The 2023–24 Slovak First Football League (known as Niké liga for sponsorship reasons) is the 31st season of first-tier football league in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

since its establishment in 1993. The winners ( Slovan Bratislava) qualified for the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round. The

2023–24 Slovak Cup The 2023–24 Slovak Cup was the 55th season of the annual Slovak football cup competition. It was sponsored by Slovnaft and known as the Slovnaft Cup for sponsorship purposes. The winners qualified for the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League first quali ...

winners (

Ružomberok Ružomberok (; ; ; ) is a town in northern Slovakia, in the historical Liptov region. It has a population of approximately 27,000. Etymology The name of the initial settlement located on today's Makovický street was ''Revúca'' ( Slovak "roaring ...

) qualified for the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round. The second and third-placed teams (

DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda DAC may refer to: Businesses and organisations * DacEasy, originally Dac Software, Inc. * Danish Architecture Centre, an international cultural attraction * Defense Ammunition Center (United States), of the United States Department of Defense * ...

and

Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava () is a professional football club based in Trnava, Slovakia. The club competes in Slovak First Football League, the top flight in the Slovak league system, having participated in more seasons than any other club. Founded in ...

) qualified for the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League second qualifying round. The eleventh-placed team ( Zemplín Michalovce) qualified for the

relegation play-offs Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

. The bottom-placed team (

Zlaté Moravce Zlaté Moravce (; 1776 Morawce, , ) is a town in south-western Slovakia. Basic data It is the capital and the biggest town of Zlaté Moravce District. It is approximately 120 km from the Slovak capital Bratislava and 32 km from Nitra. ...

) were relegated to the 2024–25 2. Liga.

Teams

The league consisted of twelve teams; the top eleven teams from the previous season, and one team promoted from the 2. Liga.

Košice Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...

were promoted to the top flight (for the first time in their history) as champions of the 2022–23 2. Liga, replacing the 2022–23 Slovak First Football League bottom-placed team Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš (relegated after two seasons in the top flight). Slovan Bratislava entered the season as defending champions (for the fifth successive year).

Stadiums and locations

After more than six years, all teams in the league are once again playing their home matches in their respective stadiums. The last time this occurred was during the autumn part of the 2016–17 season.

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

, - ,

Dunajská Streda Dunajská Streda (; ; ) is a town located in southern Slovakia ( Trnavský kraj). Dunajská Streda is the most culturally significant town in the Žitný ostrov area. The town has a population of 22,730, with ethnic Hungarians forming the 72% maj ...

, ,

Adrián Guľa Adrián Guľa (born 29 June 1975) is a Slovak football manager who manages Latvian club Riga. He formerly managed teams including AS Trenčín, Viktoria Plzeň, and Wisła Kraków. Managerial career MŠK Žilina have announced that Adrián Guľ ...

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Xisco Muñoz Francisco Javier Muñoz Llompart (born 5 September 1980), known as Xisco, is a Spanish football manager and former player who played mainly as a left winger. He is the head coach of Malaysia Super League club Johor Darul Ta'zim. He played 194 m ...

, , , - , Zemplín Michalovce , , Peter Struhár , , , , 11th, ,

František Straka František Straka (born 28 May 1958) is a Czech former football player and current manager of Dukla Banská Bystrica. Playing career Straka played most notably for Sparta Prague. In 1988, he moved to Germany and spent the rest of his playing c ...

, , , - , Zlaté Moravce, ,

Michal Hipp Michal Hipp (born 13 March 1963) is a Slovak football manager and a former player. Early and personal life Hipp grew up in Horná Kráľová, a village in the district of Šaľa. His son, Patrik, is also a footballer who played for FC Nitra in ...

, , , , 12th, ,

Dušan Uhrin Jr. Dušan Uhrin Jr. (born 11 October 1967) is a Czechs, Czech Association football, football manager. He is the son of Dušan Uhrin senior who is also a football manager. Playing career Dušan Uhrin Jr. played in his youth at Meteor Prague and Boh ...

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MŠK Žilina MŠK Žilina () is a Slovak football club based in the town of Žilina, that is playing in the Slovak First Football League. Since the league inception in 1993, the club has won 7 titles and comes second in All-time table that makes them one o ...

, , Jaroslav Hynek , , Released, , , , 4th, , Michal Ščasný , , , - , Košice, , Ján Kozák jr, , Released, , , , 11th, ,

Gergely Geri Gergely Geri (born 19 January 1977) is a Slovak professional football head coach and former player and previously head coach of FC Košice. Previously, he was an assistant of Ivan Galád in Zlaté Moravce Zlaté Moravce (; 1776 Morawce, , ) ...

, ,

Regular stage

League table

Results

Each team plays home-and-away against every other team in the league, for a total of 22 matches each.

Championship group

Relegation group

Relegation play-offs

The team which finished 11th faced the 2nd team from 2. Liga for one spot in the top flight in the next season. 1st leg 2nd leg

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

Hat-tricks

;Note ⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Clean sheets

Discipline

Player

* Most yellow cards: 10 **

Boris Godál Boris Godál (born 27 May 1987) is a Slovak professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back for MFK Dukla Banská Bystrica, Dukla Banská Bystrica. Club career In February 20 ...

(B.Bystrica) ** René Paraj (Podbrezová) * Most red cards: 2 **

Mário Mrva Mário Mrva (born 16 February 1999) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays for Zlaté Moravce as a defender. Club career MFK Ružomberok Mrva made his Fortuna Liga debut for Ružomberok at City Aréna against Spartak Trnava FC S ...

(Podbrezová) ** Oleksandr Holikov (Košice) **

Andrej Stojchevski Andrej Stojchevski (; born 26 May 2003) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or centre-back for Slovácko and the North Macedonia national team. Career Stojchevski made his Slovak Super Liga debut for Žilina as a ...

(Žilina)

Club

* Most yellow cards: 68 ** MFK Skalica * Most red cards: 5 ** Košice

Awards

Annual awards

Team of the Season

Team of the Season was: *Goalkeeper: Dominik Takáč (Spartak Trnava) *Defenders: Matúš Kmeť (Trenčín), Guram Kashia (Slovan Bratislava), Kenan Bajrić (Slovan Bratislava), Yhoan Andzouana (DAC D.Streda) *Midfielders:

Peter Kováčik Peter Kováčik (born 1 December 2001) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a right midfielder or right-back for Slovak First Football League club Železiarne Podbrezová, on loan from Como. Club career Železiarne Podbrezová Kov� ...

(Podbrezová),

Juraj Kucka Juraj Kucka (; born 26 February 1987), also known by his nickname Kuco (), is a former Slovak professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for Slovak club Slovan Bratislava. Club career Early career Kucka made his Corgoň Liga debut ...

(Slovan Bratislava),

Adrian Zeljković Adrian Zeljković (born 19 August 2002) is a Slovenian footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Czech First League club Viktoria Plzeň and the Slovenia national team. Club career Zeljković started playing football in his hometown o ...

(Spartak Trnava),

Tigran Barseghyan Tigran Barseghyan (; born 22 September 1993) is an Armenian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Niké League side Slovan Bratislava and the Armenia national team. Club career Born in Armenian capital Yerevan, Barsegyan played ...

(Slovan Bratislava) *Forwards: Róbert Polievka (Dukla Banská Bystrica),

Michal Ďuriš Michal Ďuriš (; born 1 June 1988) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays for Spartak Trnava as a forward. Club career Ďuriš joined Banská Bystrica from ŠK Petrochema Dubová when he was 14. After three years playing for youth squad ...

(Spartak Trnava)

Individual awards

Manager of the Season Vladimír Weiss (Slovan Bratislava) Player of the Season

(Slovan Bratislava) Young Player of the Season Nino Marcelli (Slovan Bratislava)

Attendances

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Slovak First Football League 2023-24 Slovak 2023-24 1