Extreme Football Tourism: CZECHIA: SK Moravská Slavia Brno (1941-1948) / JTO Sokol Moravská Slavia Brno (1948-1949) / ZSJ GZ Královo Pole (1949-1953) / DSO Spartak Královo Pole (1953-1954) / TJ Spartak Královo Pole Brno (1954-1961) / TJ Spartak KPS Brno (1961-1963) / TJ KPS Brno (1963-1978) / TJ KS Brno (1978-1993) / FC LeRK Brno (1993-1995) / FC Zeman Brno (1995-2000) / FC Brno (2001-2002) / 1. FC Brno (2002-2010) / FC Zbrojovka Brno (2010-) / 1. FC Znojmo (2013-2014)

Městský Fotbalový Stadion Srbská, Brno (FC Zbrojovka Brno, formerly SK Moravská Slavia Brno / JTO Sokol Moravská Slavia Brno / ZSJ GZ Královo Pole / DSO Spartak Královo Pole / TJ Spartak Královo Pole Brno / TJ Spartak KPS Brno / TJ KPS Brno / TJ KS Brno / FC LeRK Brno / FC Zeman Brno / FC Brno / 1. FC Brno / 1. SC Znojmo)

Czechia, region: South Moravia

August 2024 / no match visited

Timeline

1904 / Foundation of an expressly Czech sports club in Brno (Brünn in German, relevant because the city is part of the Austrian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time), which takes on the name SK (Sportovní Klub) Moravská Slavia Brno. Football is not part of the club’s activities yet.
1906 / SK Moravská Slavia Brno includes football in its range of sports.
1908 / After two years without a pitch of their own, the footballers of SK Moravská Slavia Brno settle at its first ground, Žabovřesky, situated at modern-day Tábor Ulice.
1912 / SK Moravská Slavia Brno wins the Moravian Championship title for the first time.
1913 / SK Moravská Slavia Brno wins the Moravian Championship title for the second consecutive time, while also managing to reach the final of the pan-Czech championship, losing the encounter against SK Slavia Praha (2-0). Also in 1913, the club is forced out of its Žabovřesky pitch. Club volunteers undertake to lay out a new pitch next to the old one, but the works are never completed due to the outbreak of World War I in the summer of 1914.
1919 / In the newly created state of Czechoslovakia, SK Moravská Slavia Brno takes up its activities again, settling at a new pitch at Pisárky in the western parts of Brno, where a football and athletics stadium is constructed for the club – the modern-day Sportovní Areál za Anthroposem, currently owned by the Czech Military Academy.
1929 / SK Moravská Slavia Brno wins the Moravian Championship title for the third time.
1935 / Finishing in third place in the Moravian “Divize”, one of the groups of the second tier of Czechoslovak football, SK Moravská Slavia Brno accedes to the top flight for the first – and only – time in club history. As such, the club becomes only the second team from Brno to make it to the Czechoslovak First Division, after SK Židenice, which had achieved this two years previously.
1936 / In the best season in club history, SK Moravská Slavia Brno narrowly manages to stay up in the top division, finishing in tenth place of fourteen teams, 1 point ahead of DFC Prag, which descends into the Divize.
1937 / Finishing in last place in the First Division, with only one win and one draw in the entire season, SK Moravská Slavia Brno drops back into the Divize along with the club finishing second from bottom, SK Rusj Užhorod.
1939 / Shortly after the German occupation of Czechia in the early months of 1939, SK Moravská Slavia Brno is forced out of its ground at Pisárky at the behest of the oppressors. The club starts a court case against occupation authorities, with the outcome being predictable. By way of compensation, the club is handed a plot of land at Královopolská, used as a brickyard until that time.
1941 / After two years, the new pitch of SK Moravská Slavia Brno at Královopolská is inaugurated – the exact location of the modern-day Městský Fotbalový Stadion Srbská.
1948 / As the club allies itself to the Sokol gymnastics movement, SK Moravská Slavia Brno adapts its name to become JTO (Jednotná Tělovýchovná Organisace) Sokol Moravská Slavia Brno.
1949 / JTO Sokol Moravská Slavia Brno is absorbed into ZK GZ Královo Pole, which settles at the Královopolská ground. In fact, ZK GZ Královo Pole’s patron company in the new communist Czechoslovakia is a Brno’s chemical plant also called Královopolska, but renamed Gottwaldovy Závody for a short period of time in the late 1940s and early 1950s in honour of the communist strongman in Czechoslovakia at the time, Klement Gottwald. ZK GZ Královo Pole had been founded in 1910 as Sparta Královo Brno, changing its name to become SK (Sportovní Klub) Královo Pole in 1922 and ZK GZ (Závodní Klub Gottwaldovy Závody) Královo Pole in 1948; in the first decades of its existence, the club had never played at a higher level than the second tier of Czechoslovak football. It is unclear where the club played its home matches before the merger with Moravská Slavia – it may already have groundshared at Královopolská, but proof of this is lacking. As for Královopolská; in the post-war years, the ground is completely reconstructed – and upon completion of the works, also in 1949, the stadium, initially called Stadion Královo Pole, but later usually referred to as Stadion na Srbské (named after Srbská Ulice, the street where the entrance of the ground is situated), offers space for 30,000 spectators. Following the absorption of JTO Sokol Moravská Slavia Brno, ZK GZ Královo Pole takes on the slightly adapted name ZSJ (Závodní Sokolská Jednota) GZ Královo Pole. The new club, which becomes the sole football club to make use of the stadium, starts its life in the Brno Regional Championship, the third tier of Czechoslovakia’s football pyramid.
1951 / ZSJ GZ Královo Pole wins the title in the Brno Regional Championship, but fails to win promotion to a higher division due to a reorganisation of the football pyramid. Also in 1951, the club wins the Pearl Cup (Perlet’ový Pohár), a popular cup competition held in Brno at the time, going on to repeat this feat in 1952, 1953, 1958, and 1959.
1952 / The Stadion Královo Pole hosts the Czech athletics championships. In subsequent years, apart from athletics competitions, the ground also hosts speedway and equestrian sports events.
1953 / With the reference to President Klement Gottwald, who passed away in 1953, being dropped, ZSJ GZ Královo Pole takes on the new name DSO (Dobrovolná Sportovní Organisace) Spartak Královo Pole Brno.
1954 / DSO Královo Pole Brno slightly adapts its name to become TJ (Tělovýchovná Jednota) Spartak Královo Pole Brno.
1958 / Winning the title in Group D of the Oblast Championship, the third tier of Czechoslovakia's football pyramid, 3 points ahead of TJ Jiskra Otrokovice, TJ Spartak Královo Pole Brno wins promotion to the 2. Liga.
1959 / Finishing bottom in Group B of the 2. Liga, TJ Spartak Královo Pole drops back into the Oblast Championship along with TJ Slovan ÚNV Bratislava B and TJ Tatran Topol’čany. Also in 1959, the Stadion Královo Pole hosts Czechoslovakia’s home match against Denmark, a qualifier for the first-ever European Championship of nations. Czechoslovakia wins the match 5-1 (att. 30,000), going on to qualify for the tournament, in which the country manages a third place. The Denmark encounter was to remain the only Czechoslovakia national team match to be played at the stadium.
1960 / Winning the title in Group C of the Oblast Championship, TJ Spartak Královo Pole wins promotion to the 2. Liga along with runners-up TJ Spartak Kbely.
1961 / Clinching its second title in a row, TJ Spartak Královo Pole finishes in first place in Group B of the 2. Liga, 1 point ahead of closest rivals VTJ Dukla Pardubice, thus acceding to the 1. Liga for the first – and only – time in club history. With the name of the patron company, chemical concern Královopolská, being reinstated in the club’s name, TJ Spartak Královo Pole Brno now officially becomes TJ Spartak KPS (Královopolské Strojírny) Brno. With Brno being a fairs city, Spartak is invited to take part in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the precursor of the UEFA Cup, but the club is eliminated in R1 by a Leipzig XI (6-3 aggr.).
1962 / In the club’s only-ever season in the top flight of Czechoslovak football, TJ Spartak KPS Brno finishes bottom of the 1. Liga table, dropping back into the 2. Liga along with the club finishing second from bottom, DŠO Spartak Trnava.
1963 / TJ Spartak KPS Brno shortens its name to become TJ KPS Brno.
1965 / Finishing in eleventh place in Group B of the 2. Liga, TJ KPS Brno drops back into the “Divize”, the third tier of the Czechoslovak football pyramid, along with city rivals TJ ZKL Brno as well as TJ Dynamo Kutná Hora, TJ Tepna Náchod, and bottom club TJ MŽ Olomouc. Meanwhile, also in 1965, a phoenix club of the former SK Moravská Slavia Brno is founded, TJ (Tělovychovná Jednota) Moravská Slavia Brno, which in fact comes into being following a ‘merger’ with the already existing club Slovan Stará Brno, of which it acquires the pitch at Vojtava in Brno. In fact, the club still exists today – and on the same location – but it never managed to reach the higher division of Czechoslovak or Czech football.
1974 / Finishing second-last in Group B of the 3. Liga, TJ KPS Brno joins TJ VCHZ Pardubice B and bottom club VTJ Dukla Jičin in a relegation to the Divize, which have meanwhile become the fourth tier of Czechoslovakia’s football pyramid.
1975 / Expansion of the Královo Pole sports complex, as a multi-purpose sports hall is inaugurated in the immediate vicinity of the stadium itself.
1977 / Clinching the title in Divize D, 3 points ahead of closest followers TJ Spartak Uherský Brod, TJ KPS Brno wins promotion to the First Czech National Football League, which – in a reorganisation of Czechoslovakia’s football pyramid being undertaken in the summer of 1977 – is the new second tier of the country’s league ladder.
1978 / As the abbreviation of the name of the club’s patron company Královopolská is adapted from KPS to KS, TJ KPS Brno also changes its name to become TJ KS Brno.
1981 / Finishing in fourteenth place in Group B of the 1. Czech NFL, TJ KS Brno drops back into the 2. Czech National Football League or the third tier of Czechoslovakia’s football pyramid.
1988 / Champions in Group B of the 2. Czech NFL, 1 point ahead of TJ VCHZ Pardubice, TJ KS Brno manages a return to the 1. Czech NFL.
1989 / Bottom of the table in the 1. Czech NFL, TJ KS Brno drops back into the 2. Czech NFL after just one season, along with TJ Spartak Ústí nad Labem and VTJ Tábor.
1993 / In the last season organised for the whole of Czechoslovakia, TJ KS Brno finishes in third place in the Moravian-Silesian Football League, enough to secure promotion to the 2. Liga of the new Czech football pyramid along with champions FK VP Frýdek-Místek and runners-up TJ ŽD Bohumín. Meanwhile, with Královopolská ceasing to be the club’s patron company, TJ KS Brno finds a new sponsor in the shape of retail chain LeRK (‘Levně, Rychle, Kvalitně’), changing its name to become FC LeRK Brno.
1995 / In its last season as an independent club, FC LeRK Brno finishes in third place in the 2. Liga, only 2 points behind runners-up FK Kaučuk Opava, which accedes to the 1. Liga. Following the 1994-95 season, FC LeRK Brno is absorbed into SK Prostějov – Prostějov being a town situated some 60km to the north of Brno – which changes its name to become SK LeRK Prostějov and starting its life in the 2. Liga. With this merger club playing its home games at Prostějov's Stadion za Místním Nádražím, the Stadion na Srbské is taken over by the newly founded non-league club FC Zeman Brno, named after its chairman, Pavlo Zeman, a local entrepreneur.
1996 / Winning a title in the lowest division of Czechia’s league pyramid, FC Zeman Brno is offered the opportunity to take an open place in the “Divize”, the fourth tier of Czechia’s football pyramid, following the demise of another club.
1997 / Finishing in third place in Divize D, FC Zeman Brno wins promotion to the Moravian-Silesian Football League, the third level of Czechia’s football pyramid, along with FC Elseremo Brumov and TJ Kunovice.
± 1999 / With the ground meanwhile being in a dilapidate state, the Stadion na Srbské is purchased by investment company DS Leasing, who plan to recreate it as a baseball venue. Regardless of the takeover, FC Zeman Brno continues to play its home matches at the ground.
2000 / In its last season as an independent club, FC Zeman Brno finishes second-last in the Moravian-Silesian Football League, thus dropping back into the Divize along with FC Dukla Hranice and bottom club FK HK Přerov. Following the 1999-2000 season, FC Zeman Brno is absorbed into FC Sparta Brno, which plays its football at Stadion Komárovský in Brno-Komárov. As such, the Stadion na Srbské is left without a football club using it for the following year.
2001 / FC Stavo Artikel Brno has to abandon its Stadion Za Lužánkami, where the club had been home for the past 48 years, 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 Stadion na Srbské, which had been purchased by Brno’s city council several months previously from the DS Leasing company to offer the club a way out of its stadium misery. Now officially renamed the Městský Fotbalový Stadion Srbská, the ground undergoes a thorough renovation in the four months preceding the club’s move to Královo Pole (new capacity: 10,200). Initially, the move is intended as a temporary one, with plans being made to renovate the Za Lužánkami – but successive plans to renovate the old stadium all come to naught, with the ground falling into disrepair in the 2010s. As such, in retrospect, the move to Stadion na Srbské was permanent. Meanwhile, also in 2001, FC Brno’s former owner Lubomír Hrstka is condemned to three years imprisonment for financial malversations.
2002 / As the sponsorship deal with construction market Stavo Artikel ends, FC Stavo Artikel Brno changes its name to become 1. FC Brno. Also in 2002, 43 years after Czechoslovakia had played its only international match at the stadium, the Městský Fotbalový Stadion Srbská now hosts a friendly match between Czechia and Slovakia (1-1).
2010 / At the request of supporters, 1. FC Brno takes on the epithet ‘Zbrojovka’ from the communist era, with the club thus officially becoming FC Zbrojovka Brno.
2011 / After a decade of uninspiring results, managing no more than mid-table positions in the 1. Liga – with the fourth place in 2008 being a highlight – FC Zbrojovka Brno now finishes second-last in Czechia’s top division, thus descending into the 2. Liga along with bottom club FK Ústí nad Labem.
2012 / FC Zbrojovka Brno manages no more than a fourth place in the 2. Liga, but due to champions FK Ústí nad Labem not meeting its 1. Liga licence and the club finishing in third place, FK Baník Sokolov, refusing Czechia’s FA’s offer to be placed in the top league for the new season, Zbrojovka joins runners-up FC Vysočina Jihlava in an unexpected promotion to the 1. Liga.
2013 / In the town of Znojmo, some 70km to the south of Brno, the local football club 1. SC Znojmo manages to win promotion to the 1. Liga for the first time in its history. With the club’s own Městský Stadion v Horním Parku not meeting the licence rules for the top division, the club sees no other option but to arrange a groundsharing deal with FC Zbrojovka Brno at the Stadion na Srbské.
2014 / FC Zbrojovka Brno reaches the semi-final of the Czech Cup, in which it is eliminated by FC Viktoria Plzeň (2-0 aggr.). In its long history, Zbrojovka never managed to win the Czech Cup, let alone the Czechoslovak Cup. Also in 2014, 1. SC Znojmo finishes bottom of the table in the 1. Liga, thus dropping back into the antechamber of Czech football after just one year – and moving back to its home ground in Znojmo proper.
2015 / A new roof is constructed to top the Western Stand of the Městský Fotbalový Stadion Srbská.
2018 / 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 Vysočina Jihlava.
2020 / Runners-up in the 2. Liga, FC Zbrojovka Brno joins champions FK Pardubice in the 1. Liga for the new season.
2021 / Zbrojovka’s stay in the 1. Liga is short-lived, with the club finishing in sixteenth place and dropping back to the second tier along with 1. FK Příbram and bottom club SFC Opava.
2022 / Clinching the title in the 2. Liga, 16 points ahead of FC Vlašim, FC Zbrojovka Brno manages an immediate return to the top flight of Czech football.