MFK Košice

Full name	Mestský Futbalový Klub Košice
Nickname(s)	Vraňare (The Crowmen)
Founded	1952 (as Spartak VSS Košice)
Ground	Štadión Lokomotívy v Čermeli, Košice (capacity: 9,000)
Chairman	Blažej Podolák
Head Coach	Ján Kozák
League	Corgoň Liga
2011–12	11th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

MFK Košice is a professional Slovak first division football club based in Košice. The club, founded in 1952, won the Slovak League twice, the Slovak Cup four times and the Czechoslovak Cup once. The most successful era of the club has been in 70's and 90's years of past century which they have spent mostly in the top tier of Czechoslovak and Slovak Football. The club have had two the UEFA Euro 1976 champions namely Dušan Galis and Jaroslav Pollák.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early history 1.2 VSS 1.3 90's 1.4 1997-98 Champions League campaign 1.5 Recent history 1.6 Home Stadium 2 Rivalries 3 Historical names 4 Players 4.1 Current squad 4.2 Out on loan 4.3 Reserve team 4.3.1 Squad 5 Notable players 6 Managerial history 7 Honours 8 Košice in Europe 8.1 UEFA-administered 8.2 Not UEFA-administered 9 References 10 External links

History

Early history

The first club in the city was founded in 1903 as Kassai AC; Slovak: Košický Atletický Klub; Hungarian: Kassai Atlétikai Club. The club's colours were blue and yellow. In 10's years past century the club competed in Championship of Hungarian country. In 1909 Kassai AC won this Championship. Later they played in eastern group in Slovak-Subcarpathian division during four years 1935-1938. In 1939-40 the club played Hungarian League I. Most successful Kassai AC players were Szaniszló, Šiňovský, Drotár brothers, Klein, Lebenský, Dráb, Pásztor and others. Many years the club was settled at stadium on Sokoljevova Street with capacity 16,000 spectators. The stadium was often full. After ended World War II three city's clubs Kassai AC, Kassai Törekvés and ČsŠK were fused to one club named Jednota Košice. Jednota began played Czechoslovak League since 1945. In first season they ended league as fourth in Group B. It was nice success at the time.

VSS

VSS Košice kit.

Kassai AC and Jednota became VSS in 1952. The team was called Strojári; in English: Engineers, due to their main sponsors VSS (East-Slovakian Engineering). VSS was a stable member of the Czechoslovak First League and their best placing was second in 1970-71. In 1971 and 1973 VSS qualified for the UEFA Cup. In 1971 they won 2-1 against Spartak Moscow in the home leg, but they lost 0-2 in Moscow and were eliminated from the competition. Two years later VSS qualified for the UEFA Cup. Against Honvéd FC they won 1-0 home and lost 2-5 away. Most successful VSS players were Andrej Kvašňák, Titus Buberník, Jaroslav Pollák, Dušan Galis (Euro 1976 Champions both), Anton Švajlen, Ján Pivarník, Jozef Bomba, Jozef Desiatnik and others. VSS was renamed to ZŤS in 1978.

90's

The twice Slovak football champions (1997, 1998) were relegated from the premier division in 2003 after the proposed sale of the club to Italian owners^[1] in 2001 by the former owner and late VSŽ steelmaking tycoon Alexander Rezeš fell through. Although Rezeš's^[2] dream to turn 1. FC Košice into a top European club never came true, he managed to lift an average second division team to the first group stage of the UEFA Champions' League in 1997/98. However, the next year's failure to make the same stage of the major European competition, and failure to defend the league title, combined with the change of government which undermined the position of the Rezeš clan (Alexander Rezeš was economy minister of Vladimír Mečiar's government in 1994-97) represented the beginning of the end of the "millionaires". Their home stadium was the Všešportový areál.^[3][4]

1997-98 Champions League campaign

1. FC famously became the first Slovak club to reach the lucrative UEFA Champions League Group Stages when they did so in the 1997-1998 season. Also during this Champions League campaign, 1. FC Košice became the first club in the Champions League history to record no points at all in the group stage, losing all their six games.

1. FC Košice are best known outside their homeland for their two clashes with Manchester United in the 1997-1998 European Champions League group stages. Manchester United won both legs with the same score, 3-0. During this brief campaign in Europe's most prestigious club competition, Kosice suffered a tragedy when midfielder Milan Čvirik was killed in a car crash at the age of 21.

1. FC Košice kit. Orange and black symbolized of former sponsor VSŽ.

Recent history

2003-04 season, on the brink of financial collapse and relegation from the second division, the owners of 1. FC, were offered help by the president of Steel Trans Ličartovce Blažej Podolák,^[5] one of the favourites to advance to the premier league that season. Steel Trans also paid for the Čermeľ stadium in Košice, where all former 1. FC teams – now under the protective wings of Ličartovce – will play their matches. Košice, the second largest city in Slovakia, now had no club in the top two divisions (although many can remember two in the Czechoslovak federal league). Another great team from the past, FC Lokomotíva Košice, is in the third division. It was quite difficult to predict the future of football in the city, whose major stadium is in a catastrophic condition and whose football officials turn a deaf ear to cries for help.

Reformed on 17 June 2005, the club was renamed MFK Košice from FC Steel Trans Ličartovce. They ended the season gaining promotion back to the premier league.

Home Stadium

Stadium in city district Čermeľ is a multi-use stadium in Košice, Slovakia. It is currently used mostly for football matches as the home ground of MFK Košice since 1997. The stadium holds 10,787 (8,787 seated) spectators and was built in 1970. Initially was the stadium used by Lokomotíva Košice and 1.FC Košice (now MFK) there are playing since 1997. The Slovakia national football team there played a few matches, but the stadium does not meet UEFA criteria for international events today. The club planned construction of the new stadium for 20,000 spectators in neighbourhood of the old not used Všešportový areál stadium.^[6][7][8][9] The estimated cost of the stadium is €28 million. However, the construction was not launched and it is not clear when it starts.^[10]

Rivalries

MFK Košice's most important rivalry is with FC Lokomotíva Košice. The match between them is called, Košické Derby (Košice Derby). MFK Košice and Lokomotíva Košice include among historically the most successful football teams in the country. The next biggest rivalry is with 1. FC Tatran Prešov. Matches between these two clubs are referred to as the Východniarske derby (Eastern Slovak derby). They also have rivalries with ŠK Slovan Bratislava, FC Spartak Trnava and MŠK Žilina. MFK Košice supporters are called Viva Košice. MFK Košice supporters maintain friendly relations with fans of MFK Zemplín Michalovce and Czech Sparta Prague.

Historical names

Club name	Period
TJ Spartak VSS	1952–1956
TJ Spartak	1956–1957
TJ Jednota	1957–1962
TJ VSS	1962–1979
ZŤS	1979–1990
ŠK Unimex Jednota VSS	1990–1992
1. FC	1992–2004
MFK	2005–

Note: The club played 2004–2005 season as Steel Trans Ličartovce reserve squad.

Players

Current squad

As of 22 March 2013.^[11] Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Matúš Ružinský 2 DF Boris Sekulić 4 DF Ivan Ostojić 5 DF Tomáš Huk 6 MF Jozef Skvašík 8 MF Ondrej Duda 10 MF Peter Šinglár (captain) 11 FW Oumar Diaby 14 DF František Pavúk 15 DF Mikuláš Tóth 16 DF Peter Kavka 17 MF Peter Gál-Andrezly

No. Position Player 18 DF Sergej Pilipčuk 19 MF Miroslav Viazanko 20 FW Róbert Jano 21 GK Roland Repiský 23 MF Uroš Matić 24 MF Kamil Karaš 25 GK Darko Tofiloski 27 FW Karim Coulibaly 28 MF Martin Bukata 31 FW Mojmír Trebuňák 38 DF Peter Bašista (Vice-captain) 44 DF Juraj Hovančík

For recent transfers, see List of Slovak football transfers winter 2012-13.

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player FW Erik Pačinda (at FC Tours) DF Lukáš Džogan (at Košice - Barca)

No. Position Player FW Róbert Ujčík (at SFM Senec) MF Kamil Kuzma (at SFM Senec)

Reserve team

MFK Košice B are the reserve team of MFK Košice. They currently play in the Slovak 3. Liga (Eastern division).

Squad

Head coach: Jozef Móder
Assistant coach: Ján Lesniak

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

No. Position Player 3 DF Radoslav Gondoľ 9 MF Lukáš Urban 11 MF Radoslav Krištan 20 MF René Sučák

No. Position Player 21 GK Slavomír Huk 32 DF Radoslav Kamenec 35 DF Zoltán Žebík 37 DF Matej Hejnus

Notable players

See also: MFK Košice players

The following players were playing for their national team or they were popular among the fans.

Bohumil Andrejko Jozef Bomba Jaroslav Boroš Titus Buberník Andrej Daňko Jozef Desiatnik Karol Dobai Alexander Felszeghy Dušan Galis Michal Hipp František Hoholko Štefan Jutka Július Kánássy

František Králka Andrej Kvašňák Ladislav Molnár Ján Pivarník Jaroslav Pollák Adolf Scherer Juraj Šomoši Jozef Štafura Ladislav Štovčík Ján Strausz Anton Švajlen Ladislav Tamáš Vladimír Weiss

Rudolf Zibrínyi Nemanja Matić Kosta Bjedov Marko Milinković Kamil Čontofalský Pavol Diňa Peter Dzúrik Vladimír Janočko Ivan Kozák Ján Kozák Jozef Kožlej Radoslav Kráľ Szilárd Németh Ján Novák

Tomáš Oravec Marek Sapara Miroslav Seman Róbert Semeník Július Šimon Miroslav Sovič Marek Špilár Rudolf Urban Radoslav Zabavník Vladislav Zvara Ruslan Lyubarskyi

Managerial history

Name Nationality Period Jozef Vengloš 1969–73 Jozef Jankech 1973–75 Štefan Jačiansky 1975–76 Alexander Felszeghy 1976–77 Jozef Karel 1980–81 Vladimír Hrivnák 1982 František Skyva 1983 Michal Baránek 1984 Andrej Ištók 1985 Jozef Jankech 1991 Jozef Móder 1992 Ján Zachar 1993 Stanislav Seman 1994 Jozef Obert 1994 Ján Zachar 1994 Dušan Radolský 1995–96

Name Nationality Period Ján Kozák 1996–97 Karol Pecze 1997–98 Ján Kozák 1998–99 Ján Zachar 1999 Ladislav Molnár 1999–00 Jozef Valovič 2000–01 Erik Bogdanovský 2001–02 Jaroslav Gürtler 2002 Andrej Daňko 2002–03 Bohumil Andrejko 2003 Ján Kozák July 2005 – Jan 10 Goran Milojević Jan 2010 – June 2010 Žarko Đurović July 2010 – Sept 2010 Štefan Tarkovič Sept 2010 – June 2011 Ladislav Šimčo July 2011 – April 2012 Ján Kozák April 2012 –

Honours

• Slovak League First Division/Corgoň Liga (1939 – 1944, 1993 – Present)
  • Winners: 1996–97, 1997–98
  • Runners-up: 1994–95, 1995–96, 1999–00

• Slovak Cup (1961 – Present)
  • Winners: 1972–73, 1979–80, 1992–93, 2008–09
  • Runners-up: 1997–98, 1999–00

• Slovak Super Cup (1993 – Present)
  • Winners: 1997
  • Runners-up: 1998, 2009

• Slovak League Second Division (1993 – Present)
  • Champions: 2005–06

• Czechoslovak First League (1925 – 1938, 1945 – 1993)
  • Runners-up: 1970–71

• Czechoslovak Cup (1961 – 1993)
  • Winners: 1992–93
  • Runners-up: 1963–64, 1972–73, 1979–80

Košice in Europe

UEFA-administered

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Agg.	Home leg	Away leg
1971–72	UEFA Cup	1st. Round	Spartak Moscow	2–3	2–1	0–2
1973–74	UEFA Cup	1st. Round	Budapest Honvéd	3–5	1–0	2–5
1993–94	Cup Winners' Cup	Qualifying	FK Žalgiris	3–1	2–1	1–0
		1st. Round	Beşiktaş	2–3	2–1	0–2
1995	UEFA Intertoto Cup	Group Stage	Wimbledon		1–1
			Beitar Jerusalem			5–3
			Charleroi		3–2
			Bursaspor			1–1
1995–96	UEFA Cup	Preliminary	Újpest	1–3	0–1	1–2
1996–97	UEFA Cup	Preliminary	KS Teuta	6–2	2–1	4–1
		Qualifying	Celtic	0–1	0–0	0–1
1997–98	Champions League	1st. Qualifying	ÍA	4–0	3–0	1–0
		2nd. Qualifying	Spartak Moscow	2–1	2–1	0–0
		Group Stage	Manchester United		0–3	0–3
			Juventus		0–1	2–3
			Feyenoord		0–1	0–2
1998–99	Champions League	1st. Qualifying	Cliftonville	13–1	8–0	5–1
		2nd. Qualifying	Brøndby	1–2	0–2	1–0
	UEFA Cup	1st. Round	Liverpool	0–8	0–3	0–5
2000–01	UEFA Cup	Qualifying	Ararat	4–3	1–1	3–2
		1st. Round	Grazer AK	2–3	2–3	0–0
2009–10	Europa League	3rd. Qualifying	FK Slavija	5–1	3–1	2–0
		Play-off	Roma	4–10	3–3	1–7

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Champions League	14	6	1	7	22	17	+5
Europa League	4	2	1	1	9	11	–2
UEFA Cup	16	5	3	8	18	28	–10
Cup Winners' Cup	4	3	0	1	5	4	+1
UEFA Intertoto Cup	4	2	2	0	10	7	+3
Total	42	18	7	17	64	67	–3

^{Key – Pld: Played, W: Won, D: Drawn, L: Lost, GF: Goals For, GA: Goals Against, GD: Goal Difference.}

Not UEFA-administered

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home leg	Away leg
1964–65	Intertoto Cup	Group B3	Szombierki Bytom	4–2	0–3
			Vorwärts Berlin	0–0	3–0
			Wiener Sportclub	3–2	1–1
1965–66	Intertoto Cup	Group B2	Empor Rostock	0–3	0–1
			Zagłębie Sosnowiec	4–3	0–3
			Radnički Niš	2–7	2–0
1966–67	Intertoto Cup	Group B5	Vorwärts Berlin	1–3	4–0
			Elfsborg	3–0	0–6
			Borussia Neunkirchen	2–0	2–2
1967	Intertoto Cup	Group B6	Dynamo Dresden	0–0	2–1
			AIK	4–0	1–1
			AGF	3–1	1–1
1968	Intertoto Cup	Group B4	Szombierki Bytom	2–3	2–0
			Djurgårdens	1–0	3–2
			Werder Bremen	1–0	3–1
1969	Intertoto Cup	Group 8	Wisła Kraków	0–4	4–0
			Lierse	2–1	1–1
			EfB	3–1	4–0
1970	Intertoto Cup	Group A5	Åtvidaberg	0–1	2–0
			MSV Duisburg	1–1	3–0
			Holland Sport Haag	4–1	2–0
1974	Intertoto Cup	Group 9	ŁKS Łódź	1–1	1–3
			Randers Freja	6–1	3–1
			Sturm Graz	6–0	2–2
1976	Intertoto Cup	Group 11	Widzew Łódź	0–1	0–2
			KB	1–2	2–3
			Start	2–0	1–0

References

External links

• Official website
• MFK Košice on Facebook