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Stadium of FC Baník Ostrava.
Stadium of FC Baník Ostrava.
FC Baník Ostrava is a football club from the city of Ostrava, which is located in the Silesian part of the Czech Republic. Founded in 1922, Baník are one of the most traditional Czech clubs - they have won numerous national and international trophies. Their home stadium is Bazaly, and home colours are blue and white. Banik's greatest rivals are Sparta Prague; with a regional derby taking place with SFC Opava before SFC Opava where relegated from the Gambrinus liga. Currently, there is a friendship between the supporters of Baník and GKS Katowice from the Silesian region of Poland.
[edit] Historical names
- 1922 — SK Slezská Ostrava (Sportovní klub Slezská Ostrava)
- 1945 — SK Ostrava (Sportovní klub Ostrava)
- 1948 — Sokol Trojice Ostrava
- 1951 — Sokol OKD Ostrava (Sokol Ostravsko-karvinské doly Ostrava)
- 1952 — DSO Baník Ostrava (Dobrovolná sportovní organizace Baník Ostrava)
- 1961 — TJ Baník Ostrava (Tělovýchovná jednota Baník Ostrava)
- 1970 — TJ Baník Ostrava OKD (Tělovýchovná jednota Baník Ostrava Ostravsko-karvinské doly)
- 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.)
[edit] International achievements
[edit] Standing within the Czech Republic and beyond
Banik are known throughout the Czech Republic as having one of, if not the, most loyal and vociferous groups of supporters in the country. The Bazaly is one of the more highly attended stadiums within the 1. Gambrinus liga where a greeting of club song "Baníčku, my jsme s tebou!" (literally 'Banik, we are with you!') and a sea of flares is not unusual. Fans pride themselves on their displays of devotion to Baník, which include numerous banners and demonstrations of both their love for the club and detest of the opposition. There are numerous supporters clubs and 'hooligan' organisations that help co-ordinate the support at the match. Some of these ultras wear t-shirts stating "Chuligani z Bazalu" proudly displaying there willingness to not only sing, but also fight for their club. Baník's ultras have made friendships over the years, and recently celebrated 10 years of partnership with 2nd division 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' 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. Another club to have had links with Baník is Slovak football club FC Spartak Trnava. Banik's ultras are well known throughout Europe as a force to be reckoned with, recently having clashed with dutch, german and british police whilst following Baník during UEFA Cup ties.
[edit] Transfers
Baník have produced numerous players who have gone on to represent the Czech national football team. Over the last 15 years there has been a steady increase of young players leaving Baník after a few years of first team football and moving on to play football in leagues of a higher standard, with The Belgian First Division, also known as Jupiler Pro League, Italy's Serie A and also The Bundesliga being popular destinations. Young Czech footballers tend to fit into two catergories - highly skilled, technically sound attacking players, or strong, athletic and somewhat uncompromising defenders. Baník, as with all Czech clubs, are unable to demand huge sums of money for the signature of their youngsters. Top transfers include Václav Svěrkoš recent transfer to FC Sochaux for an undisclosed fee (believed to be in the region of £1.8 million) is a highlight of recent seasons. It isn't the first time Baník have allowed Svěrkoš to move on, with a previous transfer to Borussia Mönchengladbach during the 2003/2004 season for £1.2 million. This still pales in comparison to the Milan Baroš transfer of 2001/2002 season of £4.5 million. As with all football fans, supporters of Baník are dissapointed when a loved member of the team decides that it is time to move on. Especially when the player signs for a bitter rival, just as Zdeněk Pospěch and Miroslav Matušovič did in 2005. Both players were highly regarded by both the coaching staff and fans at Bazaly, but decided to move on to rivals Sparta Prague. Ostravans believe that once you have a bond with the city and the club, you cannot remove it from your heart. This may be true, as neither Matušovič or Pospěch has quite played to the same level since leaving Baník.
[edit] Notable former players
Evžen Hadamczik, Rostislav Vojáček, Werner Lička, Libor Radimec, Václav Daněk, Luděk Mikloško, Tomáš Pospíchal, Milan Baroš, Tomáš Galásek, Tomáš Řepka, Marek Jankulovski, Jiří Křižák, František Schmucker, Miroslav Wiecek, Petr Samec, Karel Kula, Pavel Srníček, Robert Caha, David Bystroň, Marek Heinz, Jan Laštůvka, Libor Sionko, Václav Svěrkoš, Zdeněk Pospěch, Lukáš Magera, Rudolf Otepka, Marek Čech, Miroslav Matušovič, Radoslav Látal,
[edit] Current squad
[edit] Major trophies
[edit] External links
