SK Slavia Prague

Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, pronounced [ˈslaːvɪja ˈpraɦa]), commonly known as Slavia Praha / Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in the Czech Republic since its independence in 1993.[1]

"Slavia Praha" redirects here. For the women's football team, see SK Slavia Praha (women). For the ice hockey team, see HC Slavia Praha. For the basketball team, see BC Slavia Prague. For the rugby team, see RC Slavia Prague.

Slavia Prague
Full nameSportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal a.s.
Nickname(s)Červenobílí
(The red and whites)
Sešívaní
(The stitched) [nb 1]
Věčná Slavia
(The Eternal Slavia)
Founded2 November 1892 (1892-11-02) as ACOS (Akademický cyklistický odbor Slavia)
GroundSinobo Stadium,
Vršovice, Prague 10, Prague
Capacity20,232
OwnerSinobo Group, CITIC Group
PresidentJaroslav Tvrdík
Head coachJindřich Trpišovský
LeagueCzech First League
2018–191st
WebsiteClub website

They play in the Czech First League, the highest competition in the Czech Republic. They play the Prague derby with Sparta Prague, an important rivalry in Czech football. Slavia has won 19 titles, several Czech cups and the Mitropa Cup in 1938. The club has won five league titles since the foundation of the Czech league in 1993. They have also reached the semi-finals of the 1995–96 UEFA Cup and qualified for the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time in their history. In 2019, Slavia reached the quarter-finals of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League and also qualified for the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League group stage for the second time in their history.

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

History

Slavia was founded on 2 November 1892 by medicine students in Vinohrady, Prague, as a sport club aimed at increasing sport activity among students. Initially the club focused on cycling, and expanded to football in 1896.[2] On 25 March of that year, Slavia won their first match against AC Prague 5–0.[2] Four days later, Slavia played against Sparta Prague, with the match finishing 0–0, this match being the start of the rivalry between these two clubs.[3][4] In 1905, Scottish manager and former Celtic player John Madden brought new tactics and views on football from his home country to the club. He managed to set up an early golden age for the club that lasted 25 years. Under Madden Slavia won 134 domestic matches out of a total of 169, and 304 internationals out of 429 between the years 1905 and 1930. In 1930, Madden retired from Slavia and professional football at the age of 66, though he remained in Prague for the rest of his life.

In the 1934 FIFA World Cup, the Czechoslovak national team included eight Slavia players. The second golden period came when Slavia bought Josef Bican from Admira Vienna. Slavia with Bican won titles in 1940, 1941, 1942 and 1943, while many football players were at war. In 1951 Slavia finished in 11th position in the league. Poor results continued during the 1950s and 1960s when Slavia were relegated twice, in 1961 and 1963. They next played in the top level of football in 1965.

In 1996, Slavia won their 14th title after 49 years.[5] During this season, Slavia played in the semi-final of the UEFA Cup and four players of this team had big importance for the silver-medal winning Czech team from UEFA Euro 1996.[6][7]

Slavia participated in the qualifying rounds for the UEFA Champions League five times (1996, 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2005), being eliminated each time until finally qualifying for the group stage in the 2007–08 season following a 3–1 aggregate victory over Ajax in the third qualifying round. For the group stage, Slavia were drawn in Group H along with Arsenal, Steaua București 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 lost 7–0 at the Emirates Stadium, but in the second leg they managed to draw 0–0. In Bucharest came a 1–1 draw, which qualified the Czech team for the UEFA Cup round of 32, from third place in Group H, in spite of a home 0–3 defeat against Sevilla.

In October 2006, the construction of the new and long-awaited stadium at Eden for 21,000 spectators began. The stadium was opened on 7 May 2008 with an exhibition match against Oxford University.[8]

In the 2007–08 and 2008–09, Slavia were back-to-back Czech champions, although they did not play in the Champions League group stage due to elimination in the qualifying rounds by Fiorentina (0–2 on aggregate in 2008–09) and Sheriff Tiraspol (1–1 on away goals rule in 2009–10). In the 2009–10 season the club managed only 7th place in the league.

In the autumn of 2010, the club found itself in crisis due to its economic problems. It was discovered that Slavia owed 112 million Czech koruna to the club's former owner, ENIC Sports Ltd (English National Investment Company).[9] As a result of this, major cost-cutting was needed to service this debt and it was confirmed that the squad would need to be purged.[9] In addition to the players sold, midfielder Petr Trapp left the club mid-season, claiming that Slavia had not paid his wages for three months.[10]

On 5 May 2011, a cup semi-final against Olomouc was abandoned due to fans storming the pitch in protest against the deteriorating financial situation of the club.[11]

In September 2015, CEFC China Energy Company bought the team. Since November 2018 club owners are Sinobo Group and CITIC Group.

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

Club symbols
Flag of SK Slavia Prague.

The club's colours, red and white, were chosen as standing for the heart and blood, and fair play and sportsmanship respectively. The inverted five-pointed star was intended to symbolise "new hope, forever strengthening the mind and uplifting the spirit."[2] The name "Slavia" is a Latin term used in older literature to denote the lands inhabited by Slavs.[12]

Rivalries

Slavia's greatest rivals are Sparta Prague, with whom they contest the Prague derby. A local Vršovice derby is also contested between Slavia and Bohemians 1905, whose stadium is situated a kilometre from Eden.[13]

Slavia is widely misconceived as being a Jewish club among other fans, particularly Sparta fans, and its fans and players are often subjected to anti-semitic abuse. However, the club was not founded by Jews nor did it have any Jewish history. Football historian Vladimír Zapotocký commented in an interview that were this the case, the Nazis would have shut the club down during the wartime occupation, as they did with DFC Prag. The association stems from a friendly match played against West Ham United in 1922, when Slavia insured the match against adverse weather conditions, and the match was later cancelled due to rain. They then agreed with West Ham to play the fixture the next day, while also collecting money from the insurance company for cancelling the fixture. A week later in a Prague derby fixture, Slavia were greeted onto the pitch by chants of "vy židi!" ("you Jews!") from the Sparta fans.[14]

Cooperations

In May 2018 a strategic cooperation with Chinese club Beijing Sinobo Guoan for both professional and youth level football started.[15]

Players

Current squad
As of 24 February 2020[16]

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

No. Position Player
1 GK Ondřej Kolář
2 DF David Hovorka
3 DF Tomáš Holeš
4 DF Mohamed Tijani (on loan from Jihlava)
5 DF Vladimír Coufal
6 DF David Zima (on loan from Olomouc)
7 MF Nicolae Stanciu
9 FW Peter Olayinka
11 FW Stanislav Tecl
13 MF Patrik Hellebrand
15 DF Ondřej Kúdela
17 FW Lukáš Provod
18 DF Jan Bořil
19 MF Oscar Dorley
No. Position Player
20 FW João Felipe
23 MF Petr Ševčík
24 DF Ladislav Takács
25 DF Michal Frydrych
26 MF Lukáš Červ
27 MF Ibrahim Traoré
28 MF Lukáš Masopust
29 FW Abdulla Yusuf Helal
30 GK Jakub Markovič
31 GK Přemysl Kovář
32 DF Daniel Kosek
33 FW Petar Musa
34 GK Jan Sirotník

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player
GK Martin Otáhal (at Vyšehrad)
GK Martin Vantruba (at Příbram)
DF Libor Drozda (at Vyšehrad)
DF Jakub Jugas (at Jablonec)
DF Vojtěch Mareš (at Vyšehrad)
DF Lukáš Pokorný (at Bohemians)
DF Jaroslav Zelený (at Mladá Boleslav)
MF Alexandru Băluță (at Liberec)
MF Jakub Hromada (at Liberec)
MF Josef Hušbauer (at Dresden)
No. Position Player
MF Jan Matoušek (at Jablonec)
MF Tomáš Souček (at West Ham United)
MF Jan Sýkora (at Jablonec)
MF Kristijan Trapanovski (at Podbrezová)
MF Matěj Valenta (at Ústí nad Labem)
MF Jan Vejvar (at Vyšehrad)
MF Nedžad Zinhasovič (at Vyšehrad)
FW Mick van Buren (at Den Haag)
FW Lukáš Veselý (at Vyšehrad)

Reserve squad

To see the reserve squad for SK Slavia Prague, go to SK Slavia Prague B

Notable former 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 Czechoslovak national team in two World Cups) and midfielder František Veselý. Other big names in club history are: Karel Jarolím, Ivo Knoflíček, Vladimír Šmicer, Karel Poborský, Patrik Berger and Tomáš Souček.[2][17]

Player records
As of 11 March 2020.[18]

Most clean sheets in Czech First League
#NameClean sheets
1 Radek Černý86
2 Jan Stejskal42
3 Martin Vaniak39
4 Ondřej Kolář38

Current technical staff

Coaches

Only competitive matches are counted.

Honours

Domestic

Leagues
  • Bohemian Football Union Championships
Winners (1): 1913
Winners (13): 1925, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1936–37, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1946–47
Winners (6): 1995–96, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20

Cups
Winners (9): 1941, 1942, 1945, 1974, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2001–02, 2017–18, 2018–19

Minor Championships
  • Czech Championship
Winners (6): 1897 spring, 1897 fall, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901

European
Winners (1): 1938
Runners-up (1): 1930

History in European competitions
Main article: SK Slavia Prague in European football
Accurate as of 28 August 2019
CompetitionPlayedWonDrewLostGFGAGDWin%
UEFA Champions League 36 12 9 15 28 47 −19 033.33
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 8 3 3 2 11 9 +2 037.50
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League 120 46 32 42 153 137 +16 038.33
Total 164 61 44 59 189 190 −1 037.20

Source: UEFA.com
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal Difference.

UEFA club coefficient ranking

As of 9 March 2020, source:

RankTeamPoints
57 Club Brugge28.500
58 APOEL Nicosia27.500
59 SK Slavia Prague27.500
60 Ludogorets Razgrad26.000
61 Borussia Mönchengladbach26.000

Club records
  • 1. Biggest away win: Fenerbahçe 1–10 Slavia Prague (1923)
  • 2. Biggest away win: Galatasaray 0–7 Slavia Prague (1923)

Czech First League records

References

Notes
  1. Sešívaní means "stitched together", referring to the home kit with a red half and white half which were traditionally sewn together.

Citations
  1. "Historická tabulka". Fortuna Liga. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  2. Běrný, Aleš. "Přesně před 120 lety založili studenti Slavii, klub funguje dodnes". iDnes. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  3. "Historie Zápasů – 1896". Slavia Prague. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  4. "O derby. Proč a jak dlouho se nemáme rádi". Sparta Prague. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  5. Jeřábek, Luboš (2007). Český a československý fotbal – lexikon osobností a klubů (in Czech). Prague, Czech Republic: Grada Publishing. p. 163. ISBN 978-80-247-1656-5.
  6. SK Slavia Praha – official site Archived 9 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  7. SK Slavia Praha – official site Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Czech champions Slavia too strong for Blues". Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 13 November 2008.
  9. "Konec sporů: Natland se dohodl se zástupci ENICu a uhradil dluhy Slavie". ihned.cz. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  10. "Fotbalista Trapp se po dvou letech vrací ze Slavie zpátky do Plzně". iDnes. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  11. "Zápas ukončete, přikázal velitel policejního zásahu, říká delegát". Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  12. Kollar, Jan. Sláwa bohyně a půwod gména Slawůw čili Slawjanůw.
  13. "A look ahead: Here comes SK Slavia Praha". Union Berlin FC. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  14. "ZAUJALO NÁS: Kde se vzal pokřik jude Slavie?". Supporters.cz. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  15. http://www.radio.cz/en/section/news/slavia-prague-seals-cooperation-with-oldest-chinese-football-club
  16. https://slavia.cz/soupiska.asp
  17. Klub. "Fourteen years red and white". SK Slavia Praha. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  18. "Detailed stats". Fortuna liga.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.