THE OPPONENT OF URARTU FC IN THE SECOND QUALIFYING ROUND OF UEFA CONFERENCE LEAGUE IS THE CZECH FC BANIK

In the second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League, Urartu will play against Czech FC Banik. Let's get to know our opponent a little bit.

The club was founded on September 8, 1922, when 20 activists signed the founding agreement. The signatories were mostly poor miners from the coal settlement of Kamenec in Ostrava. The founders were Karel Aniol, Arnošt Haberkiewicz, Petr Křižák, František Mrůžek and Jaroslav Horák. At that time, the club was called "Slezská".

 

Slezska was a poor club, and raising funds for the club's operation was a common concern. It did not have its own pitch and was forced to rent pitches from richer clubs. The first pitch of its own was built in the autumn of 1925 in Kamenets. However, it was rocky and did not meet the requirements of football officials. In 1934, the club's activists managed to rent land in Stara Strelnica from a wealthy regional industrialist, Count Wilczek. In the summer of 1934, a new pitch was built there. Many workers volunteered to help with the construction for free. Workers and miners often came straight from their shifts to build the the pitch.

The team's current stadium is Mestsky, which has a capacity of 15,275 people.

 

The team's best results in the Czech First League were in 1975/1976, 1979/1980, 1980/1981, 2003/2004, where they became champions.

Last season the club finished 4th in the Czech Championship.

Ostrava is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, with a population of about 280,000. It is located 15 km from the border with Poland, at the confluence of four rivers: the Oder, Opava, Ostravice and Lusina. Ostrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic by population and area.