Nitra

Ľubomír Moravčík learned the game on Štadión pod Zoborom before Celtic and Saint-Étienne ever knew his name. It grew out of a firefighters' sports section in the city, registered in 1909, and by 1991 it had become the first fully professional club in Czechoslovakia.

The league title has never followed. The closest it came was 1961-62, finishing three points behind Dukla Prague, with Michal Pucher topping the scoring charts that season with 19 goals. Four Slovak Cup finals came and went without a win. What the club has instead is a shelf of second-tier and secondary honours — three Intertoto Cups through the 1970s and into 1980, three promotions won as 1. SNL champions, three more as winners of the second division.

That habit of rebuilding has been tested hard lately. Financial trouble cost Nitra its Super Liga place after the 2020-21 season, and licensing problems then pushed it down through the third and fourth tiers to the fifth. Liga to return to the third division.

The Trnava fixture still carries an edge, the two cities close enough that no grand name is needed for the derby.