Lokomotíva Zvolen

The play-off route to 1. liga never got over the line, but the season that set it up did: MFK Lokomotíva Zvolen won 3. liga West in 2023/24, a step up that followed the 4. liga (Central) title the year before it, and it carried straight into 2024/25, when Zvolen finished second in 2. liga and earned a play-off against Komárno for a place in the top flight. Komárno won it.

The club traces back to 1902, founded by a group of students, and has carried several names since — Zólyomi SE among the earlier ones, TJ Lokomotíva Zvolen under the old system — before settling on MFK Lokomotíva Zvolen in 2000. A merger with TJ Baník Ružiná in the summer of 2014 secured the licence Zvolen needed to play in the Slovak second tier. Home games are played at Futbal Aréna Zvolen, known locally as Štadión Lokomotíva.

Jakub Silvestr top-scored in the league during the promotion push with 27 goals. Among those who came through the club, Peter Grajciar stands out: he broke into the first team in the 2003/04 season before moving on to Nitra, and later played for Slavia Prague, Sparta Prague, Konyaspor and Śląsk Wrocław, along with three caps and a goal for Slovakia.