2019–20 Slovak First Football League
The 2019–20 Slovak First Football League was the 27th season of first-tier football league in Slovakia since its establishment in 1993. ŠK Slovan Bratislava were the defending champions after winning their 9th Slovak championship in the previous season.
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
Since March, the season was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. On 7 March, the last, 22nd round of the regular stage took place. Both the championship group and the relegation group were subsequently supposed to have 10 rounds starting on 14 March. However, the season was interrupted until the end of May. On 22 May, the league committee approved the restart of the competition with a new 5-round model starting on 13 June. The committee also decided that no team would be directly relegated at the end of the season. The last team would face the winner of the 2. Liga in the relegation play-offs.Decision
The decision was made on 22 May after meeting of the Slovak Presidium of the Union of League Clubs with representatives of Fortuna League clubs. The continuation of the competition depended on the voting of the clubs. They chose between restarting the league in full format, short format or abandoning the season.| Full format | Short format | End of the competition |
| Slovan Bratislava | DAC Dunajská Streda | AS Trenčín |
| MŠK Žilina | MFK Ružomberok | |
| Spartak Trnava | Zemplín Michalovce | |
| FK Senica | ||
| FC ViOn Zlaté Moravce | ||
| FK Pohronie | ||
| FC Nitra |
Source:
Due to hygienic measures, the number of spectators at individual matches was limited. Until 30 June, a maximum of 500 spectators could be present at the stadiums, which, however, also included the teams' staff, the media or stewards. From 1 July, the number of spectators allowed to attend a match was increased to 50% of a stadium's capacity.
| Round | Original dates | Revised dates |
| 23 | 14–15 March | 13–14 June |
| 24 | 21–22 March | 20–21 June |
| 25 | 4–5 April | 27 June – 1 July |
| 26 | 11–12 April | 4 July |
| 27 | 18–19 April | 11 July |
| 28 | 25–26 April | Cancelled |
| 29 | 2–4 May | Cancelled |
| 30 | 9 May | Cancelled |
| 31 | 16 May | Cancelled |
| 32 | 23 May | Cancelled |
Teams
Twelve teams compete in the league, including eleven sides from the previous season and one team promoted from the 2. liga. The promoted team is Pohronie. They replaced Železiarne Podbrezová.Stadiums and locations
| AS Trenčín | Dunajská Streda | FK Pohronie | Michalovce |
| Štadión pod Dubňom UEFA | MOL Aréna UEFA | Mestský štadión UEFA | Mestský futbalový štadión UEFA |
| Capacity: 11,258 | Capacity: 12,700 | Capacity: 2,309 | Capacity: 4,440 |
| FK Senica | MFK Ružomberok | MŠK Žilina | Slovan Bratislava |
| OMS Arena UEFA | Štadión pod Čebraťom | Štadión pod Dubňom UEFA | Tehelné pole UEFA |
| Capacity: 5,070 | Capacity: 4,817 | Capacity: 11,258 | Capacity: 22,500 |
| Spartak Trnava | ŠKF Sereď | Zlaté Moravce | FC Nitra |
| ŠAM - City Arena UEFA | Stadium Myjava | Štadión FC ViOn UEFA | Štadión pod Zoborom UEFA |
| Capacity: 19,200 | Capacity: 2,709 | Capacity: 4,000 | Capacity: 7,480 |
Personnel and kits
Managerial changes
Regular season
League table
Results
Each team plays home-and-away against every other team in the league, for a total of 22 matches each.Championship group
League table
Results
Relegation group
League table
Results
Europa League play-offs
Should one of the top 3 teams win the 2019–20 Slovak Cup, Europa League qualification playoffs will be held among the 4th, 5th, 6th team in the championship group and the top team of the relegation round. On 8 July 2020, Slovan Bratislava, who have won the league title, also won the cup, thus confirming the need of playoffs.The 4th team play the top team of the relegation group and the 5th play the 6th in the semifinals. Winners of the semifinals play the final to determine the Europa League qualification spot. Europa League qualification playoff games are one-leg and played at the home pitch of the higher-ranked team. The winners qualify for the first qualifying round of the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League.
Semi-finals
Final
Relegation play-offs
The team placed bottom of the relegation group faced the first-placed team from the 2. Liga 2019–20 for a place in the league for the next season.All times are CEST.
First leg
Second leg
;NotesPosition by round
The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological progress, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for matchday 13, but then postponed and played between days 16 and 17, it will be added to the standings for day 16.| Leader – Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round | |
| Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round | |
| Qualification for First Football League Relegation play-offs |
| Team \ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| Team \ Round | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Slovan | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Žilina | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Dun. Streda | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Trnava | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
| Ružomberok | 6 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Michalovce | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Trenčín | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Zl. Moravce | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Sereď | 11 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Senica | 3 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Pohronie | 10 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 |
| Nitra | 8 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 |
Source:
Season statistics
Top goalscorers
Top assists
Hat-tricks
| Round | Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref |
| 10 |  Dávid Holman | Slovan | FC Nitra | 5–0 | 28 September 2019 | |
| 19 |  Osman Bukari | Trenčín | Michalovce | 8–1 | 15 February 2020 | |
| 1.CH |  Marko Divković | Dunajská Streda | Michalovce | 5–0 | 13 June 2020 |
Clean sheets
Discipline
Player
- Most yellow cards: 9
- * Martin Šulek
- Most red cards: 2
- * Alexander Mojžiš
Club
- Most yellow cards: 67
- *FC ViOn Zlaté Moravce
- Most red cards: 4
- *FC Spartak Trnava
- *ŠKF Sereď
Attendances
Home attendances
;NotesAway attendances
;NotesAwards
Monthly awards
Top Eleven
Source:- Goalkeeper: Dominik Greif
- Defence: Jurij Medveděv, Myenty Abena, Vasil Bozhikov, Eric Davis
- Midfield: Osman Bukari, Miroslav Káčer, Dávid Holman, Zsolt Kalmár, Moha
- Attack: Andraž Šporar
Top Eleven U-21
- Goalkeeper: Martin Jedlička
- Defence: César Blackman, Martin Šulek, Danylo Beskorovainyi, Alexander Mojžiš
- Midfield: Osman Bukari, Marián Chobot, Abdul Zubairu, Ján Bernát, Martin Kovaľ
- Attack: Milan Ristovski
Individual Awards
Ján Kozák jr.
Player of the Year
Dominik Greif
Young player of the Year
Ján Bernát