Slavia Prague

Football club infobox
clubname = Slavia Prague


fullname = SK Slavia Praha
nickname = "Sešívaní" (The Sewns)
founded = 1892/ 1896
ground = Stadion Eden, Prague
capacity = 21 000 | chairman = flagicon|Czech Republic Petr Doležal
manager = flagicon|Czech Republic Karel Jarolím
league = Gambrinus liga
season = 2007-08
position = Gambrinus liga, 1st
pattern_la1=_whiteshoulders|pattern_b1=_slavia|pattern_ra1=_redshoulders
leftarm1=FF0000|body1=|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=FFFFF
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=_Slavia_away08|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=000000|body2=000000|rightarm2=000000|shorts2=000000|socks2=000000

Slavia Prague ( _cs. SK Slavia Praha) is a Czech professional football club founded in 1892 in the city of Prague.

They play in the Gambrinus liga - the highest competition in the Czech Republic. Alongside Sparta Prague, they are considered one of the top Czech clubs and the rivalry between the two clubs is important in Czech football. Slavia has won 14 titles, several Czech cups and the Mitropa Cup (Central European Cup) in 1938. Their most recent success was winning the Gambrinus liga in the 2007-08 season. Slavia also won the Gambrinus liga in the 1995-96 season, when they also advanced to the UEFA Cup semi-finals. They qualified for the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time in their history.

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

History

Slavia were founded in 1892 in Vinohrady, Prague as a sport club, where cycling dominated. In January 1896 came a new sport to the club - football. On 25 March 1896 Slavia won their first-ever match 6-0. The rivals were AC Sparta Praha. The great era for Slavia started in 1905, when Scottish manager and former Celtic player John William Madden brought new tactics and views on football from his home country. He managed to set up an early golden age for the club for a long 25 years. Johnny was the first Slavia manager, before him there was only team captains who had something like managers' rights. Under Madden Slavia won 134 domestic matches from a possible 169, and 304 internationals from 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 Czechoslovakia national football team included 8 Slavia players, which means that Slavia were the top Czech club in that age. The second gold period came when Slavia bought Josef Bican from Admira Vienna. With this famous footballer Slavia won titles in the years 1940, 1941, 1942 and 1943. In 1951 Slavia finished in 11th position and it was a big break. Poor results continued during nineteen-fifties and sixties when Slavia were relegated twice. They were promoted back in 1965.

A new age and comeback to the top began in 1990, when lots of young, budding players, including Vladimír Šmicer and Patrik Berger, were brought to the club. In 1996 Slavia won their fourteenth title after 49 years. [ [http://www.slavia.cz/statika.asp?typ=hEsej SK Slavia Praha - official site] ] [ [http://www.slavia.cz/statika.asp?typ=historie SK Slavia Praha - official site] ]

Today

Slavia have suffered from financial problems in recent years, mainly because of their repeated failure, until 2007, to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. Slavia have built a team of young players, many of whom represent their countries in "Under-21" teams. The brightest young hopes are Marek Suchý (U-19) and Dušan Švento.

Slavia qualified for the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League following a 3-1 aggregate victory over Ajax Amsterdam in the Third Qualifying Round. On 30 August 2007 in Monaco, they were drawn in Group H along with Arsenal, Steaua Bucharest 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 was dismantled 7-0 at Emirates Stadium, but in the second leg they managed to steal a point for 0-0 draw. In Bucharest came a 1-1 draw, which qualified the Czech team for the UEFA Cup round of 32, from 3rd place in group H, in spite of a home 0-3 defeat against Sevilla.

In October 2006, the construction of new and long-awaited stadium at Eden for 21,000 spectators began. The stadium was opened on 7 May 2008.

Ownership

Until May 2006, 31% of the club was owned by ENIC Sports Ltd, who also have significant or controlling stakes in Tottenham Hotspur and AEK Athens. 61% is owned by a Czech company Key Investments, who does not own the share itself, but manages it for an unknown owner. The remaining 8% are held by minor stockholders. Since that date the club has been controlled by two Czech businessmen Tomáš Rosen and Petr Doležal.

Notable 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 Czech national team in two World Cups) and midfielder František Veselý. Other big names in club history are: Čestmír Vycpálek, Jan Košek, Alexander Bokšay, Vlasta Kopecký, Ota Hemele, Jiří Hildebrandt, Jan Lála, František Veselý, Luboš Kubík and Ivo Knoflíček.

Players for Slavia in the 1990s include Patrik Berger, Karel Poborský and Pavel Kuka, who closed his career in 2005. Notable players of the 2000s include Radek Černý and Stanislav Vlček. Among current notable players are forwards Vladimír Šmicer (2005 UEFA Champions League winner), Matej Krajčík and Martin Vaniak.

Major trophies

* Mitropa Cup winner 1938
* Czechoslovakia league – 1913, 1925, 1928/29, 1929/30, 1930/31, 1932/33, 1933/34, 1934/35, 1936/37, 1946/47
* Czech League – 1939/40, 1940/41, 1941/42, 1942/43, 1995/96, 2007/08
* Czech championship – 1897 spring, 1897 fall, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901
* Bohemia championship – 1918, 1924
* Championship ČSF – 1913, 1915
* Bohemia cup – 1922, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1935, 1941
* Charity cup – 1908, 1910, 1911, 1912
* Czech Football Cup (Pohár ČMFS) – 1941, 1942, 1945, 1974, 1997, 1999, 2002
* Intercup – 1970, 1972, 1977, 1978, 1986, 1992, 1993

Club symbols

* White colour - the symbol of fair play and Olympic idea.
* Red colour - the symbol of heart.
* Red star - the symbol of hope and good mind.
* The fact that the jersey is half white and half red should symbolize the dichotomy of life.

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.)

Current squad

The players in bold have senior international caps.

As of September 30, 2008:

Dual Nationality

*flagicon|Tunisia flagicon|France Tijani Belaid
*flagicon|France flagicon|Cape Verde Mickael Tavares
*flagicon|Guinea flagicon|France Amadou Cissé

Summer 2008 transfers

In{|{|

Trivia

Slavia have qualified for the UEFA Champions League six times (1996, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007). They had been eliminated five times until finally qualifying for the group stage in the 2007/2008 season. In the 2008/2009 they were eliminated again, by ACF Fiorentina (0-2 on aggregate).

Managers

"As of June, 2008. Only competitive matches are counted."

References

External links

* [http://www.slavia.cz/ Official website]
* [http://www.stadioneden.cz/webmagazine/home.asp?idk=269 Website of the Eden Stadium]
* [http://www.uefa.com/footballEurope/Club=52498/domestic.html UEFA´s Slavia Site]