Extreme Football Tourism: CZECHIA: DSO Spartak Zbrojovka Brno (1953-1956) / ÚD Rudá Hvězda Brno (1953-1954) / TJ Rudá Hvězda Brno (1954-1962) / TJ Spartak ZJŠ Brno (1956-1968) / TJ Zbrojovka Brno (1968-1990) / FC Zbrojovka Brno (1990-1992) / FC Boby Brno (1992-1997) / FC Boby-Sport Brno (1997-2000) / FC Brno (2000-2001)

Fotbalový Stadion Za Lužánkami, Brno (formerly DSO Spartak Zbrojovka Brno / UD Rudá Hvězda Brno / TJ Rudá Hvězda Brno / TJ Spartak ZJŠ Brno / TJ Zbrojovka Brno / FC Zbrojovka Brno / FC Boby Brno / FC Boby-Sport Brno / FC Brno)

Czechia, region: South Moravia

August 2024 / no match visited

Timeline

1913 / Foundation of a football club in Brno, which takes on the name SK Židenice, with the founding meeting taking place at the U Machů inn in Brno-Židenice. It is unclear which grounds this club used in the first forty years of its existence.
1926 / In the first highlight in the club’s existence, SK Židenice clinches the Moravian Championship, going on to win Czechoslovakia’s national title for non-league clubs.
1932 / SK Židenice joins the (semi-)professional leagues, playing the 1932-33 season in the second tier of Czechoslovakia’s league system.
1933 / Clinching the title in the second tier of the football pyramid, 3 points ahead of runners-up SK Čechie Karlín, SK Židenice wins promotion to the top division in Czechoslovakia for the first time. Incidentally, in a championship hitherto monopolised by teams from Bohemia, SK Židenice is the first Moravian club to reach Czechoslovakia’s top flight.
1935 / In the best pre-war season, SK Židenice finishes in third place in Czechoslovakia’s top division. In the summer, the club takes part in the Mitropa Cup, an international cup competition between teams from Central-European countries, for the first time, managing a 5-4 aggregate win over SK Rapid (Vienna) in the round of last 16, before being eliminated by Ferencvárosi TC in the quarter-finals (8-5 aggr.).
1936 / SK Židenice takes part in the Mitropa Cup for the second year running, eliminating Lausanne Sports FC in the preliminary round (6-2 aggr.) before being knocked out by AS Ambrosiana-Inter in the round of last 16 (11-3 aggr.).
± 1937 / Construction works get underway on a projected multi-purpose stadium in the cadastral territory of Ponavo in Brno-Královo Pole, i.e. the location of the future Stadion Za Lužánkami.
1938 / In the Mitropa Cup, SK Židenice is knocked out by Ferencvárosi TC in the round of last 16 (4-3 aggr.). Also in 1938, SK Židenice’s goalkeeper Karel Burkert, as well as the club’s striker Oldřich Rulc, are included in Czechoslovakia’s squad which takes part in the World Cup tournament in France.
1939 / Works on the stadium in Ponavo, already interrupted due to a lack of funds, are abandoned altogether following the German occupation of Czechia.
1946 / In the first post-war football season, SK Židenice finishes as runners-up in Group B of the top division, 4 points behind SK Slavia Praha. As such, the club qualifies for the 1946-47 Státní Liga, Czechoslovakia’s new top flight – later renamed 1. Liga. Meanwhile, a new club is founded in Brno, AFK (Atletický a Fotbalový Klub) SNB (Sboru Národní Bezpečnosti) Brno; the new club’s patron is Brno’s police service. It is unclear which ground AFK SNB Brno used in the first seven years of its existence.
1947 / Finishing in eleventh place (with a total of fourteen teams taking part) in the first Státní Liga season, SK Židenice descends to the second level along with SK Olomouc ASO, SK Viktoria Žižkov, and bottom club SK Libeň. Also in 1947, as the Zbrojovka armoury and motor vehicle factory in Brno takes over the patronage of SK Židenice, the club takes on the name SK Zbrojovka Židenice Brno.
1948 / Clinching the title in the Moravian-Silesian Division, 5 points ahead of closest followers SK Zlín, SK Zbrojovka Židenice Brno manages an immediate return to the Státní Liga. Also in 1948, as the club allies itself to the Sokol gymnastics movement, SK Zbrojovka Židenice Brno adapts its name to become JTO (Jednotná Tělovýchovná Organizace) Sokol Zbrojovka Židenice Brno.
1949 / Finishing in twelfth place in the Státní Liga, JTO Sokol Zbrojovka Židenice Brno drops back into the second division along with Sokol Trojice Ostrava, Manet Považska Bystrica, and bottom club SONP Kladno. Also in 1949, construction works on the projected stadium in Ponavo, Brno-Královo Pole, already planned in the 1930s and cut short following the German occupation of Czechia, get underway again.
1952 / In spite of winning the title in the Brno Regional Championship, JTO Sokol Zbrojovka Židenice Brno fails to win promotion to the top flight – in fact, due to a reorganisation of the league pyramid, seeing the introduction of a nationwide second division, and following an unsuccessful round of promotion play-offs, the club is retrograded to the third level, being placed in the Brno Regional Championship. Also in 1952, police club AFK SNB Brno is placed directly under the control of Czechoslovakia’s Ministry of the Interior, with the club also forming its own army unit. Under the new name ÚD Ruda Hvězda (‘Red Star’) Brno, the club is placed directly in the second tier of Czechoslovakia’s football pyramid without having to work its way up the leagues.
1953 / As the Sokol movement is suppressed by communist authorities and replaced by the communist sports organisation Spartak, JTO Sokol Zbrojovka Židenice Brno has its name adapted to become DSO (Dobrovolná Sportovní Organizace) Spartak Zbrojovka Brno. Finally, after four years of construction works, the Stadion Za Lužánkami is inaugurated officially on November 5th, 1953, with 50,000 spectators attending a gala match between a DSO Baník XI (a selection of players of DSO Baník Ostrava and DSO Baník Kladno, the two mining teams in the Czechoslovak top division) and Soviet club FK Dynamo Moskva. Dynamo’s goalkeeper Lev Yashin did not concede any goal, as his side comfortably walked away as winners of the match (0-5). Apart from a football pitch, the stadium disposes of athletics facilities, including, most notably, an eight-lane gravel track surrounding the pitch. With its capacity of 50,000 the new ground is the largest stadium used by club teams in Czechoslovakia – this excludes the Velký Strahovský Stadion in Prague, the largest stadium in the world (capacity 220,000), which was never used by any professional league club. For the moment, though, the ground does not see top flight football, as D3 club DSO Spartak Zbrojovka Brno and D2 club ÚD Rudá Hvězda Brno move into the stadium as groundsharers; as mentioned above, it is unclear which grounds the two clubs occupied prior to their move to the new stadium.
1954 / DSO Spartak Zbrojovka Brno finishes as runners-up in the Brno Regional Championship, 3 points behind champions DSO Sokol Lanžhot, thus missing out on promotion to the second level. Meanwhile, ÚD Ruda Hvězda Brno is renamed TJ (Tělovýchovná Jednota) Ruda Hvězda Brno. Also in 1954, the Stadion Za Lužánkami hosts an international athletics event with participants from Czechoslovakia and East Germany (att. 35,000).
1955 / The Stadion Za Lužánkami plays host to a Czechoslovakia international match for the first time, as the country takes on Austria in a Dr. Gerö Cup match (3-2, att. 45,000). That same year, the ground also sees an international athletics meeting between Czechoslovakia and Poland; on the day, Poland’s Jerzy Chromik achieves a world record on the 3,000 steeplechase (8.41,2). In the following decades, the stadium continues to be used for athletics events, most notably the Veletržní Brno athletics meeting, organised by the Zbrojovka athletics club. Also in 1955, TJ Ruda Hvězda Brno wins the so-called Pearl Cup (Perletóvy Pohár).
1956 / Champions in Group B of the 2. Liga, 10 points ahead of closest followers DSO Baník Vítkovice and DŠO Slovan NV Bratislava B, TJ Ruda Hvězda Brno accedes to the 1. Liga for the first time in the club’s young history – thereby giving the Stadion Za Lužánkami its first taste of top flight football. Also in 1956, as mathematical machine manufacturer ZJŠ (Závody Jana Švermy) takes over the patronage of the club from Zbrojovka, DSO Spartak Zbrojovka Brno adapts its name to become TJ (Tělovýchovná Jednota) Spartak ZJŠ Brno.
1958 / TJ Ruda Hvězda Brno is invited to take part in the Danube Cup, an international club competition; following wins over Salgótarjáni BTC, FK Vojvodina, and DŠO Tatran Prešov, the club qualifies for the final, in which it is defeated comprehensively by its Yugoslavian namesakes FK Crvena Zvezda, a.k.a. Red Star Belgrade (7-3 aggr.).
1959 / In the best season in club history, TJ Ruda Hvězda Brno finishes in fifth place in the 1. Liga. Also in 1959, TJ Spartak ZJŠ Brno finishes as runners-up in Group D of the Oblast Championship, the third tier of Czechoslovakia’s football pyramid, 3 points behind champions VTJ Dukla Olomouc – and thus missing out on promotion.
1960 / Five years after its conquest of the Pearl Cup, TJ Ruda Hvězda Brno now manages the biggest success in its history by defeating TJ Dynamo Praha in the final of the Spartakiad Tournament, which replaced the Czechoslovak Cup in 1960. Meanwhile, winning the title in Group C of the Oblast Championship, TJ Spartak ZJŠ Brno wins promotion to the 2. Liga along with runners-up TJ Spartak Kbely. Also in 1960, as Czechoslovakia’s national team qualifies for the first edition of the European Championship of nations, held in France, TJ Rudá Hvězda Brno’s striker Vlastimil Bubník is included in the squad, which finishes in third place. In the 1960-61 season, on the back of its Spartakiad win, Rudá Hvězda becomes Czechoslovakia’s first-ever participant in the Cup Winners Cup, defeating ASK Vorwärts Berlin in the preliminary round (3-2 aggr.) before being knocked out in R1 by NK Dinamo Zagreb (2-0 aggr.).
1961 / Finishing in twelfth place in the 1. Liga, TJ Ruda Hvězda Brno drops back into the second division along with TJ Jednota Trenčín and bottom club TJ Dynamo Praha.
1962 / Conquering the title in Group B of the 2. Liga, 3 points ahead of TJ VŽKG Ostrava, TJ Ruda Hvězda Brno manages an immediate return to the top tier of Czechoslovak football. Following the 1961-62 season, however, the club is absorbed into its more popular fellow-users of the Stadion Za Lužánkami, TJ Spartak ZJŠ Brno, without that club changing its name. As such, Spartak Brno, which finished in eighth place in the same division as Ruda Hvězda in the 1961-62 season, is placed in the 1. Liga on the back of its groundsharer’s title. For the new season, the club is invited to take part in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the precursor of the UEFA Cup, being knocked out in R1 by FC Petrolul Ploieşti (5-0 aggr.). Prior to that, in the summer of 1962, as Czechoslovakia finishes in second place in the World Cup in Chile, TJ Ruda Hvězda Brno’s goalkeeper František Schmucker is part of the country’s successful squad.
1963 / Being invited to take part in the 1963-64 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, its second consecutive participation, TJ Spartak ZJŠ Brno has a decent run, defeating Servette FC (7-1 aggr.) and Partick Thistle FC (6-3 aggr.) before bowing out against RFC Liège (2-2 aggr., tie-break match: 1-0 defeat).
1964 / Being invited to take part in the 1964-65 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, TJ Spartak ZJŠ Brno is knocked out in R1 by Ferencvárosi TC (2-1 aggr.).
1965 / Once again being invited to take part in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, TJ Spartak ZJŠ Brno has the better of PFK Lokomotiv Plovdiv in R1 (2-1 aggr.) before managing a major upset by knocking out AC Fiorentina in R2 (4-2 aggr.). Ultimately, the club is eliminated in R3 by Dunfermline Athletic FC (2-0 aggr.).
1966 / In its fifth consecutive – and last – participation in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, TJ Spartak ZJŠ Brno is knocked out in R1 by NK Dinamo Zagreb (2-2 aggr. & away goals).
1967 / Although having decent results in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup throughout the decade, TJ Spartak ZJŠ Brno was no more than an also-ran in the 1. Liga throughout the mid-1960s; ultimately, in the 1966-67 season, the club finishes in second-last place in the 1. Liga, thus dropping back to the second level along with bottom club TJ Spartak Hradec Králové.
1968 / As Zbrojovka returns as the club’s patron company, replacing ZJŠ after twelve seasons, TJ Spartak ZJŠ Brno has its name adapted to become TJ Zbrojovka Brno.
1969 / Thanks to a Václav Lunda goal eight minutes before the end of the last match of the season, TJ Zbrojovka Brno avoids relegation to the third tier of the football pyramid, as the club finishes in ninth place in Group B of the 2. Liga, just 1 point ahead of TJ Slovan CHZJD Bratislava B and the relegation zone.
1970 / Floodlights are inaugurated at the Stadion Za Lužánkami; around that same time, a second tier is added on the western side of the ground.
1971 / Clinching the title in the 2. Liga, 5 points ahead of TJ AC Nitra, TJ Zbrojovka Brno manages a return to the top flight after an absence of four seasons.
1977 / Zbrojovka’s striker Karel Kroupa is chosen as Czechoslovakia’s best player of the 1976-77 season. Kroupa, who played a total of sixteen seasons at Spartak and Zbrojovka, subdivided in three different spells, also won 21 caps for Czechoslovakia’s national team.
1978 / Having finishes in fourth place twice in the preceding years (1975 & 1977), TJ Zbrojovka Brno, coached by former Czechoslovak international star Josef Masopust, now manages the biggest success in club history, clinching the title in the 1. Liga, finishing 2 points ahead of runners-up ASVS Dukla Praha. To this day, it is the only-ever national football title conquered by a club from Brno. In the 1978-79 European Cup, the club knocks out Hungarian champions Újpesti Dózsa SC (4-2 aggr.) before bowing out in R2 following a defeat at the hands of GTS Wisła (3-3 & away goals).
1979 / Still coached by Josef Masopust, TJ Zbrojovka Brno finishes in third place in the 1. Liga. Thus qualifying for the 1979-80 UEFA Cup, the club knocks out Scandinavian minnows Esbjerg fB (7-1 aggr.) and Keflavík íF (5-2 aggr.), going on to defeat R Standard de Liège (5-3 aggr.), ultimately stumbling over Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter finals (6-4 aggr.).
1980 / In Josef Masopust’s last season as coach, TJ Zbrojovka Brno finishes as runners-up in the 1. Liga, 5 points behind TJ Baník Ostrava OKD. In the 1980-81 UEFA Cup, the club knocks out SK VOEST Linz in R1 (5-1 aggr.) before losing out against Real Sociedad in R2 (3-2 aggr.).
1982 / With Czechoslovakia qualifying for the 1982 World Cup in Spain, TJ Zbrojovka’s striker Petr Janečka is included in the squad for the tournament.
1983 / After a golden decade, TJ Zbrojovka Brno now finishes in second-last place in the 1. Liga, thus descending into the second level along with bottom club TJ Sigma ZTS Olomouc.
1984 / Runners-up in the First Czech National Football League, 2 points behind champions TJ ZTS Olomouc, TJ Zbrojovka Brno narrowly misses out on an immediate return to top flight football.
1985 / TJ Zbrojovka Brno finds itself embroiled in a court case, with the club eventually being convicted for trying to bribe a player of its rivals for the 1. Czech NFL title, TJ Dynamo České Budějovice. The punishment meted out is being retrograded one division. However, because Zbrojovka clinched the title, 2 points ahead of Dynamo, the club saved its skin in the second tier – having to leave the promotion to the 1. Liga to its rivals, however.
1987 / Yet again, TJ Zbrojovka Brno narrowly misses out on a return to the 1. Liga, finishing in second place in the First Czech National Football League, 2 points behind champions TJ Spartak ZVÚ Hradec Králové.
1988 / Runners-up in the 1. Czech NFL for the second year running, 3 points behind champions TJ Škoda Plzeň, TJ Zbrojovka Brno misses out on promotion to the 1. Liga once more – with the club’s reaching the Czech Cup’s semi-final (only for the third time in club history) amounting to little more than putting a wooden leg in plaster.
1989 / Coached by František Cipro, TJ Zbrojovka Brno finally manages a return to the top flight of Czechoslovak football after an absence of six seasons by winning the First Czech National Football League title, finishing 4 points ahead of its old rival TJ Dynamo České Budějovice.
1990 / Shedding the references to its communist past, TJ Zbrojovka Brno anglicises its name to become FC Zbrojovka Brno. That same year, the Stadion Za Lužánkami as well as the surrounding area passes into the hands of former ice hockey player Lubomír Hrstka – meanwhile having become an entrepreneur and the owner of the Boby Revue Company. Also in 1990, the Stadion Za Lužánkami hosts a Czechoslovakia international match for the last time, with 7,500 spectators showing up as the country plays a friendly against Egypt in preparation for the 1990 World Cup (0-1). In total, the stadium hosted twelve Czechoslovakia international matches between 1955 and 1990.
1991 / Bottom of the table in the 1. Liga, FC Zbrojovka Brno drops back into the second division along with the club finishing second from bottom, FC Nitra.
1992 / At the behest of Lubomír Hrstka, the name of the club is adapted, with FC Zbrojovka Brno becoming FC Boby Brno, a reference to Hrstka’s company, in the course of the 1991-92 season. Under this new name, the club clinches the title in the Czech-Moravian Football League, 7 points ahead of FK Ostroj Opava, thus securing a return to top flight football after an absence of just one season.
1993 / In the last season taking place in Czechoslovakia as a united country prior to Slovak independence, FC Boby Brno reaches the final of the Czech Cup, in which it is defeated by AC Sparta Praha. However, thanks to Sparta clinching the title and the Slovak Cup winner qualifying for Europe as well, FC Boby becomes Czechia’s first-ever Cup Winners Cup participant – without getting to enjoy the occasion, however, being knocked out by Bayer 04 Leverkusen in R1 (5-0 aggr.). The year 1993 also sees the inauguration of Lubomír Hrstka’s latest project, the Bobycentrum Hotel Complex in Brno. In the following years, the hotel proves heavily loss-making and a millstone around Hrstka’s neck.
1995 / The Czech national football team plays its first and only international match held at the Stadion Za Lužánkami, defeating Finland in a friendly (att. 7,745).
1996 / The 1. Liga encounter between FC Boby Brno and AC Slavia Praha on October 2nd, 1996, draws 44,120 to the Stadion Za Lužánkami, the highest turn-out ever in a Czech league match following the break-up of Czechoslovakia in 1993.
1997 / After finishing in third place in the 1. Liga in the 1994-95 season, but missing out on European football, FC Boby Brno now qualifies makes good on that thanks to a fourth place finish. Under the slightly adapted name FC Boby-Sports Brno, the club starts the 1997-98 season, surviving R1 of the UEFA Cup by edging past Inkaras Kaunas (7-4 aggr.) before being knocked out by SK Rapid (Vienna) in R2 (6-3 aggr.).
1999 / After several years of soldiering on in the face of financial problems – with debts exceeding 2 billion Czech crowns – Lubomír Hrstka’s company Boby Revue goes bankrupt, ceasing all activities.
2000 / Following the 1999-2000 season, in which FC Boby-Sports had a relatively good run, finishing in fourth place in the 1. Liga, Lubomír Hrstka’s Boby Revue Company went bankrupt. With Hrstka thus having to relinquish his position at the helm of the football club as a result, FC Boby-Sports Brno changes its name to become FC Stavo Artikel Brno, with construction market Stavo Artikel taking over as the new club sponsor.
2001 / The Stadion Za Lužánkami has to be abandoned by FC Stavo Artikel Brno, as the ground no longer meets the criteria as laid down by the Czech Football Association or the UEFA. The last match played at the ground is on September 30th, 2001, a league encounter between FC Stavo Artikel Brno and FC Hradec Králové. Subsequently, FC Brno moves to the reconstructed Městský Fotbalový Stadion Srbská, former home of TJ K(P)S Brno and several other clubs. Initially, the move is intended as a temporary one, with plans being made to renovate the Za Lužánkami. Also in 2001, FC Brno’s former owner Lubomír Hrstka is condemned to three years imprisonment for financial malversations.
2004 / The Stadion Za Lužánkami is purchased by Brno’s municipal authorities for an amount of 17,5 million Czech crowns.
2008 / Plans are presented for the construction of a completely new football stadium on the site of the Stadion Za Lužánkami, an arena resembling the Colosseum in Rome with a projected capacity of 30,000, designed by architect Petr Hrůša – with the ultimate goal of becoming one of the venues for the 2020 European Championships, due to be held in stadiums across the continent. Also in 2008, the Za Lužánkami winter stadium – a smaller indoor arena in the immediate vicinity of the main stadium – mainly used for ice hockey matches, is knocked down.
2012 / Due to the conflict about the ownership of the grounds surrounding the Za Lužánkami following the bankruptcy of Lubomír Hrstka in 1999, the construction works on the new stadium, as designed by Petr Hrůša two years previously, cannot start, as a result of which the project is shelved. Meanwhile, the ground has fallen into disrepair, with trees growing in the stands and homeless people seeking shelter in the covered areas.
2015 / Petr Švancara, longtime captain of FC Zbrojovka Brno, expresses his ambition to hold his farewell game at the Stadion Za Lužánkami. To achieve this, a group of fans and (former) club officials gets together to work on bringing in order the pitch and clear part of the terraces in the early months of 2015. Eventually, on June 27th, 2015, a match takes place between two teams, consisting mainly of former Zbrojovka players, with an impressive number of 35,000 spectators showing up in the sell-out event in the partly restored stadium. Later that year, the fan initiative wins first prize in the Sustainability and Community categories at the Global Stadium Business Awards in Madrid.
2016 / New designs are presented for the construction of a stadium on the site of the Za Lužánkami, but due to the conflict about the ownership of the grounds still not being resolved, this project stalls as well.
2022 / A civil court judges that the City of Brno is the owner not just of the Stadion Za Lužánkami itself, but of the surrounding grounds as well.
2023 / Municipal authorities take the decision to knock down the Stadion Za Lužánkami, with works due to begin in the summer of 2024 (projected!). Simultaneously, plans are presented for a new municipal stadium elsewhere in Brno, notably at the exhibition grounds near the Brno Velodrome.