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Prague Sport Introduction

Should you wish to take in a sporting event during your stay in Prague, the most popular options are as follows:

Prague Football

The Czechs traditionally have a decent footballing pedigree and in common with most of the old 'Eastern bloc' countries, the best and most affluent teams are based in the capital. The city's two most popular teams are Sparta Prague - who are frequently the Czech qualifiers for the Champions League - and their fierce local rivals Slavia Prague. In addition, the smaller (and rather unfashionable) Viktoria Žižkov have made great strides in recent seasons and were involved in a close three way tussle for this year's Gambrinus League title. While the quality of football in Prague is not on a par with that of premier leagues elsewhere in Europe, it's certainly entertaining, good value fare (especially as entry to most games costs only £2/$3).

Sparta Prague

Website: www.sparta.cz - Formed in 1893, the club has become the biggest and most successful of the three Prague teams in the Gambrinus League. Sparta, who play their football in a compact 20,000 all-seater stadium gain vital income from their exploits in the European Champions League. Indeed, monies from the competition have helped them make considerable improvements to the stadium in recent years.

Sparta finished as runners up in the 2001/02 domestic season which saw three clubs (including local rivals Viktoria Žižkov) battling for the title until the very last game. The team has managed to retain established Czech stars such as veteran defender Jiří Novotný and Karel Poborsky. Queens Park Rangers fans will be interested to know that their former goalkeeper Jan Stejskal is assistant coach at the club.

Slavia Prague

Website: www.slavia.cz - In recent years Slavia have bought through talented young players like Patrick Berger, Vladimir Smicer and Karel Poborsky only to lose them to bigger clubs abroad.

The club finished fifth in the 2001/02 season, 17 points behind the Champions Slovan Liberec. Unfortunately, a porous defence meant that too many games were drawn or lost. Indeed, Slavia only managed to win 11 of their 30 matches this season - hardly championship winning form! The team contains Czech international stalwart Jan Suchopárek (69 caps), while the Došek twins Lukáš and Tomáš prop up the defence.

Certainly, Slavia will need to make significant improvements for next season if they are to be regarded as serious title contenders.

Viktoria Žižkov

Website: www.fkviktoriazizkov.cz - Formed in 1903 in the working class district of Žižkov, the club has always been the poor relation of the three Prague teams, playing mainly in the minor divisions. However, in 1993, the team reached the first division and have stayed there ever since, improving year on year. This season, they were involved in an exciting three way struggle for the title, missing out by one point to Slovan Liberec. However, they matched the 63 points accumulated by Sparta Prague and lost fewer games.

The 8000 capacity stadium has certainly seen better days and lacks the facilities needed by a modern club to develop further (plans are afoot however to build a new venue). That said, matches here - particularly local derbies - can be quite atmospheric.

Prague Ice-Hockey

The Czechs are one of the world's best Ice Hockey nations, with the sport proving more popular with locals than football. The domestic game effectively brings on talented players that are soon lured away by the excitement and big money contracts of North American NHL teams. However, you could be watching some of the emerging stars of the future should you take in a game while in Prague. Games are fast, exciting and often not for the faint hearted.

Club details to follow shortly.

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