# 2023–24 Slovak First Football League

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 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 winners (Ružomberok) qualified for the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round. The second and third-placed teams (DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda and Spartak Trnava) qualified for the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League second qualifying round. The eleventh-placed team (Zemplín Michalovce) qualified for the relegation play-offs. The bottom-placed team (Zlaté Moravce) 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 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.
| FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda | FK Dukla Banská Bystrica | FC Košice | FK Železiarne Podbrezová |
| MOL Aréna UEFA | Štadión SNP UEFA | Košická futbalová aréna UEFA | ZELPO Aréna UEFA |
| Capacity: 12,700 | Capacity: 7,030 | Capacity: 12,555 | Capacity: 4,000 |
| MFK Ružomberok | MFK Skalica | ŠK Slovan Bratislava | FC Spartak Trnava |
| Štadión pod Čebraťom | Štadión MFK Skalica | Tehelné pole UEFA | Štadión Antona Malatinského UEFA |
| Capacity: 4,876 | Capacity: 2,600 | Capacity: 22,500 | Capacity: 18,200 |
| AS Trenčín | MFK Zemplín Michalovce | FC ViOn Zlaté Moravce | MŠK Žilina |
| Štadión Sihoť UEFA | Mestský futbalový štadión UEFA | ViOn Aréna UEFA | Štadión pod Dubňom UEFA |
| Capacity: 10,000 | Capacity: 4,400 | Capacity: 4,008 | Capacity: 10,897 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | President | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| DAC Dunajská Streda | Oszkár Világi | Xisco Muñoz | TBA | Macron | Kukkonia |
| Dukla Banská Bystrica | Ivan Šabo | Mario Auxt (interim) | Róbert Polievka | Adidas | Veolia |
| Košice | Dušan Trnka | Gergely Geri | Erik Pačinda | Adidas | Niké |
| Podbrezová | Július Kriváň | Roman Skuhravý | Richard Ludha | Adidas | Niké |
| Ružomberok | Ľubomír Golis | Ondřej Smetana | Marek Zsigmund | Adidas | Niké |
| Skalica | Peter Bartoš | Pavol Majerník | Martin Nagy | Puma | Tipsport |
| Slovan Bratislava | Ivan Kmotrík | Vladimír Weiss | Vladimír Weiss | Adidas | Niké |
| Spartak Trnava | Peter Macho | Michal Gašparík | Roman Procházka | Puma | Tipsport |
| Trenčín | Róbert Rybníček | Ilija Stolica | Damián Bariš | Macron | Tipsport |
| Zemplín Michalovce | Ján Sabol | František Straka | Igor Žofčák | Adidas | Tipsport, St. Nicolaus |
| Zlaté Moravce | Karol Škula | Dušan Uhrin Jr. | Karol Mondek | Erreà | Tipsport |
| Žilina | Jozef Antošík | Michal Ščasný | Tomáš Nemčík | Nike | Preto |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Trenčín | František Straka | End of contract | 26 May 2023 | Pre-season | Ilija Stolica | 27 May 2023 |
| Ružomberok | Peter Struhár | End of contract | 29 May 2023 | Pre-season | Peter Tomko | 5 June 2023 |
| Zlaté Moravce | Ivan Galád | End of contract | 5 June 2023 | Pre-season | Vladimír Cifranič | 12 June 2023 |
| Zemplín Michalovce | Vladimír Rusnák | End of interim spell | 20 June 2023 | Pre-season | Marek Petruš | 21 June 2023 |
| Zemplín Michalovce | Marek Petruš | Sacked | 26 September 2023 | 12th | Peter Struhár | 28 September 2023 |
| Košice | Anton Šoltis | Sacked | 23 October 2023 | 10th | Ján Kozák jr | 31 October 2023 |
| Ružomberok | Peter Tomko | Sacked | 24 October 2023 | 8th | Ondřej Smetana | 24 October 2023 |
| Banská Bystrica | Michal Ščasný | Signed with Athienou | 25 October 2023 | 5th | Mario Auxt (interim) | 25 October 2023 |
| Zlaté Moravce | Vladimír Cifranič | Sacked | 12 November 2023 | 11th | Michal Hipp | 12 November 2023 |
| Dunajská Streda | Adrián Guľa | Sacked | 17 November 2023 | 6th | Xisco Muñoz | 18 November 2023 |
| Zemplín Michalovce | Peter Struhár | Sacked | 20 February 2024 | 11th | František Straka | 20 February 2024 |
| Zlaté Moravce | Michal Hipp | Sacked | 21 February 2024 | 12th | Dušan Uhrin Jr. | 26 February 2024 |
| MŠK Žilina | Jaroslav Hynek | Released | 11 April 2024 | 4th | Michal Ščasný | 11 April 2023 |
| Košice | Ján Kozák jr | Released | 13 May 2024 | 11th | Gergely Geri | 13 May 2023 |

## Regular stage
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Slovan Bratislava | 22 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 57 | 16 | +41 | 57 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 2 | Žilina | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 40 | 30 | +10 | 41 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 3 | Spartak Trnava | 22 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 31 | 22 | +9 | 39 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 4 | DAC Dunajská Streda | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 31 | 21 | +10 | 37 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 5 | Podbrezová | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 40 | 34 | +6 | 34 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 6 | Ružomberok | 22 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 28 | 31 | −3 | 34 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 7 | Trenčín | 22 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 31 | 23 | +8 | 34 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 8 | Dukla Banská Bystrica | 22 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 38 | 30 | +8 | 34 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 9 | Skalica | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 19 | 25 | −6 | 23 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 10 | Košice | 22 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 19 | 45 | −26 | 17 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 11 | Zemplín Michalovce | 22 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 19 | 42 | −23 | 10 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 12 | Zlaté Moravce | 22 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 14 | 48 | −34 | 4 | Qualification for the relegation group |
* 1 2 3 4 Ranked on head-to-head points: Podbrezová 11, Ružomberok 9, Trenčín 8, Dukla Banská Bystrica 3.

### Results

Each team plays home-and-away against every other team in the league, for a total of 22 matches each.
| Home \ Away | DAC | DUK | KOŠ | POD | RUŽ | SKA | SLO | TRN | TRE | ZMI | ZLM | ŽIL |
| DAC Dunajská Streda | | 1–2 | 5–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Dukla Banská Bystrica | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Košice | 0–3 | 2–4 | | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 |
| Podbrezová | 0–0 | 2–2 | 5–3 | | 5–0 | 1–0 | 0–6 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Ružomberok | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| Skalica | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Slovan Bratislava | 2–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 |
| Spartak Trnava | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Trenčín | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–3 | | 2–0 | 4–1 | 0–0 |
| Zemplín Michalovce | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–4 | 0–0 | | 4–1 | 1–1 |
| Zlaté Moravce | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–4 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | | 1–2 |
| Žilina | 5–1 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 5–3 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 5–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | |

## Championship group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SLO | DAC | TRN | ŽIL | RUŽ | POD |
| 1 | Slovan Bratislava (C) | 32 | 23 | 4 | 5 | 76 | 31 | +45 | 73 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round | — | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 5–1 | 2–1 |
| 2 | DAC Dunajská Streda | 32 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 49 | 32 | +17 | 58 | Qualification for the Conference League second qualifying round | 5–3 | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 |
| 3 | Spartak Trnava | 32 | 18 | 3 | 11 | 47 | 29 | +18 | 57 | Qualification for the Conference League second qualifying round | 1–2 | 3–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 5–0 |
| 4 | Žilina | 32 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 54 | 45 | +9 | 55 | | 0–3 | 2–3 | 2–0 | — | 0–0 | 3–2 |
| 5 | Ružomberok | 32 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 38 | 43 | −5 | 47 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | — | 3–2 |
| 6 | Podbrezová | 32 | 11 | 4 | 17 | 49 | 60 | −11 | 37 | | 2–1 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | — |
* ↑ Ružomberok qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2023–24 Slovak Cup.

## Relegation group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | DUK | TRE | SKA | KOŠ | ZMI | ZLM |
| 1 | Dukla Banská Bystrica | 32 | 14 | 9 | 9 | 50 | 41 | +9 | 51 | | — | 4–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| 2 | Trenčín | 32 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 48 | 34 | +14 | 49 | | 2–0 | — | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| 3 | Skalica | 32 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 35 | 38 | −3 | 40 | | 1–2 | 0–4 | — | 1–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 |
| 4 | Košice | 32 | 7 | 6 | 19 | 27 | 56 | −29 | 27 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | — | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| 5 | Zemplín Michalovce (O) | 32 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 29 | 48 | −19 | 27 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | — | 3–0 |
| 6 | Zlaté Moravce (R) | 32 | 2 | 6 | 24 | 21 | 66 | −45 | 12 | Relegation to the 2. Liga | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | — |
* 1 2 Head-to-head points: Košice – 9, Zemplín Michalovce – 3.

## 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

    As of 18 May 2024
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Róbert Polievka | Banská Bystrica | 13 |
| 1 | Tigran Barseghyan | Slovan | 13 |
| 3 | Martin Rymarenko | Banská Bystrica | 12 |
| 3 | Matej Trusa | D.Streda | 12 |
| 5 | David Strelec | Slovan | 11 |
| 6 | Matúš Marcin | Michalovce | 10 |
| 6 | Nino Marcelli | Slovan | 10 |
| 6 | Michal Ďuriš | Trnava | 10 |
| 6 | Njegoš Kupusović | Trenčín | 10 |
| 10 | Aleksandar Čavrić | Slovan | 9 |
| 10 | Žan Medved | Košice | 9 |
| 10 | Dávid Ďuriš | Žilina | 9 |
| 10 | Marko Tolić | Slovan | 9 |

#### Hat-tricks

| Round | Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| 1 | Peter Kováčik | Podbrezová | Banská Bystrica | 4–1 (A) | 28 July 2023 |
| 7 P.O | Matej Trusa | Dunajská Streda | Slovan | 5–3 (H) | 28 April 2024 |
| 10 P.O | Matej Trusa | Dunajská Streda | Žilina | 2–3 (A) | 18 May 2024 |

##### Note

$^4$ Player scored 4 goals

### Clean sheets

    As of 18 May 2024
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Dominik Takáč | Trnava | 14 |
| 2 | Vozinha | Trenčín | 13 |
| 2 | Aleksandar Popović | Dunajská Streda | 13 |
| 4 | Milan Borjan | Slovan | 12 |
| 5 | Ľubomír Belko | Žilina | 8 |
| 6 | Žiga Frelih | Michalovce | 7 |
| 7 | Martin Junas | Skalica | 6 |
| 7 | Matúš Hruška | Banská Bystrica | 6 |
| 7 | Tomáš Frühwald | Ružomberok | 6 |
| 10 | Richard Ludha | Podbrezová | 5 |

### Discipline

    As of 18 May 2024

#### Player

* Most yellow cards: 10
** Boris Godál (B.Bystrica)
** René Paraj (Podbrezová)
* Most red cards: 2
** Mário Mrva (Podbrezová)
** Oleksandr Holikov (Košice)
** Andrej Stojchevski (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 (Podbrezová), Juraj Kucka (Slovan Bratislava), Adrian Zeljković (Spartak Trnava), Tigran Barseghyan (Slovan Bratislava)
* Forwards: Róbert Polievka (Dukla Banská Bystrica), Michal Ďuriš (Spartak Trnava)

#### Individual awards

Manager of the Season
Vladimír Weiss (Slovan Bratislava)
Player of the Season
Juraj Kucka (Slovan Bratislava)
Young Player of the Season
Nino Marcelli (Slovan Bratislava)

## Attendances

| # | Football club | Average attendance |
| 1 | Slovan Bratislava | 5,783 |
| 2 | DAC Dunajská Streda | 5,713 |
| 3 | Spartak Trnava | 4,537 |
| 4 | FC Košice | 3,436 |
| 5 | MŠK Žilina | 1,860 |
| 6 | AS Trenčín | 1,787 |
| 7 | Dukla Banská Bystrica | 1,586 |
| 8 | Železiarne Podbrezová | 1,489 |
| 9 | FC ViOn Zlaté Moravce | 1,430 |
| 10 | MFK Ružomberok | 1,385 |
| 11 | Zemplín Michalovce | 1,175 |
| 12 | MFK Skalica | 1,156 |