Extreme Football Tourism: SLOVAKIA: ŠK Železničiari Sparta Košice (1947-1949) / ZSJ Dynamo ČSD Košice (1949-1953) / DŠO Lokomotíva Košice (1953-1957) / TJ Lokomotíva Košice (1957-1963, 1967-1990) / TJ Lokomotíva VSŽ Košice (1963-1967) / FK Lokomotíva Košice (1990-1997) / FC Lokomotíva Košice (1997-1998, 2022-) / 1. FC Košice (1997-2005) / MFK Košice (2005-2015) / FC VSS Košice (2015-2017) / FC Košice (2018-2022)

Štadión Lokomotívy v Čermeli, Košice (FC Lokomotíva Košice, formerly ŠK Železničiari Sparta Košice / ZSJ Dynamo ČSD Košice / DŠO Lokomotíva Košice / TJ Lokomotíva Košice / TJ Lokomotíva VSŽ Košice / FK Lokomotíva Košice / 1. FC Košice / MFK Košice / FC VSS Košice / FC Košice)

Slovakia, region: Košice

11 VIII 2024 / FC Lokomotíva Košice - MŠK Námestovo 2-0 / 3. Liga - Group East (= SVK level 3)

Timeline

1903 / Foundation of a first football club in Košice or Kassai in Hungarian – relevant because Slovakia was part of the Hungarian half of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time. The club, Kassai Atlétikai Club (AC), is renamed Kassai ASE upon a merger with Kassai Sport Egyesületin (SE) in 1908 – conquering the Hungarian national title one year later. It is unclear if Kassai AC and its successors played their football on the pitch at Tyršovo Nábrežie (street name in Hungarian unknown) from the outset.
1918 / Upon the foundation of the Czechoslovak Republic after World War I, the club is renamed ŠK Sparta Košice.
1938 / As Košice and other parts of Slovakia close to the Hungarian border are annexed by Hungary, ŠK Sparta Košice takes on its original name Kassai AC.
1942 / Kassai AC concludes a merger with Kassai Rákóczi Sport Egyesületin (SE), resulting in the foundation of Kassai Rákoczi Atlétikai Club (RAC).
1945 / As Košice becomes part of Czechoslovakia again following the end of World War II, Kassai RAC disbands, merging with two other local clubs, Kassai Törekvés and ČsŠK Košice, into the new club ŠK Jednota Košice.
1946 / A new football club is formed in Košice by the city’s railway workers; given that the new club, ŠK (Športový Klub) Železničiari Košice, does not dispose of a pitch of its own, it has to play its home matches in the Second Regional League (level 3 of the nascent Czechoslovak league pyramid) in various stadiums of other clubs in Košice, making its home debut on September 29th, 1946, at ŠK Jednota Košice’s ground at Tyršovo Nábrežie, with the match against HAC Humenné ending in a 2-6 defeat. Another ground regularly used by the club in the course of the 1946-47 season is the Futbalové Ihrisko Medená in Košice-Barca. Later in 1946, following a merger with ŠK Sparta Košice, the club adapts its name to become ŠK Železničiari Sparta Košice.
1947 / On a meeting of the membership of ŠK Železničiari Sparta Košice in January 1947, the decision is taken to build a stadium for the club. Meanwhile, the club has a successful first season, winning the title in the Second Regional League, 2 points ahead of runners-up ŠK Tatry Poprad – going on to win a set of play-offs resulting in promotion to the First Regional League. On May 1st, 1947, in a ceremonial march in which railway workers and club volunteers take part, the club takes possession of a plot of farmland of some 10 hectares, the so-called Črmelské Údolie in the Čermel district, half a kilometre north of Košice’s city-centre. Originally, the field had been acquired by the Czechoslovak railways to build a new train station – but with those plans being adapted, the original idea to give the football club a small pitch hemmed in by railway constructions gives way to a more ambitious project, including a large football stadium, the prospective Štadión Lokomotívy v Čermeli (capacity: 30,000), as well as a covered winter stadium for 3,000 spectators. In the first phase of the building process, entirely carried out by club volunteers, a football ground is laid out, surrounded by an athletics track and adorned with an entrance gate, later named the Brána Borcov or Fighters’ Gate. As soon as the pitch is ready for use, ŠK Železničiari Sparta Košice starts playing its home matches here.
1949 / ŠK Železničiari Sparta Košice concludes a merger with SJ (Sokol Jednota) Dynamo Košice, with the new adopted club name now becoming ZSJ (Závodná Sokolská Jednota) Dynamo ČSD (Československé Štátne Dráhy) Košice. Under this new name, the club is placed in the top division of the Czechoslovak football pyramid, replacing its bourgeois city rivals ŠK Jednota Košice, who are relegated at the behest of communist authorities in Czechoslovakia. In the 1949 season, the club finishes in eighth place in a field of fourteen clubs.
1951 / In the best season in club history, ZSJ Dynamo ČSD Košice finishes in third place in the Republic Championship – only a whisker away from the title, as the club gathers the same number of points as champions Sokol NV Bratislava and runners-up Sparta ČKD Sokolovo, but with an inferior goal difference. Also in 1951, ŠK Jednota Košice changes its name to become ZSJ (Závodná Sokolská Jednota) VSS Košice, as East-Slovak steel company VSS takes over the patronage of the club.
1952 / In spite of finishing in the relegation zone in the Republic Championship, ZSJ Dynamo ČSD Košice avoids relegation to the second level, probably due to political reasons. Also in 1952, ZSJ VSS Košice adapts its name to become TJ Spartak Košice VSS.
1953 / ZSJ Dynamo ČSD Košice adapts its name to become DŠO (Dobrovoľná Športová Organizácia) Lokomotíva Košice. Under this new name, the club finishes last in the Republic Championship with only 5 points, suffering retrogradation to the third-tier Regional Competition (Krajská Súťaž) following a new restructuration of the league pyramid.
1954 / In spite of finishing top of the league in the Regional Competition, DŠO Lokomotíva Košice is placed in the newly formed District Competition (Oblastná Súťaž) in a new restructuration of the league pyramid.
1955 / After an absence of six seasons at the top level of the Czechoslovak league pyramid following the retrogradation of ŠK Jednota Košice in 1949, TJ Spartak Košice VSS manages a return to the highest football division in the country, holding out at that level for one season only, finishing last in the 1956 season and dropping back into the second division.
1956 / Following a merger with TJ Spoje Košice, TJ Spartak Košice VSS takes on the name TJ Spartak Košice.
1957 / DŠO Lokomotíva Košice adapts its name to become TJ (Tělovýchovná Jednota) Lokomotíva Košice. Also in 1957, following a merger with TJ Slavoj Košice, TJ Spartak Košice adapts its name to become TJ Jednota Košice.
1958 / Runners-up in the District Competition Group F, TJ Lokomotíva Košice wins promotion to the 2. Liga Group B for the new season, the second tier of Czechoslovakia’s league pyramid. Meanwhile, following two seasons in the antechamber of Czechoslovak football, Lokomotíva’s city rivals TJ Jednota Košice manage a return to the top flight, this time holding out for two seasons before dropping back in 1960.
1959 / After an incredibly long second phase of construction works – with total building time taking more than twelve years – in which club volunteers were assisted by architects and the construction branch of the railway company, terraces were added to turn the ground in to a veritable stadium, which does not include a main stand or any cover for spectators yet. At an event on August 15th, 1959, which celebrates the International Day of Railwaymen as well as the 1944 Slovak National Uprising against the pro-German Tišo regime, the Štadión Lokomotívy v Čermeli – one of the most modern stadiums of its kind in Czechoslovakia at the time – is officially inaugurated with a gala match between TJ Lokomotíva Košice and an East German Railways XI (3-0).
1960 / Inauguration of the floodlights at the Štadión Lokomotívy v Čermeli on the occasion of the Spartakiad, an athletics event, on June 4th, 1960.
1961 / TJ Lokomotíva Košice reaches the final of the Slovak Cup, drawing the first tie against DŠO Dynamo Žilina (1-1), with the return leg in Košice never being played for reasons unknown. After drawing lots, Žilina is awarded the trophy, thus qualifying for the Czechoslovak Cup final against the winner of the Czech Cup. On September 10th, 1961, Lokomotíva plays a floodlit game at its own ground for the first time, a regular league match against ČH Bratislava (1-3) attended by 12,000 spectators.
1962 / After an absence of the name of the patronage company in the club name for the past six years, TJ Jednota Košice now adapts its name to become TJ VSS Košice.
1963 / TJ Lokomotíva Košice concludes a merger with the football branch of the sports club of state steel company VSŽ (Východoslovenské Železiarne), TJ VSŽ Košice (founded two years previously), leading to the foundation of TJ Lokomotíva VSŽ Košice. Also in 1963, city rivals TJ VSS Košice return to the 1. Liga after an absence of three seasons, going on to become a household name in the top flight and even qualifying for European football twice in the early 1970s.
1965 / Champions in the 2. Liga Group C, 1 point ahead of closest rivals TJ Jednota Žilina, TJ Lokomotíva VSŽ Košice manages a return to the 1. Liga, twelve years after its precursor DŠO Lokomotíva Košice last played at that level. As such, Košice now sports two teams in the top flight of Czechoslovak football. In the first seasons following the promotion, the club has a hard time coping in the top tier, narrowly avoiding relegation on several occasions.
1967 / As the merger with TJ VSŽ Košice is disentangled four years after its conclusion, the railways football club continues independently under the old name TJ Lokomotíva Košice.
1968 / In one of several participations in the Intertoto Cup, TJ Lokomotíva Košice manages an impressive group win, leaving behind FC Carl-Zeiss Jena, SV Austria Salzburg, and Horsens fS.
1970 / Coached by Milan Moravec, TJ Lokomotíva Košice has its best season since the promotion five years previously, finishing in sixth place in the 1. Liga. The club manages the same result three years later with trainer Ladislav Kačáni. Also in 1970, a covered grandstand is inaugurated at the western side of the ground, being built as a second tier on top of the terracing on that side of the ground. As Czechoslovakia's national team heads to Mexico in the summer of 1970 to take part in the World Cup, Loky's goalkeeper Anton Flešar is included in the squad as back-up of first-choice Ivo Viktor.
1974 / Coached by Theodor Reimann, who took over from Ladislav Kačáni in the course of the season, TJ Lokomotíva Košice finishes second-last in the 1. Liga, dropping back into the 2. Liga along with bottom club – and regional rivals – TJ Tatran Prešov.
1975 / Coached by Theodor Reimann, who stayed on after the relegation in the previous season, TJ Lokomotíva Košice wins the title in the 2. Liga, 8 points ahead of closest followers TJ Jednota Trenčín, which accompanies Lokomotíva to the top tier of Czechoslovak football.
1976 / Lokomotíva’s city rivals TJ VSS Košice move into the newly built municipal stadium, the so-called Všešportový Areál (VŠA), which has roughly the same capacity as Štadión Lokomotívy (30,000). As Czechoslovakia's national team is the surprise winner of the 1976 European Championships in Yugoslavia, three players from Košice are part of the squad: Loky's midfielder Jozef Móder as well as VSS's Jaroslav Pollák and Dušan Galis.
1977 / While city rivals TJ VSS Košice drop out of the top division of Czechoslovak football, TJ Lokomotíva Košice manages a respectable fifth place with coach Michal Baránek. More importantly, though, the club has a fantastic cup run, winning the final of the Slovak Cup (4-2 aggr. against TJ ZVL Žilina), going on to conquer the Czechoslovak Cup for the first time in club history, defeating TJ Sklo Union Teplice (2-1) at the Stadion Letná in Prague, with 1,500 spectators witnessing Dušan Ujhely scoring both of Lokomotíva’s goals. Thus qualifying for a UEFA organised international cup competition for the first time, Lokomotíva defeats Östers IF in R1 of the Cup Winners Cup (2-2 aggr. & away goals), bowing out against FK Austria Wien in R2 (1-1 aggr. & away goals). In stark contrast with Lokomotíva’s success, TJ VSS Košice finishes in last place in the 1. Liga in 1975-76, thus dropping back to the second level after fourteen years – although the club manages an immediate return one year later.
1978 / In a repeat of the best result in club history, TJ Lokomotíva Košice, still coached by Michael Baránek, finishes in third place in the 1. Liga, only 4 points behind champions TJ Zbrojovka Brno. Qualifying for the UEFA Cup, Lokomotíva draws Milan AC in R1, with the Italian side including the likes of Fulvio Collovati, Fabio Capello, and a very young Franco Baresi. Losing the away tie at San Siro with the narrowest of margins (1-0), Lokomotíva defeats the Italian side 1-0 in Košice (goal by Ján Kozák). In the ensuing penalty shoot-out, Milan AC eventually leaves the sell-out crowd (30,000) disconsolate, as Lokomotíva is eliminated.
1979 / TJ Lokomotíva Košice wins the Slovak Cup final against TJ Inter Slovnaft Bratislava (5-2 aggr.), going on to defeat TJ Baník Ostrava OKD in the Czechoslovak final at Stadion Letná in Prague (2-1, goals by Peter Fecko & Jozef Móder / 3,000 spectators). The successful coach is Jozef Jankrech, who took over from Michal Baránek in the course of the season. In the 1979-80 Cup Winners Cup, Lokomotíva eliminates SSW Innsbruck in R1 (3-1 aggr.), before suffering defeat in R2 at the hands of NK Rijeka (3-2 aggr.). Also in 1979, as VSS relinquishes the patronage of the club to tube artillery production company ZŤS, TJ VSS Košice is renamed TJ ZŤS Košice.
1980 / As Czechoslovakia qualifies for the 1980 European Championships in Italy, Loky's goalkeeper Stanislav Seman as well as the club's midfielder Ján Kozák are included in the squad. Kozák spent two spells at Lokomotíva (1975-80 & 1982-86) and won an impressive total of 55 caps for the Czechoslovak national team.
1981 / TJ ZŤS Košice finishes last in the 1. Liga, dropping back into the 1. Slovak National League – destined to stay put at that level until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993.
1982 / As Czechoslovakia qualifies for the 1982 World Cup in Spain, Loky's goalkeeper Stanislav Seman is included in the squad.
1985 / Coached by Jozef Jankrech, TJ Lokomotíva Košice conquers the Slovak Cup for the third time, defeating regional rivals TJ Tatran Prešov in the final (2-1 aggr.). In the Czechoslovak final, held at Stadion na Litavce in Přibram, the club has to leave the honours to Dukla Praha (3-2).
1986 / As club results had begun to weaken into the 1980s, TJ Lokomotíva Košice now finishes in second-last place in the 1. Liga, only 1 point behind TJ Dynamo České Budějovice. As such, Michal Baránek’s squad drops back into the First Slovak National League along with bottom club TJ Inter Slovnaft Bratislava.
1988 / Coached by Vojtech Malaga, TJ Lokomotíva Košice finishes in second-last place in the First Slovak National League, thus descending into the third-tier Second Slovak National League along with TJ ZŤS Martin and bottom club ČH Bratislava.
1989 / Coached by Milan Urban, TJ Lokomotíva Košice clinches the title in the Second Slovak National League, thus managing an immediate return to the second tier of the Czechoslovak football pyramid.
1990 / Following the collapse of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia one year previously, TJ Lokomotíva Košice severs its links with the state railway company, continuing independently as FK (Futbalový Klub) Lokomotíva Košice. City rivals TJ ZŤS Košice adapt their name that same year as well, becoming TJ Jednota ZŤS Košice.
1992 / Coached by Andrej Ištók, FK Lokomotíva Košice reaches the Slovak Cup final, held at Štadión TJ Dynamo Dolný Kubin, suffering a defeat at the hands of FC Tatran Prešov (2-0). Meanwhile, following a merger with TJ VSŽ Košice, TJ Jednota ZŤS Košice changes its name to become 1. FC Košice.
1993 / As Slovakia declares independence, leading to the break-up of Czechoslovakia in January 1993, FK Lokomotíva Košice finishes in sixth place in the First Slovak National League, enough to be placed in the newly formed 1. Liga of Slovakia for the 1993-94 season – along with city-rivals 1. FC Košice.
1994 / As FK Lokomotíva Košice concludes a sponsorship deal with electricity company Energogas, the club officially changes its name to become FK Lokomotíva Energogas Košice.
1997 / With the sponsorship deal with Energogas coming to an end, FK Lokomotíva (Energogas) Košice changes its name to become FC (Football Club). Meanwhile, with Lokomotíva managing no more than a modest role in the bottom half of the league table, 1. FC Košice, which had enjoyed ever-improving results in the course of the 1990s, wins the Slovak national title for the first time. Given that that club’s stadium, the dilapidate Všešportový Areál (VŠA), does not meet UEFA standards, the club concludes a lease deal to play its European matches as well as its regular league matches at the Štadión Lokomotívy v Čermeli, which has meanwhile gone over in private hands. The terraces of the ground are equipped with plastic seats, reducing the ground’s capacity to 10,787. In an uneasy groundshare with Lokomotíva, 1. FC Košice sees off Iceland’s ÍA and FK Spartak Moskva in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League, thus sensationally qualifying for the group stage of the main European Cup tournament. At the Štadión Lokomotívy, the club takes on Manchester United FC, Juventus FC, and Feyenoord – going on to lose all six of its group matches.
1998 / As 1. FC Košice clinches its second consecutive title, 2 points ahead of FC Spartak Trnava, FC Lokomotíva Košice, coached by Juraj Szikora, finishes second-last in the 1. Liga, thus dropping back into the second tier of the Slovak football pyramid along with bottom club DAC Dunajská Streda. After the 1997-98 season, in a painful move, Lokomotíva is forced out of its longtime home ground, as 1. FC Košice refuses to share the stadium and the pitch with a lower league minnow. On May 24th, 1998, the club plays its farewell match at the ground, a 1-2 defeat at the hands of ASK Inter Slovnaft Bratislava in front of a crowd of 1,069 spectators; Loky’s goal is scored by Serb mercenary Miljan Pecelj. Left with no other options, the club finds no other solution than concluding a groundsharing agreement with FK Pokrok SEZ Krompachy – with Krompachy being a town 50km down the road from Košice. In its second consecutive Champions League campaign, 1. FC Košice fails to reach the group stage, defeating Cliftonville FC in the first qualifying round (13-1 aggr.), but being eliminated by Brøndby IF in the second qualifying round (2-1 aggr.) – thus being retrograded to the UEFA Cup, in which the club is handsomely defeated by Liverpool FC in R1 (8-0 aggr.). Also in 1998, the modernised Štadión Lokomotívy hosts two matches of Slovakia’s national team, a friendly against Finland (0-0) and a European Championships qualifier against Azerbaijan (3-0).
1999 / FC Lokomotíva Košice concludes a merger with TJ Spoje Košice, leading to the foundation of FC Spoje Lokomotíva Košice. As a result, after its one-year exile at Krompachy, the club can now return to Košice, settling at TJ Spoje’s ground at Bardejovská.
2000 / Runners-up in the 1. Liga, 9 points behind ASK Inter Slovnaft Bratislava, 1. FC Košice qualifies for the UEFA Cup, defeating Ararat Yerevan in a qualifying round (4-3 aggr.), before bowing out against Grazer AK in R1 (3-2 aggr.). Meanwhile, unable to stop the rot, FC Lokomotíva Košice finishes second from bottom in the 2. Liga, thus being retrograded to the third tier of the Slovak football pyramid.
2003 / Unable to sustain its run of successes and running into serious financial problems, 1. FC Košice now finds itself bottom of the table in the 1. Liga, 8 points behind second-from-bottom FK Trenčín and descending into the 2. Liga for the first time since the foundation of the Slovak football league in 1993.
2004 / In a further deterioration of the club’s fate, 1. FC Košice suffers its second relegation in a row, finishing sixteenth and last in the 2. Liga and descending to the third tier of Slovakia’s football pyramid along with MFK Vranov nad Topľou, 1. HFC Humenné, FK REaMOS Kysucký Lieskovec, and SH Senica. Unable to continue independently, the club allows itself to be taken over by FC Steel Trans Ličartovce, in effect becoming that club’s B team in the 3. Liga. Meanwhile, coached by Jaroslav Palomský, FC Lokomotíva Košice finishes in fifteenth place in the 3. Liga East, thus descending into the fourth tier of the Slovak football pyramid.
2005 / One year after the partnership deal between the two clubs, FC Steel Trans Ličartovce and 1. FC Košice now conclude an official merger, resulting in the foundation of MFK (Městský Fotbalový Klub) Košice, with first team football moving from Ličartovce to the Štadión Lokomotívy – with the new club taking over the place of FC Steel Trans Ličartovce in the 2. Liga. Also in 2005, shedding the reference to the 1999 merger with TJ Spoje, FC Spoje Lokomotíva Košice reverts to its old name FC Lokomotíva Košice. This name change is mainly prompted due to the club having to leave the Štadión Spoje, which is demolished. In the spring of 2006, the club finds a temporary solution by concluding a groundsharing agreement for the second half of the 2005-06 season with TJ FK Vyšné Opátske, a village club playing its football on the outskirts of Košice proper.
2006 / In its first year under the new name, MFK Košice storms to the title in the 2. Liga, 10 points ahead of ŠK Slovan Bratislava, and winning promotion to the top flight of Slovak football along with Slovan and FC Senec. Meanwhile, in spite of crowning itself champions in the 4. Liga Group South, 7 points ahead of runners-up TJ Baník Maria Huta Žakarovce, FC Lokomotíva Košice does not win promotion due to a reorganisation of the Slovak football pyramid, being placed in the newly formed 3. Liga East, the confusing name for one of two fourth divisions. After several months of groundsharing at Vyšné Opátske, Lokomotíva finds a new temporary home at Krásna nad Hornádom, another village on the outskirts of Košice, concluding a groundsharing agreement with local club FK Krásna.
2007 / After one season of groundsharing at FK Krásna, FC Lokomotíva Košice finds a new temporary home in Nižná Myšľa, a village 15km to the south of Košice, concluding a groundsharing agreement with local club FK Nižná Myšľa.
2008 / FC Lokomotíva Košice narrowly misses out on promotion to the third tier of the Slovak football pyramid, finishing with an equal number of points in 3. Liga East as champions FK Poprad, but with a slightly inferior goal difference (+49 vs. +45).
2009 / Finishing in fourth place in the 1. Liga, MFK Košice also reaches the Slovak Cup final, held at Štadión NTC Senec (1,528 spectators), going on to defeat FC Artmedia Petržalka (3-1 A.E.T., goals by Marko Milinković, Róbert Cicman, and Ján Novák). As such, the club qualifies for the UEFA Cup, seeing off FK Slavija Sarajevo in a qualifying round (5-1 aggr.) before being eliminated by AS Roma in the play-off round (10-4 aggr.). Also in 2009, in the final of the Košice District Cup, held at Mestský Futbalový Štadión in Michalovce, FC Lokomotíva Košice manages a goalless draw (A.E.T.) against MFK Snina, eventually losing the penalty shoot-out. Also in 2009, the demolition the Všešportový Areál (VŠA), former ground of 1. FC Košice, gets underway, with the works being completed two years later.
2010 / Having had to leave the Štadión FK Nižná Myšľa in December 2009 after a stay of two-and-a-half years, FC Lokomotíva Košice finds a new home in Družstevná pri Hornáde, a village some 15km to the north of Košice, as Loky’s owner Petr Daduľak purchases the Štadión FK Družstevná pri Hornáde, taking over the ground from the local municipal authorities. That season, Lokomotíva finishes in second place in 3. Liga East for the second time in three years, having to leave promotion to the third level to champions Partizan Bardejov.
2011 / Champions in the 3. Liga East, 2 points ahead of runners-up FK Bodva Moldava na Bodvou B, FC Lokomotíva Košice finally manages a return to the third level of the football pyramid (called 2. Liga at the time, renamed 3. Liga subsequently).
2014 / MFK Košice conquers the Slovak Cup for the second time, defeating ŠK Slovan Bratislava in the final (2-1, goals by Oumar Diaby & Martin Bukata) held at Štadión Myjava; as such, qualifying for the UEFA Cup, the club is eliminated in the second qualifying round by FC Slovan Liberec (4-0 aggr.). Meanwhile, finishing in eighth place in the 3. Liga East, FC Lokomotíva Košice is placed in the newly created 2. Liga East for the new season – entailing a return for the club to the second level of the Slovak league system after an absence of fourteen seasons.
2015 / In spite of finishing in a decent sixth place in the 1. Liga, MFK Košice is retrograded to the second tier of Slovakia’s football pyramid due to not meeting the license rules. Having run into financial difficulties, the club, which changes its name to become FC VSS Košice that same summer, has to groundshare with FK Bodva Moldava nad Bodvou for the first two months of the 2015-16 season due to being unable to pay the rent due for the Štadión Lokomotívy before returning to the stadium in September 2015.
2016 / Runners-up in the 2. Liga East, 2 points behind champions FC Tatran Prešov, FC VSS Košice narrowly misses out on a return to the top flight of the Slovak football pyramid. The Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish gives a concert at the Štadión Lokomotívy.
2017 / In spite of clinching the title in the 2. Liga East, 2 points ahead of FC Nitra, FC VSS Košice is refused access to the 1. Liga due to not meeting the license rules; thereupon, the club goes into bankruptcy, ceasing all activities. Meanwhile, finishing in seventh place in that same division, FC Lokomotíva Košice is placed in the newly created single-tier 2. Liga for the new season, managing a more than respectable fourth place at that level in the 2017-18 season.
2018 / On a plot of land just a stone’s throw away from the former Všešportový Areál (VŠA), work gets underway on the construction of the Košicka Futbalová Aréna (KFA), a new, hypermodern municipal stadium. Also in 2018, one year after the demise of FC VSS Košice, a phoenix club sees the daylight, FC Košice, the result of a merger between smaller local clubs TJ FK Vyšné Opátske and FK Košice-Barca. With this new club starting its life in the 3. Liga, it takes over the lease of FC VSS Košice on the Štadión Lokomotívy, which had remained unused for the 2017-18 season.
2019 / One year after the club’s foundation, FC Košice wins promotion to the 2. Liga. In a reversal of fortune, due to financial problems, FC Lokomotíva Košice has to withdraw from the 2. Liga, having to make a restart at the fifth level of the Slovak football pyramid – the nadir in club history.
2020 / Following ten years of playing its football at the Štadión FK Družstevná pri Hornáde, FC Lokomotíva Košice moves back to Košice proper following the departure of Petr Daduľak, who was the owner of the club as well as the ground at Družstevná pri Hornáde. Playing its last match in Družstevná in October 2020, the club now settles at the Štadión Košice-Barca, which was not occupied by any club at that time following the absorption of FK Košice-Barca into the merger club FC Košice two years previously – a pitch situated on the location where Lokomotíva’s predecessor club ŠK Železničiari Sparta Košice had already played several matches in the 1946-47 season, when the club did not dispose of a ground yet. This modest ground disposes of a covered main stand, dating back to 1974, as well as two smaller side stands, equipped with plastic seats, added in 2005.
2021 / As Pope Francis pays an Apostolic visit to Slovakia, he has a meeting with a large crowd of young Catholics at the Štadión Lokomotívy v Čermeli. Meanwhile, FC Lokomotíva Košice narrowly misses out on promotion to the fourth tier of the Slovak football pyramid, finishing 1 point behind champions TJ Dvorníky-Včeláre in the Košice branch of the 5. Liga.
2022 / Coached by Milan Lalkovič, FC Lokomotíva Košice wins 23 of its 24 matches in the 5. Liga District Košice, finishing 15 points ahead of runners-up MFK Rožňava. However, due to a new reorganisation of the football pyramid, the club stays put at the fifth level, being placed in the 5. Liga Eastern Slovak Football Association South for the new season. Also in 2022, after a construction process of four years, the Košicka Futbalová Aréna is inaugurated, with the 12,555 capacity stadium being granted to second-tier FC Košice. As such, with the Štadión Lokomotívy being left without a user, FC Lokomotíva Košice jumps at the opportunity to conclude a lease agreement. Thus, not taking into account ‘away’ matches against MFK Košice in 2012 and FC VSS Košice in 2016, the 2-2 draw in a pre-season friendly against FK Spišská Nová Ves marks the return of the club to its spiritual home after an absence of 24 (!) years, in the course of which the club played at seven different exile grounds in and around Košice. The Štadión Košice-Barca is retained for lower team football – notably housing Lokomotíva’s youth academy – and training sessions.
2023 / Champions in the 5. Liga Eastern Slovak FA South, 13 points ahead of MFK Rožňava, FC Lokomotíva Košice, still coached by Milan Lalkovič, wins promotion to the 4. Liga. Meanwhile, FC Košice wins the title in the 2. Liga, 4 points ahead of FC Tatran Prešov, thus acceding to the 1. Liga for the first time in its young history.
2024 / Runners-up in the 4. Liga East, 2 points behind champions FK Poprad, FC Lokomotíva Košice and its trainer Milan Lalkovič accede to the 3. Liga.

Note – The majority of the information above has been retrieved from FC Lokomotíva’s excellent club website, which includes an extensive historical section entirely written by Peter Kračinovský. Many thanks to Peter for all his help as well as his excellent hospitality at the ground on matchday.