2022–23 Slovak First Football League

The 2022–23 Slovak First Football League (known as Fortuna liga for sponsorship reasons) was the 30th season of the top-tier football league in Slovakia since its establishment in 1993.

Fortuna Liga

Season	2022–23
Dates	Regular season: 15 July 2022 – 20 May 2023 Europa Conference League play-offs and Relegation play-offs: 23 – 26 May 2023
Champions	Slovan Bratislava
Relegated	Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš
Champions League	Slovan Bratislava
Europa Conference League	Spartak Trnava DAC Dunajská Streda Žilina
Matches played	192
Goals scored	541 (2.82 per match)
Top goalscorer	Nikola Krstović (18 goals)
Biggest home win	Spartak Trnava 6–1 Podbrezová (11 March 2023)
Biggest away win	Zemplín Michalovce 0–4 Spartak Trnava (14 August 2022) Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš 1–5 Slovan Bratislava (14 August 2022) Trenčín 0–4 DAC Dunajská Streda (12 November 2022)
Highest scoring	Žilina 6–4 Dukla Banská Bystrica (17 March 2023)
Highest attendance	15,606 Slovan Bratislava 0–1 Podbrezová (20 May 2023)
Lowest attendance	141 Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš 0–3 Skalica (11 March 2023)
← 2021–22 2023–24 → All statistics correct as of 20 May 2023.

The winter break began earlier than usual this season due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The last full round was scheduled for 11–13 November 2022. Four postponed matches then took place on 24 and 27 November. The first round after the winter break was scheduled for 10–12 February 2023.

Four-time defending champion Slovan Bratislava successfully defended their title, securing a record-extending fifth consecutive and 13th overall championship.

Teams

Team changes

Twelve teams competed in the league – nine teams from the previous season, and three teams promoted from the 2. Liga.

Podbrezová (promoted to the top flight for the second time) earned an automatic promotion thanks to the victory of the 2. Liga, replacing Pohronie (relegated after three years in the top flight), who finished last in the 2021–22 Slovak First Football League.

Dukla Banská Bystrica^[1] (promoted after seven years of absence) and Skalica^[2] (promoted to the top flight for the second time) were also promoted, and they will replace Senica^[3] and Sereď^[4] – two teams that did not obtain a licence for the 2022–23 season.

Promoted from 2. Liga	Relegated from Fortuna liga
Podbrezová Dukla Banská Bystrica Skalica	Pohronie Sereď Senica

Stadiums and locations

Trenčín

Dunajská Streda

Slovan

Trnava

Žilina

Zlaté Moravce

Ružomberok

Banská Bystrica

Liptovský Mikuláš

Michalovce

Podbrezová

Skalica

Location of teams in Fortuna liga 2022–23

FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda	MFK Dukla Banská Bystrica	FK Železiarne Podbrezová	MFK Ružomberok
MOL Aréna UEFA	Štadión SNP UEFA	ZELPO Aréna UEFA	Štadión pod Čebraťom
Capacity: 12,700	Capacity: 7,900	Capacity: 4,061	Capacity: 4,817
MFK Skalica	ŠK Slovan Bratislava	FC Spartak Trnava	MFK Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš
Štadión MFK Skalica	Tehelné pole UEFA	Štadión Antona Malatinského UEFA	NTC Poprad UEFA
Capacity: 1,500	Capacity: 22,500	Capacity: 19,200	Capacity: 5,700
AS Trenčín	MFK Zemplín Michalovce	FC ViOn Zlaté Moravce	MŠK Žilina
Štadión Sihoť UEFA	Mestský futbalový štadión UEFA	Štadión FC ViOn UEFA	Štadión pod Dubňom UEFA
Capacity: 4,200 (10,000 planned)	Capacity: 4,440	Capacity: 4,006	Capacity: 11,253

Personnel and kits

Team	President	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
DAC Dunajská Streda	Oszkár Világi	Adrián Guľa	Zsolt Kalmár	Macron	Kukkonia
Dukla Banská Bystrica	Ivan Šabo	Michal Ščasný	Róbert Polievka	Adidas	Veolia
Podbrezová	Július Kriváň	Roman Skuhravý	Richard Ludha	Adidas	Niké
Ružomberok	Milan Fiľo	Peter Struhár	Marek Zsigmund	Adidas	Niké
Skalica	Peter Bartoš	Pavol Majerník	Martin Nagy	Puma	Tipsport
Slovan Bratislava	Ivan Kmotrík	Vladimír Weiss	Vladimír Weiss Jr.	Adidas	Niké
Spartak Trnava	Peter Macho	Michal Gašparík	Martin Mikovič	Adidas	Tipsport
Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš	Milan Mikušiak	Ondrej Desiatnik	Richard Bartoš	Kappa	VEREX, Tipsport
Trenčín	Róbert Rybníček	František Straka	Filip Bainović	Macron	Tipsport
Zemplín Michalovce	Ján Sabol	Vladimír Rusnák	Igor Žofčák	Adidas	Tipsport, St. Nicolaus
Zlaté Moravce	Karol Škula	Ivan Galád	Anton Sloboda	Erreà	Tipsport
Žilina	Jozef Antošík	Jaroslav Hynek	Tomáš Nemčík	Nike	Preto

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš	Marek Petruš	Signed with Tatran Prešov	27 May 2022[5]	Pre-season	Jozef Kostelník	27 May 2022[6][7]
DAC Dunajská Streda	João Janeiro	End of contract	31 May 2022[8]		Adrián Guľa	15 June 2022[9]
Žilina	Ivan Belák	End of interim spell	31 May 2022		Jaroslav Hynek	31 May 2022[10]
Skalica	Jozef Kostelník	Signed with Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš	1 June 2022		Juraj Jarábek	1 June 2022[11]
Trenčín	Juraj Ančic	End of contract	7 June 2022[12]		Peter Hyballa	12 June 2022
Dukla Banská Bystrica	Stanislav Varga	End of contract	1 July 2022[13][14]		Michal Ščasný	3 July 2022[15]
Trenčín	Peter Hyballa	Released	27 July 2022[16]	12	Marián Zimen	27 July 2022
Zlaté Moravce	Ján Kocian	End by own request	4 October 2022[17]	11	Ivan Galád	6 October 2022
Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš	Jozef Kostelník	Released	14 November 2022[18]	12	Marek Fabuľa	22 November 2022[19]
Skalica	Juraj Jarábek	Released	16 December 2022[20]	11	Pavol Majerník	22 December 2022[21]
Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš	Marek Fabuľa	Released	28 February 2023[22]	12	Ondrej Desiatnik	10 March 2023[23]
Trenčín	Marián Zimen	Released	27 March 2023	10	František Straka	27 March 2023[24]
Michalovce	Norbert Hrnčár	Released	16 May 2023[25]	10	Vladimír Rusnák (interim)	16 May 2023

Regular stage

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	DAC Dunajská Streda	22	14	6	2	39	17	+22	48	Qualification for the championship group
2	Slovan Bratislava	22	14	5	3	47	23	+24	47
3	Spartak Trnava	22	12	4	6	39	26	+13	40
4	Podbrezová	22	9	8	5	32	24	+8	35
5	Žilina	22	9	4	9	34	33	+1	31
6	Dukla Banská Bystrica	22	9	4	9	34	37	−3	31
7	Ružomberok	22	7	9	6	24	22	+2	30	Qualification for the relegation group
8	Zemplín Michalovce	22	6	5	11	22	34	−12	23
9	Zlaté Moravce	22	4	11	7	28	35	−7	23
10	Trenčín	22	5	7	10	20	33	−13	22
11	Skalica	22	4	7	11	19	31	−12	19
12	Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš	22	1	6	15	17	40	−23	9

Source: Fortuna Liga (in Slovak)
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head away goals scored; 5) Play-off.

Results

Each team plays home-and-away against every other team in the league, for a total of 22 matches each.

Home \ Away	DAC	DUK	POD	RUŽ	SKA	SLO	TRN	TLM	TRE	ZMI	ZLM	ŽIL
DAC Dunajská Streda		3–0	2–1	1–0	2–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–2	1–0	3–0	5–2
Dukla Banská Bystrica	1–3		0–2	2–3	0–0	0–1	0–2	2–0	3–0	3–1	4–2	2–1
Podbrezová	0–0	3–1		0–2	0–2	2–1	3–1	1–0	2–0	2–2	0–0	3–1
Ružomberok	0–1	1–1	2–2		2–0	0–1	3–2	1–1	0–0	1–0	2–2	0–2
Skalica	1–1	1–2	1–1	0–2		1–4	1–1	3–0	2–0	0–0	0–2	1–0
Slovan Bratislava	1–1	2–2	3–1	2–0	3–0		4–1	1–0	4–0	4–2	4–1	3–1
Spartak Trnava	3–1	1–2	1–1	0–2	2–1	0–0		1–0	3–2	4–1	2–0	2–2
Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš	0–1	1–2	2–5	0–0	0–0	1–5	1–2		1–1	1–1	1–2	1–2
Trenčín	0–4	0–2	1–1	0–0	3–1	4–0	0–2	2–1		3–1	1–1	0–0
Zemplín Michalovce	0–2	2–0	1–0	1–1	3–1	0–1	0–4	1–2	2–0		0–0	3–2
Zlaté Moravce	2–2	4–4	1–1	2–2	2–2	1–1	0–3	1–1	1–0	0–1		4–0
Žilina	1–1	4–1	0–1	2–0	1–0	4–1	1–2	4–2	1–1	2–0	1–0

Source: Fortuna Liga (in Slovak)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Championship group

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SLO	DAC	TRN	POD	DUK	ŽIL
1	Slovan Bratislava (C)	32	21	6	5	65	32	+33	69	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round		—	2–1	1–0	0–1	4–0	0–1
2	DAC Dunajská Streda	32	20	7	5	54	29	+25	67	Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round		2–3	—	3–1	2–1	1–0	1–0
3	Spartak Trnava	32	15	7	10	55	38	+17	52	Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round[a]		0–0	1–1	—	6–1	0–1	4–2
4	Podbrezová	32	13	8	11	44	44	0	47	Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs		1–2	2–0	0–3	—	1–2	3–2
5	Dukla Banská Bystrica	32	13	5	14	50	56	−6	44			1–2	2–3	2–0	3–1	—	1–1
6	Žilina (O)	32	11	6	15	49	53	−4	39			2–4	0–1	1–1	0–1	6–4	—

Source: Fortuna Liga (in Slovak)
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head away goals scored; 5) Play-off.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners
Notes:

1. Spartak Trnava qualified for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round by winning the 2022–23 Slovak Cup.

Relegation group

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation		RUŽ	SKA	TRE	ZMI	ZLM	TLM
1	Ružomberok	32	12	11	9	43	31	+12	47	Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs		—	1–2	4–1	2–0	2–0	3–0
2	Skalica	32	10	10	12	38	38	0	40			1–1	—	2–0	3–2	0–1	4–0
3	Trenčín	32	9	9	14	35	52	−17	36			0–3	1–3	—	3–3	2–1	2–2
4	Zemplín Michalovce	32	9	9	14	39	50	−11	36			2–2	1–1	0–2	—	1–0	0–0
5	Zlaté Moravce (O)	32	6	13	13	35	49	−14	31	Qualification for the relegation play-offs		1–0	0–0	1–2	2–5	—	0–1
6	Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš (R)	32	3	9	20	24	59	−35	18	Relegation to the 2. Liga		2–1	0–3	0–2	1–3	1–1	—

Source: Fortuna Liga (in Slovak)
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head away goals scored; 5) Play-off.
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated

Europa Conference League play-offs

The winner of the 2022–23 Slovak Cup, Spartak Trnava, finished in the top 3 in the league, which already secured them a spot in the 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League. As a result, a playoff was held for the final spot in the Europa Conference League, which involved the teams ranked in 4th–7th place at the conclusion of the regular season. The play-offs were one-off matches with extra time and penalties used to determine the winner if necessary, with the higher-ranked teams given home advantage against the lower-ranked teams (i.e. 3rd v. 7th and 5th v. 6th) in the semi-finals. The higher-ranked of the two semi-final winners also gained home advantage in the final. Žilina won the play-offs and earned a place in the Europa Conference League first qualifying round.

	Semi-finals					Final
	5	Dukla Banská Bystrica	1
	6	Žilina	3
						6	Žilina	3
						7	Ružomberok	1
	4	Podbrezová	0
	7	Ružomberok	3

Semi-finals

Podbrezová	0–3	Ružomberok
Bakaľa  45+2'	Report	Madleňák 3' Gerec 43' Chrien 45+3' (pen.)

23 May 2023

17:30 CEST (UTC+02:00)

ZELPO Aréna, Podbrezová

Attendance: 1,130

Referee: Peter Kráľovič

Dukla Banská Bystrica	1–3	Žilina
Depetris 71'	Report	Rusnák 36' Kopas 89' Galčík 90+4'

23 May 2023

17:30 CEST (UTC+02:00)

Štadión SNP, Banská Bystrica

Attendance: 1,511

Referee: Michal Smolák

Final

Žilina	3–1	Ružomberok
Galčík 39' Kaprálik 62' Ďuriš 70'	Report	Madleňák 53'

26 May 2023

17:30 CEST (UTC+02:00)

Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina

Attendance: 2,072

Referee: Michal Smolák

Relegation play-offs

The team which finished 11th faced the 2nd team from 2. Liga for one spot in the top flight in the next season.

1st leg

Tatran Prešov	1–0	Zlaté Moravce
Baran 33'	Report

23 May 2023

15:30 CEST (UTC+02:00)

Futbalový štadión Ličartovce, Ličartovce

Attendance: 1,388

Referee: Ivan Kružliak

2nd leg

Zlaté Moravce	3–0	Tatran Prešov
Mondek 25', 90+1' Ikugar 69'	Report	Dolný 42' Šimko  89'  90+6'

26 May 2023

20:30 CEST (UTC+02:00)

ViOn Aréna, Zlaté Moravce

Attendance: 3,120

Referee: Ivan Kružliak

Zlaté Moravce won 3–1 on aggregate.

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

As of 20 May 2023

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[26]
1	Nikola Krstović	DAC Dunajská Streda	18
2	Aleksandar Čavrić	Slovan Bratislava	15
	Róbert Polievka	Dukla Banská Bystrica
4	Abdulrahman Taiwo	Spartak Trnava	14
5	Andrej Fábry	Skalica	11
6	David Depetris1	Dukla Banská Bystrica	9
	Vladimír Weiss Jr.	Slovan Bratislava
	Moses Cobnan	Podbrezová
	Adrián Kaprálik1	Žilina
10	Zsolt Kalmár	DAC Dunajská Streda	8
	Timotej Jambor	Žilina
	Štefan Gerec1	Ružomberok
	Dávid Ďuriš	Žilina

¹ plus 1 play-off goal

Hat-tricks

Round	Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
17	Adrián Kaprálik4	MŠK Žilina	Slovan Bratislava	4–1 (H)	6 November 2022	[27]
1.CH	Nikola Krstović	DAC Dunajská Streda	Dukla Banská Bystrica	2–3 (A)	12 March 2023	[28]
10.CH	Abdulrahman Taiwo	Spartak Trnava	MŠK Žilina	4–2 (H)	20 May 2023	[29]

Note

⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Clean sheets

As of 20 May 2023

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets[30]
1	Samuel Petráš	DAC Dunajská Streda	10
2	Martin Junas	Skalica	9
3	Patrik Lukáč	Zlaté Moravce	8
	Richard Ludha	Podbrezová
	Benjamín Száraz	Zemplín Michalovce
6	Ľubomír Belko	Žilina	7
	Dominik Takáč	Spartak Trnava
8	Matúš Hruška	Dukla Banská Bystrica	6
	Adrián Chovan	Slovan Bratislava
10	Michal Kukučka	Trenčín	5
	Ivan Krajčírik	Ružomberok
	Martin Trnovský	Slovan Bratislava

Discipline

As of 20 May 2023

Player

• Most yellow cards: 10^[31]
  • Lazar Stojsavljević (Trenčín)

• Most red cards: 2^[31]
  • Chinonso Emeka (Trenčín)
  • Erik Grendel (Podbrezová)
  • Kelvin Pires (Trenčín)

Club

• Most yellow cards: 82^[32]
  • Zlaté Moravce

• Most red cards: 8^[33]
  • Trenčín

• Fewest yellow cards: 46^[32]
  • Slovan Bratislava

• Fewest red cards: 0^[33]
  • Zlaté Moravce

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Player of the Month		Goal of the Month		References
	Player	Club	Player	Club
July	Nikola Krstović	DAC Dunajská Streda	Nikola Krstović	DAC Dunajská Streda	[34][35]
August	Róbert Polievka	Dukla Banská Bystrica	Adam Kopas	Žilina	[36][37]
September	Dávid Ďuriš	Žilina	Dávid Ďuriš	Žilina	[38][39]
October	Nikola Krstović	DAC Dunajská Streda	Rastislav Václavík	Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš	[40][41]
November	Aleksandar Čavrić	Slovan Bratislava	Azeez Oseni	Spartak Trnava	[42][43]
February	Róbert Polievka	Dukla Banská Bystrica	Róbert Polievka	Dukla Banská Bystrica	[44][45]
March	Nikola Krstović	DAC Dunajská Streda	Regő Szánthó	DAC Dunajská Streda	[46][47]
April	Aleksandar Čavrić	Slovan Bratislava	Vladimír Weiss Jr.	Slovan Bratislava	[48]
May			Adam Kopas	Žilina

Annual awards

Team of the Season

Belko

Kashia

Medveděv

Bartoš

Lovat

Kucka

Káčer

Weiss Jr.

Polievka

Krstović

Čavrić

Team of the Season was:^[49]

• Goalkeeper: Ľubomír Belko (Žilina)
• Defenders: Jurij Medveděv (Slovan Bratislava), Guram Kashia (Slovan Bratislava), Marek Bartoš (Podbrezová), Lucas Lovat (Slovan Bratislava)
• Midfielders: Aleksandar Čavrić (Slovan Bratislava), Juraj Kucka (Slovan Bratislava), Miroslav Káčer (DAC Dunajská Streda), Vladimír Weiss Jr. (Slovan Bratislava)
• Forwards: Róbert Polievka (Dukla Banská Bystrica), Nikola Krstović (DAC Dunajská Streda)

Individual awards

Manager of the Season

Vladimír Weiss (Slovan Bratislava)

Player of the Season

Vladimír Weiss Jr. (Slovan Bratislava)

Young Player of the Season

Artur Gajdoš (Trenčín)

See also

• 2022–23 Slovak Cup
• 2022–23 2. Liga (Slovakia)
• 2023–24 UEFA Champions League
• 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League
• List of Slovak football transfers summer 2022
• List of Slovak football transfers winter 2022–23
• List of foreign Slovak First League players