SK Slavia Prague
Czech professional football club in Prague, founded 1892.
via Wikipedia: SK Slavia Prague · see source
SK Slavia Prague, officially Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal, is a professional football club based in Prague, Czech Republic. Founded on 2 November 1892 by medical students in the Vinohrady district as a literary and cycling club, it initially dissolved before being re-established in 1895. The club shifted its focus to football in 1896, winning its first match 5–0 against AC Prague on 25 March of that year, with Karel Freja as captain. Four days later, a 0–0 draw against Sparta Prague kicked off what would become the most heated rivalry in Czech football.
Slavia is the second most successful club in the Czech Republic since the nation’s independence in 1993. They compete in the Czech First League, the country’s top division, and have claimed 22 league titles, 11 Czech Cups, and the Mitropa Cup in 1938. Since the Czech league was founded in 1993, they have won nine titles. In European competition, they reached the semi-finals of the 1995–96 UEFA Cup and qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time in 2007–08. They later made the Europa League quarter-finals in 2018–19 and again in 2020–21, also qualifying for the Champions League group stage a second time in 2019–20. During their 2020–21 title-winning season, Slavia went undefeated and set a Czech record with a 54-match unbeaten run in the top flight from 2020 to 2021.
The club’s early golden age came under Scottish manager Johnny Madden, a former Celtic player who joined in 1905. Over 25 years, Madden’s tactics led Slavia to 134 domestic wins out of 169 matches and 304 international victories out of 429. He retired in 1930 at age 66 but remained in Prague. Eight Slavia players featured in the Czechoslovak national team at the 1934 World Cup. A second golden period followed the signing of Josef Bican from Admira Vienna, with Slavia winning league titles in 1940, 1941, 1942, and 1943 during wartime. The club then struggled, finishing 11th in 1951 and suffering relegation in 1961 and 1963, returning to the top flight in 1965.
After a 49-year drought, Slavia won their 14th league title in 1996. That season, they also reached the UEFA Cup semi-finals, and four of their players were key to the Czech Republic’s silver medal at UEFA Euro 1996. The club attempted Champions League qualification five times between 1996 and 2005, failing each time until 2007–08, when they beat Ajax 3–1 on aggregate in the third qualifying round. In the group stage, they were placed in Group H with Arsenal, Steaua București, and Sevilla. They opened with a 2–1 home win over Steaua, lost 4–2 to Sevilla, then suffered a 7–0 defeat at Arsenal before drawing 0–0 at home. A 1–1 draw in Bucharest secured third place and a spot in the UEFA Cup round of 32, despite a 0–3 home loss to Sevilla.
A new 21,000-seat stadium at Eden began construction in October 2006 and opened on 7 May 2008 with an exhibition match against Oxford University. Slavia won back-to-back Czech titles in 2007–08 and 2008–09 but failed to reach the Champions League group stage, eliminated by Fiorentina (0–2 on aggregate) and Sheriff Tiraspol (1–1 on away goals). They finished seventh in the 2009–10 league season. By autumn 2010, the club faced a financial crisis, owing 112 million Czech koruna to former owner ENIC Sports Ltd. Cost-cutting measures and player sales followed, and midfielder Petr Trapp left mid-season, claiming unpaid wages for three months. On 5 May 2011, a cup semi-final against Olomouc was abandoned at halftime with the score 1–1 after Slavia fans invaded the pitch to protest the club’s finances; Sigma Olomouc was awarded a 3–0 win.
In September 2015, CEFC China Energy Company purchased the club. From November 2018, ownership passed to the Sinobo Group and CITIC Group. In December 2023, Czech businessman Pavel Tykač bought the club from its Chinese owners for a reported 2 billion Czech crowns. Beyond the men’s first team, Slavia operates two reserve sides (SK Slavia Prague B and SK Slavia Prague C), as well as youth and women’s teams.
The club has undergone several name changes: SK ACOS Praha (1892), SK Slavia Praha (1893), Sokol Slavia Praha (1948), ZSJ Dynamo Slavia Praha (1949), DSO Dynamo Praha (1953), TJ Dynamo Praha (1954), and back to SK Slavia Praha in 1965.
Quick Facts
- Club
- Slavia Prague
- Full name
- Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal a.s.
- Nickname
- Červenobílí (The Red and Whites)
- Sešívaní (The Stitched)
- Slávisté (The Slavists)
- Founded
- 1892 as ACOS (Akademický cyklistický odbor Slavia)
- Ground
- Fortuna Arena
- Capacity
- 19,370
- Owner
- Pavel Tykač
- Chairman
- Jaroslav Tvrdík
Facts from the source article.
Supporters and rivalries
Slavia Prague’s main rivals are Sparta Prague, with whom they play the Prague derby. They also have a local Vršovice derby against Bohemians 1905, whose ground is about a kilometer from Slavia’s Eden stadium. A common misconception among other supporters, especially Sparta’s, is that Slavia is a Jewish club. This leads to frequent anti-semitic abuse directed at Slavia’s fans and players.
In reality, the club was never founded by Jews and has no Jewish heritage. Football historian Vladimír Zapotocký pointed out that if it did, the Nazis would have shut it down during the occupation, as they did with DFC Prag. The false association began after a 1922 friendly with West Ham United. Slavia had insured the match against bad weather, it was rained off, and they collected the insurance payout while still playing the game the next day.
A week later, during a Prague derby, Sparta fans greeted Slavia with chants of “vy židi!” (“you Jews!”). Since 2021, Slavia has had a fan coalition with Sportowe Zagłębie, the hooligan group of Zagłębie Sosnowiec.
Ownership and finances
CITIC at the time held 99.98% of the 212,074 stocks worth CZK 1.514 billion (annual report from 30 June 2018). CITIC remains a minority shareholder; the distribution of shares was not revealed. According to chairman Jinhui Zhou, the Sinobo business model combines real estate development and sports activities. Sinobo also owns 64% of shares in Chinese club Beijing Guoan, with CITIC holding the 36% minority, and holds naming rights to Sinobo Stadium.
Chinese investment in Slavia began in September 2005, when private conglomerate CEFC acquired 59.97% of shares through its Czech subsidiary for CZK 27 million from Aleš Řebíček. CEFC's share increased over time to 99.96% by 22 November 2016. In early 2018, CEFC had serious financial problems, and CITIC bought the club and arena. Later in 2018, CITIC transferred the majority stake to Sinobo Group.
Slavia's financial results for 2017–18 show group revenue of CZK 837.4 million, with a profit before tax of CZK million.
Management
The club's current manager is Jindřich Trpišovský, who joined in December 2017 from Slovan Liberec, replacing Jaroslav Šilhavý, who was appointed in September 2016 and moved on to manage the Czech national team. There have been 65 managers in Slavia's history. The club's first professional coach, Johnny Madden, was appointed in 1905 and served until 1930, remaining the longest-serving coach in terms of tenure and games overseen. The current coaching staff includes assistant coaches Milan Kerbr, Zdeněk Houštecký, and Pavel Řehák; goalkeeper coaches Štěpán Kolář and Radek Černý; and fitness coaches Martin Třasák and Aleš Píta.
Only competitive matches are counted. The list of managers includes: Johnny Madden (1905–30), Josef Štaplík (1930–33), Kálmán Konrád (1933–35), Jan Reichardt (1935–38), Emil Seifert (1939–46), Josef Pojar (1946–47), Viliam König (1947–48), Jan Reichardt (1949), Viliam König (1950–51), Emil Seifert (1952–53), Josef Bican (1954–56), Antonín Rýgr (1956–58), Josef Forejt (1958), Antonín Rýgr (1959), Vlastimil Kopecký (1959), Karel Finek (1959–60), Josef Forejt (1960), Antonín Rýgr (1960–63), Karel Finek (1963–64), František Ipser (1964–66), Vratislav Fikejz (1966), Mirko Paráček (1966), František Havránek (1966–68), Jiří Nedvídek (1968–69), Josef Forejt (1969–70), Antonín Rýgr (1970–72), Miroslav Linhart (1972), Rudolf Vytlačil (1973), Jaroslav Jareš (1973–79), Bohumil Musil (1979–80), Josef Bouška (1981), Miroslav Starý (1981), Milan Máčala (1982–84), Jaroslav Jareš (1984–86), Vlastimil Petržela (1986–87), Tomáš Pospíchal (1987–88), Ivan Kopecký (1988–89), Vlastimil Petržela (1990–92), Jozef Jarabinský (1992–93), Jindřich Dejmal (1993–94), Miroslav Beránek (1994–95), František Cipro (1995–97), Pavel Tobiáš (1997–98), Petr Rada (1998), Jaroslav Hřebík (1998–99), František Cipro (1999–00), Karel Jarolím (2000–01), Josef Pešice (2001), Miroslav Beránek (2001–03), Josef Csaplár (Jan 04 – Apr 05), Karel Jarolím (Jul 05 – Mar 10), František Cipro (Mar 10 – May 10), Karel Jarolím (Jul 10 – Sep 10), Michal Petrouš (Sep 10 – Oct 11), František Straka (Oct 11 – Mar 12), Martin Poustka (Mar 12 – Jun 12), Petr Rada (Jul 12 – Apr 13), Michal Petrouš (Apr 13 – Sep 13), Miroslav Koubek (Sep 13 – Mar 14), Alex Pastoor (Mar 14 – May 14), Miroslav Beránek (Jun 14 – Jun 15), Dušan Uhrin Jr.
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