Michal Bílek

Michal Bílek
Personal information
Full nameMichal Bílek
Date of birth13 April 1965
Place of birthPrague, Czechoslovakia
Height1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionMidfielder
Youth career
1973–1982Sparta Prague
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1982–1983Sparta Prague13(0)
1984–1985RH Cheb50(4)
1986–1990Sparta Prague135(32)
1990–1992Real Betis59(11)
1992–1993Sparta Prague28(5)
1993–1996Viktoria Žižkov91(20)
1996–1998Sparta Prague15(1)
1998–2000FK Teplice76(11)
Total467(84)
National team
1987–1992Czechoslovakia32(11)
1992–1995Czech Republic3(0)
Teams managed
2001FK Teplice
2001–2002Cartaginés
2002–2003Czech Republic U19
2003–2006Chmel Blšany
2006Viktoria Plzeň
2006–2008Sparta Prague
2008–2009Ružomberok
2009–2013Czech Republic
2014Dinamo Tbilisi
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Michal Bílek (born 13 April 1965) is a football manager and former player. He led the Czech Republic national football team for four years between 2009 and 2013. As a player he represented Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic at international level. His playing position was right midfielder.

Club career

During his career, Bílek was mainly associated with Sparta Prague, which he represented on four separate occasions, starting with the first team aged only 17.

In 1990, he had his first and only abroad experience, in Spain with Real Betis, being relegated in his first season, and returning to Sparta after another year. He then played for FK Viktoria Žižkov and FK Teplice until 2000, appearing once again for his main club in between.

Immediately after retiring, Bílek began coaching, precisely with Teplice. After a brief stint in Costa Rica, he returned home, going on to manage FK Chmel Blšany, FC Viktoria Plzeň and MFK Ružomberok. In 2006 he took charge of Sparta, replacing Stanislav Griga.[1] He went on to win the Gambrinus liga in his first year and finish second in the following. He resigned from his position at Sparta in May 2008.[2]

International career

Bílek played for Czechoslovakia, and later briefly for the independent Czech Republic; for both he played a total of 35 matches and scored 11 goals, being an offensive mainstay for the former at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, scoring twice for the quartefinalists.

In late October 2009, after having coached the nation's U19 team seven years earlier,[3] former assistant Bílek was named the new coach of the senior side, following Ivan Hašek's resignation after the failure to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa.[4] He was replaced as the national team boss in September 2013 after nearly four years in the role by Josef Pešice.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Griga skončil, Spartu bude trénovat Bílek" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 31 August 2006. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  2. ↑ "Bílek ve Spartě skončil hned, nahradil ho Chovanec" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 11 May 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  3. ↑ Hard work the key, says Bílek; UEFA.com, 20 July 2003
  4. ↑ Hašek passes Czech mantle to Bílek; UEFA.com, 20 October 2009
  5. ↑ "Místo Bílka bude reprezentaci dočasně trénovat Pešice. Nebude to sranda, míní Cipro". Hospodářské noviny. 13 September 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.

External links