Érdi VSE | 2012–13 EHF Cup | ||
| 5 | Veszprém Barabás KC | |||
| 6 | Alcoa FKC RightPhone | |||
| 7 | Váci NKSE | 2012–13 EHF Cup Winners' Cup2 | ||
| 8 | DVSC-Fórum | |||
| 9 | Budapest Bank-Békéscsabai Előre NKSE | 2012–13 EHF Cup Winners' Cup3 | ||
| 10 | Dunaújvárosi NKS4 | |||
| 11 | Kiskunhalas NKSE5 | |||
| 12 | UKSE Szekszárd | Relegation to the 2012–13 Nemzeti Bajnokság I/B |
| 1 Although qualified for the 2012–13 EHF Cup Winners' Cup as defending champions, FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria enter the 2012–13 EHF Champions League via their league position, as it is a higher ranked event. 2 Since 2011–2012 Magyar Kupa winners Győri Audi ETO KC qualified for the 2012–13 EHF Champions League as Hungarian champions, the EHF Cup Winners' Cup spot was passed to cup second Budapest Bank-Békéscsabai Előre NKSE. 3 Due to FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria's triumph in the 2011–12 EHF Cup Winners' Cup, Hungary was awarded an additional place for the 2012–13 edition of the tournament, which was taken by Hungarian cup third Váci NKSE. 4 Dunaújvárosi NKS withdrew from all competitions and ceased its operation during the summer of 2012. Their place was taken by the team of the local handball academy competing under the name Dunaújvárosi Kohász KA. 5 Although finished in the relegation zone, following Mohácsi TE, winner of the Eastern Group of the second division declined the promotion to the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, Kiskunhalas NKSE could maintain its top level membership. |
| 2011–12 Nemzeti Bajnokság I champions Győri Audi ETO KC Ninth title
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