FC Nitra

FC Nitra is a Slovak association football club, playing in the town of Nitra. Established in 1909, FC Nitra is one of the oldest football clubs in Slovakia.

History

Czechoslovak era

Nitra were promoted and relegated 4 times from the Czechoslovak First League with their longest stay being 5 years (1979–1984, 1986–1991). Nitra came close to clinching the title in 1962 only to lose out by 3 points to Dukla Prague. This year was most successful in club history because they reached also Mitropa Cup final. Another successful period was end of 80s when Nitra stayed on top positions in Czechoslovak First League (in 1989 they reached 3rd place) with players like Michal Hipp, Ľubomír Moravčík, Ladislav Molnár, Peter Palúch, Jozef Majoroš, Róbert Tomaschek, Miroslav Sovič. FC Nitra was the first football professional club in the former Czechoslovakia.

Slovak era

Nitra was involved in the inaugural Slovakian championship in 1994 but was relegated to the second division after their first season. The following season they were promoted back to the first division, only for the same fate to occur and were again relegated. Roller coaster seasons became somewhat of an FC Nitra speciality during the early 90s, until the promotions stopped in 2001 where fans had to wait five long seasons before seeing their club again return to the top flight where they finished with a respectable fifth place. This was mainly due to the work of head coach Ivan Galád, who took control of the team in the winter of 2004, guiding the team to a fourth-place finish in the second division.

Róbert Rák became the top goal scorer both in the second division in the 2004/2005 season and (together with Erik Jendrišek) in the first division in the 2005/2006 season. In the beginning of the next season he was transferred to MFK Ružomberok. Galád coached the team very defensively (as according to his words no good striker was in the team). Galád lost his job after not much good results of the team at the end of 2006/2007 season (many losses and draws). The former Czech player Pavel Hapal was named as the head coach of the team for the 2007/2008 season. His way of coaching brought almost immediately very good results and the team finished 3rd (the best in the history of the club). After the season Hapal decided to leave the club to accept an offer from the top Czech club FK Mladá Boleslav. Pavel Malura, another coach from the Czech Republic, has taken the job. In spring 2009 the new manager Petar Kurčubić was appointed.

In 2021 after the club was relegated from the top flight, they did not obtain a licence for the league below and so were further demoted another level.

Events timeline

• 1909 – Founded as Nyitrai ÖTTSO
• 1911 – Renamed Nyitrai TVE
• 1919 – Renamed Nyitrai SC
• 1921 – Renamed SK Nitra
• 1923 – Renamed AC Nitra
• 1948 – Renamed Sokol Nitra
• 1949 – Renamed ZSJ Sokol spojene zavody Nitra
• 1949 – Renamed ZK KP Nitra
• 1953 – Renamed DSO Slavoj Nitra
• 1956 – Renamed TJ Slovan Nitra
• 1966 – Again Renamed AC Nitra
• 1976 – Renamed TJ Plastika Nitra
• 1989 – First European qualification, 1990
• 1990 – Renamed FC Nitra

Honours

Domestic

Czechoslovakia

• Czechoslovak First League (1925–1993)
  • Runners-Up (1): 1961–62
  • Third place (1): 1988–89
• 1.SNL (1st Slovak National football league) (1969–1993)
  • Winners (3): 1978–79, 1985–86, 1991–92

Slovakia

• Slovak League (1993–Present)
  • Third place (1): 2007–08
• Slovenský Pohár (Slovak Cup) (1961–Present) 1
  • Runners-up (4): 1974–75, 1982–83, 1986–87, 1990–91
• Slovak Second Division (1993–Present)
  • Winners (3): 1994–95, 1997–98, 2004–05
  • Runners-Up (2): 2000–01, 2016–17

Czechoslovak and Slovak Top Goalscorer

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

¹Shared award

European

• Mitropa Cup 2
  • Runners-up: 1961
• Intertoto Cup
  • Winners (3): 1972, 1973, 1980

Sponsorship

Current squad

Updated 5 August 2021 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

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

Updated 2 March 2023

Results

League and Cup history

Slovak League only (1993–present)

¹ FC Nitra did not obtain a licence for the 2021–22 season

European competition history

UEFA-administered

Not UEFA-administered

Player records

Most goals

Notable players

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

Past (and present) players who are the subjects of Wikipedia articles can be found here.

Former managers

References

External links

• Official website (in Slovak)
• FC Nitra – Ultras (in Slovak) (archived 23 August 2006)