NK Svoboda Ljubljana - Sportni Park Svoboda

NK Svoboda Ljubljana

Sportni Park Svoboda

Gerbičeva ulica 61

1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia

Official Website

Facebook

Ground Number: 1530

Saturday 21st March 2026

NK Svoboda Ljubljana 3-0 NK Bistrc Irbis

3. ZNL Zahod

NK SVOBODA LJUBLJANA - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1952 and has played under several guises during its history owing to sponsorship deals. The club's name in English translates as FC Freedom Ljubljana. The club's best period was the 1970s, when it won the Slovenian amateur championship six times and the Slovenian Cup three times, mostly under the name Mercator (a Slovenian supermarket chain). They've also spent eight seasons in the Yugoslavian 2nd tier until the country was broken up in 1992, followed by three seasons in the Slovenian top tier in the 1990s. Financial issues and a merger with NK Slavija saw the club drop down to the third tier, where they were runners-up in 1998, but by 2003, they were back in 2. Liga. Svoboda narrowly missed promotion to the top tier in 2005, but additional financial issues arose. By 2008, the club had gone into liquidation, spending a season in abeyance.  Its successor had to start again in the fifth tier.

They won the fifth tier - 2. MNZ Ljubljana in their first season after reforming, 2010, followed by MNZ Ljubljana in 2011. However, the 3. SNL – West proved too strong for them, and they were relegated after a single season. Svoboda then had a prolonged spell back in the MNZ Ljubljana, always around the top spots. They'd have to wait until 2018 to be promoted to the third tier, but they've remained there ever since. They were in 2nd place when the season was curtailed due to COVID-19 in 2020, and in 2023, they posted their best official finish of 6th in 2023. That same season, they qualified for the 'proper' rounds of the Slovenian Cup for the first time in thirty years, going out 5-0 at top-tier side NK Bravo.

MY VISIT

When I booked this trip, my only stipulation was that I wanted to visit a new country. Romania was probably the favourite, but Slovenia was not far behind. I had tried to visit before, Maribor in fact, but the airport situation was so poor, I ended up skipping it altogether and going straight to Zagreb for the weekend and having a great time. Ljubljana was the main city, but despite it having an airport, flight times did not fit my itinerary. Therefore, I hit upon the idea of getting a well-priced flight to Salzburg and then a train to Ljubljana. Prices were excellent, although I only found out after booking that engineering works meant bus replacement, longer travel times and no advance tickets. Therefore, an extremely early Flixbus was needed. Not ideal, but better than having to hold off on Slovenia. This was all booked around a month in advance. Having a few drinks and asking Colin to come along was a bit of an error, as it messed up my Friday night hotel arrangements, although that was negated by being able to share a twin on Sunday. Again, I'd have to change countries due to poor flight times, getting another coach to Venice.

MY VISIT

From our game at Salzburg, we headed to pick up our bags from the lockers. This was essential storage to get into the ground, and the area around the Arena had everything you needed for a matchday. We headed to the train station, although the trains were very much delayed. In fact, the OBBs are so notorious for unreliability, you can bet on how late they are going to be with some bookies. We were eventually in our room by 9, where I got my blog typed up. It was a decent enough room in the Meninger, though with a noisy road outside. I did consider going out for a drink post blog, but unusually for me, didn't bother. Maybe I should have, it was a rubbish night's sleep due to traffic noise. My alarm went off at 4.30 and I was out by 5. It was 10 minutes to the train station, where thankfully the train we needed was all present and correct. The same could be said for the Flixbus. I was allocated a shared double seat, although with tons of spares, I moved to a double with 2.5 hours until the next stop.

 

The whole first leg of the journey was very scenic with lakes and mountains as we went through the Alps. I was glad when we got to Villach, and I retained my double seat. I could have done something useful, like research for tomorrow, but instead, just made cartoons of groundhopping using Google Gemini. We were in Ljubljana at 10.30, and after getting some drinks and snacks at Lidl, we headed to our accommodation to dump our bags. It was a lovely apartment for less than £25 each for the night and had everything you needed. Self-service check-in was also very easy and quick. From there, we went to the stunning Ljubljana castle and went on the funicular before heading to the Projekt Beer Bar for a local cider. It was then on to Klobasarna for a light lunch before we took a slow stroll to the game. We arrived 20 minutes before kickoff and, after a look around, paid 5 Euros to get in.

 

This clash was between the bottom two teams in the Slovenian third tier. Ljubljana Svoboda were bottom, having won three, drawn two and lost eleven. Last week, they lost 3-1 at Ziri. Bistrc were second-bottom, having won three, drawn three and lost ten. Last time out, they drew 0-0 at Fama Vipava. They had travelled around 80km for today's game. The visitors were the better side but didn't really create any clear-cut chances. Svoboda took the lead on a rare attack, converting from the penalty spot after a trip. Two minutes later, it was 2-0, a great shot into the top right-hand corner from 30 yards. The game was sealed a couple of minutes from time, a ball across from the left was palmed out by the keeper, and a Svoboda man followed up to make it 3-0.

 

THE GROUND

SPORTNI PARK SVOBODA is a decent and rustic venue. It is two-sided and uncovered. The seated side probably holds around 800 seated, whilst the terrace behind the goal holds 1200. There was no hot food, but the clubhouse was very nice. There's a bit of parking, and it's around a 40-minute walk from the centre of Ljubljana.

FC Liefering - Red Bull Arena

FC Liefering

Red Bull Arena

Stadionstraße 2/3

5071 Kleßheim

Salzburg

Austria

Official Website

Facebook

Instagram

Ground Number: 1529

Friday 20th March 2026

FC Liefering 2-5 FC Hertha Wels

2. Liga

FC LIEFERING - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1947 and was originally known as USK ANIF. For the first thirty or so years of their history, they were a typical village team, playing mainly around the 4th and 5th tiers of Austrian football. Honours include the 2. Klasse B in 1950, 1. Klasse Nord in 1965 & 1974 and the Alpenliga in 1979. This was quite the rise, and over the next thirty years, they won the Austrian Landesliga in 1989 and four Salzburger Ligas. In 2011, they were taken over by local giants Red Bull Salzburg and changed their name to FC LIEFERING. Becoming the de facto reserve side of Red Bull, they won the Regionalliga West (third tier) in their first season under new ownership. They've been in the Austrian 2nd tier (Eerste Liga / 2.Liga) ever since, finishing as runners-up on three occasions. However, due to their status as Red Bull's feeder club, they've been unable to gain promotion to the third tier.

USK Anif still exist to this day, still playing in the Salzburger Liga (Austrian 4th tier). They and indeed the original club play at the picturesque Sportzentrum Arif. From 2011, they played mainly at the Untersberg-Arena in Grodig, groundsharing with SV Grodig. Occasional bigger matches were moved to the Red Bull Arena, but in more recent seasons, the Red Bull Arena has become their more permanent home. Local cup wins in their former guise include the Salzburg Cup in 1978 and four Salzburg Indoor Cups.

MY BLOG

This trip was decided upon around a month in advance. All that I wanted from the trip was to visit a new country, but even this was proving tricky. This was mainly due to the late release of the fixtures, and also to the international week the following weekend, which affected things. Eventually, I got fed up with waiting, so on Friday I placed myself in Salzburg. The flight times were not ideal, but I assumed that with the Red Bull Arena being 40 minutes from the airport and the closest hotel being very well priced, the less than three hours between landing and kickoff would not be an issue. I rushed in and booked both with no cancellation options. This turned out to be an error as the hotel was in the opposite direction. This was made worse by my plans for the following day. When I checked, the train was an easy, good-value option from Salzburg, and it left well after public transport started. However, they would have to choose that weekend to do engineering works, meaning no advance tickets were available, and the journey would take longer. There was a Flixbus option, but that left at 6.15 am, around six miles from my hotel. A taxi was needed, but I was less than confident about it turning up. I also had Colin come with me after I suggested that he join me after I'd had a few drinks. My thoughts under the influence were that he would half the burden of the taxi, but my sober thoughts were that it would be a whole lot of extra work for me.

We were well on time for our overnight Flixbus home, although I was not lucky enough to get a double seat to myself. The greeting upon getting on was typically Scottish and brash, but we were informed it was straight to London with no stops. At least not other than service stations. I must have got some sleep as the pints meant that I woke up just before we got to services near Durham. 'Dinnae get buggaz' was the concise instruction from the driver, so of course Colin went to McDonald's and was lucky enough to get and eat his meal before we left. I must have got more sleep on the way back, as I felt fine when we got back to Finchley Road. We had to change at Harrow but were back in Amersham at 7.20. It was a 15-minute wait for the bus home, with me getting through the door around 8.10. I didn't feel like sleeping and so walked to town and back, around twelve miles in all. It was only around 4 PM that I suddenly felt knackered, and so I grabbed 90 minutes to catch up. This was the whole reason I'd never do an overnighter coach unless I had a bed to go to early the next day. My research started on Monday & Tuesday. It became apparent that to save money and have a more relaxed match, it would be best to go straight to the stadium and make use of baggage lockers before heading to the hotel afterwards. I found out that I'd have to pay extra for Colin; I had originally booked the twin room for single occupancy when I assumed I'd be on my own.

I had another day off on Tuesday and another long walk. I enjoy the exercise and the chance to clear my head and listen to the radio and podcasts. I think if I didn't get plenty of exercise in, then I'd be huge, as my diet is probably as bad as PuffPuff's if you take into account the calories from booze. In the evening, I went to Amersham Town v Ashford Town to see Colin and also to see if Amersham could gain their first win in 157 days.  The answer was a resounding no as Amersham found themselves 3-0 down at halftime for the second Tuesday in a row. There were no further goals in the second half, but great news from elsewhere as Wycombe Wanderers won 2-0 at Cardiff City and Holmer Green won 5-0 at Oxhey Jets. My research continued on Wednesday when my proposed hotel wanted an extra 75 Euros to have Colin in my twin room with me. I assumed that there would be no charge or a small charge for basically what was an extra set of bedsheets changing. To think they thought they were doing me a favour by letting me have 10 Euros off the normal room rate. I only paid £28 to start off with, so that was written off. Greed doesn't only exist in the UK, obviously, but I'm glad I checked. I was able to book somewhere more central for £64, including city tax, which would provide more transport options and save money on a taxi the following morning. It would have been hideous if I had turned up and discovered the surcharge, so Google Gemini deserves a lot of credit for telling me to make contact.

I got my usual early nights, so it was no issue, 90 minutes lie in compared to a work alarm. I got ready, had breakfast and left at 5.50. Ten minutes allowance for the bus coming early, but it turned out to be a few minutes late. I was well on time, though, and got an earlier train. I got Colin checked in and caught up with him. Also, after having doubts about the capsule hotel tomorrow night, I changed to an apartment so we would have a bit of privacy. The host was very informative, and I was reassured that I'd made the right choice. Unlike my error for tonight's accommodation, there were no cancellation charges. There was the usual frustration with no mobile signal on the Underground, one nostalgia trip I don't enjoy. We got a train to Harlow, where we visited the Wetherspoons after a 25-minute walk. It was an architecturally grim town with tatty, cheap flags hanging from the lampposts. An ugly Spoons building on the outside, but pleasant inside. Breakfast muffin, black pudding, energy drink and Black Dragon came in at just over £7. Food service was variable; I got my black pudding ten minutes after my muffin. But the staff were lovely. I ordered a second pint of Stowford Press for the crazy price of £1.99. Despite having this on several occasions, I had to go back and check that I hadn't made a miscalculation; the price was so low. We walked back to the station and had a 15-minute wait. Officially, we were supposed to pass through Stansted Mountfitchett, but no one was checking. Even if they were, Colin bought the ticket, so I was blameless.

 

We were at Stansted at 10.40. Security was efficient, and once we were on the other side, we headed to Spoons to get a tick for Colin. A pint for £5.20 helped me relax. Straight to the gate after, Colin had a go at someone for blocking the escalator, and PuffPuff called out the people spreading meningitis in Kent. The former passed with no one knowing what happened, the latter attracted people defending poor personal hygiene and begging for another lockdown. For once, we started moving at 12:17, eight minutes ahead of schedule. Shoved in the window seat of a pretty full plane, I passed the journey by listening to audiobooks. Passport control was slow in our lane, whilst the others moved quicker, we got a time waster with a crap moustache. It was only 20 minutes in all, but it was a Farage wet dream as fingerprints and pictures were taken. I couldn't see any ticket sales points, so I used the Salzburg Verkehr app to buy a 24-hour ticket for €5.20. Colin didn't have a clue, so we missed the first bus while I helped him. We didn't have long to wait for the 2 to one bus stop, a walk to another, and a minutes wait for the 28. We stopped at BILLA for supplies, then bunged all our luggage in a locker, minus our passports. It was a five-minute walk to GENUSSWERK, where I had Cavapcici (sausage), Leberkase (spicy meat roll) and Pofesen (French toast style dessert). Unadventurous Colin went for Margherita pizza and fries. After a Mezzo Mix, it was around a ten-minute walk to the ground. Entry was free for the 200 or so that turned up, with the away side bringing small but vocal support.

 

Liefering sat 7th in the league and had won eight, drawn seven and lost five of their games so far. They'd won four of their last five but had lost 2-0 to local rivals Austria Salzburg in their latest game. Wels were in 10th and had won five, drawn five and lost ten this season. They were in mixed form but had beaten Kapfenberger 3-1 in their last game. The hosts, Red Bull Reserves in all but name, dominated the opening period. They took the lead on 7 minutes, a penalty from Philip Verhounig. A low shot from just inside the area by Enrique Aguilar made it 2-0 on 27 minutes. Wels, who had a huge number of different sponsors on their shirt, pulled a penalty back on 43 minutes. There was a trip inside the area, and Albin Gashi converted the spot kick. The visitors were the better side in the second half, and they equalised on 58 minutes. The complete turnaround came on 62 minutes, a header from a left-sided cross. Ten minutes later, it was 4-2, another penalty. In injury time, Wels made it 5-2, a goal from close range by Manuel Thurnwald. That was virtually the last kick of the game. Soon after, the whistle blew to end an enjoyable game.

 

THE GROUND 

THE RED BULL ARENA is the large and smart ground of Austrian Bundesliga side Red Bull Salzburg. It has a capacity of around 30,000. RB tend to get around 12,000, which must leave tons of space. The Liefering games are even more sparsely attended, with 200 in attendance. It offers good views. Food is available at all games, although I never tried any. There is plenty nearby, recommended are the BILLA supermarket and the GENUSSWERK takeaway.