Polish Cup

The Polish Cup in football is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. Due to mass participation of teams, the tournament is often called The Cup of the Thousand Teams.

Participation is open to any club registered with the Polish FA, regardless of whether it competes in any league in the national pyramid. Reserve and oldboys teams are also eligible, with reserve teams particularly reaching the final on two occasions (and winning it once). The Cup is popular among lower level teams, as it gives them a chance to play better known sides. In some cases, the underdogs even reached the final, with the most famous example being Czarni Żagań, which in 1964–1965 season lost the final game 0–4 to Górnik Zabrze.

Lower league clubs have to enter regional qualification rounds and the winners of these join the teams from the first and second division in the competition proper. The regional qualifications are played in the preceding season, so that one edition of Polish Cup for lower ranked clubs can last two seasons. Each tie is decided by a single game which is held at the lower league side's stadium. The final used to be a single match, but 2002–2006 it was contested over two legs, Italian style. Since 2007, the Cup has returned to the single-game final.

First edition of the Polish Cup took place in 1926, but it was quickly abandoned. In the late 1930s, the President of Poland's Football Cup (1936 - 1939) was organized, which featured teams of the Polish Football Association's regional districts.

Polish Cup winners
Previous cup winners are:


 * 1926: Wisła Kraków
 * 1927–50: Not Played
 * 1951: Ruch Chorzów
 * 1952: Polonia Warsaw
 * 1953: Not Played
 * 1954: Gwardia Warsaw
 * 1955: Legia Warsaw
 * 1956: Legia Warsaw
 * 1957: ŁKS Łódź
 * 1958–61: Not Played
 * 1962: Zagłębie Sosnowiec
 * 1963: Zagłębie Sosnowiec
 * 1964: Legia Warsaw
 * 1965: Górnik Zabrze
 * 1966: Legia Warsaw
 * 1967: Wisła Kraków
 * 1968: Górnik Zabrze
 * 1969: Górnik Zabrze
 * 1970: Górnik Zabrze
 * 1971: Górnik Zabrze
 * 1972: Górnik Zabrze
 * 1973: Legia Warsaw
 * 1974: Ruch Chorzów
 * 1975: Stal Rzeszów
 * 1976: Śląsk Wrocław
 * 1977: Zagłębie Sosnowiec
 * 1978: Zagłębie Sosnowiec
 * 1979: Arka Gdynia
 * 1980: Legia Warsaw
 * 1981: Legia Warsaw
 * 1982: Lech Poznań
 * 1983: Lechia Gdańsk
 * 1984: Lech Poznań
 * 1985: Widzew Łódź
 * 1986: GKS Katowice
 * 1987: Śląsk Wrocław
 * 1988: Lech Poznań
 * 1989: Legia Warsaw
 * 1990: Legia Warsaw
 * 1991: GKS Katowice
 * 1992: Miedź Legnica
 * 1993: GKS Katowice
 * 1994: Legia Warsaw
 * 1995: Legia Warsaw
 * 1996: Ruch Chorzów
 * 1997: Legia Warsaw
 * 1998: Amica Wronki
 * 1999: Amica Wronki
 * 2000: Amica Wronki
 * 2001: Polonia Warsaw
 * 2002: Wisła Kraków
 * 2003: Wisła Kraków
 * 2004: Lech Poznań
 * 2005: Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wlkp.
 * 2006: Wisła Płock
 * 2007: Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wlkp.
 * 2008: Legia Warsaw
 * 2009: Lech Poznań
 * 2010: Jagiellonia Białystok
 * 2011: Legia Warsaw
 * 2012: Legia Warsaw
 * 2013: Legia Warsaw
 * 2014: Zawisza Bydgoszcz
 * 2015: Legia Warsaw
 * 2016: Legia Warsaw
 * 2017: Arka Gdynia