FC Viktoria Plzeň

In 1911, Jaroslav Ausobský, an official of the state railways, filed a request for the establishment of a new football club in Plzeň. In August 1911, the newly formed club Viktoria played their first match, losing 7–3 against Olympia Plzeň.

For the first 18 years of its existence, Viktoria Plzeň was a purely amateur club, although in 1922–23, they took their first foreign trip to Spain, where they won six out of nine matches. In June 1929, an extraordinary meeting of members agreed to go professional and enter the national professional league. Viktoria finished their first season in seventh place, but the very next season, improved and reached second place, which meant a first-ever promotion to the First League. In the 1934–35 Czechoslovak First League, Viktoria finished in fourth place and subsequently played in the 1935 Mitropa Cup, the top European club competition at the time. Two matches against Juventus brought Viktoria to the attention of European football at large. They drew 3–3 at home but lost 5–1 in Turin.

Viktoria played without success in the First League, being relegated for the 1938 season but returning to top competition the next year. The outbreak of World War II interrupted competition, notably through the absence of teams from Slovakia. In 1942, Viktoria fell again into the divisions, but again returned to the top league the next year, where they would remain until 1952. That same year, the club changed its name to Sokol Škoda Plzeň. For nine years they remained in the divisions, struggling to return to the First League, and in 1961, now under the name of Spartak Plzeň, achieved that promotion. The club was relegated and promoted frequently between the top two tiers until 1972, when as Škoda Plzeň they settled in the First League for eight years.

In 1971, Viktoria won the Czech Cup by drawing lots after the two-legged final ended 4–4 on aggregate and 5–5 in a limited penalty shootout against Sparta Prague B.[5] They lost 7–2 on aggregate in the Czechoslovak Cup final against Slovak Cup winners Spartak Trnava,[6] but as Trnava had won the league title that season, Viktoria was the country's entrant to the next season's European Cup Winners' Cup. The club's greatest honor is elimination in the first round by Bayern Munich, 7–2 on aggregate.[7] From 1980 until the division of Czechoslovakia 13 years later, Viktoria moved frequently between the top two tiers again.

Pavel Horváth was voted as Viktoria's best player of all time at the club's centenary gala in 2012.

In 1992, the club returned to its historical name FC Viktoria Plzeň and the very next season, advanced to the first league, where it remained until 1999.

In the first years of the new millennium, Viktoria was owned by a foreign investor – Italian Football Company Ltd EAST. This situation lasted until March 2005, when 100% of the club's shares were purchased by local interests. The summer of 2005 also brought back relations with the Czech motor company Škoda, which had previously been the club's name sponsors.

On 18 May 2010, Viktoria won the Czech Cup final 2–1 against Jablonec,[8] and returned to European competitions via the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League. Viktoria entered in the third qualifying round against Beşiktaş and held them 1–1 at home before losing 3–0 away.[9]

Viktoria won its first ever league championship in 2010–11, finishing with 69 points to Sparta Prague's 68.[10] The club therefore qualified for a play-off to the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League, in which they defeated Copenhagen 5–2 on aggregate.[11] Viktoria were placed in Group H alongside reigning champions Barcelona and Milan, and reached third place in the group by recording a victory over BATE Borisov.[12] This saw the club drop into the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League in the round of 32, where they lost 4–2 on aggregate to Schalke 04 after extra time.[13]

The club's Stadion města Plzně was also rebuilt in 2011. On 11 June 2011, Viktoria celebrated together with fans in the courtyard of the Pilsner Urquell brewery for a centennial anniversary. In January 2012, the club held a festive gala for its centenary, and voted current midfielder Pavel Horváth as its greatest player of all-time.

The 2011–12 season saw Viktoria finish in third place in the league, three points behind champions Slovan Liberec, to qualify for a third consecutive Europa League campaign.[14] Starting in the second qualifying round, the club advanced past Metalurgi Rustavi of Georgia and Ruch Chorzów of Poland to set up a play-off against the Belgian club Lokeren, in which Viktoria advanced on away goals after a 2–2 aggregate draw. The club finished first in Group B, ahead of the tournament's reigning champions Atlético Madrid. In the round of 32, Viktoria were drawn against Napoli and won 3–0 away and 2–0 at home to advance to the last 16, where they played Fenerbahçe. Viktoria lost the home leg 1–0, and in the away leg (which was played behind closed doors due to the Istanbul club's fans' recent conduct) drew 1–1, resulting in their elimination.[15] Viktoria won the Czech league for a second time in the 2012–13 season.

In 2017, the club installed a dugout in the shape of a beer can after a deal with a local beer sponsor.[16]

As of 6 May 2020.[17]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 2 DF Lukáš Hejda 3 DF Adam Hloušek 4 DF Roman Hubník (captain) 5 MF Joel Ngandu Kayamba 6 MF Iván Díaz (on loan from Žilina) 7 MF Tomáš Hořava 8 DF David Limberský 9 FW Jean-David Beauguel 10 MF Jan Kopic 11 DF Matěj Hybš 14 DF Radim Řezník 16 GK Aleš Hruška 18 FW Tomáš Chorý 19 MF Jan Kovařík 20 MF Pavel Bucha

No. Position Player 22 DF Jakub Brabec 23 MF Lukáš Kalvach 24 DF Milan Havel 25 MF Aleš Čermák 26 MF Christián Herc (on loan from Wolverhampton) 29 GK Dominik Sváček 36 GK Jindřich Staněk 37 MF Ondřej Mihálik 44 DF Luděk Pernica 50 DF Šimon Gabriel 77 MF Marko Alvir 90 MF Ubong Ekpai MF Miroslav Káčer DF Filip Kaša

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Jakub Šiman (at Baník Sokolov) DF Filip Čihák (at FK Pardubice) MF Michal Hlavatý (at FK Pardubice) MF Lukáš Pfeifer (at FK Pardubice) MF Jan Suchan (at MFK Vítkovice)

No. Position Player MF Pavel Šulc (at SFC Opava) MF Ondřej Štursa (at Baník Sokolov) FW Lukáš Matějka (at FK Ústí nad Labem) FW Erik Pačinda (at Korona Kielce)

Czech First League:

• Winners (5): 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18
• Runners-up: 2013–14, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20

Czech Cup:

• Winners (1): 2009–10
• Runners-up: 2013–14

Czech Supercup:

• Winners (2): 2011, 2015
• Runners-up: 2010, 2013, 2014

Czech 2. Liga:

• Winners (1): 2002–03

• Best position: 1st (2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18)
• Worst position: 16th (2000–01, 2003–04)
• Biggest home win: Plzeň 7–0 Ústí nad Labem (2010–11)
• Biggest away win: Ústí nad Labem 0–5 Plzeň (2010–11)
• Biggest home defeat: Plzeň 1–5 Drnovice (1997–98), Plzeň 0–4 Příbram (2003–04), Plzeň 0–4 Slavia Prague (2006–07), Plzeň 0–4 Ostrava (2007–08), Plzeň 0–4 Olomouc (2011–12)
• Biggest away defeat: Ostrava 6–0 Plzeň (2005–06)