FC Baník Ostrava

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. They didn't have their own playing field and were 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. They started in the lowest division (III. třída župy) and were 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 at Stará střelnice was watched by 5,400 spectators.

From 1937 to 1952

The Czechoslovak First League 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 being 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 at a lower level until 1943, when they were 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 a 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 their biggest league success so far, finishing second in the league behind 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. Bazaly stadium was constructed in 1959 in Slezská Ostrava, and was opened on 19 April that year.

In the 1965–66 season Baník were weakened by the generation change. They finished 13th in the league table and were relegated to the Second League. After winning the Second League in 1966–67, Baník were promoted back to the top division.

The Golden Era

In 1972–73 and 1977–78 Baník won the Czechoslovak Cup. In the 1975-76 season, the club won the Czechoslovak First League for the first time.

The team's squad was stable in the Golden Era years. The best players like Verner Lička and Rostislav Vojáček were regularly playing for the national team. Others like Libor Radimec, Zdeněk Rygel, Petr Němec and Zdeněk Šreiner played for the Olympic team. In the 1979–80 season Baník won their second Czechoslovak title, finishing five points ahead of Zbrojovka Brno. In the 1980–81 season of the UEFA European Cup Baník reached the quarter-finals, where they were knocked out by Bayern Munich. In the same season's league, Baník won the First League for the third time. 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 they 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 winter break of the 2015–16 season Baník were last in the league and in financial distress. At this point the club was bought by Czech businessman Václav Brabec. They were relegated to the Czech Second League for the 2016–17 season. In the 2016–17 season they finished 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.

Václav Brabec hired former Baník Ostrava star and home-grown player Marek Jankulovski to take over the role of Dušan Vrťo as the team's Sport Director. Jankulovski 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 stepped down from his role to take the Chairman Board of Directors role. Milan Baroš retired. Acquisitions before the 2020–21 campaign came from FC Slovácko in Jan Juroška and Tomáš Zajíc.

Historical names

1922 — SK Slezská Ostrava (Sport Club Slezská Ostrava)

1945 — SK Ostrava (Sport Club Ostrava)

1948 — Sokol Trojice Ostrava

1951 — Sokol OKD Ostrava (Sokol Ostrava-Karviná Mines Ostrava)

1952 — DSO Baník Ostrava (Volunteers Sport Organisation Baník Ostrava)

1961 — TJ Baník Ostrava (Physical Education Unit Baník Ostrava)

1970 — TJ Baník Ostrava OKD (Physical Education Unit Baník Ostrava Ostrava-Karviná Mines)

1990 — FC Baník Ostrava (Football Club Baník Ostrava, a.s.)

1994 — FC Baník Ostrava Tango (Football Club Baník Ostrava Tango, a.s.)

1995 — FC Baník Ostrava (Football Club Baník Ostrava, a.s.)

2003 — FC Baník Ostrava (Football Club Baník Ostrava Ispat, a.s.)

2005 — FC Baník Ostrava (Football Club Baník Ostrava, a.s.)

Stadiums

In the early beginnings from 1922 to 1925, the club was without its own ground or stadium. The first ground was completed in Ostrava's miner district "Kamenec" in 1925. Banik was playing there for 9 years and moved to southern part of Silesian Ostrava near by a park "Stará střelnice" (Old Shooting range). It was a special place, because a cable car with coal was running above one of the wooden stands. That was also one of the reasons why the stadium started to fail league criteria in the early 1950s.

The club management was looking for a new place for the new stadium and found it in the area of former basalt quarry. They then started building a new stadium for more than 30,000 spectators and named it Bazaly after the basalt. It was Banik's home from 1959 to 2015 and later had a capacity of approximately 17,500 seats. Currently, Bazaly is being transformed into a youth academy that will have 5 training fields.

In 2015 the club moved to Ostrava's Městský stadion, which has a capacity of 15,275.

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 first league division ekstraklasa 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.

Players

Current squad

As of 19 August 2026.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Player records in the Czech First League

As of 24 May 2026.

Highlighted players are in the current squad.

History in domestic competitions

Seasons spent at Level 1 of the football league system: 31

Seasons spent at Level 2 of the football league system: 1

Seasons spent at Level 3 of the football league system: 0

Seasons spent at Level 4 of the football league system: 0

Honours

Domestic

Czechoslovak First League / Czech First League

Champions (4): 1975–76, 1979–80, 1980–81, 2003–04

Runners-up (6): 1954, 1978–79, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1988–89, 1989–90

Czechoslovak Cup / Czech Cup

Winners (4): 1972–73, 1977–78, 1990–91, 2004–05

Runners-up (4): 1978–79, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2018–19

European

Mitropa Cup

Winners: 1988

Mitropa Super Cup

Winners: 1989

Club records

Czech First League records

Source:

Best position: 1st (2003–04)

Worst position: 16th (2015–16)

Biggest home win: Ostrava 6–0 Plzeň (2005–06), Ostrava 6–0 Slovácko (2023–24)

Biggest away win: Teplice 0–5 Ostrava (2022–23)

Biggest home defeat: Ostrava 1–5 Sparta (2000–01), Ostrava 0–4 Liberec (2004–05), Ostrava 0–4 Jablonec (2013–14), Ostrava 0–4 Plzeň (2015–16)

Biggest away defeat: Slavia 7–0 Ostrava (2002–03)