ŠK Slovan Bratislava

Early years

Slovan was founded on 1 April 1919 in the Panonia Café in Bratislava, as I.ČsŠK Bratislava (the First Czechoslovak Sports Club Bratislava). The first president was Police Captain Richard Brunner, who arranged the club's first temporary training ground at Kuchajda (Pasienky). The club soon moved to Petržalka.

I.ČsŠK became the champions of Slovakia in 1922. Notable players from the early era were Pavol Šoral, Štefan Čambal and Štefan Priboj. In the spring of 1938 anti-Jewish sentiments penetrated into the club, and the victim was coach József Braun, who was one of the many Bratislava inhabitants who had to involuntarily leave the city. Under the terms of the 1938 Munich agreement Czechoslovakia was dissolved, leading to the emergence of the Slovak Republic. At this point the club name was changed to ŠK Bratislava. On 26 September 1940 ŠK Bratislava played its first game at the new stadium, Tehelné pole.

The first international meeting at the new venue was on 27 October 1940, when ŠK Bratislava and Hertha Berlin played out a 2–2 draw. In the separate Slovakian league, ŠK Bratislava won the title four times in the period from 1939 to 1945. Slovan was the first Czechoslovak team to use the WM formation. The team's first foreign opponent after World War II was Ferencvárosi TC. ŠK Bratislava lost 0–1, but won the Central European Cup 2–1 over Hungary before 20,000 spectators at Tehelnom field. In this period former players of I. ČsŠK Bratislava Ferdinand Daučík and Leopold "Jim" Šťastný served as coaches for ŠK Bratislava.

Czechoslovak league

The team name changed again in 1948, to Sokol NV Bratislava. The team met with success in 1949, when they became the first champions of the re-formed Czechoslovakia. Outstanding players from this era included Emil Pažický, Gejza Šimanský, Bozhin Laskov, Viktor Tegelhoff, and Teodor Reimann.

Anton Bulla, the coach in 1953, added eight new players to team. In 1961–62 the team defeated Red Star Bratislava in the national league for the title. Under the influence of political and economic pressures and interests, TJ ÚNV Slovan and TJ Dimitrov merged to create CHZJD Slovan Bratislava on 5 August 1961 (CHZJD stood for the Juraj Dimitrov Chemical Plant).

1962 was a successful year, as the Czechoslovakia national team were defeated 3–1 in the 1962 FIFA World Cup Final in Chile, obtaining the silver, and repeating the success of the 1934 FIFA World Cup Final in Rome. Slovan players included goalkeeper Viliam Schrojf and defender Ján Popluhár.

Slovan ended the 1967–68 season second in the league, won the cup in Czechoslovakia, and participated in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The team was managed by former Slovan player Michal Vičan, who focused on fast and simple games. Vičan took the team on a winter tour of Argentina in 1969.

On 21 May 1969 the team defeated FC Barcelona in the 1969 European Cup Winners' Cup Final by a score of 3–2. Some of the players on the team were Ľudovít Cvetler, Vladimír Hrivnák, Ján Čapkovič, Karol Jokl, Alexander Horváth, Jozef Čapkovič, and Alexander Vencel.

In 1970 the Czechoslovak squad sent to the FIFA World Cup in Mexico included seven players from Slovan: Alexander Vencel, Ján Zlocha, Ivan Hrdlička, Karol Jokl, Ján Čapkovič, Vladimír Hrivnák, and Alexander Horváth. Jozef Vengloš was the coach of the Slovan Bratislava team for part of this era, as well as performing duties coaching at the international level.

In 1976 a Czechoslovakian team including six Slovan players won the European title in the European Championships held in Belgrade. Gold medals were given to coach Vengloš, Alexander Vencel, Jozef Čapkovič, Koloman Gogh, Marián Masný, Anton Ondruš, Ján Pivarník, and Ján Švehlík. From the 1977–78 season Slovan were declining. In the 1984–85 season Slovan, led by coaches Ján Hucko and Jozef Obert, left the highest level of competition and were relegated to the Slovakian National League.

After three seasons spent in the Slovakian National League, Slovan Bratislava were able to return to national competition. In season 1987–88 the team returned to the top leagues under the leadership of coaches Ján Zachar and Jozef Jankech, who later coached the Slovak national team. Dušan Galis was the coach from 1977–81. In 1991–92 Slovan Bratislava won the Czechoslovak title for the last time. Among the stars on the team were Peter Dubovský, Dušan Tittel, Ladislav Pecko, Vladimir Kinder, Miloš Glonek, Tomáš Stúpala, and Alexander Vencel.

Slovak league

Slovan won titles in the Slovak league in the 1993–94, 1994–95 and 1995–96 seasons. For the next two years, MFK Košice won the title. Slovan returned to the Slovak throne in the 1998–99 season. The stars of the team included coach Stanislav Griga and players Róbert Tomaschek, Miroslav König, Stanislav Varga, Tibor Jančula, and Ladislav Pecko. In the next few years the club's performance was below par and they were in trouble financially. They were forced to sell some of their best players. At the end of the 2003–04 season, the team was relegated to the Slovak Second League, where they spent two seasons. After two years, in the 2010–11 season Slovan won the double with coach Karel Jarolím.

Stadiums

Tehelné pole has a capacity of 30,085 spectators, and is 105 m long and 68 m wide.

The stadium was built during the first Slovak Republic, when Nazi Germany occupied Petržalka in 1938 and Bratislava lost almost all of its sporting facilities. The construction lasted from 1939 to 1944 and the stadium became home ground for Slovan Bratislava. The stadium was officially opened in September 1940 with 25,000 places, and the first international match was played on 27 October 1940, with Slovan Bratislava playing against Hertha Berlin, ending in 2–2 tie. The old stadium underwent reconstruction in 1961, which added second tribune, boosting its capacity to 45,000 and modernising by adding score table, artificial light and revamping the field. However, the stadium could hold up even 50,000 spectators, and just before breakup of Czechoslovakia, it was the largest one in use (Strahov Stadium in Prague had a capacity of 220,000 but was disused in the 1990s) and was the home ground for Czechoslovak national team. The stadium was reconstructed once more in the 1990s to the "all-seater" stadium, reducing the capacity into 30,000. After this, the Tehelné pole stadium was the second-largest in Slovakia after Všešportový areál in Košice, however, that stadium is now disused. In 2005–06, it was also used as the "home" ground for FC Artmedia Bratislava in that club's Champions League and UEFA Cup campaigns, as Artmedia's own ground did not meet minimum standards for UEFA competition. It is planned that the current stadium will be demolished and a new one with the capacity around 35,000 people will be built, costing around 80 million Euro. The need for a new stadium stems from the UEFA rules, which require to play international matches on stadiums of certain standards from 2008, however, Slovakia lacks these stadiums so far.

Temporarily, Slovans home ground is Pasienky. Štadión Pasienky is a multi-purpose stadium in Bratislava, Slovakia. The stadium holds 11,591 people.

New stadium

The new stadium of Slovan Bratislava at Tehelné pole is already building up. The new stadium is rising at place, where Slovan has its original home and earned so many achievements. It is a locality, which is typically connected with sports activities in Bratislava. The last match on previous stadium at Tehelné pole was played in November 2009. In September 2016, after long years of negotiations and discussion, the building of new stadium has begun. The capacity of a new stadium is planned for 22 500 spectators and stadium will fulfill UEFA 4 category criteria. New stadium at Tehelné pole should be finished until the end of the 2018.

Supporters and rivalries

The fans are well known throughout the country for their passion. The main ultras groups are called Belasá šlachta and Ultras Slovan Pressburg (which is also a hooligan firm). They travel to most away games, and always in large numbers against club rival Spartak Trnava. Slovan supporters maintain friendly relations with fans of FC Zbrojovka Brno and FK Austria Wien.

Slovan's major rival teams in Bratislava were Inter Bratislava and MFK Petržalka. The battle between Slovan and Inter has a long and rich history: both teams played in the Czechoslovak First League. The rivalry with Petržalka peaked after 2000. The biggest opponent of Slovan Bratislava is Spartak Trnava. Duels between these teams are most prestigious matches in Slovakia.

Historical names

Crest

The first official club logo was when club played under the named I. ČSŠK Bratislava (1st image in the gallery). Currently, club logo has two versions, classic club logo, which is usually used and commercial logo with three stars.

Transfers

Slovan have produced numerous players who have gone on to represent the Slovak national football team. Over the last period there has been a steady increase of young players leaving Slovan after a few years of first team football and moving on to play football in leagues of a higher standard, with the German Bundesliga (best scorer Róbert Vittek to 1. FC Nürnberg in 2003), English Premier League (Vladimír Kinder to Middlesbrough in 1997, Stanislav Varga to Sunderland in 2000, Igor Bališ to West Bromwich in 2000), Turkish Süper Lig (Marko Milinković to Gençlerbirliği S.K. in 2016, Ľubomír Meszároš to Elazığspor in 2002, Marián Zeman to İstanbulspor A.Ş. in 1995), Italy (Marek Hamšík to Brescia Calcio in 2004), Spanish La Liga (Samuel Slovák to CD Tenerife in 1997 and Peter Dubovský to Real Madrid C.F. for 110mil SKK (4.3mil €) in 1993 which was the highest ever paid to a Slovak club ). Other interesting transfers were Dušan Tittel to Nîmes Olympique in 1992, Igor Demo to PSV Eindhoven in 1997, Róbert Tomaschek to Heart of Midlothian F.C. in 2000, Kornel Saláta to FC Rostov in 2011 and Branislav Niňaj to Lokeren in 2015.

Record transfers

*-unofficial fee

Domestic

Czechoslovakia

Slovakia

Czechoslovak and Slovak Top Goalscorer

The Czechoslovak League top scorer from 1944–45 until 1992–93. Since the 1993–94 Slovak League Top scorer.

European

UEFA Ranking

This is the current 2016–17 UEFA coefficient:

League and domestic Cup history

Slovak League only (1993-present)

European competition history

As of 23 October 2014

This is the list of Slovan Bratislava appearances in European competition for the last 5 years.

Current squad

As of 3 March 2017
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

For recent transfers, see List of Slovak football transfers winter 2016–17.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Current technical staff

Reserve team

ŠK Slovan Bratislava juniori are the reserve team of ŠK Slovan Bratislava. They currently play in the Slovak second league.

Current squad

As of 17 November 2015 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

For recent transfers, see List of Slovak football transfers winter 2016–17.

Most goals

Players whose name is listed in bold are still active.

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Slovan.

Main Article: List of ŠK Slovan Bratislava players

Managers

Czech manager Karel Jarolím led Slovan to a league and cup double in the 2010–11 season, a feat also achieved by Stanislav Griga in 1998–99 and Dušan Galis in 1993–94. Ivan Vukomanović is the current manager of Slovan Bratislava, having taken over in August 2016.

Recent managers

This is the list of managers which lead Slovan Bratislava in the last 5 years.