Extreme Football Tourism: SLOVAKIA: ŠK Martin (±1938-1945) / ŠK Martinský Zdroj (1945-1953) / TJ Spartak Martin (1953-1964) / TJ Strojárne Martin (1964-1978) / TJ ZŤS Martin (1978-1991) / ZŤS Martin (1991-1992) / ŠKF ZŤS VTJ Martin (1992-2006) / FC Rimavská Sobota (B) (2006-2007) / MŠK Fomat Martin (2014-2016, 2017-2018) / MŠK Fomat Martin (B) (2016-2017, 2018-2020)

Futbalový Štadión Ladislava Novemeského, Martin (formerly ŠK Martin / ŠK Martinský Zdroj / TJ Spartak Martin / TJ Strojárne Martin / TJ ZŤS Martin / ZŤS Martin / ŠKF ZŤS VTJ Martin / B ground of FC Rimavská Sobota / A & B ground of MŠK Fomat Martin)

Slovakia, region: Žilina

August 2024 / no match visited

Timeline

1912 / In Turčiansky Svätý Martin, a town in the northwest of Slovakia – part of the Hungarian half of the Austo-Hungarian Empire and known in Hungarian as Turócszentmartón – a football club is founded. It is unclear what the exact name of this first football club was; Turčiansky KP (Klub Priemyselníkov) or Turčiansky FK (Futbalový Klub). The membership consists of a group of boys of the local secondary school. A plot of land near the townhall serves as the recreative club’s playground.
1914 / As World War I gets underway, football activities in Martin grind to a halt – leading to the demise of Turčiansky KP / FK.
1916 / Foundation of a new football club, Turčiansky AC (Atletický Club), which probably settles on the same playing field as its predecessor. The club cannot have existed for longer than one or two years.
1918 / Shortly after the end of World War I, with Slovakia becoming part of the newly formed Czechoslovak Republic, a new football club sees the daylight in Martin, Sokol Martin.
± 1919 / Another new football club is founded in Martin, RTJ (Robotnícka Telocvičná Jednota) Martin.
1920 / A merger is concluded between Sokol Martin and RTJ Martin, leading to the foundation of ŠK (Športový Klub) Turčiansky Sväty Martin, but universally referred to simply as ŠK Martin. The club’s first chairman is Pavol Halaša. The pitch, which is also used for Martin’s weekly cattle market, has to be cleaned up by players and officials before a match can be played on it. In the following years, ŠK Martin is a regular feature in the district leagues in the northern half of Slovakia.
1921 / In a gala match in Martin, ŠK Martin defeats Austria’s SK Rapid (Vienna), 3-1.
1925 / In a gala match in Martin, ŠK Martin defeats Hungary’s Vas-és Fémmunkások SC (the future Vasas SC), 2-1.
1929 / Celulózka, Martin’s pulp mill, puts a plot of land near the factory at the disposal of ŠK Martin to lay out a new playing field, usually referred to locally as Slovenka.
± 1931 / Foundation of a new football club in Martin, ŠK Slavia Martin, which groundshares at Slovenka with ŠK Martin.
1935 / ŠK Slavia Martin is absorbed into ŠK Martin.
± 1938 / Abandoning the Slovenka field near the Celulózka pulp mill, ŠK Martin settles on a newly laid-out pitch owned by the organisation Sokolovňa. This is the location due to remain in use for the following eight decades – although the addition of the athletics track as well as the construction of a clubhouse and stands must have taken place well after World War II, probably in the 1960s, with total capacity of the stadium being given as 12,000. Unfortunately, no information regarding this subject seems to have been preserved in open sources.
1943 / Winning the title in one of the “Divize” groups, the antechamber division of Slovak football in the years of the short-lived, Tišo-led Slovak Republic (1939-45), ŠK Martin accedes to the Slovak (First) League.
1944 / Finishing bottom of the table in the Slovak League, ŠK Martin drops back into the Divize along with the club finishing second-from-bottom, local rivals FC Vrútky. The 1943-44 season was to remain the only year in the history of football in Martin, which saw a local club playing at the highest level of the league pyramid.
1945 / ŠK (Turčiansky Sväty) Martin does not survive the latter stages of World War II, in which many club members took part in the Slovak National Uprising against the Tišo regime. In 1945, a phoenix club is founded, ŠK Martinský Zdroj, which starts its life at the bottom of the league pyramid.
1953 / As ŠK Martinský Zdroj is wound up, a new, communist-led football club is founded in Martin, TJ (Telovýchovná Jednota) Spartak Martin. As a matter of fact, two years previously, communist authorities also took the decision to officially change the name of the town, Turčiansky Sväty Martin, to simply Martin, in an attempt to obliterate the reference to patron saint St Martin of Tours.
1958 / Winning promotion from the so-called First Class, the highest locally organised division, TJ Spartak Martin accedes to the District League, the third level of Czechoslovakia’s league pyramid, for the first time.
1959 / Champions in one of the groups of the District League in its first season at that level, finishing 7 points ahead of closest followers Sokol Potravinár Trebišov, TJ Spartak Martin wins promotion to the 2. Czechoslovak Liga, the antechamber of the Czechoslovak football pyramid. Also in 1959, TJ Spartak Martin hosts IFK Malmö in a gala match at the Futbalový Štadión Ladislava Novemeského, winning the match 2-1. That same year, the club also manages a 4-2 away win in Cracow, Poland, in another one-off match, against GTS Wisła.
1964 / TJ Spartak Martin changes its name to become TJ Strojárne Martin.
1965 / Finishing in thirteenth place in the 2. Liga Group C, TJ Strojárne Martin descends into the Divize level, the third tier of the football pyramid.
1968 / Champions in Divize Group F, 4 points ahead of runners-up TJ Slavoj Trebišov, TJ Strojárne Martin wins promotion to the 2. Liga after an absence of three seasons.
1969 / Reaching the quarter final of the Czechoslovak Cup, TJ Strojárne Martin is eliminated in a home match against TJ Sparta ČKD Praha after a penalty shoot-out, following a 1-1 draw in regular playing time. In the regular league, the club’s performance is less prolific, as Strojárne finishes in fourteenth and last place in 2. Liga group B, leading to the club being retrograded to the 3. Liga along with TJ Slovan CHZJD Bratislava B, TJ Lokomotíva Spišska Nová Ves, TJ Baník Handlová, and TJ ZVL Považská Bystrica.
1971 / Champions in 3. Liga Group C, 8 points ahead of closest followers TJ Strojár Detva, TJ Strojárne Martin accedes to the 2. Liga, which is organised as a nationwide division with clubs from Czechia as well as Slovakia at the time.
1974 / Admirably holding its own in the 2. Liga, TJ Strojárne Martin manages a fifth place in the final table in the 1973-74 season, only 3 points short of TJ LIAZ Jablonec nad Nisou, which wins promotion to the top flight of Czechoslovak football. Regular league matches draw crowds of at least 5,000 to the stadium at Ladislava Novemeského.
1975 / In a home match against top flight club TJ Sparta ČKD Praha (it is unclear from the sources if this was a cup match or a friendly), ending in a goalless draw, TJ Strojárne Martin is supported by a crowd of 11,000 locals – the highest attendance ever recorded at the Futbalový Štadión Ladislava Novemeského.
1978 / As Martin-based tractor factory ZŤS (Závody Tažkého Strojárstva) takes over the patronage of the club, TJ Strojárne Martin changes its name to become TJ ZŤS Martin.
1980 / In the 1. Slovak National Football League, formed in 1977 in a reorganisation of the league pyramid which sees the second tier being subdivided in a Czech and a Slovak division, TJ ZŤS Martin, coached by Emil Kunert, manages a third place, 6 points behind champions TJ Tatran Prešov.
1981 / In a repeat of the result recorded by the club in the previous season, TJ ZŤS Martin, coached by Milan Moravec, finishes in third place in the 1. Slovak National Football League, 9 points behind champions ZŤS Petržalka.
1988 / Finishing in fourteenth place in the 1. Slovak National Football League, TJ ZŤS Martin drops back into the 2. Slovak National Football League along with TJ Lokomotíva Košice and bottom club ČH Bratislava. For TJ ZŤS Martin, it heralds the end of seventeen consecutive seasons in the antechamber of the Czechoslovak football pyramid.
1991 / Finishing in sixteenth and last place in the Eastern Group of the 2. Slovak National Football League, TJ ZŤS Martin descends into the Divize, the fourth tier of the football pyramid, along with Baník Handlová and PPS Detva. Also in 1991, the club slightly abbreviates its name, dropping the prefix Telovýchovná Jednota to become ZŤS Martin.
1992 / Champions in the Divize’s Central Group, 1 point ahead of closest rivals Slovan Dolné Vestenice, ZŤS Martin manages a return to the 2. Slovak National Football League. Following the 1991-92 season, the club concludes a merger with a smaller local club, VTJ (Vojenská Telovýchovná Jednota) Martin, leading to the foundation of ŠKF (Športovy Klub Futbalu) ZŤS VTJ Martin.
1993 / As Slovakia declares independence, leading to the break-up of Czechoslovakia in January 1993, ŠKF ZŤS VTJ Martin narrowly stays up in the Eastern Group of the 2. Slovak National Football League, finishing only 1 point ahead of bottom club – and only drop-out – Slovan ZZ Giraltovce. In the 1993-94 season, the first to be organised in the newly formed Slovak football pyramid, the club is placed in the Eastern Group of the third division or 3. Liga.
1994 / Foundation of a youth football club in Martin, which takes on the name MŠK (Mestský Športový Klub) Fomat Martin. The club’s pitch, referred to locally as Hurbanka, is situated at the back of the primary school in Martin-Košúty.
1996 / Runners-up in the Central Group of the 3. Liga, ŠKF ZŤS VTJ Martin wins promotion to the 2. Liga along with champions NCHZ-DAK Nováky.
1998 / Falling 3 points short of FK Slovan Levice, which saves its skin in the 2. Liga, ŠKF ZŤS VTJ Martin drops back into the third tier of Slovakia’s football pyramid along with TJ ŠM Gabčikovo, FAC LB Zvolen, and bottom club ŠK Iskra Matadorfix Bratislava.
2000 / Clinching the title in the Central Group of the 3. Liga, 6 points ahead of closest followers ŠK Petrochema Dubová, ŠKF ZŤS VTJ Martin manages a return to the 2. Liga.
2001 / Finishing in fifteenth place in the 2. Liga, ŠKF ZŤS VTJ Martin drops back to the third level along with BŠK Bardejov, FK Čaňa, FK Baník Prievidza, TJ SH Senica, and bottom club TJ Družstevník Slovenský Grob.
2002 / Finishing second-last in the Central Group of the 3. Liga, ŠKF ZŤS VTJ Martin suffers a second relegation in a row, descending into the 4. Liga along with bottom club FK Mesta Tornaľa.
2003 / Winning promotion from the Northern Group of the 4. Liga of the Central Slovak Football Association (SsFZ), ŠKF ZŤS VTJ Martin manages an immediate return to the 3. Liga.
2004 / Finishing last in the Central Group of the 3. Liga, picking up only 9 points in the entire season, ŠKF ZŤS VTJ Martin drops back into the 4. Liga along with the club finishing second-last, ŠK Dolný Hričov.
2006 / Having played its last season as an independent club in the Northern Group of the 4. Liga SsFZ, ŠKF ZŤS VTJ Martin is dissolved, ceasing all activities. The club’s first team is taken over by FC Rimavská Sobota, becoming that club’s B team and playing the 2006-07 season in the 4. Liga. Also in 2006, in what is probably not a coincidence, youth football club MŠK Fomat Martin fields a first team in the regular league pyramid for the first time. Although no certainty is to be had on the subject, this team probably played its matches at the Hurbanka ground or another pitch in Martin, Na Bystrička, and not at the Futbalový Štadión Ladislava Novemeského.
2007 / FC Rimavská Sobota withdraws its B team from the football pyramid.
2012 / Rapidly climbing up the league ladder, MŠK Fomat Martin now wins promotion from the 4. Liga to the 3. Liga for the first time. In those years, first team football is played at the pitch referred to locally as Na Bystrička.
2013 / After just one season in the 3. Liga, MŠK Fomat Martin drops back into the 4. Liga.
2014 / Winning promotion from the 4. Liga to the 3. Liga, MŠK Fomat Martin moves its first team football to the Futbalový Štadión Ladislava Novemeského, of which it is unclear (to me) if it saw any footballing activity in the previous years. The stadium’s private owners having proved incapable of renovating the ground in previous years, Fomat now receives help from municipal authorities to make the facilities fit for regular league football again.
2016 / Going from strength to strength, MŠK Fomat Martin now wins the title in the Central Group of the 3. Liga, 14 (!) points ahead of runners-up ŠK Kremnička, thus winning promotion to the 2. Liga. As the dilapidate Futbalový Štadión Ladislava Novemeského does not meet the requirements for the antechamber of the Slovak league pyramid, the club now concludes a groundsharing agreement with FK Slovan Žabokreky from Žabokreky, a village just to the south of Martin. Along with the club’s two other pitches, Na Bystrička and Hurbanka, the stadium pitch is retained for lower team football and training sessions.
2017 / Finishing last in the relegation round of the 2. Liga, MŠK Fomat Martin suffers relegation to the 3. Liga after just one season, along with ŠK Slovan Bratislava B, MFK Dukla Banská Bystrica, and ŠK Svätý Jur. For the 2017-18 season, abandoning the Futbalové Ihrisko FK Slovan Žabokreky, the club’s first team returns to the Futbalový Štadión Ladislava Novemeského.
2018 / After just one season back at the stadium at Ladislava Novemeského – and in spite of staying put in the 3. Liga – MŠK Fomat Martin concludes a new groundsharing agreement with FK Slovan Žabokreky to play its first team football at that club’s ground once again. For the time being, the stadium is retained for lower team football.
2019 / A synthetic pitch is laid out at Martin-Záturčie, on the northern outskirts of the town, to be used by MŠK Fomat Martin, with works continuing subsequently to create fully-fledged recreational facilities around it.
2020 / As MŠK Fomat Martin continues its groundsharing agreement with FK Slovan Žabokreky, while also still disposing of its facilities at Na Bystrička and Hurbanka, and with the prospective Športový Park Pltníky at Martin-Záturčie taking shape – and the synthetic pitch already being used by Fomat’s youth academy – the club’s presidency takes the decision to abandon the Futbalový Štadión Ladislava Novemeského. To mark the occasion, a farewell match is organised at the stadium, in which MŠK Fomat Martin takes on local rivals Attack Vrútky. It marks the end of over eighty years of football on this location.
2021 / Official inauguration of the Športový Park Pltníky in the presence of Martin’s mayor Ján Danko. With this hypermodern ground becoming the heart of Fomat’s youth academy, the club has continued to play its first team football at Žabokreky until the present day. Meanwhile, the owners of the stadium at Ladislava Novemeského have allowed the pitch and the stands to fall into disrepair, while reconstructing the inner parts of the clubhouse into several private apartments.