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 1937. The club was founded on 8 September 1922 as "SK Slezská Ostrava", when 20 activists signed the establishment treaty in the "U Dubu" restaurant. The signatories were mostly poor coal miners from the Kamenec coal mining settlement in Ostrava. The founders were Karel Aniol, Arnošt Haberkiewicz, Petr Křižák, František Mruzek and Jaroslav Horák. SK Slezská Ostrava was a  poor club, raising money for the functioning of the club was a common concern. It didn't have its own playing field and was forced to loan fields from wealthier clubs. The first field of its own was built in autumn of 1925 at Kamenec. It was however stony and did not meet requirements of the football officials. In 1934 club activists succeeded in renting the land at "Stará střelnice" from regional wealthy industrialist Count Wilczek. During the summer of 1934 a new field was built there. Many workers volunteered to help with the construction for free. Workers and coal  miners often came directly from shifts to build the field. SK Slezská Ostrava began to compete with other teams in the league system in the spring of 1923. It started in the lowest division "(III. třída župy)" and was promoted to the higher division the same year. It took, however, some time for the club to reach the highest divisions of football in Czechoslovakia. In 1934 the club won promotion to the Moravian-Silesian Division, one of the highest leagues in the country. The promotion made SK Slezská Ostrava a popular team in the city and public interest was rising . The 1935 derby against Slovan Ostrava was watched at "Stará střelnice" by 5,400 spectators. From 1937 to 1952. The First League in Czechoslovakia was dominated by Prague teams at that time, which were advanced in all aspects. Promotion to the First League was, therefore, a big success for SK Slezská Ostrava. In 15 years the team advanced from the obscure minnows to the highest level of football in the country. The first league match at "Stará střelnice" was played on 22 August 1937 against 1. ČsŠK Bratislava. In the second match, the newcomer team faced famous Sparta Prague in Prague . Though Sparta's roster was full of national team players, Baník won 3–2 and caused an immediate sensation. SK Slezská Ostrava survived three seasons in the First League before being relegated in 1940. SK Slezská Ostrava played in the Division until 1943, when it was again promoted to the First League. Promotion to the highest league sparked even stronger interest for football in local people. Later, famed opera singer Rudolf Asmus even sang the new anthem for the club. In the 1943–44 season the home attendances of SK Slezská Ostrava reached the highest level so far. The match against Slavia  Prague was attended by 33,000 people. From 1952 to 1967. In 1952 the club adopted the name "DSO Baník Ostrava". Since then the name went only through slight changes. In the 1954 season, Baník achieved its biggest league success so far, finishing second in the league after Sparta. In 1959 Baník played for the last time at the old "Stará střelnice" stadium. "Stará střelnice" did not meet the requirements set by the football association. The pitch was not grassy, but covered with slag, which was also a reason to close down the stadium. The new Bazaly stadium was constructed in  1959 in Slezská Ostrava, and was opened on 19 April 1959. In the 1965–66 season Baník was weakened by the generation change. It ended 13th in the league table and was relegated to the Second League. A year later Baník was again promoted to the top division. Since then Baník has played exclusively in the top flight of football in the country. The Golden Era. In 1972/73 and 1977/78 Baník won the Czechoslovak Cup. The team's squad was stable in the Golden Era years. The best players like Lička and Vojáček were regularly playing for the national team. Others  like Radimec, Rygel, Němec and Šreiner played also for the Olympic team. In the 1979–80 season Baník won its second Czechoslovakian title, finishing five points ahead of Zbrojovka Brno. In the 1980–81 season of the UEFA European Cup Baník reached the quarter-finals, where it was knocked out by Bayern Munich. In the same season, Baník also won the First League again. For the next two seasons, Baník finished second in the league table. After the 1982–83 season, coach Hadamczik resigned, thus symbolically ending the Golden Era of the club. From 1983. In the following years, Baník was unable to  reach the highest positions in the league. The team was undergoing another generation change and young players did not maintain their performance for the whole season. Baník however regularly appeared in the upper part of the league table. In the 1988–89 and 1989–90 seasons it finished second in the league. In 1991, Baník won the Czechoslovak Cup by beating Spartak Trnava 6–1 in the final. In the 2003–04 season they won the Czech Republic league. From 2016: the Václav Brabec era. In the 2015–16 season they were under financial distress and were bought by Czech millionaire Václav Brabec who originated  from Kroměříž. They were relegated to the Czech Second League for the 2016–17 season. In the 2016–17 season they would finish 2nd and started their rebuild to compete in the Czech First League for the 2017–18 season. With no youth training facilities before the new ownership, under Václav Brabec the team began investing 150 million Kč in three facilities. 1) A partnership in 2017 with K-9 Grade School of J. Šoupal, where they have at their disposal 2 natural fields and 1 artificial field for the youth development. 2) building ("expected complete early 2019") new training grounds at Vista that  will enable the team to have 2 more artificial fields and 1 natural field for their youth teams. 3) The team is working with the Dvořák High School that will enable their athletes to finish a degree in sports management as well as all 20–25 individuals to train together. The team has also received the rights to an Academy that will practice at the new city-owned Bazaly facility that is being transformed into 5 practice fields for the youth. Václav Brabec hired former Baník Ostrava star and home-grown player Marek Jankulovski to take over the role of Dušan  Vrťo as the teams Sport Director. Jankulovski has brought in a few players such as Daniel Holzer, Patrizio Stronati and Adam Jánoš for the 2018–19 season. In the 2020–21 season Marek Jankulovski has stepped down from his role to take the Chairman Board of Directors role. Milan Baroš has retired. Acquisitions before the 2020/21 campaign came from FC Slovácko in Jan Juroška and Tomáš Zajíc. The new team kit provider became Puma who won the contract over existing kit manufacturer Adidas. Stadium. Former stadium Bazaly was their home from 1953 to 2015 and had a capacity approximate 17500, but in  the golden years over 20,000 occupants of standing room only were a common sight. Currently, the Bazaly sight is being transformed into a Youth Academy that will have 5 training fields. Their stadium is the Městský stadion – Vítkovice Aréna, which has a capacity of 15,275. Future: There is some talk that the city will build an all soccer stadium in the area formerly occupied by the coal mine Zárubek. Thought the plans are in the initial visual plans with no expected construction time. Supporters. In the late 2000s Baník had attendances higher than most within the Czech First League. Ultra  supporters of Baník call themselves "Chachaři", which means "bad boys" in the local dialect. Some of the ultras' songs contain lyrics proudly demonstrating willingness to not only sing, but also fight for their club. Baník's ultras have made friendships over the years, and in 2006 celebrated 10 years of partnership with 2nd division Poland club, GKS Katowice. The celebration took the form of a game between the two teams, organised by the clubs' directors. The fixture took place at GKS's stadium, where throughout the 90 minutes the opposing sets of fans sung one another's songs. At the  end of the game, both sets of fans climbed over metal fences in order to race onto the pitch come the final whistle to embrace and exchange scarves. Player records in the Czech First League. Highlighted players are in the current squad. Honours. Domestic. Czechoslovak First League / Czech First League Czechoslovak Cup/Czech Cup European. Mitropa Cup Mitropa Super Cup European Cup Cup Winners' Cup UEFA Cup