1. FK Svidník (re)started from the lowest (7th) league, got a draw away at Tisinec

ŠK Ondava Tisinec 1-1 1. FK Svidník

                                 0-1 Frederik Cina 27'

1-1 Čepa 67'

Sunday, 17 August 2025, 4 pm local time (2 pm UTC), Pod stráňou Stadium, Tisinec, Slovakia, 1st round of the 7th League - Svidník area.

1. FK Svidník withdrew in March 2025 from the 4th League - East Group due to financial reasons, in a moment when they were anyway close to relegation, but the rules of the Slovak Football Federation involve that a team that withdraws from the competition after the season started would be relegated to the lowest possible league. So, instead of playing in the 5th League at worst (if relegated), 1. FK Svidník will now have to play in the lowest league available for them, which is the 7th League - Svidník area. Luckily for them, the Svidník local FA only organizes this league, because in other parts of Slovakia there is also an 8th League, so they would have started even from a lower tier than this. This is a shame, generally speaking, but it is even a bigger shame for a club like Svidník, which was supposed to celebrate its 100th anniversary this year. What an anniversary! If there is something to celebrate, it is the fact that the club still exists and was enrolled in a senior competition, be it the lowest available.

It looks like the financial issues are no longer posing a threat at this level, hopefully. One would believe that a club like 1. FK Svidník would have no problem in winning the 7th League, after spending most of the last 50 years in the 3rd and 4th League in either Czechoslovakia or Slovakia, even if they play with their youth team. Nonetheless, for the other teams in this league is an unexpected honour to play official games against 1. FK Svidník, and they will probably fight for a good result, to make them proud. Well, they might be even accustomed with this kind of honourable opponents, because last year it was the turn of another ”giant” to play in exactly the same league, MFK Slovan Giraltovce. They won it however, and they now play in the 6th League; will 1. FK Svidník be able to do the same?

Judging from the start, it is yet too early to say, but the start is not promising. 1. FK Svidník got only a 1-1 draw away at Tisinec, not the best team in the league. Svidník took the lead in the first half by means of Tobias Frederik Cena (27') and could have easily extended their lead, but Dávid Petrik missed a penalty (35').

In the second half, the home side fought hard for an equalizer and they eventually succeeded to score, by means of Miloš Čepa (67'). In the final minutes, both teams looked for the winning goal, but neither scored.

Tisinec: Borta - Gajdoš, Michrina, Berežný, Zápotocký (Čepa 14'), Šanta, Timko, Bal'o (Meshko 81'), Latta (Mikula 46'), Jačisko (Preksta 60'), Horváth (Babjarčík 60'). Manager: Peter Skysl'ak.

Svidník: Janošík - Luščík, Haluška, M. Vitko, R. Vitko, Hnat, Karala, Baran, Frederik Cina (Olejár 87'), Petrik, Vaškanin. Manager: Róbert Škurla.

Referee: Timotej Durkaj.

Yellow cards: Čepa 55' - R. Vitko 21', Janošík 55', Haluška 89'. 

In the next round, 1. FK Svidník will play at home, on Sunday, against TJ Družstevník Kuková.