FC Spartak Trnava
Also written as Trnava.
The club
FC Spartak Trnava is not Slovan Bratislava. They are a separate club from the town of Trnava, west of the capital, and the two are the fiercest rivals in Slovak football rather than the same institution under different names.
The club was formed on 30 May 1923 as a merger of ŠK Čechie and ČšŠK into TSS Trnava, and has changed name repeatedly since: ŠK Rapid Trnava (1923-39), TSS Trnava again (1939-48), Sokol NV Trnava (1948-49), TJ Sokol Kovosmalt Trnava (1949-53), DŠO Spartak Trnava (1953-62), TJ Spartak Trnava (1962-67), TJ Spartak TAZ Trnava (1967-88), TJ Spartak ZŤS Trnava (1988-93), and FC Spartak Trnava from 1993 to the present.
The home ground, since the club's inception, is the Anton Malatinský Stadium, renamed in 1998 in honour of the club's most successful manager. It was rebuilt between 2013 and 2015, reopening on 22 August 2015, and currently holds 19,200. The home kit is a red-and-black striped shirt; the all-white away kit has given the club the nickname bíli andeli, the white angels in local dialect.
The head coach is the Spaniard Antonio Muñoz. When he was appointed, and who he replaced, was not established from the sources read here.
Spartak's greatest rival is Slovan Bratislava, and the derby between the two is described as the most prestigious fixture in the Slovak football calendar. Further detail on the history of the derby, or notable past derby results, was not established from the sources read here.
Recent seasons
Spartak won the Slovak First League title in 2017/18, their first championship in 45 years, sealed with a 2-0 win over Dunajská Streda three games before the end of the season under coach Nestor El Maestro; the celebrations, with 17,113 at the stadium, an open-top bus and a Holy Mass, were described as the biggest title celebrations in Slovak football history. The following season, 2018/19, Spartak reached the UEFA Europa League group stage for the first time, playing Dinamo Zagreb, Fenerbahçe and Anderlecht and finishing third in the group with two wins, a draw and three defeats.
In 2022/23 Spartak won the Slovak Cup, beating their final opponents 3-1 at the Anton Malatinský Stadium in front of more than 15,000 spectators, Jakub Paur scoring in the 110th minute before Filip Twardzik added a penalty; the final opponent was not established from the sources read here. Spartak won the Slovak Cup again in 2024/25. Domestically they finished third of twelve in the Slovak First League in 2025/26. Detailed league placings and points for the seasons between 2019/20 and 2024/25 were not established from the sources read here.
Honours and landmarks
As TJ Spartak, the club won five Czechoslovak First League titles: 1967/68, 1968/69, 1970/71, 1971/72 and 1972/73. Since Slovak independence they have won the Slovak First League once, in 2017/18, and finished runners-up in 1996/97, 1997/98 and 2011/12. They won the Czechoslovak Cup four times, in 1966/67, 1970/71, 1974/75 and 1985/86, and the Slovak Cup nine times: 1970/71, 1974/75, 1985/86, 1990/91, 1997/98, 2018/19, 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25. Internationally the club won the Mitropa Cup in 1966/67. Across the whole history of the Slovak top flight Spartak rank third in the all-time table with 1,651 points from 32 seasons.
Notable scorelines
Spartak's landmark European result is a 2-0 home win over Ajax in the second leg of the 1968/69 European Cup semi-final, both goals scored by Ján Kuna, watched by 22,938 at Trnava. It was not enough: Ajax had won the first leg 3-0 in Amsterdam through Johan Cruyff, Piet Keizer and Sjaak Swart, and went through 3-2 on aggregate. It remains the furthest any Slovak or Czechoslovak club has advanced in the European Cup/Champions League. Spartak also reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup in 1973 and 1974. Other record wins, record defeats and all-time domestic scorelines were not established from the sources read here.
European record
Spartak's deepest European run came in 1968/69, when they beat their way to the European Cup semi-final before losing to Ajax 3-2 on aggregate as above. They reached the European Cup quarter-finals again in 1973 and 1974, though the opponents and scores in those rounds were not established from the sources read here.
In 2018/19, the season after their first Slovak title in 45 years, Spartak reached the UEFA Europa League group stage for the only time, drawn with Dinamo Zagreb, Fenerbahçe and Anderlecht and finishing third with two wins, one draw and three defeats. Further detail on earlier or intervening European qualifying campaigns was not established from the sources read here.
Quotes
No directly quoted material from players, coaches or club officials was confirmed from the sources read here.
Right now (2026/27)
Antonio Muñoz remains head coach. Spartak entered the 2026/27 UEFA Conference League qualifying via the Main Path, seeded at the second qualifying round, and drew FC CSKA 1948 Sofia of Bulgaria.
The first leg at the Štadión Antona Malatinského in Trnava on 22 July 2026 finished 0-0 in front of 2,547, refereed by Ádám Farkas of Hungary. The second leg at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia on 29 July 2026 also finished 0-0 after extra time, watched by 6,500 and refereed by Denys Shurman of Ukraine. With the tie level 0-0 on aggregate, CSKA 1948 won the penalty shootout to eliminate Spartak from Europe; the exact shootout score could not be confirmed precisely from the sources read here, which gave conflicting figures, though both agree CSKA 1948 went through and Spartak's European campaign ended in the second qualifying round.
Domestically Spartak have made a fast start to 2026/27: after five rounds of the Slovak First League they lead the table with four wins and a draw from five matches, 13 points, 12 goals scored and only 2 conceded. The full table, remaining fixtures and any summer transfer business beyond the departures of Žiga Frelih, Michal Ďuriš and Filip Twardzik and the free-transfer arrival of Roman Begala from 1. FC Tatran Prešov were not established from the sources read here.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartak_Trnava https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovak_First_Football_League https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_Slovak_First_Football_League https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_FC_Spartak_Trnava_season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_UEFA_Conference_League_qualifying https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_UEFA_Conference_League_qualifying_(first_and_second_round_matches)
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.