MFK Vítkovice is a football club from Vítkovice,

Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four riv ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It was founded in 1919 as FC Vítkovice, announced bankruptcy in 2011 and transformed to MFK Vítkovice. The club won the

Czechoslovak First League The Czechoslovak First League ( cs, 1. fotbalová liga, sk, 1. futbalová liga) was the premier football league in the Czechoslovakia from 1925 to 1993, with the exception of World War II. Czechoslovakia was occupied by German forces who for ...

in the 1985–86 season. The club has always been somewhat overshadowed by the town's main team

FC Baník Ostrava FC Baník Ostrava is a football club from the Silesian part of the city of Ostrava, Czech Republic. Founded in 1922 as ''SK Slezská Ostrava'', Baník has won numerous national and international trophies. History Formation and history to 1 ...

. The teams have a mutual rivalry, as Baník is based in the

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. S ...

n part of the city, while Vítkovice are located in the

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The ...

n part of Ostrava. MFK Vítkovice however still maintain a small local fan base. They also hold a rivalry with regional side

FK Fotbal Třinec FK or fk may refer to: In arts and entertainment: * Flyer Killer, fictional automated robots in the ''Terminator'' film franchise. * Fox Kids, a former American children's television programming block. * Funky Kong, a video game character. Place: ...

from Třinec.

History

The club was founded in 1919 as ''SK Slavoj Vítkovice'' and played their matches in the Kunčičky district of Ostrava. The club however vanished due to financial problems and was succeeded in 1922 by ''SK Vítkovice''. The club then became one of the strongest teams in the Ostrava region. In 1937–1938 a new stadium was constructed in the district of Vítkovice. It was supposed to be opened to the public in October 1938 but it was unable to proceed due to the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...

of the city. Instead, the stadium was opened a few years later. The club played in the highest division from 1950 to 1952. In 1952 the league underwent reorganization and Vítkovice were forcibly relegated to a lower division. However the club won promotion to the top flight again in 1981. Then in the 1985–1986 season the club achieved their greatest success, as Vítkovice led by manager

Ivan Kopecký Ivan Kopecký (born 29 January 1946) is a Czech football manager and former player. As a player, Kopecký played five seasons in the Czechoslovak First League for Slavia Prague and one season for Frýdek-Místek, making a total of 137 league ap ...

won the

. Vítkovice subsequently played in the European cup for the first time in their history. The club was strongly financially supported by local iron and steel works which unfortunately fell into a financial crisis after the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

of 1989. The industry withdrew some of its support and the club was forced to merge with FC Karviná in 1994. Afterwards the club was relegated to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. The merger was overturned a year later, which meant the club was relegated to the Third Division in 1995, and although the club returned to the Second Division in 1996, Vítkovice struggled in the middle of the table. After persistent financial problems, the club dropped back to the Third Division (MSFL) in 2010. On 9 February 2011, the club announced its withdrawal from the second half of the MSFL season due to insolvency. The club's results from the first half of the season were annulled, with the club's debts reported to be more than 15 million

Czech koruna The koruna, or crown, (sign: Kč; code: CZK, cs, koruna česká) has been the currency of the Czech Republic since 1993. The koruna is one of the European Union's 9 currencies, and the Czech Republic is legally bound to adopt the euro curre ...

. They finished 2nd in the Regional Championship in the 2013–14 season and were promoted to Moravian Division E. They finished 2nd in Division E and won promotion to the MSFL in 2014–15. In the season 2019/20, the club finished last 16th in the league table and relegated due to financial problems.

Stadium

Městský stadion is a multi-purpose stadium in Ostrava-Vítkovice, Czech Republic. Used primarily for football, it is the home stadium of FC Vítkovice, and from the year 2015, even FC Baník Ostrava. In 2014-2015 it has been reconstructed. It also hosts the annual Golden Spike Ostrava athletic event. The stadium holds 15,275 spectators, for football matches 15,163. It hosted the 2018 IAAF Continental Cup.

Historical names

* 1919 — SK Slavoj Vítkovice * 1922 — SK Vítkovice * 1923 — SSK Vítkovice * 1937 — SK Železárny Vítkovice * 1939 — ČSK Vítkovice * 1945 — SK Vítkovice Železárny * 1948 – Sokol Vítkovice Železárny * 1953 — Baník Vítkovice * 1957 — TJ VŽKG Ostrava * 1979 — TJ Vítkovice * 1993 — FC Vítkovice Kovkor * 1994 — merger with Kovona Karviná => FC Karviná-Vítkovice * 1995 — split => FC Vítkovice * 2012 — MFK Vítkovice

Honours and achievements

(first tier) ** Champions: 1985–86 *

Moravian–Silesian Football League The Moravian-Silesian Football League (MSFL) ( cs, Moravskoslezská fotbalová liga) is one of the third level football leagues in the Czech Republic (the other is the Bohemian Football League) headquartered in Olomouc. The league comprises teams ...

(third tier) ** Champions: 1995–96 *

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

** Quarter-finals: 1987–88

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vitkovice Football clubs in the Czech Republic Association football clubs established in 1919 Czechoslovak First League clubs Czech First League clubs MFK Vítkovice Football clubs in Czechoslovakia