# FK Železiarne Podbrezová

FK Železiarne Podbrezová (Slovak pronunciation:) is a Slovak football team, based in the village of Podbrezová.

## History

Podbrezová was formed in 1920 as RTJ Podbrezová. The club is also particularly famous for its youth program that has produced many Slovak talents over the years, including Juraj Kucka, Michal Breznaník, Róbert Pich, Peter Štyvar and Marek Bažík. Podbrezová has been cooperating with the Italian club Inter, in a worldwide social project – Inter Campus (2002–2008). Argentine midfielder Pablo Podio, who played for Podbrezová, is a product of the Inter Campus project. Major achievements in the history of the club include: second place in the I. liga in the 2007/2008 season and the semifinals of the Slovak Cup in the 2001/2002 season. In 2009–10, the club withdrew from the Slovak First League.

### Slovak First Football League promotion

In 2013–14, Podbrezová were promoted to the top flight of Slovak football for the first time in their history. The success was born under the leadership of coach Jaroslav Kentoš. The keys players were Vratislav Greško, Blažej Vaščák, Jozef Hanák, Michal Pančík and others.

### Events timeline

* 1920 – Founded as RTJ Podbrezová
* 1930 – Merged with Tatran Horná Lehota and renamed ŠK Podbrezová
* 1936 – Renamed ŠKP Podbrezová
* 2006 – Merged with Brezno and renamed FO ŽP Šport Podbrezová
* 2017 – Renamed FK Železiarne Podbrezová

## Affiliated clubs

The following clubs are affiliated with Podbrezová:
* Kardemir Karabükspor (2017–)
* FK Poprad (2021–)
* FC Nordsjælland (2019–)
* FK Pohronie (2022–)
* Baník Kalinovo (2022–2024)

## Honours
### Domestic

* Slovak Second Division (1993–)
** Champions (2): 2013–14, 2021–22
** Runners-up (3): 2007–08, 2011–12, 2012–13

## Transfers

FK have produced numerous players that have gone on to represent the Slovak national football team. Over the last period there has been a steady increase of young players leaving Podbrezová after a few years of first-team football and moving on to play football in bigger Slovak clubs (Juraj Kucka to MFK Ružomberok in 2007, Michal Breznaník to ŠK Slovan Bratislava in 2007, Mahmudu Bajo to Dunajská Streda in 2024, Jakub Kiwior to MŠK Žilina in 2019) and European clubs of a higher standard (Peter Kováčik to Italian Como 1907 in 2024). The same year moved also Patrik Blahút and Richard Ludha to Czech league 1. FC Slovácko and FK Teplice. The top transfer was agreed in 2024 when 20 years old forward Moses Cobnan moved to Russian FC Krasnodar for a fee €1 million.

### Record transfers

| Rank | Player | To | Fee | Year |
| 1. | Moses Cobnan | FC Krasnodar | €1 million | 2023 |
| 2. | Mahmudu Bajo | Dunajská Streda | €350.000 | 2024 |
| 3. | Jakub Kiwior | MŠK Žilina | €250.000 | 2019 |
| 4. | Mark Assinor | LNZ Cherkasy | €230.000 | 2024 |
*-unofficial fee

## Sponsorship

| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| 1998–1999 | Puma | none |
| 1999–2001 | ATAK Sportswear | none |
| 2001–2002 | NIKE | Železiarne Podbrezová |
| 2002–2004 | NIKE | ŽP Trade |
| 2004–2005 | Puma | none |
| 2005–2006 | NIKE | ŽP Trade |
| 2006–2007 | ALEA | none |
| 2007–2010 | Jako | Železiarne Podbrezová |
| 2010–2022 | Adidas | Železiarne Podbrezová |
| 2022–present | Adidas | Niké |

### Club partners

source
* Železiarne Podbrezová
* Zaninoni
* ŽDAS
* SLOVRUR
* Moravia Steel
* REA-S
* Pipex Italia

## Current squad

As of 16 February, 2025
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 3 | DF | SVK | Filip Mielke |
| 4 | DF | SVK | Matej Oravec |
| 7 | FW | SVK | Roland Galčík |
| 8 | MF | CZE | Ondřej Deml (on loan from Viktoria Plzeň) |
| 9 | FW | CZE | Daniel Smékal |
| 10 | FW | GAM | Alasana Yirajang |
| 11 | FW | ESP | Jorge Velasco |
| 13 | MF | SVK | Vincent Chyla |
| 14 | DF | SVK | Matej Grešák |
| 15 | MF | SVK | René Paraj |
| 17 | FW | SVK | Peter Juritka |
| 18 | DF | HUN | Alex Marković |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | DF | SVK | Peter Kovacik (on loan from Como) |
| 23 | DF | SVK | Adrián Slávik |
| 24 | DF | SVK | Kristián Koštrna |
| 25 | MF | SVK | Šimon Faško |
| 26 | MF | SVK | Samuel Stefanik |
| 28 | GK | SVK | Adam Danko |
| 37 | DF | SVK | Jakub Luka |
| 44 | MF | UKR | Andriy Havrylenko |
| 80 | MF | EST | Kevor Palumets |
| 91 | GK | SVK | Pavol Bajza |
| 95 | GK | SVK | Matej Juricka |
| 99 | FW | CMR | Lionel Abate |
For recent transfers, see List of Slovak football transfers summer 2024 and List of Slovak football transfers winter 2024-25

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | CZE | Daniel Macej (at Pohronie until 30 June 2025) |
| — | MF | SVK | Jozef Špyrka (at Komárno until 30 June 2025) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | GAM | Yusupha Kambi (at Pohronie until 30 June 2025) |

## Staff
### Current technical staff

    As of 6 July 2024
| Staff | Job title |
| Štefan Markulík | Manager |
| Vladimír Cifranič | Assistant manager |
| Peter Tomko | Assistant manager |
| Lukáš Ďuriška | Assistant manager |
| Dominic Rajna | Assistant manager |
| František Kunzo | Team Leader |
| Miroslav Seman | Goalkeeping coach |
| Ernest Caban | Team Doctor |
| Richard Horňák | Fitness coach |
| Dárius Kolodzej | Masseur |

### Club officials

| Position | Name |
| President | Július Kriváň |
| Vice president | Marián Kurčík |
| Vice president | Vladimír Soták ml. |

## Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries
For full list, see Category:ŽP Šport Podbrezová players
* Marius Alexe
* Mahmudu Bajo
* David Depetris
* Vratislav Greško
* Filip Hlohovský
* Juraj Chvátal
* Jakub Kiwior
* Ján Krivák
* Juraj Kucka
* Milan Nemec
* Kevor Palumets
* Michal Pančík
* Dejan Peševski
* Štefan Rusnák
* Pavol Šafranko
* Siradji Sani
* Samuel Štefánik
* Peter Štyvar
* Blažej Vaščák
* Mateusz Zachara

## Notable managers

* Milan Nemec (1998–2001)
* Ladislav Kuna (2001–04)
* Anton Jánoš (15 Aug 2006 – 31 May 2008)
* Raffaele Quaranta (1 Jun 2008 – 11 Oct 2010)
* Jaroslav Kentoš (2011– Feb 2015)
* Jozef Mores (February 2015 – June 2015)
* Zdenko Frťala (15 June 2015 – 22 Sep 2015)
* Marek Fabuľa (22 Sep 2015 – 25 April 2017)
* Karol Praženica (25 April 2017 - 20 Sep 2017)
* Marek Fabuľa (20 Sep 2017 – 21 Nov 2018)
* Gergely Geri (21 Nov 2018 – 4 Jan 2019)
* Vladimír Veselý (4 Jan 2019 – 26 Aug 2019)
* Jozef Mores (26 Aug 2019 – 6 Mar 2020)
* Martin Poljovka (6 Mar 2019 – 1 June 2020)
* Vladimír Cifranič (1 June 2020 – 4 Dec 2020)
* Mikuláš Radványi (17 Dec 2020 – 28 May 2021)
* Roman Skuhravý (28 May 2021 – 6 July 2024)
* Vladimír Cifranič (12 July 2024-2 Sep 2024)
* Štefan Markulík (2 Sep 2024-)