ŠK Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia)

Športový klub Slovan Bratislava futbal is a football club from the Slovak capital of Bratislava that was formed on May 3rd 1919 as 1. ČsŠK Bratislava at a meeting at the Panonia Café in the city.

The club became league champions of Zväzové Majstrovstvá Slovenska on five occasions, 1925, 1925-26, 1926-27, 1929-30 and 1931-32. Star players of the time were Pavol Šoral, Štefan Čambal and Štefan Priboj.

Anti-Jewish feeling at the time meant coach József Braun being among those who fled the city. The club changed their title to ŠK Bratislava, going on to lift the renamed Slovenská liga title in 1939-40, 1940-41, 1941-42 and 1943-44 with Ferdinand Daučík managing the side in the final triumph.

The club opened their new Tehelné pole home stadium in 1940 prior to changing their name to Sokol NV Bratislava in 1949 which was the same year that the club won the Československá Prvá Liga title with former player Leopold "Jim" Šťastný in charge of the side.

NV Bratislava retained the title in 1950 and 1951 to make it three in a row before ending as runners up in 1952. Outstanding players of the period included Emil Pažický, Gejza Šimanský, Bozhin Laskov, Viktor Tegelhoff, and Teodor Reimann.

Anton Bulla became coach in 1953, as he changed the side without success leading to the return of Šťastný who took the club, now named Slovan Bratislava, to the 1955 championship with Pažický continuing to bang in the goals until his move to Iskra Žilina.

A runners-up berth was secured in 1956 prior to another second place in 1959-60 under coach Štefan Jačiansky which was backed up with third place twelve months later. The Československý Pohár, the knockout competition for Czechoslovakia was inaugurated in 1960-61. It wouldn’t be long before Slovan enjoyed success in it.

In 1961-62 Dukla Praha were beaten 4-1 in a replay before the trophy was retained the following season as Dynamo Praha, as Slavia were titled at the time, were defeated 9-0 in a replay after the first game ended goalless with Karol Borhy and a returning Bulla the successful coach’s.

1962 saw Czechoslovakia reach the World Cup final in Santiago where they went down to Brazil with Slovan players Viliam Schrojf, Ján Popluhár and Pavol Molnár in the squad. Šťastný returned for a third spell as coach to lead his charges to league runners-up in 1963-64.

‘Belasí’, the sky blues, lost in the final of the Pohar to Dukla Praha on penalties in 1964-65. The trophy was won for a third time in 1967-68 as Dukla were defeated on aggregate under coach Ján Hucko.

League runners-up places were also achieved in 1966-67 and 1967-68 and then once again in 1968-69 as the team also competed and then won the European Cup Winners Cup to become the only Czech or Slovak club to win a European title.

FK Bor, FC Porto, Torino and Dunfermline Athletic were defeated to set up a final against FC Barcelona at St. Jakob Stadium in Basel. Michal Vičan’s Slovan side skippered by Alexander Horváth won 3-2 thanks to goals from Ľudovít Cvetler, Vladimír Hrivnák and Ján Čapkovič.

The 1969-70 campaign saw Slovan become champions of the Czechoslovak First League for a fifth time as well as entering and winning the Slovenský Pohár, Slovak Cup after defeating Dukla Banská Bystrica as well as finishing as beaten finalists to TJ Gottwaldov in the Československý Pohár.

Seven players were selected for the Czechoslovakian squad for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico; Alexander Vencel, Ján Zlocha, Ivan Hrdlička, Karol Jokl, Ján Čapkovič, Hrivnák and Horváth.

1971-72 saw the team under Ján Hucko’s coaching finish as league and Československý Pohár runners-up to Sparta Praha before winning the Slovak Cup against Spartak Trnava after being beaten in the final twelve months previously.

Slovan enjoyed a superb 1973-74 campaign as they became league champions, won the Czechoslovak Cup against Slavia Praha and then the Slovenský Pohár after defeating Spartak Trnava in a penalty shoot out.

The 1. Fotbalová Liga title was retained as Slovan became Czechoslovak champions for a seventh time in 1974-75 with the team finishing as Czechoslovak league and cup runners-up in 1975-76 after going down to Sparta Praha in the cup final. Consolation came in the Slovak Cup with a final victory over city rivals Inter Bratislava.

1976 also saw Czechoslovakia defeat West Germany on penalties to win the European Championships. Slovan provided Alexander Vencel, Jozef Čapkovič, Koloman Gogh, Anton Ondruš, Ján Pivarník, Ján Švehlík and the legendary Marián Masný along with assistant boss Vengloš.

Successful coach Vengloš moved before a brief return until being replaced by Ivan Hrdlička who led the side to the final of the Slovak Cup in 1977-78 where they were defeated by Jednota Trenčín. Anton Malatinský took over the coach’s role for the following three years.

Vičan on his return led the team to lift the Czechoslovak Cup in 1981-82 with a win against Bohemians as well as lifting the Slovak Cup after defeating ZŤS Petržalka from just across the Danube.

The trophy was retained in 1982-83 as Plastika Nitra were beaten on away goals, while Slovan ended as losing finalists in the Czechoslovak Cup against Dukla Praha. However, the side was relegated in 1984-85 to the 1. Slovenská Národní Fotbalová Liga.

Slovan ended as runners-up for two seasons before winning the title and promotion in 1987-88 under coaches Ján Zachar and Jozef Jankech. The team lifted another Slovenský Pohár the following season as ZVL Považská Bystrica were defeated 2-1. The side were beaten in the final of the 1988-89 Czechoslovak Cup by Sparta Praha.

‘Jastrabi z Tehelného poľa’, the Hawks from Brickfield ended as Czechoslovak runners-up in 1990-91 before becoming champions for an eighth and final time in 1991-92 under the tutelage of head coach Dušan Galis.

Star players of the team included Peter Dubovský, Dušan Tittel, Ladislav Pecko, Vladimir Kinder, Miloš Glonek, Tomáš Stúpala, and Alexander Vencel. Dubovský continued to score the goals as Slovan ended in third place in 1992-93 by which time Slovakia had become an independent state.

Galis would lead his team to the Slovak Super Liga and Cup double in 1993-94 with Tatran Prešov beaten by goals by Ľubomír Faktor and Jaroslav Timko in the final. Slovan went on to retain the title in 1994-95 before making it three in a row in 1995-96.

The Cup was collected in 1996-97 as an extra time Miloš Soboňa goal saw off Tatran Prešov. The trophy was won again in 1998-99 as Dukla Banská Bystrica were defeated 3-0 with Slovan also winning the Super Liga crown to complete a second double under coach Stanislav Griga.

Stand out players of the day included Róbert Tomaschek, Miroslav König, Stanislav Varga, Tibor Jančula, and Ladislav Pecko before the club entered a period of financial difficulty with players being sold on a regular basis.

Ľubomír Meszároš and Tibor Jančula banged in the goals as Slovan ended as league runners-up in 2000-01 under coach Stanislav Jarábek before the side were defeated in extra time by Matador Púchov in the Slovenský Pohár final.

The finances continued to affect performances before Slovan were relegated in 2003-04. Coach Jozef Jankech led his charges to promotion from 2. Liga in 2005-06 from where the team consolidated before winning the Super Liga title in 2008-09 with Boris Kitka and then Ladislav Pecko in charge of the side as Pavol Masaryk led the scoring.

It was time to say goodbye to the old Tehelné pole in 2009 as the club looked to build a new arena to satisfy UEFA demands for international football. The club moved a few hundred metres east into Štadión Pasienky.

In 2009-10 Slovan ended as league runners-up but won the Cup 6-0 against Spartak Trnava with Dušan Tittel at the helm. Even better was to come in 2010-11 as the club completed another league and cup double under coach Karel Jarolím.

The team was captained by Igor Žofčák as Filip Šebo ended as top scorer with MŠK Žilina the defeated side on penalties in the Cup final. Yet another double was to arrive in the Slovan trophy cabinet in 2012-13 under coach Samuel Slovák.

Goals from Igor Žofčák and Lester Peltier were enough to defeat MŠK Žilina in the Cup final in a side that included international keeper Pavel Kováč. The league title was retained in 2013-14 with help from the goals of Pavel Fořt and Róbert Vittek before the team went down 2-1 in the Cup final to MFK Košice with Dušan Galis in charge of the side.

The Nikodimos Papavasiliou team of 2015-16 finished as Super Liga and Cup runners-up, a league position that would be repeated in 2016-17 and added to with victory in the Slovenský Pohár against MFK Skalica, with Milan Rundic, Aleksandar Cavric and Seydouba Soumah netting as Ivan Vukomanović led Slovan from the bench.

It was a case of the same again in 2017-18. MFK Ružomberok were defeated 3-0 in the Cup final with goals from Andraž Šporar, Vasil Bozhikov and David Holman as Boris Sekulić captained the side under coach Martin Ševela that ended as league runners-up.

The goals of Šporar assisted by the creativity of Moha, Aleksandar Čavrić and Dejan Dražić led Slovan to a comfortable Super Liga title win in 2018-19 but even better news came off the pitch as the new Tehelné pole on the site of the old stadium was opened after three hears of construction.

Slovan were ten points clear at the top of the table with Ján Kozák in charge of the team when the COVID-19 pandemic halted the 2019-20 season as Rafael Ratão netted regularly alongside Šporar.

ŠK Slovan Bratislava will play in the Super Liga in the 2019-20 season.

My visit

Monday 9^th March 2019

When I’d researched my long weekend in Vienna, I was aware that it was only an hour over the border to Bratislava over the border in Slovakia. It was an opportunity I wasn’t going to turn down.

A return ticket including local travel in both Vienna and Bratislava cost around €16 which seemed to be very good value. After a productive morning visiting the homes of Wacker and Rapid Wien, I grabbed some food at the station and enjoyed the ride.

My first shock was when the train terminated at Petržalka station, south of the Danube. It took some working out how to catch the bus to the city centre. I must confess I was a bit unsure of Bratislava on first impression. I was expecting a bit more. But that would come later.

After taking in the pretty Presidential Garden and the very communist style Freedom Square, I settled for a beer to take stock at the Savage Garden bar and eatery. Once I’d sorted my bearings, I headed to the Kollárovo nám bus stop to take the number 39 to Bajkalská.

Tehelné pole was hidden behind Zimný štadión Ondreja Nepelu, home of the Slovan ice hockey team and a posh hotel. Walking up Bajkalská the modern stadium soon came into view. I walked up some steps which brought me to the ticket office and entrance level.

It was apparent that the fixtures and fittings inside lots of the offices and facilities that would provide future income were still to be completed. Although I got little peeks through the gates inside there was nowhere to get a proper look.

If in doubt I head to where the groundstaff are based. They often leave a gate open or are helpful. It was no good when I dropped down the stairs at the fair end. All I got was little glimpses. I headed for the side where I presumed the offices would be.

The road had barriers, but they seemed slightly ambiguous. Well they did to me in my biased state of mind. I walked along to the main entrance where a young fella was with an older builder. Work was still obviously in progress.

Asking if they spoke English, the younger of the two said just a little bit. The old lad just laughed and shook his head. I asked if it was possible to take a quick look inside and take some photos as I was visiting the city for the say as a tourist.

He apologised and said it wasn’t possible. The senior gent said something to him in Slovak. I’ve no idea what it was but if ever I see him again, I owe him a beer as the junior changed his mind and led me past the VIP area and to the pitchside down the players entrance.

I thanked him for his kindness and was as quick as I could be, not that I should have worried. He seemed to have thawed and was now taking photos for me! I left with a large smile thanking my hosts once again hoping that they wouldn’t get into bother.

I continued back to the main road ready to try and take a look inside Štadión Pasienky.