Slavia Prague

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Slavia Prague
logo
Full name SK Slavia Praha
Nickname(s) Sešívaní (The Sewns)
Founded 1892/ 1896
Ground Stadion Eden,
Prague
(Capacity 21 000)
Chairman Flag of the Czech Republic Petr Doležal
Manager Flag of the Czech Republic Karel Jarolím
League Gambrinus liga
2007-08 Gambrinus liga, 1st
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Away colours

Slavia Prague (Czech: SK Slavia Praha) is a Czech professional football club founded in 1892 in the city of Prague.

They play in the Gambrinus liga - the highest competition in the Czech Republic. Alongside Sparta Prague, they are considered one of the top Czech club and the rivalry between the two clubs is important in Czech football. Slavia has won 14 titles, several Czech cups and the Mitropa Cup (Central European Cup) in 1938. Their latest success was winning the Gambrinus liga in the 2007-08 season. Slavia won Gambrinus liga also in the 1995-96 season, when they also advanced to the UEFA Cup semi-finals. In 2007 they qualified for UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time in their history.

In addition to their men's squad, Slavia Prague also has youth and women's clubs.

Contents

[edit] History

Slavia were founded in 1892 in Vinohrady, Prague as a sport club, where dominated cycling. In January 1896 came a new way to the club - football. On 25th of March in 1896 Slavia won their first match ever 6-0. The rivals were AC Sparta Praha. Big era for Slavia started in 1905, when Scottish manager and former Celtic player Johny William Madden brought new tactics and views on football from his homecountry. He managed to set up an early golden age for the club for long 25 years. Johny was the first Slavia manager. Before him there was only team captain who had something like managers rights. Under Maden Slavia won 134 domestic matches from possible 169 and 304 internationals from 429 between years 1905-1930. In the year of 1930 Maden left Slavia and professional football.

In 1934 FIFA World Cup Czechoslovakia national football team included 8 Slavia players, which means that Slavia were top Czech club in that age. The second gold period came when Slavia bought Josef Bican from Admira Vienna. With this famous footballer Slavia won titles in years 1940, 1941, 1942 and 1943. In 1951 Slavia finished at 11th. position and it was a big break. Poor results continued during nineteen-fifties and sixties when Slavia relegated twice. They promoted back in 1965.

New age and comeback to the top began in 1990, when lots of young, budding players, including Vladimír Šmicer and Patrik Berger, have been brought to the club. In 1996 Slavia won the fourteenth title after 49 years.[1][2]

[edit] Today

Slavia have suffered from financial problems in recent years, mainly because their repeated failure, until 2007, to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. Slavia has built a team of young players, many of whom represent their countries in "Under-21" teams. The brightest young hopes are Marek Suchý (U-19) and Dušan Švento. Slavia qualified for the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League following a 3-1 aggregate victory over Ajax Amsterdam in the Third Qualifying Round. On August 30 in Monaco, they were drawn in Group H along with Arsenal, Steaua Bucharest and Sevilla. They started with a 2-1 win at home against Steaua and a 4-2 loss to Sevilla. Next came two matches against Arsenal; Slavia was dismantled 7-0 at Emirates Stadium, but in the second leg they managed to steal a point for 0-0 draw. In Bucharest came 1-1 draw, which qualified this Czech team to UEFA Cup round of 32, from 3rd place in group H, in spite of home 0-3 defeat against Sevilla.

Growing new Eden stadium
Growing new Eden stadium

In October 2006, the construction of new and long-awaited stadium at Eden for 21,000 spectators has started. The stadium was opened on May 7, 2008.

[edit] Ownership

Until May of 2006 31% of the club owned ENIC Sports Ltd, who also have significant or controlling stakes in Tottenham Hotspur and AEK Athens. 61% is owned by a Czech company Key Investments, who does not own the share itself, but manages it for an unknown owner. The remaining 8% are held by minor stockholders. From that date the club has been controlled by two Czech businessmen Tomáš Rosen and Petr Doležal.

[edit] Notable players

The best known Slavia player of all time is perhaps forward Josef "Pepi" Bican, one of the most prolific goalscorers in the history of football. Other famous players include forward Antonín Puč, goalkeeper František Plánička (both of them members of the Czech national team in two World Cups) and midfielder František Veselý. Other big names in club history are: Čestmír Vycpálek, Jan Košek, Alexander Bokšay, Vlasta Kopecký, Ota Hemele, Jiří Hildebrandt, Jan Lála, František Veselý, Luboš Kubík or Ivo Knoflíček.

Players for Slavia in the 1990s include Patrik Berger, Karel Poborský and Pavel Kuka, who closed his career in 2005. Notable players of 2000s include Radek Černý and Stanislav Vlček. Among current notable players are forwards Vladimír Šmicer (2005 UEFA Champions League winner), Matej Krajčík and Martin Vaniak.

[edit] Major trophies

  • Mitropa Cup winner 1938
  • Czechoslovakia league – 1913, 1925, 1928/29, 1929/30, 1930/31, 1932/33, 1933/34, 1934/35, 1936/37, 1946/47
  • Czech League – 1939/40, 1940/41, 1941/42, 1942/43, 1995/96, 2007/08
  • Czech championship – 1897 spring, 1897 fall, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901
  • Bohemia championship – 1918, 1924
  • Championship ČSF – 1913, 1915
  • Bohemia cup – 1922, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1935, 1941
  • Charity cup – 1908, 1910, 1911, 1912
  • Czech Football Cup (Pohár ČMFS) – 1941, 1942, 1945, 1974, 1997, 1999, 2002
  • Intercup – 1970, 1972, 1977, 1978, 1986, 1992, 1993

[edit] Club symbols

  • White colour - the symbol of fair play and Olympic idea.
  • Red colour - the symbol of heart.
  • Red star - the symbol of hope and good mind.
  • The fact that the jersey is half white and half red should symbolize the dichotomy of life.

[edit] Historical names

  • 1892 - SK ACOS Praha (Sportovní klub Akademický cyklistický odbor Slavia Praha)
  • 1893 - SK Slavia Praha (Sportovní klub Slavia Praha)
  • 1948Sokol Slavia Praha
  • 1949ZSJ Dynamo Slavia Praha (Základní sportovní jednota Dynamo Slavia Praha)
  • 1953DSO Dynamo Praha (Dobrovolná sportovní organizace Dynamo Praha)
  • 1954TJ Dynamo Praha (Tělovýchovná jednota Dynamo Praha)
  • 1965SK Slavia Praha (Sportovní klub Slavia Praha)
  • 1973TJ Slavia Praha (Tělovýchovná jednota Slavia Praha)
  • 1977TJ Slavia IPS Praha (Tělovýchovná jednota Slavia Inženýrské průmyslové stavby Praha)
  • 1978SK Slavia IPS Praha (Sportovní klub Slavia Inženýrské průmyslové stavby Praha)
  • 1991SK Slavia Praha (Sportovní klub Slavia Praha - fotbal, a.s.)

[edit] Current squad

As of June 6, 2008:

No. Position Player
1 Flag of the Czech Republic GK Michal Vorel
2 Flag of France MF Mickaël Tavares
3 Flag of the Czech Republic DF Erich Brabec
4 Flag of the Czech Republic DF David Hubáček
6 Flag of the Czech Republic DF Martin Latka
8 Flag of the Czech Republic FW Petr Janda
9 Flag of the Republic of Macedonia FW Goce Toleski
10 Flag of the Czech Republic MF Marek Jarolím
11 Flag of the Czech Republic MF Vladimír Šmicer
12 Flag of the Czech Republic DF František Dřížďal
13 Flag of the Czech Republic DF Ondřej Šourek
14 Flag of the Czech Republic FW Zdeněk Šenkeřík
17 Flag of the Czech Republic DF Marek Suchý
18 Flag of Slovakia MF Dušan Švento
No. Position Player
20 Flag of Slovakia FW Milan Ivana
21 Flag of Tunisia MF Tijani Belaid
22 Flag of the Czech Republic MF Martin Abraham
23 Flag of the Czech Republic MF Ladislav Volešák
24 Flag of the Czech Republic FW Tomáš Necid
25 Flag of the Czech Republic MF David Kalivoda
26 Flag of the Czech Republic MF Jaroslav Černý
27 Flag of the Czech Republic FW David Střihavka
28 Flag of the Czech Republic GK Martin Vaniak
31 Flag of the Czech Republic GK Josef Kubásek
32 Flag of the Czech Republic MF Theodor Gebre Selassie
Flag of the Czech Republic GK Jakub Diviš
Flag of the Czech Republic MF Tomáš Jablonský

[edit] Dual Nationality

[edit] summer 2008 transfers

In

Flag of the Czech Republic FW Tomáš Necid (the end of loan in FK Jablonec 97)
Flag of the Czech Republic MF Tomáš Jablonský (the end of loan in SK Kladno)
Flag of the Czech Republic GK Jakub Diviš (the end of loan in SK Sparta Krč)

Out

7 Flag of the Czech Republic FW Jan Blažek (the end of loan from FC Slovan Liberec)
16 Flag of the Czech Republic MF Daniel Pudil (the end of loan from FC Slovan Liberec)
Flag of the Czech Republic MF Bořek Dočkal (FC Slovan Liberec)

[edit] Trivia

Slavia have qualified for the UEFA Champions League six times (1996, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007). They had been eliminated five times until finally qualifying for the group stage in the 2007/2008 season.

[edit] Managers

As of June, 2008. Only competitive matches are counted.

  • John William Madden (1905-30)
  • Josef Štaplík (1930-33)
  • Kálmán Konrád (1933-35)
  • Jan Reichert (1935-38, 1949)
  • Emil Seifert (1939-46, 1952-53)
  • Josef Pojar (1946-47)
  • Viliam König (1947-48, 1950-51)
  • Josef Bican (1954-56)
  • Antonín Rýgr (1956-58, 59, 1960-63, 1970-72)
  • Josef Forejt (1958, 1960, 1969-70)
  • Vlastimil Kopecký (1959)
  • Karel Finek (1959-60, 1963-64)
  • František Ipser (1964-66)
  • Vratislav Fikejz (1966)
  • Mirko Paráček (1966)
  • František Havránek (1966-68)
  • Jiří Nedvídek (1968-69)
  • Miroslav Linhart (1972)
  • Rudolf Vytlačil (1973)
  • Jaroslav Jareš (1973-79, 1984-86)
  • Bohumil Musil (1979-80)
  • Josef Bouška (1981)
  • Miroslav Starý (1981)
  • Milan Máčala (1982-84)
  • Vlastimil Petržela (1986-87,1990-92)
  • Tomáš Pospíchal (1987-88)
  • Ivan Kopecký (1988-89)
  • Jozef Jarabinský (1992-93)
  • Jindřich Dejmal (1993-94)
  • Miroslav Beránek (1994-95, 2001-03)
  • František Cipro (1995-97, 1999-00)
  • Pavel Tobiáš (1997-98)
  • Petr Rada (1998)
  • Jaroslav Hřebík (1998-99)
  • Karel Jarolím (2000-01, 2005-present)
  • Josef Pešice (2001)
  • Josef Csaplár (2004-05)

[edit] References

[edit] External links