FC Petržalka (Slovakia)

FC Petržalka is a football club from the Slovak capital of Bratislava that was formed on June 7th, 1898, as Pozsonyi Torna Egyesület out of the sports club of that name, which had started out life in 1890. The team initially played in the regional Hungarian football system.

Štadión za Starým Mostom, close to the south bank of the Danube, was officially opened in 1900 with Slovan Bratislava sharing the venue. In 1913, the club became the champions of Upper Hungary. Slovak teams joined the Czechoslovak football system from 1935-36, with Pozsonyi playing in the lower grades.

They changed their title to Engerau Pressburg at the outbreak of World War II in 1939, before becoming known as ŠK Petržalka in 1945, and then Kovosmalt Petržalka from 1949, before a further change to Spartak Kovosmalt Bratislava from 1953. Yet another change of title followed in 1963, with TJ Považské Strojárne Bratislava becoming the new name.

Two years later, the simplified SKS Petržalka was adopted. The name changes continued as the team continued along in the lower reaches of the Slovak leagues, as the club became TJ ZŤS Petržalka in 1976.

In 1986, the club merged with TJ Internacionál Slovnaft Bratislava to form TJ Internacionál Slovnaft ZŤS Bratislava to take the position of Inter Bratislava, who had been relegated from the top-level 1. Československá Fotbalová Liga. The team edged out city rivals Slovan to win the 1. Slovenská Národná Futbalová Liga title at the first attempt. 

The side consolidated back in the top tier while lifting the Slovenský Pohár, Slovak Cup in 1987-88 against Spartak Trnava, before finishing in third place in 1989-90. After a further season, the arrangement was annulled. Petržalka went its own way as 1. FC Hydronika Petržalka before becoming 1. FC Petržalka a year later. 

Slovak independence would be the turning point for the club, with opportunities for honours becoming far greater. The club title was changed to FK Artmedia Petržalka in a sponsorship deal with an advertising agency as the team ended the 1993-94 season in fourth place in 2. Liga before climbing to third the season afterwards.

The team raced to the 2. Liga title in 1995-96 before consolidating in the Super Liga for a couple of seasons at the redeveloped Štadión Petržalka, as Štadión za Starým Mostom was more commonly known. Tomáš Medveď top-scored in another mid-table finish in 1999-00 under coach Vladimír Weiss. 

Fourth place in a ten-team top flight was attained the following campaign, prior to Henrich Benčík topping the scoring charts in 2001-02. Artmedia finished as Super Liga runners-up in 2002-03 to receive a taste of UEFA Cup football the following season, which was ended by Bordeaux in the first round. 

The team captained by Štefan Maixner went on to lift the Slovak Cup as goals from Marek Krejčí and Martin Mikulič helped see off Steel Trans Ličartovce 2-0. The 2004-05 campaign saw the team crowned as Slovak champions as Filip Šebo and Branislav Fodrek banged in the goals. The double was nearly completed, but for a 2-1 Cup final defeat to Dukla Banská Bystrica.

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The 2005-06 UEFA Champions League campaign saw Artmedia play their home games at Slovan’s Tehelné pole, where they defeated Kairat Almaty and Celtic, including a 5-0 home win, which can be seen here before FK Partizan were disposed of for the team to reach the group stages.

A third place in Group G alongside Internazionale, Rangers, and FC Porto led to a place in the UEFA Cup, where they went out to Levski Sofia. Domestically, the goals of Juraj Halenár and Lukáš Hartig helped the side make the runners-up spot. Tomáš Oravec ended as league top scorer as Artmedia finished as Super Liga runners-up in 2006-07. 

Victories over WIT Georgia and Dinamo Minsk set up a UEFA Cup tie with RCD Espanyol, which saw the Slovaks go out on aggregate. Further UEFA Cup wins were achieved by the club now known as FC Artmedia Petržalka in 2007-08 before Panathinaikos ended the run. 

However, it was a golden domestic campaign under Weiss on his return after a year away as the Super Liga title was won with Ján Kozák and Halenár both scoring regularly. A last-minute Zbyněk Pospěch goal was enough for Artmedia, captained by Kornel Saláta, to defeat Spartak Trnava in the Cup final. 

Following the triumphant season, club owner Ivan Kmotrík, Weiss, and the main sponsor left the club. A couple of Champions League wins against Valletta FC and Tampere United led to defeat against Juventus in 2008-09 before the team finished midway in the Super Liga and reached the Slovenský Pohár, where they lost 3-1 to MFK Košice under coach Michal Hipp, as Vojtech Horváth bagged the consolation goal.

At the end of the season, most of the players departed as the club name was changed to MFK Petržalka. Players were signed from Inter Bratislava, whose license had been sold to FK Senica. Former Artmedia youngsters made up the rest of the side as they were relegated before Štadión Petržalka was closed.

Rechristened as FC Petržalka 1898, the side finished third in 1. Liga in the 2010-11 season, in which Radoslav Augustín top scored while the club played at Štadión FK Rapid Ružinov across the other side of Bratislava. In 2011-12, the team finished rock bottom and were relegated to 3. Liga, where they finished eleventh in 2012-13. 

This was in their new Štadión FC Petržalka1898. Fourteenth place in 2013-14 was the least of the club's worries. It heralded the end of the original club through bankruptcy despite the efforts of several owners after the departure of Kmotrík. The club was quickly reformed as FC Petržalka Akadémia.

Petržalka was placed in 5. Liga, which was won at the first attempt, but the club was denied promotion owing to a reorganisation of the Slovak football system. The team regrouped and won the title again in 2015-16. The 4. Liga championship was won in 2016-17 after the team put a run of twenty-five unbeaten matches together. 

The club was retitled as FC Petržalka. In 2017-18, ‘Engerau’ saw off the challenge of FC Rohožník to lift the 3. Liga title to return the status where the old club ended its life. Miroslav Mentel coached the side captained by Juraj Piroska to an eighth-place finish in 2018-19 before Vladimír Koník stepped in to coach the team.

He was replaced by Ladislav Pecko for the 2020-21 season, before the new man was succeeded by Mario Auxt. Another mid-table finish led to the appointment of coach Ján Haspra in July 2022. Things didn't work out, as within months, Alexander Zachariáš came in as his replacement.

Haris Harba's goals were the only highlight in 2022-23, before the arrival of Michal Kuruc as coach. He took Petržalka to the playoffs the following season, where Zemplín Michalovce ended dreams of promotion over two legs. Ľubomír Reiter was given the head coach's job in the summer of 2025.

FC Petržalka will play in 2. Liga in the 2025-26 season.

My visit

Monday 9th March 2020

I found myself on a half-day visit to Bratislava at the back end of my long weekend to Vienna. The Slovak capital had grown on me after a slow start as I reflected on a fine day out over some excellent, cheap local beer in The Dubliner Irish Pub on Sedlárska.

A friend back home, Richard Oldale, had been most helpful with advice, and he’d mentioned the home of Petržalka across the river. I must confess to not knowing their full history. Perhaps their old title of Artmedia would have rung a bell?

It was a lovely late afternoon, and I reckoned I could be there and back within forty minutes to still allow more drinking time before my train back to Vienna in time to tick off another new ground in the Diocese Football League.

Off I set in search of Zochova bus stop and the number 84 heading to Ovsište. I was astonished at just how many buses came and went. Eventually, my service showed up as we headed past the castle and over the Danube.

We passed near to where the now long-gone Štadión Petržalka once stood, through new build housing not dissimilar to many suburban city estates, before I jumped out at the Ovsištské nám stop by a parade of shops on either side of Mamateyova. It was just a couple of minutes to the Štadión FC Petržalka1898, where some youngsters were having a game in the goalmouth on the artificial pitch. 

It was a neat and tidy, if small, venue with no spectator accommodation behind the goals. One side of the pitch had a few rows of open seating with a modern covered seated stand opposite on the same side as club rooms and facilities backing onto the École Française Internationale de Bratislava French school.

While happy that I’d made the effort, the earlier beer had left me needing a loo. I saw what looked like some bars in the parade. I had struck lucky. The end premises had a sign outside saying FC Petržalka Pub! I got a few looks from locals when I went in, obviously wondering what a tourist was doing down there. 

The barman was sound and advised that I go for the Czech Svijanský Máz. It was €1.30 a pint, so who was I to argue! The first one didn’t take much drinking as I’d done plenty of walking and needed to refuel. I soon abandoned the idea of heading back to the old town. What was the point? Instead, I gave the football club my trade for another hour.

Even better was that I could catch the 99 bus, where I’d previously alighted, to Petržalka station, where I needed to catch the train back to Vienna. It was a bit of a tight call as well inevitably got delayed by the lights, but I made it with a couple of minutes to spare.

I’d had a fantastic day out but was now ready to nod most of the way back to regather some energy to head off for a bit of live football action at WAF Vorwärts Brigittenau, which can be viewed here.