Czech First League

Czech First League
Country Czech Republic
Confederation UEFA
Founded 1993
Number of teams 16
Level on pyramid 1
Relegation to Fotbalová národní liga
Domestic cup(s) Czech Cup
International cup(s) UEFA Champions League
UEFA Europa League
Current champions AC Sparta Prague (12th title)
(2013–14)
Most championships AC Sparta Prague (12 titles)
Most capped player Stanislav Vlček (436)
Top goalscorer David Lafata (151 goals)
TV partners ČT, Nova,
Website en.synotliga.cz
2014–15 Czech First League

The Czech First League, currently known as the Synot liga for sponsorship reasons, is a Czech professional league for football clubs. At the top of the Czech football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 16 clubs, operating a system of promotion and relegation with the Fotbalová národní liga. Seasons run from August to May, with teams playing 30 games each. It was sponsored by Pilsner Urquell Brewery, and was therefore officially known as the Gambrinus liga, after Gambrinus, one of the best-selling beers in the Czech Republic. The league is currently ranked 17th in Europe in the UEFA league rankings.

The history of the Czech football league began at the end of the 20th century. It was reorganised for the 1993/1994 season, after the dissolution of former Czechoslovakia and therefore of the Czechoslovak League. Having won more than half of league titles, Sparta Prague are the most successful team in Czech First League history. Other clubs who have won the title are Slavia Prague, Slovan Liberec, Baník Ostrava and Viktoria Plzeň.

Competition format

Competition

There are 16 clubs in the league. During the course of a season, which lasts from August to May, each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 30 games. In the inaugural season, two points were awarded for a win, before switching to three points for a win in 1994.[1] Teams receive one point for a draw and no points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, in the case of two or more teams finishing with equal points, the head-to-head record between the teams is used for ranking, counting points in relevant games, then goal difference and then goals scored. The two lowest placed teams are relegated to the second tier Fotbalová národní liga.

Participating teams in 2014–15

The following 16 clubs are competing in the 2014–15 Czech First League.

Club Stadium Capacity 2013–14 Position
1. FC Slovácko Městský stadion 8,121 6th
1. FK Příbram Na Litavce 9,100 12th
AC Sparta Prague Generali Arena 19,416 1st
Bohemians 1905 Ďolíček 5,000 14th
FC Baník Ostrava Bazaly 10,039 10th
FC Hradec Králové Všesportovní stadion 7,220 FNL 2nd
FC Slovan Liberec Stadion u Nisy 9,900 4th
FC Viktoria Plzeň Doosan Arena 11,722 2nd
FC Vysočina Jihlava Stadion v Jiráskově ulici 4,075 8th
FC Zbrojovka Brno Městský stadion (Brno) 12,550 9th
FK Baumit Jablonec Chance Arena 6,280 11th
FK Dukla Prague Stadion Juliska 8,150 7th
FK Mladá Boleslav Městský stadion 5,000 3rd
FK Teplice Na Stínadlech 18,221 5th
SK Dynamo České Budějovice Stadion Střelecký ostrov 6,681 FNL 1st
SK Slavia Prague Eden Arena 20,800 13th

Sponsorship

In 1997 the league started a sponsorship deal with Plzeňský Prazdroj, a. s. and became known as the Gambrinus liga.[2] In 2008, the sponsorship was extended until the end of the 2013–14 season.[3] The league announced a sponsorship deal with betting firm Synot in May 2014, with the league taking the name Synot liga for a four year period, with an option for an additional four years.[4]

The list below details who the sponsors have been and what they called the competition:

Champions

Gambrinus liga trophy

Year By Year

Season Champions Runner-up Third place Top Goalscorer Club
1993–94 Sparta Prague (1) Slavia Prague Baník Ostrava Horst Siegl (20) Sparta Prague
1994–95 Sparta Prague (2) Slavia Prague FC Brno Radek Drulák (15) Drnovice
1995–96 Slavia Prague (1) Sigma Olomouc Jablonec Radek Drulák (22) Drnovice
1996–97 Sparta Prague (3) Slavia Prague Jablonec Horst Siegl (19) Sparta Prague
1997–98 Sparta Prague (4) Slavia Prague Sigma Olomouc Horst Siegl (13) Sparta Prague
1998–99 Sparta Prague (5) Teplice Slavia Prague Horst Siegl (18) Sparta Prague
1999–00 Sparta Prague (6) Slavia Prague Drnovice Vratislav Lokvenc (22) Sparta Prague
2000–01 Sparta Prague (7) Slavia Prague Sigma Olomouc Vítězslav Tuma (15) Drnovice
2001–02 Slovan Liberec (1) Sparta Prague Viktoria Žižkov Jiří Štajner (15) Slovan Liberec
2002–03 Sparta Prague (8) Slavia Prague Viktoria Žižkov Jiří Kowalík (16) 1. FC Synot
2003–04 Baník Ostrava (1) Sparta Prague Sigma Olomouc Marek Heinz (19) Baník Ostrava
2004–05 Sparta Prague (9) Slavia Prague Teplice Tomáš Jun (14) Sparta Prague
2005–06 Slovan Liberec (2) Mladá Boleslav Slavia Prague Milan Ivana (11) FC Slovácko
2006–07 Sparta Prague (10) Slavia Prague Mladá Boleslav Luboš Pecka (16) Mladá Boleslav
2007–08 Slavia Prague (2) Sparta Prague Baník Ostrava Václav Svěrkoš (15) Baník Ostrava
2008–09 Slavia Prague (3) Sparta Prague Slovan Liberec Andrej Kerić (15) Slovan Liberec
2009–10 Sparta Prague (11) Jablonec Baník Ostrava Michal Ordoš (12) Sigma Olomouc
2010–11 Viktoria Plzeň (1) Sparta Prague Jablonec David Lafata (19) Jablonec
2011–12 Slovan Liberec (3) Sparta Prague Viktoria Plzeň David Lafata (25) Jablonec
2012–13 Viktoria Plzeň (2) Sparta Prague Slovan Liberec David Lafata (20) Jablonec / Sparta Prague
2013–14 Sparta Prague (12) Viktoria Plzeň Mladá Boleslav Josef Hušbauer (18) Sparta Prague

Performance by Club

Club Winners Runners-up Winning Years
Sparta Prague
12
7
 1993–94, 1994–95, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2013–14
Slavia Prague
3
9
 1995–96, 2007–08, 2008–09
Slovan Liberec
3
0
 2001–02, 2005–06, 2011–12
Viktoria Plzeň
2
1
 2010–11, 2012–13
Baník Ostrava
1
0
 2003–04
Sigma Olomouc
0
1
Teplice
0
1
Mladá Boleslav
0
1
Jablonec
0
1

Attendance

Year By Year

Season Total Average Highest Home Av. Club
1993–94 1,116,885 4,653 23,111 9,501 FC Zbrojovka Brno
1994–95 1,380,060 5,750 34,770 20,523 FC Zbrojovka Brno
1995–96 1,225,755 5,107 26,872 12,283 FC Zbrojovka Brno
1996–97 1,710,045 7,125 44,120 21,659 FC Zbrojovka Brno
1997–98 1,477,515 6,156 31,730 15,365 FC Zbrojovka Brno
1998–99 1,447,875 6,033 24,400 13,207 FC Zbrojovka Brno
1999–00 1,433,355 5,972 23,800 11,280 SFC Opava
2000–01 1,091,882 4,549 16,350 7,718 Sigma Olomouc
2001–02 1,113,325 4,722 16,300 7,490 Baník Ostrava
2002–03 935,927 3,899 18,228 6,175 Sparta Prague
2003–04 1,158,523 4,827 20,032 15,376 Baník Ostrava
2004–05 921,658 3,840 15,419 8,028 Baník Ostrava
2005–06 980,633 4,085 20,318 7,211 Sparta Prague
2006–07 1,173,869 4,891 20,565 11,848 Sparta Prague
2007–08 1,237,660 5,156 20,698 11,022 Baník Ostrava
2008–09 1,119,410 4,664 20,500 11,971 Slavia Prague
2009–10 1,177,014 4,924 19,370 10,766 Sparta Prague
2010–11 1,073,690 4,473 18,873 8,665 Sparta Prague
2011–12 1,130,540 4,710 18,299 10,322 Sparta Prague
2012–13 1,151,464 4,797 19,410 10,046 Viktoria Plzeň
2013–14 1,216,389 5,068 19,089 11,340 Sparta Prague

[5]

Managers

Name Club Appointed
Kozel, LubošLuboš Kozel Dukla Prague 14 December 2009
Kalvoda, LeošLeoš Kalvoda Znojmo 1 June 2012
Lavička, VítězslavVítězslav Lavička Sparta Prague 1 June 2012
Habanec, SvatoplukSvatopluk Habanec Slovácko 20 August 2012
Ščasný, ZdeněkZdeněk Ščasný Teplice 2 October 2012
Skuhravý, RomanRoman Skuhravý Jablonec 5 May 2013
Kotal, VáclavVáclav Kotal Brno 3 September 2013
Bernady, TomášTomáš Bernady Baník Ostrava 10 October 2013
Čuhel, PetrPetr Čuhel Příbram 4 November 2013
Rada, PetrPetr Rada Vysočina Jihlava 26 November 2013
Uhrin, Jr., DušanDušan Uhrin, Jr. Viktoria Plzeň 17 December 2013
Jarolím, KarelKarel Jarolím Mladá Boleslav 3 January 2014
Pastoor, AlexAlex Pastoor Slavia Prague 3 March 2014
Klusáček, LuděkLuděk Klusáček Bohemians 1905 10 March 2014
Vavruška, DavidDavid Vavruška Slovan Liberec 16 April 2014
Minář, LadislavLadislav Minář Sigma Olomouc 28 April 2014

All time Czech First League table

1993/94 – 2012/13

Pos Team Seasons Matches Wins Draws Defeats GF GA GD Points
1 AC Sparta Prague 20 600 374 127 99 1107 470 637 1249
2 SK Slavia Praha 20 600 309 164 127 967 556 411 1091
3 FC Slovan Liberec 20 600 269 170 161 821 615 206 971
4 SK Sigma Olomouc 20 600 241 165 194 761 652 109 879
5 FC Baník Ostrava 20 600 218 182 200 809 725 84 836
6 FK Baumit Jablonec 19 570 217 161 192 723 656 67 812
7 FK Teplice 17 510 198 150 162 643 569 74 744
8 FC Zbrojovka Brno 19 570 197 148 225 685 735 -50 739
9 FC Viktoria Plzeň 16 480 179 129 172 623 601 22 666
10 SK Dynamo České Budějovice 17 510 146 146 218 522 726 -204 584
11 FK Viktoria Žižkov 14 420 144 106 170 478 509 -31 538
12 1. FK Příbram 15 450 135 124 191 471 585 -114 529
13 FK Drnovice 10 300 114 67 119 392 398 -6 409
14 FK Mladá Boleslav 9 270 111 71 88 379 330 49 404
15 1. FC Slovácko 11 330 104 90 137 350 397 -47 389
16 FC Hradec Králové 12 360 91 88 103 319 498 -179 376
17 Bohemians 1905 11 330 88 154 166 315 478 -163 352
18 FC Tescoma Zlín 10 300 84 87 129 271 388 -117 339
19 FK Chmel Blšany 8 240 67 63 110 255 350 -95 264
20 SFC Opava 8 240 63 64 113 260 354 -94 247
21 SK Kladno 4 120 28 30 62 99 173 -74 114
22 FK Hvězda Cheb 3 90 29 26 35 95 121 -26 113
23 FK Dukla Praha 3 90 23 30 37 111 140 -29 99
24 FK Baník Most 3 90 19 30 41 96 140 -44 87
25 FC Vysočina Jihlava 2 60 13 26 21 56 78 -22 65
26 MFK Karviná 2 60 12 12 36 53 105 -52 48
27 FK Bohemians Praha (Střížkov) 2 60 14 8 38 60 111 -51 35
28 FK Ústí nad Labem 1 30 4 7 19 22 67 -45 19
29 FC JOKO Slovácká Slavia Uherské Hradiště 1 30 3 8 19 19 65 -46 17
30 FC Vítkovice 1 30 3 7 20 22 64 -42 16
31 SK Benešov 1 30 3 3 24 23 78 -55 12
32 AFK Atlantic Lázně Bohdaneč 1 30 2 5 23 18 61 -43 11

[6]

Point deductions:

UEFA league coefficient ranking

(As of 1 July 2014)[7]

Rank League Points
12Turkey Süper Lig27.400
13Greece Superleague Greece26.500
14Czech Republic Czech First League25.250
15Austria Austrian Football Bundesliga21.550
16Romania Liga I21.174

References

  1. ↑ "A Recap: Red Cards, TV Woes, Goodbye Dukla". Prague Post. 3 August 1994. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  2. ↑ "Gambrinus zůstává u fotbalu dalších šest let". fotbal.cz (in Czech). 28 July 2008. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  3. ↑ "Gambrinus liga se bude hrát dalších šest let". idnes.cz (in Czech) (Mladá fronta DNES). 28 July 2008. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  4. ↑ "Alkohol střídá hazard. Z Gambrinus ligy bude Synot liga" [Alcohol replaced by gambling. Gambrinus Liga will be Synot Liga]. Czech Radio (in Czech). 28 May 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  5. ↑ http://historiegambrinusligy.cz/historie/93-94.html
  6. ↑ http://www.synotliga.cz/historicka-tabulka.html
  7. ↑ http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/country/index.html

External links