FC Spartak Trnava

FC Spartak Trnava is a Slovak professional football club based in Trnava. Historically, it is one of the most successful clubs in the country, having won the Czechoslovak First League five times and the Czechoslovak Cup on four occasions, and reaching the semi-final of the European Cup once and the quarter-final twice. More recently, the club won the Slovak league title in 2018, as well as Slovak cup in 2019, 2022 and 2023. History The club was founded on 30 May 1923 by the merger of Šk Čechie and ČšŠk into TSS Trnava. After a communist takeover it became affiliated with the metal industry and was renamed to TJ Kovosmalt ("Metal-enamel"). Previous names ŠK Rapid Trnava (1923–39) TSS Trnava (1939–48) Sokol NV Trnava (1948–49) ZTJ Kovosmalt Trnava (1949–53) Spartak Trnava (1953–67) Spartak TAZ Trnava (1967–88) Spartak ZTS Trnava (1988–93) FC Spartak Trnava (1993–) Golden era In 1952, the club gained its current name, but the performance in those years was very unstable, Spartak played the 2nd league and after advancing to the highest competition, they occupied mostly the lower parts of the table. A better position came only in the 1959/60 season, when Spartak took 4th place. The Golden era of Spartak began in the 1966–67 season. The team of legendary coach Anton Malatinský was top of the league by the autumn, but by the end of the season had finished only in third place. Great success was achieved in the Mitropa Cup. Spartak beat teams like Budapest Honvéd, Lazio and Fiorentina and in the final they defeated Újpest of Hungary. In the following season Spartak gained their most memorable European results. They reached the semi-final of the European Cup to face Ajax. It is their greatest success to date.