Full name | FC Petržalka akadémia |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | Engerau |
Founded | 7 June 1898 as Pozsonyi Torna Egyesület |
Ground |
Stadium FC Petržalka 1898, Petržalka, Slovakia |
Capacity | 1,500 |
President | Marek Mojto |
Head coach | Dominik Tóth |
League | 4. liga |
2015–16 | 5. liga (Bratislava), 1st (promoted) |
Website | Club home page |
FC Petržalka akadémia is a Slovak football club based in Bratislava. The club competed in the group stages of the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League, but in the 2009–10 season were relegated from the top-tier Corgoň Liga to the Slovak Second Division after finishing last. Two years later in the 2011–12 season they were relegated to the Slovak Third Division. In 2014, due to severe financial problems, the team was relegated to the lowest division (Slovak Fifth League).
The club plays its home matches at its own new stadium with a capacity of 1500. The club's old home ground, Štadión Petržalka, was demolished. The team wears white and black striped shirts.
The club, founded in 1898, initially played in the regional Hungarian league. The club has been known by 17 names in its history, including Artmedia Bratislava (after their advertising agency sponsors). Artmedia were members of the top flight Slovak league from its inception in 1993 until 2010. The club achieved its biggest success in the mid-2000s (decade), while playing under the coach Vladimír Weiss. The club won the Corgoň Liga title in 2005 and later qualified for the group stage of the Champions League, where it achieved the biggest success of all the Slovak clubs. Later, in 2008 the club won the double, but during the next season most of the squad left the club.
They famously reached the lucrative group stages of the UEFA Champions League in 2005–06 after wins over Kairat Almaty, Celtic and Partizan Belgrade. They beat Almaty 4–3 on aggregate in the 1st qualifying round despite a 2–0 defeat in the first leg since they won second leg by 4–1. However it was on 27 July 2005 that they made their mark on the tournament, producing one of the shock results of Champions League history as they beat 2003 UEFA Cup finalists and 1967 European Cup winners Celtic 5–0 in the first leg of their Champions League 2nd qualifying round match. The stunned Celtic side could not quite recover, only managing to win the return leg 4–0, and Artmedia held on to progress in the tournament. On 23 August 2005 they clinched a place in the group stages after overcoming Serbian club Partizan Belgrade 4–3 on penalties after a 0–0 aggregate scoreline thus becoming the second Slovak club after 1. FC Košice in 1997–98 to reach the coveted Champions League proper. Their success was even more remarkable considering Artmedia's entire annual budget is just over £1m.