2011–12 Nemzeti Bajnokság I (women's handball)
| 2011–12 Nemzeti Bajnokság I | |
|---|---|
| League | Nemzeti Bajnokság I |
| Sport | Team handball |
| Duration | 4 September 2011 – 19 May 2012 |
| Regular season | |
| Top scorer |
 Anita Bulath (HUN)(159 goals) |
| Playoffs | |
| NB I champions | Győri Audi ETO KC |
| NB I runners-up | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria |
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 absoved 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, 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.
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. 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.
...
Wikipedia