Down at Udolni at Mid Season, Woooahhh

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It’s been a while since we wrote something for the blog and as with a lot of clubs at this level, it’s been all change at the Udolni. Popular players have moved on to pastures new and in their place we have signed a number of footballers from across the border. Our manager Zbynek Zboril doing a mighty fine impression of Tomas Masaryk in trying to reunite the Czech and Slovak Republics. Well, it is working as we currently sit at the top of the MSFL and as I write this, we have just lost three times this season.

Chatting to some of the other Blansko fans you really need to pinch yourself sometimes… When we first set foot in the Udolni stand, we witnessed a 1-0 defeat to Kyov in front of 150 fans. Kyov now ply thier trade in the 8th tier of Czech football, while we are playing in front of 1500 fans and somehow looking at playing in 2nd division. Writing this we know the bubble could burst at any time. Amateur football in Central Europe has the habit of doing that to you..proof being at AFK Tisnov who were top of Divize D before all the money was pulled out of the club, forcing resignation from the league…The same man who pulled the plug on the finances is now putting all that cash into …..Blansko.. We are reserving judgement. (on a personal note, I have met Mr Merta a few times and his commitment seems very real).

Returning to the football, we sailed through Divize breaking the goals and points records along the way. Frankly, it would have been a surprise if hadn’t. We clearly had the most experienced and talented squad in the league, brushing aside some very good teams with relative ease while in the same games substituting key players on 60 minutes to save them for the next time we were 5-0 up. I am a tad embarrassed to say that on occassions it became no fun going 3-0 up on the 20 minute mark and watching players showboating. Our centre back spent more time in attack than in defence, we played our reserve goalie as a striker in the last 3 games.

Oops, I had originally written the three paragraphs above after Rosice away in October, so apologies for not posting much this season, real life got in the way for a while. It is now December and Blansko go into 2020 top and looking right up at the second league..It’s really hard to believe and writing about the success of the club is equally unimaginable, but when we departed Nove Mesto na Morave (last time I was there we were thumped 5-0) without the 3 points, we still were two wins clear of second placed Petrkovice. Wow, just wow.

Back to the blog and instead of penning a piece about a defeat to the loveable Rosice, I met up with Wingy and Craggy to ask them to sum up the first half of the season… Here’s our regular round-up and as always the more the merrier, so if you find yourselves in Moravia with nothing to do at 10.15 on a Sunday morning, come and join the joyride…

 

What is your assessment of the season so far…?

Ralph : Well, if someone said we’d be 5 points clear at the winter break, we’d have thought they were mad. To even consider going up to the second league is just brilliant.. I am always disappointed to lose some of our crowd favourites, last season we lost Splichal, this year Bednar, Feik and Chloupek. However, with us leading the table we can’t really complain.

Craggy: Top of the table, thoroughly enjoyable football and great, ever-expanding crowds at Udolni – there’s a lot to enjoy about this season so far. We do miss some of the old players, they really brought us into the club. But we can’t be unhappy with this season, it’s been incredible.

Wingy : Incredible. Could hardly have been much better. Great performances, great results, great crowds. But most importantly, the marvellous way we have been embraced and acknowledged by the club.

 

 

Favourite game.

Ralph: Really enjoyed Sigma Olomouc at home, excellent performance in front of the biggest crowd the MSFL has ever seen.

Craggy: Maybe Frydek-Mistek at home. It was a bit of a slog, but it was a win that proved we can do it against one of the best in the league. There were flares. We got presented shirts.

Wingy : Agree with both of you, these games were excellent. But I think I’m going to go for the 5-1 at home to Hlucin. A comprehensive victory against a team that never stopped trying.

 

Player of the season.

 

Ralph : It’s a toss up between Sedlo and Dolezal, but giving it to Martin Sedlo as he’s our right back and top scorer and Dolezal must be the unhappiest footballer ever, it’s as though he’d rather be spending his weekends in Tesco, than at Udolni 🙂 ;-).Mentions for our captain Huska, who has been excellent at the back and need to mention Zak, Schwendt and Prerovsky for chipping in with some very important goals.

Craggy: Many, as Ralph mentioned. But it has to be Sedlo – a right back top scorer! I quick mention for Traore though, simply because he’s been playing better and better all season.

Wingy : Several in contention, and I’m half-inclined to give it to Huska because of his consistency and him being an effective captain. But I’m going to go for Traore. He’s right back to his best form, and we look much more creative when he’s playing.

 

If you could sign one player we’ve played against who would it be –

 

Ralph : I really liked Simon Chwaszcz of Uhersky Brod, quick and dangerous in front of goal, got a feeling he could make the step up, should we do the impossible.

Craggy: Kathon Kenroy St. Hillaire of Znojmo. How can you not want to sign someone with a brilliant name like that?!

Wingy : Terrible at remembering names. Can’t say that i’ve seen many that are better than what we’ve got. Unicov’s goalie was pretty decent. And I think it was Frydek-Mistek or Znojmo that had a couple of decent strikers.

 

Best trip :

Ralph :Enjoyed Banik Ostrava B until Craggy told me I might have gout and just all trips to North Moravia are fun. Slovacko B for Wingy surprising me just before kick off with an appearance and always enjoy our trips to Rosice and Kromeriz.

Craggy: Has to be that 0-0 draw in the cold and rain away at Kromeriz. We had a live chicken join us in the way end for the whole game.

Wingy : Kromeriz because it’s a nice place, and the chicken; Rosice because I didn’t too badly on the annual run up the steps; Slovacko B for the result.

Best side we have played against.

Ralph : Vrchovina just played their hearts out and deserved their win, so it almost made it an enjoyable game.. Chloupek was excellent in that game for the home side too.

Craggy: Znojmo (I didn’t see the Vrchovina game). Surprisingly far town the table for the way we saw them play at Udolni. Very hard to break down and some really creative players. That game had us worried for awhile.

Wingy : Agree Znojmo (and I too didn’t see them). Can see them finishing top five.

Season low –

 

Ralph: Top of the league, how could we possibly complain. If I have to name one thing, it’s losing Bednar – I would love to see him back at Udolni. Also missing Petrkovice as it’s one of my favourite trips.

Craggy: Managing to make only two away trips this season. Hopefully that will improve for the second half.

Wingy : Angry Man’s vulgar tirade in front of kids that lead to him rightly being ejected. The nothingburger of a game at Kromeriz in the freezing cold. Missing the first two goals at Slovacko B because I was in the bar buying the beers!

 

 

 

 

Season Surprise

Ralph : Well apart from being first in the MSFL, it’s got to be being presented with our shirts on the pitch before the Frydek-Mistek game – it was such a lovely gesture. Also further recognition that we have a place in the heart of club.

Craggy: It’s a toss up between being presented with the shirts and being presented with Sasa the physio’s homemade slivovice. I can still taste it.

Wingy : Being five points clear at the top at the break. The record-breaking crowds. The shirts.

Best Away Ground

Ralph : So far I have enjoyed going to Kromeriz and I have a soft spot for Vrchovina, but the top grounds we’ll see in the spring when we go to Frydek-Mistek and Zlin

Craggy: My eyes are looking forward to Frydek-Mistek and Znojmo.

Wingy : Best – Kromeriz, Favourite – Still Rosice.

Best Away Fans :

Ralph : Vyskov made a bit of noise at Udolni, so did Frydek-Mistek.. Rosice are always banging that flipping drum and waving flags, but I am giving it Vrchovina for their non stop support.. Proper fans.

Craggy: Frydek-Mistek for the flares.

Wingy : Frydek-Mistek. Need to learn to sing though.

 

 

 

Best Away Pub :

Ralph: I think I mentioned the pub before the Banik B game.. Well, the barmaid opened early for us (9.45am) and it was amusing to listen to the other table talking about house prices and Craggy giving me a guide to gout.. Radegast on tap is always a good sign of a good pub.

Craggy: Yeah, giving it to the Bank B game.

Wingy : Probably the pub on the square in Kromeriz.

Hope for the spring season :-

Ralph : To achieve the impossible and to go up. (Still can’t believe we even talking about the second league). With this level of football, you are never sure whether we’ll hold onto our players, so that’s probably the first thing we should hope for.

Craggy: Holding on the players and the lead. And sitting in the away end at Znojmo.

Wingy : Keeping our best players. Keeping the funding. Keeping our good relationship with the club.Promotion (hopefully). Visiting lots of new grounds.

If the above question is to go up, what do you think the club need once we go up :

 

Ralph: put more seats in the main stand, add more toilets, preferably behind the main stand, we also need an away end and a seperate entrance and to add turnstiles.. That’s enough to be going on with

Craggy: Toilets.

Wingy : We need all these things I reckon. Be nice to have a permanent bar near the main stand, but may be a bit too much to ask!

Anything else :

 

Ralph: Just thank you. To everyone at the club and anyone who has joined us for a game this season. It’s been an absolute pleasure.

Craggy: It’s continues to be brilliant at the club – so thanks to everyone for that. Extra special thanks to Zbynek Zboril for seemingly really enjoying it with us!

Wingy : The same. We enjoy being fans so much, and it’s great to be appreciated by nearly everyone.

And there you have it, quite an emotional Blansko Klobasa talking about just the best start to the season I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing in 20 years in Czech Republic. Another nod of gratitude in the direction of all of you who have been on a trip with of us. Raising a glass of Sasa’s slivovice in the direction of all of you.

Happy Christmas and see you in 2020.

THE BLANSKO KLOBASA

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Back in the summer, we were asked by a football quarterly in Czech Republic to write about our blog and about why we support an amateur club and not one of the big teams. We handed the task over to Ralph and this is what he has to say.

Oh and the Czech version you can find here – Football Club Cz

 

Someone once said to me that when you start supporting a football club, you doso not because  of the trophies, or a player, or history .You support them because you have found yourself somewhere – you have found a place where you belong. For me, Swansea City will always be that club.

 

However, when I moved to Brno back in the late 90s, standing on the North Bank was not something I could do every second Saturday, so I had to look for a replacement. At the time, the local team Boby Brno were riding high in the top league, so naturally I found myself at the Luzanky stadium watching the likes of Richard Dostalek, Marek Zubek and Zdenek Valnoha strut their stuff .

 

Boby Brno became that stand-in. Yet it didn’t feel right- a bit like falling in love with someone who wasn’t your girlfriend. But I went along with it, because she (Swansea in this case, not my girlfriend) was so far away. And that’s how it stayed. We went away together,partied in the Intertoto Cup and the Gambrinua Liga,and I must admit we had fun. It was a fully-blown love affair.

 

That was until a Friday night under the lights about five years ago. The opponents were Slavia Prague and I looked up at the scoreboard after 76 minutes. The score was 0-0. Now nil-nils can be entertaining games, but not this one. A friend of mine turned to me and said, “You know,nothing has happened in the 76 minutes we’ve been here”. And he was right, not one shot, not one piece of skill to thrill the crowd. Nothing. Nic. 

 

I left and I haven’t been back since. In truth, I had probably been kidding myself for a while – going along to Srbska, just in the hope the fling would spark up again.

 

By this time, I must admitI had already discovered groundhopping,and one Saturday afternoon decided to hop on a train and see what Blansko had to offer. Blansko is most notable for being close to the Moravian Karst, a protected nature reserve a few kilometres from the town.  In the past it was an industrial town of great significance. Today, it’s a shadow of its former self.

 

It’s also home to FK Blansko, the team I now support.

 

Now, declaring your loyalty to a smaller club is like a high-stakescard game. It’s like being faced with a deal or bust decision: I could stick to my guns and hope for the best,or keep supporting a big team, for which I had no feelings. Non-league devotees like myself often lead a duplicitous life, in which the team they claim to support,  andwho they actually support,can be two vastly different things. I remember a friend of mine at school mulling over replying “Manchester United” if anyone asked whom he supported. “I would feel a bit silly saying Macclesfield Town”. Whenever somebody asks who I support, I get an inevitable look of confusion when I say “FK Blansko”,followed by, “Oh, and have I mentioned I have a blog?”

 

So, returning to the story. Disillusioned with life as a supporter of Zbrojovka Brno, I decided to  reject overpriced tickets, officious stewarding, overzealous policing, political views I disagreed with- and just poor football– and discovered the otherworld.

 

In this otherworld, I pay 40kc to get in, avoid a queue to get a beer and stand or sit where I like– rather than being confined to a numbered seat. At Udolni,or any other groundwe visit, it’s a place where segregation is unnecessary and where fans like me can just enjoy 90 minutes of football – or 89 with some referees – in perfect peace. 

 

Such is our love for our football teamthat we started a blog named the Blansko Klobasa. We travel all over Moravia (and even further field) visiting towns you don’t often read about in travel guides, all in search of footballing excellence, the perfect beer and the ultimate Czech football snack – the klobasa.  And Udolni is place we like to call home.

 

Over the seasons, we have become familiar faces at Udolni. Fellow supporters welcome us, and we often chat to the players in both Czech and English after a game.  We’ve bought scarves, as well asdesigning our ownflag. The players have bought us and friends of the blog shirts. We are on drum duty when Pav, the drum, is working the tannoy. We sing in bothour own languageand inCzech. We drink and be merry and we eat klobasaat nearly every ground we have been to.

 

And then we write about it.

 

When I was asked to write this piece, I wasn’t sure if it would be of any interest to anyone outside of the gates of Udolni. I meangirlfriends, friendsandwork colleagues who support Real Madrid, Barcelona or Manchester United often snigger when we tell them that we spent Sunday watching Blansko away at Zdar. “Why?” is often the follow-up question.  To a degree, I understand the bemusement, but to us it’s a proper love affair and hopefully we can tell you we yearn for more Blansko home and away days.

 

You may have noticed that I am using “we” instead  of  “I”,as The Blansko Klobasais very much a joint effort. Although I can go off to Havirov for a 10.15 kick-off on a Sunday morningon my own, the fun comes when we are a small band of intrepid Klobasa.

 

 

As these words should be about lower league Czech football and what we enjoy, maybe I should just get on with that and stop babbling on about us. Belonging. But I digress. Here are some of the things that make supporting Blansko so special.

 

The Trips

 

The fixture list becomes like a map, so the moment it is released we start planning and plotting away days. Following Blansko or just groundhopping in Czech Republic has taken us down a coal mine in Petkoviceandaround the chateau gardens ofKromeriz. We’ve taken an early morning bus to Lednice, in order to walk on a nature trail to Breclav,and enjoyed a Gulas festival in Mikulov- as well as many more strange and wonderful places.

 

I suppose what we are trying to convey is how beautiful this country is,and,thanks to Cesky Drahy, we have seen more than we could ever have imagined. As much as we enjoy watching the games, football gives  an excuse to explore.

 

The Occasional Brilliant But Slightly Overweight Footballer

 

You would be forgiven for thinking that great footballers play in top leagues and ,of course,it would be silly of me  to say that the greatest Czech footballer I have ever seen is not Tomas Rosicky. However, while watching games all over the country, I occasionally watch a footballer that may have eaten a lot of klobasa, but stands out because, boy,can he play.

 

I am sure we have all observed a player like this; slightly rotund and,on occasions,barracked by the away fans (there aren’t many away fans in lower league Czech football), but only until he controls a high looping ball by stunning it dead. In addition to this,there are the passes, he can spray a ball left and right, hit a 50yrd pass right into the path of any of his forwards.He is simply worth the 40kc to get in on his own.

 

So, when people ask mewho is the best Czech footballer I have ever seen. “Have you ever heard of David Cupak or Lukas Matyska or even Honza Trtilek?” is usually my questionin turn. And naturally they respond with a shake of the head.

 

Take Lukas Matyska as one of the example, I am sure some fans would call him a bit lazy, he spends his time hogging the touchline, he definitely spent a bit of time recharging his energy by eating some of Bystrc’s finest klobasa, but give him the ball and he can play. He’s the Maradona of the lower leagues. He can shoot dribble, cross and he can definitely eat.

 

The Fans

 

Football is for the likes of everyone and so it should be. A local football club can connect people from all walks of life, and at Blansko at away grounds, we have met many good people and many eccentrics.  I was once told that the supporters who travel on the bus with the players are often only interested in the opportunity to do something different rather than watch a game of football.

 

However, these are the fans that are there atevery match.

 

Then there are the local eccentrics, whowill be recognised by nearly everyone at the game. Some might even know his name. We’ve got one at Blansko, who we have nicknamed “Angry man”. He comesin after half time (it’s free to get in), always carries the same plastic bag, always sits in the same place and then proceeds to berate the referee for the whole of the second half. He is either a former professional referee or is just infatuated with the man in the middle.

 

Every club has one. At Trebic we met a Hungarian lorry driver named Zoltan, who told us in a mixture of his native tongue, Czech and the only words of English he knew that he was a reformed alcoholic and insisted on taking us to the bar, mid-match, to prove it.

 

Although this is not so much about the eccentricity of supporters, but more about one trip, where I had gone to the bathroom at an away game, it might have been Bzenec only to come back to one of us surrounded by locals poking him. At the time I was the chief translator, so after a quick chat with the group stood around my friend, I found out that they just couldn’t believe they had a foreign supporter at their ground. Slivovice all round.

 

There are many of them and,of course,they are all welcome.  Football is really for everyone.

 

The Chants

 

The Blansko Klobasa were once described bya fellow blogger as a walking musical and we’d like to take that as compliment. We miss the originality of a song and a chant that often comes from an English, Welsh or Scottish football stadium. This is not criticism of Czech football fans;it’s just we hear the same chants up and down the country.

 

At Blansko, we have borrowed melodies from opera, musicals, rock bands – some are easy,some are complex. A lot of time there are spontaneous creations, but always in good humour. To give you an example, whenever a player goes down injured (which happens fairly often in Czech football) we sing “Bad Medicine” by Bon Jovi.

 

“He’s down, he needs bad medicine/Sasa the physio is what he needs”. All good natured,unless the player is more seriously injured.

 

The locals often give us a bemused look when webellow away in English and,of course,we sing in Czech too-although our accents usually bring chuckles from the old guys around us.

 

Football chants are an integral part of the game, almost ritual, and have brought us closer to everyone at the club.

 

Visiting Football Grounds

 

When I was back living in the UK, catching a glimpse of floodlights of a football ground from a train, car or bus was one of my main loves. Czech football has them too. I could talk for hours about the lollipops at Hradec Kralove. However, I know I am digressing,as in lower leagues you very rarely see them, well apart from at Slavia Kromeriz.The only stadium with floodlights..well, where we have managed to see Blansko play.

 

What nonleague Czech football does have is great football stands.There’s a great thrill in taking in the uniqueness and architectural nuances of main stands up and down the country. I once spent most of the game studying the old wooden stand at Slovan Podebrady,and even now I am amazed at the beauty of Meteor Prague’s grandstand.If it’s not under UNESCO,it should be.  Then there’s the stand at MFK Breclav, which has been built on top of a roof. There are literally hundreds of eye poppingly beautiful non-league grounds that make the awayday experience culturally wonderful.

 

 

My personal favourite,though,is MFK Havirov’s Stadion Dukla-a ground covering all four sides of the football pitch is a rarity in the fourth tier of Czech football,and it’s a wonderful place to watch a football match on a Sunday morning.

 

Football Games and Results

 

Football matches at the top level is a results business,and,as I mentioned earlier,the entertainment is often replaced by a team holding out for a 1-0 away win by putting 10 men behind the ball.  Well, not in the football we watch.Amateur footballers play the game for the same reason we watch it – entertainment. Even if the team is losing 3-0 with 10 minutes to play, you can still see the effort and belief from the team.  Watching games that end 5-4, 3-2or 7-3 makes any trip worthwhile.   Even if it’s Blansko on the receiving end of the that thumping, we always know we’ve been entertained.

 

The Football Snack

 

Back home the traditional football snack is a pie; here in the Czech Republic it’s the klobasa. The familiar smell of onions from catering vans at UK football stadiumshas now been replaced with the aroma of grilled sausage. The people that work behind the grill take great pride in their food and a half-time beer and sausage is definitely a ritual of the Czech game.

 

On occasions you see a local speciality, like at HFK Olomouc, where smoked mackerel is the food of choice for local fans.  At Dosta Bystrc you often see the local ultras tasting homemade chutney and snacksat half-time.

 

Kojetin was the most interesting,where uponenquiring what kind of meat was on the barbecue, I was told “kocka, vole” by the toothless  “catering manager”. Of  course, we were later told that it was pork, but by that time our  appetite had gone.

 

Having sampled the local klobasa up and down the country, our favourite is a very spicy sausage at Breclav – washed down with a local beer, Kanec.

 

And there you have it. Reading this,I am sure you will think we are bit mad, but we will all tell you that it’s like falling in love with the game again.  When at the top level of the game in any country in the world you are just a customer or the seat number on your ticket; in thelower reaches of Czech football, you are anything but that – there’s a welcome for us all.

 

Give it a try.

 

 

And finally, the camaraderie of the Klobasa is what makes following a team so enjoyable . My brother once mentioned that the trips and the sheer fun that we have actually transcends the game in some ways. The friendship, humour and warmth we have received and given make groundhopping a great way to spend a Saturday or Sunday. Now when is Humpolec away?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Playing For The Love Of The Game

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In May 2012, I took a tram up to Lisen for an afternoon of groundhopping. The game had caught my attention weeks in advance as it brought together two former Boby Brno players, Richard Dostalek and Milan Pacanda. The reason for the added interest was that in the staggering, cash-soaked grandeur of top flight football back home and I am pretty sure a lot of players have very little time for grassroots level football.

At this point, I should add that I have nothing against a footballer earning a tad more than me, seemingly having it easy and then retiring and falling into a career of either coaching or working in media. However, I used to love reading stories or seeing former professionals drop into non-league to play for peanuts, simply because they loved football. In fact, two of my heroes growing up, Robbie James and Alan Curtis, both played for clubs in the Welsh league. Well below the standard they were used to after careers at the very top.

Being a groundhopper here in Czech Republic, the opportunities to see former international footballers strutting their stuff at weekends is still very much a thing and here are a few playing just for the love of the game.

  1. David Rozenhal

After a career playing for the likes of Club Brugge, Paris Saint-Germain, Newcastle United and Lazio, David Rozenhal retired from the professional game at the end of last season to join his brother, Marek, at TJ Sokol Kožušany. The club are currently mid-table in the 7th tier of Czech football, playing in the Olomouc Region.

International Caps 60 goals 1

2. Pavel Nedvěd

Pavel Nedvěd needs no introduction. One of Czech Republic’s greatest ever players , he won European Footballer of the year in 2003. Currently he is on the books of FK Skalná, who play 7th tier of Czech football in the Karlovy Vary Region. It’s unlikely Pavel will be able to make the regular commute from Turin to Czech Republic, but there might still be an opportunity to see him play for his village side.

International caps 91 caps 18 goals.

3. David Lafata.

One of the greatest strikers to play Czech football in the last 20 years, Lafata is still scoring regularly for his boyhood club in Olešník . The 37 year old played for a host of clubs and is best known for his goals at FK Jablonec and Sparta Prague.

He played 41 times for Czech Republic scoring 9 goals.. Unfortunately two of them were against Wales in Teplice in 2005.

4. David Jarolím

Son of former Czechoslovak international and current national team manager Karel Jarolim, I remember reading about David Jarolím’s talent when he was a youngster at Bayern Munich. He only managed one appearance for the German giants before playing almost 300 times for Hamburg in the Bundesliga and now captains 5th Tier Čechie Vykáň, where he plays with his brother Lukáš.

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International Caps 29 goals Goals 1

5. Jan Rajnoch

A product of the Sparta Prague academy, Jan Rajnoch spent much of his time in Czech Republic and Turkey. After finishing his career with Sigma Olomouc in 2016 he signed for 4th tier Motorlet Prague.

International caps 15 no goals

6 and 7. Vladimír Šmicer and Patrik Berger.

Both players started their careers at Slavia Prague and later played together for Liverpool. Berger and Smicer were part of the golden generation which took Czech Republic to the final of Euro 96. Smicer also won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005. Steven Gerrard one said of Berger “he was the best left-footed striker of a ball I have ever seen”. They now sometimes run the midfield for Dolni Chabry in the 6th tier.

Smicer 80 caps 27 goals

Berger 42 caps 18 goals

8. Jiří Štajner

In my eyes Štajner is a like a character from Roy of the Rovers. As a teenager he was picked up by Slavia Prague, playing a handful of games for them before dropping down the leagues to play for Slavia Lounovice,. After scoring for fun (and drinking in equal measures) he was picked up 2nd league Banik Most where he caught the eye of Slovan Liberec.. It was at Slovan where he continued to develop helping his team to European success and a league title. Scoring goals wherever he has been, Štajner now plays for FK Jiskra Mšeno – Jablonec nad Nisou in the 4th tier.. and yes, he’s still scoring.

Caps 37 Goals 4

9. Martin Jiránek

Another member of the successful Czech team at Euro 2004, Jiránek enjoyed a fairly successful career at home, Italy, Russia and a brief spell in England with Birmingham City where he won the League Cup in 2010. Afte further spells in Russia he finally hung up his professional boots with Dukla Prague. Now you can find captaining his first club, SC Olympia Radotín, in the 3rd tier.

Caps 31 goals 0

10. Richard Dostálek

Dostálek is probably my favourite ever Boby Brno footballer. When I first moved over here, he was a swashbuckling midfielder who took Brno back to near top of Czech football. After 6 years at the Luzanky he moved to Slavia Prague where he continued to impress for both club and country. Currently, when he’s not coaching Zbrojovka Brno’s stars of tomorrow, he’s playing 5th tier football for SK Bosonohy, a district of Brno.

Caps 5 Goals 0

11. Petr Švancara.

Now, Petr Švancara is a bit of a legend round these parts. If it hadn’t been for his love for nocturnal activity, I am sure he would have made the step up from U21 football to the full national squad – Once the most expensive player in Czech football after moving from Brno to Slavia Prague, “Mercedes” was a wizard on the ball. He spent a successful season with our FK Blansko taking us up to the 3rd tier and can now be seen at 5th tier Tatran Bohunice with a few other ex-Blansko players.

No caps no goals.

There are probably many more ex-professional footballer playing amateur football here in Czech Republic, so feel free to mention them in the comments section below.

Thanks for reading the post.