Trnava strengthened the most

(published in Slovak Sport daily)

Until the end of September, Slovak football clubs were able to make squad additions through amateur transfers. According to the new SFZ Registration and Transfer Regulations, amateurs, unlike in the past, can no longer transfer in October. The professional transfer window closed back on September 6, but the market still holds plenty of free agents. Smart clubs also know how to “reamateurize” professionals so they can play again 30 days after their last competitive match, provided their income does not exceed their basic costs. Still, few clubs took advantage of this opportunity to increase competition in their squads. Senica signed Pavol Cicman, and Podbrezová picked up Viazanko at the last minute.

How to evaluate the entire transfer window? Interestingly, the arrivals were more notable than the departures—an exception to the rule in Slovak football. Early in the summer, the returns of Slovak internationals like Mucha and Jakubko grabbed attention. Other experienced players also came back, including Ďubek, Piroska, and Kelemen, who is nearing the end of his career. The Balkan majority in Zlaté Moravce was joined by returning Cameroonian forward Tawamba, who immediately showed his quality. Unsurprisingly, Trnava again invested heavily in the summer of 2015. In addition to Majtán, Godál, Hanzel, Kamenár, and Schranz, they brought in several foreign players, including the well-known duo Depetris and Baez. Slovan also brought in new players from abroad. Of note was young midfielder Hromada returning to Senica. There was plenty of movement at clubs in the lower half of the table, while champions Trenčín and Žilina made minimal changes to their squads. Among domestic Slovak transfers of players still under contract, which remain rare, Hlohovský's move from Senica to his fourth Slovak club, Žilina, stood out.

As expected, the bigger outgoing transfers came from top Slovak clubs. Žilina lost Jelič, Trenčín sold Ramon da Silva and youth international Lobotka to Nordsjaelland. Trnava let Sabo go to PAOK Thessaloniki and Vlasko to Lubin. Slovan parted ways with Soumah. This summer also brought a few transfer disputes, including Janečka’s back-and-forth between Podbrezová and Trnava.

In the second division, some well-known league names appeared on the Borčice squad, such as Novák and Bašista. Alongside traditional second-tier clubs like Prešov and Nitra, this season also features long-time top-flight sides: VSS Košice rose to the top of the table, while Dukla Banská Bystrica found itself once again near the bottom. All of these clubs made player changes and retained veteran experience.

Several coaching changes also occurred, including at Slovan, Trnava, and more recently Podbrezová. With over a third of the season behind us and squads now locked in, the international break brings plenty of work for both new and returning managers. All of them will be eager to collect as many points as possible after the break, there are still 21 up for grabs before the end of the autumn portion of the season.