The Artis Formerly Known as Lišeň: An Identity Crisis in South Moravia

For those that only casually observe Czech football, you may have noticed a new team in the Czech Second Tier (the FNL, not to be confused with the NFL). In fact, you may have noticed four new teams in Hanácká Slavia Kroměříž (who were legitimately promoted from the MSFL), Ústí nad Labem (who were legitimately promoted from the CFL, despite not needing to play their promotion play-off against Domažlice), Příbram (who swooped in to take Vyškov's licence), and Artis Brno (who as you can probably tell from the title, have simply changed their name).

Although there is a huge issue with Artis Brno, in that they've actually done more than simply change their name - they've changed their entire identity in more ways than one. Back in May of this year, after months of deliberations following a takeover from Czech billionaire Igor Fait, SK Lišeň were no more. Despite some healthy progress on and off the pitch since their promotion to the FNL in 2018/19, the club became Artis Brno. Actually, they became SK Artis Brno. Or, errm...SKAB.

But what would the 75th wealthiest man in Czech Republic want with a relatively small club in Brno? Well, a certain degree of bitterness toward Zbrojovka Brno whom Fait tried and failed to buy is a key part in Artis Brno's complete identity change, with this home fixture against Zbrojovka reportedly containing huge bonuses for the Artis players if they win. In essence, Fait wanted to ignite a Brno rivalry to finally rival a rivalry in the capital Prague. 

Despite a 'sell out', it seems highly unlikely it will rival something like Slavia-Sparta, or even one of those two against Bohemians. The majority of fans are likely to be Zbrojovka fans after all. But then to a Zbrojovka fan, it's crazy that Lišeň/Artis and Zbrojovka continue to operate within the same league more often than not over the last six or seven years. Now the clubs have to play in the same arena - the San Srbsko anyone?

The two clubs have managed to build a healthy rivalry over the last few seasons, with both clubs occupying the second tier quite often. Zbrojovka often underachieved with Lišeň overachieving, meaning that they both would often meet in the middle. Yet still Zbrojovka have enjoyed the upper hand in fixtures more often than not.

Now with both clubs playing at Srbska, the substantial differences in attendances make clear the disparity between the two clubs. Where Zbrojovka managed a healthy 4,638 against Tabor last week in their last minute 2-1 win, Artis could only muster 1,371 in their 0-3 loss to Jihlava (one of those also being a solitary Jihlava fan who must have had a great night).

As I write this, Artis are losing 2-0 to Banik Ostrava's B team (okay, make that 3-0...*ahem* now 4-0...oh for f-...make that 5-0), who aren't exactly renowned for being a powerhouse at this level. They had their only joy so far this season at Slavia Prague's B team with a 2-1 away win, but only defeat there would have made this a worse start for them. Even the opening game at home to Chrudim was rained off and abandoned mid-game, suggesting even the gods themselves aren't happy with this new direction.

There are decades where nothing happens; then there are weeks when decades happen. (Lenin)

So just how far back do we go here? Back to the club's founding in 1924? Well, I've already written something on that version of Lišeň if you fancy reading one of my earlier Czech blogs. For the purposes of establishing how the monstrosity that is now Artis Brno came to be, we don't have to go back too far.

As mentioned, Igor Fait took the club over and wanted an ambitious team to rival the Zbrojovka that so cruelly spurned his advances. In many ways, fair enough - we all have ambitions and want to be better than those around us, sometimes out of a degree of bitterness. I won't take the moral high ground here, because I can relate to an extent. 

It all seemed incredibly exciting back in December, as Pavel Vrba - a former national team coach - was convinced to become the club's head coach. There were also ambitious plans to merge with Svratka Brno of the fifth tier, who've often been known as the leading light of youth football in the region. It all sounded very exciting, and Zbrojovka Brno had every reason to fear, especially given the dire season they were having.

Then it all came crashing down almost immediately, with Vrba leaving the club in February, with speculation suggesting health reasons. It would be unfair to speculate any further here, and I would just like to hope Pavel Vrba is doing well currently.

Vrba's replacement Milan Valachovic was dismissed following an embarassing 4-1 derby defeat at home to Zbrojovka, as well as an indifferent mid-table season for the club which included defeats to relegated Varnsdorf and strugglers Slavia Prague B. So after a less than ideal start for Fait in East Brno, what plans were in place to arrest the slump?

Well, that's where Artis Brno come into the equation - a new look, ambitious football club in South Moravia. The problem (or one of them) was that Zbrojovka had an incredible late season run under Martin Svědík, meaning there were now two seemingly ambitious second tier clubs in Brno. With Lišeň's stadium now deemed not good enough for second tier football (let alone top tier football), the only option for this newly named club was to move in with their city rivals at Srbska.

It probably goes without saying that this caused huge uproar within the Lišeň fanbase, as did the name change itself. A key part of the club's identity is the neighbourhood of Lišeň, which has essentially been completely discarded in their new identity. You only have to look at the squad to see how many internationals have been signed, many reportedly on huge contracts, two of whom are Omani internationals. Results so far this season also suggest perhaps a team of individuals rather than a team, but I guess that will be confirmed come Friday evening.

SKAB v FCZB - an away day...at home!

As a fairly regular visitor to Srbska since moving to Brno in 2022, this game will mark my first ever appearance in the away section, which will undoubtedly be a unique and unusual experience for everyone. Of course, there would have been a couple of opportunities to do so already this season in the Artis away end, but it feels bad enough funding this vanity project for just this game.

We've covered Arthritis Brno/Artisan Bakery Brno/Arctic Brno's form above, so how are Zbrojovka doing so far? Well, perfectly is the answer following a dramatic stoppage time win over Tabor to keep the 100% streak alive. It's also worth noting the opening goal came after just thirteen seconds. Add to that a hugely impressive 7-2 demolition of Příbram at their place, as well as solid wins at České Budějovice and against Sparta Prague B (2-0 and 3-0 respectively).

Okay, so Tabor are probably the first good side of those played so far, but maximum points from having played a quarter of the season's opponents already is not to be sniffed at. There's talk of Zbrojovka going the whole season unbeaten, and it's certainly not beyond the realms of possibility. This is easily a top division side, which is even clear at this early stage of the season. The big question is; can Artis Brno throw an unexpected spanner in the works, or will they continue their identity crisis into another hapless defeat?

Artis Brno 2-2 Zbrojovka Brno

We arrived fairly early out of necessity, with tickets (and complimentary t-shirts which read 'There is only one club in Brno; Zbrojovka Brno' - obviously in Czech) being handed out at 4pm, two hours prior to kick-off. We picked up our four tickets and headed to The Roses for a couple of beers before a wander toward the away end - where the other half live.

I'd never seen it so full - probably not since watching Zbrojovka host Sparta Praha in one of my earliest visits to Srbska back in 2022. Obviously it was going to be full given that it's Zbrojovka's home stadium, and it wasn't entirely surprising that Artis were completely and totally outnumbered. Annihilated even. The amount of red in the home end was extraordinary. Of the 8,200 fans in the stadium, I'd be stunned if there were anything less than 8,000 there to support the "away side".

The atmosphere in that away section was quite something, with a couple of choreos and tifos thrown in for good measure ('Fait No More' was a particularly amusing one). It was a frantic start, with Artis opening the scoring through Qadri Adediran after just eight minutes. Zbrojovka weren't too rocked, however, and hit back through Martin Rymarenko's deflected free kick, followed promptly by Standa Hoffman's excellent header to make it 2-1 three minutes later, with 26 gone. 

The game was turned on its head, and Zbrojovka looked good value for the three points in the first half. The second half, however, was a bit of a mess as far as Zbrojovka were concerned. Instead of going for the juggular, they let Artis play their game a lot more, with the Zbrojovka goal looking more under threat than it perhaps should have been. A better side would have punished Zbrojovka more than what Artis mustered. They bagged a decisive equaliser through Martin Pospisil on 62 minutes. Thankfully we didn't see it under the tifo, so it didn't actually happen...

In any case, it was a unique and bizarre experience as a Zbrojovka fan. It's not often you get to stand in your own away section, cheering on your team to a disappointing yet potentially valuable point 'on the road' so to speak. It was more 'on the path to the other side of the stadium', but that's not as succinct.

What will this mean to the Artis project? Honestly, not a great deal if the attendance embarassment is anything to go by. This could be a result that kick starts some remnant of form, but even then following the improvement in the second half, it's a missed opportunity more for Artis than Zbrojovka, despite how it may feel overall.

As far as Zbrojovka are concerned, this game was always likely to be a circus. Now the circus has left town for a while and hopefully Zbrojovka can have better luck "back at home" against Prostejov. 

The incredible red wall behind the goal.