| Competition: | I liga |
| Season: | 2012–13 |
| Winners: | Zawisza Bydgoszcz |
| Promoted: | Zawisza Bydgoszcz Cracovia |
| Relegated: | Warta Poznań Polonia Bytom ŁKS Łódź |
| Matches: | 291 |
| Total Goals: | 730 |
| League Topscorer: | Maciej Kowalczyk (22 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Ząbki 5–0 Łęczna Tychy 5–0 Warta |
| Biggest Away Win: | ŁKS 1–7 Flota |
| Highest Scoring: | ŁKS 1–7 Flota |
| Longest Wins: | 8 games Dolcan Flota |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 12 games Flota |
| Longest Winless: | 18 games Bytom |
| Longest Losses: | 6 games Bytom |
| Highest Attendance: | 10,348[1] (3 November 2012) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 150 Tychy 1–0 Miedź (19 September 2012) |
| Average Attendance: | 2,026 9.9%[2] |
| Prevseason: | 2011–12 |
| Nextseason: | 2013–14 |
The 2012–13 I liga was the 65th season of the second tier domestic division in the Polish football league system since its establishment in 1949 and the 5th season of the Polish I liga under its current title. The league was operated by the Polish Football Association (PZPN).
The league is contested by 18 teams who competing for promotion to the 2013–14 Ekstraklasa. The regular season was played in a round-robin tournament. The champions and runners-up would receive promotion. The bottom four teams were automatically demoted to the II liga.
According to the competition rules, all clubs are required to field at least one youth player (born on 1992 or later and trained in Poland) in every game (except for the times when the only youth player on the roster is sent off or unable to continue playing, in which case he can't be substituted by a senior player).[3]
On 28 February 2013 the Disciplinary Commission of the Polish FA suspended the ŁKS's license to compete in the I liga, because of non-payment of salaries to former players.[4] Since the club's appeal was unsuccessful, on 5 April the Polish FA announced the cancellation of Warta–ŁKS game on the 22nd match day.[5] On 10 April the club announced its withdrawal from the I liga.[6] As ŁKS had already played over 50% of their games, according to the rules of I liga, they will be ranked in the final league table, with the cancelled games counted as lost 0–3.
Promoted to 2011–12 Ekstraklasa
Relegated to II liga, Group East
Relegated to II liga, Group West
Withdrew (see below)
Relegated from 2011–12 Ekstraklasa
Promoted from II liga, Group East
Promoted from II liga, Group West
Before the start of the season Ruch Radzionków withdrew from 2012–13 I liga, citing financial problems.[7] The club also withdrew its reserve team from Bytom region Klasa A (7th level).[8] However, Ruch will be able to join the 2013–14 III liga, after a one-year suspension.[9]
Ruch's I liga spot was taken by another Silesian club, Polonia Bytom, the highest placed team of the previous season's I liga relegation zone.[10]
| Team | Stadium | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15,139 | |||
| 15,016 | |||
| Stadion Miejski | 2,100 | ||
| Stadion Miejski | 4,500 | ||
| 7,200 | |||
| 9,511 | |||
| Stadion Miejski w Jaworznie[11] | 7,000 | ||
| Stadion Kolejarza | 2,000 | ||
| 7,000 | |||
| 6,244 | |||
| Stadion Miejski | 3,000 | ||
| 5,250 | |||
| 6,000 | |||
| 5,000 | |||
| 16,800 | |||
| Stadion Nieciecza | 2,093 | ||
| 41,609 | |||
| 20,247 |
| Team | Manager | Chairman | Team captain | Kit maker | Shirt sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arka Gdynia |  | | | Adidas | Polnord, Gdynia | |
| Cracovia | | | | Nike | Comarch | |
| Dolcan Ząbki | | | Maciej Tataj | Zina | Dolcan | |
| Flota Świnoujście | | | | Jako | LZ | |
| GKS Bogdanka | | |  | Jako | Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka | |
| GKS Katowice | | | | adidas | Ideon | |
| GKS Tychy | | | | Nike | RPWiK Tychy, Tyski Sport | |
| Kolejarz Stróże | | | | Nike | FPON | |
| ŁKS Łódź | | | | Zina | Colorit | |
| Miedź Legnica | | | | Givova | DSA SA | |
| Okocimski KS Brzesko | | | | Select | Okocim, Imex | |
| Olimpia Grudziądz | | | | Nike | Grudziądz | |
| Polonia Bytom | | | Mateusz Mika | Hummel | LKJ-Bud, Bytom | |
| Sandecja Nowy Sącz | | |  | Adidas | AW Wiśniowski | |
| Stomil Olsztyn | | | | R-Gol | DBK | |
| Termalica Bruk-Bet Nieciecza | | | Karol Piątek | Nike | Termalica | |
| Warta Poznań | | | | Nike | Family House | |
| Zawisza Bydgoszcz |  | | | Jako | Solbet |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Termalica | Dušan Radolský | Resigned | 28 May 2012 | Pre-season | Kazimierz Moskal | 14 June 2011 | |
| ŁKS Łódź | Andrzej Pyrdoł | 1 June 2012 | Pre-season | Marek Chojnacki | 1 June 2011 | ||
| Cracovia | Tomasz Kafarski | Mutual consent | 11 June 2012 | Pre-season | Wojciech Stawowy | 11 June 2011 | |
| Sandecja | Robert Moskal | End of contract | 11 June 2012 | Pre-season | Jarosław Araszkiewicz | 11 June 2011 | |
| Olimpia | Marcin Kaczmarek | End of contract | 15 June 2012 | Pre-season | Tomasz Asensky | 15 June 2011 | |
| Polonia | Dariusz Fornalak | End of contract | 30 June 2012 | Pre-season | Piotr Pierścionek | 2 July 2012 | |
| Flota | Ryszard Kłusek | Failed to renew his coaching licence | 26 July 2012 | Pre-season | Dominik Nowak | 26 July 2012 | |
| Polonia | Piotr Pierścionek | Sacked | 2 October 2012 | 18th | Dominik Nowak | 2 October 2012 | |
| Sandecja | Jarosław Araszkiewicz | Sacked | 2 October 2012 | 11th | Janusz Świerad | 2 October 2012 | |
| Polonia | Piotr Pierścionek | 2 October 2012 | 18th | Jacek Trzeciak | 2 October 2012 | ||
| Arka |  Petr Němec | Sacked | 14 November 2012 | 10th | Paweł Sikora | 14 November 2012 | |
| ŁKS | Marek Chojnacki | Mutual consent | 13 December 2012 | 16th | Piotr Zajączkowski | 15 January 2013 | |
| Warta | Czesław Owczarek | Mutual consent | 21 December 2012 | 10th | Maciej Borowski | 15 January 2013 | |
| Sandecja | Janusz Świerad | 18 January 2013 | 14th | Mirosław Hajdo | 18 January 2013 | ||
| Warta | Maciej Borowski | Appointed goalkeeping coach | 2 April 2013 | 14th | Krzysztof Pawlak | 2 April 2013 | |
| Flota | Dominik Nowak | Mutual consent | 10 April 2013 | 2nd | Tomasz Kafarski | 11 April 2013 | |
| Okocimski KS | Krzysztof Łętocha | 11 April 2013 | 17th | Czesław Palik | 11 April 2013 | ||
| Zawisza | Yuri Shatalov | Mutual consent | 26 April 2013 | 7th | Ryszard Tarasiewicz | 27 April 2013 |
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[12] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maciej Kowalczyk | Kolejarz Stróże | 22 |
| 2 | Paweł Abbott | Zawisza Bydgoszcz | 15 |
 Vladimir Boljević | Cracovia | ||
 Marcus Vinicius | Arka Gdynia | ||
| 5 | Arkadiusz Aleksander | Sandecja / Flota | 13 |
| Jakub Grzegorzewski | Miedź Legnica | ||
| Dariusz Pawlusiński | Termalica Bruk-Bet Nieciecza | ||
| Mateusz Piątkowski | Dolcan Ząbki | ||
| Przemysław Pitry | GKS Katowice | ||
| 10 | Sebastian Olszar | Flota Świnoujście | 11 |
| Deniss Rakels | GKS Katowice |
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sebastian Nowak | Termalica | 16 |
| 2 | Piotr Misztal | GKS Tychy | 13 |
| 3 | Grzegorz Kasprzik | Flota | 11 |
| Krzysztof Pilarz | Cracovia | ||
| Michał Wróbel | Olimpia Grudziądz | ||
| 6 | Łukasz Budziłek | GKS Katowice | 9 |
| Marcin Cabaj | Sandecja | ||
| Rafał Leszczyński | Dolcan | ||
| 9 | Wojciech Kaczmarek | Zawisza | 8 |
| Piotr Skiba | Stomil |