Groundhopping24

For those unfamiliar with Czechoslovak history, the country was dissolved in 1993, meaning the two separate states we see today - Czech Republic and Slovakia - became sovereign states. With that separation came two new football leagues in both countries, and the 1993-94 Czech First League season is exactly what this blog will be examining. So just who is/are Boby Brno? What on earth is a Cheb, and why should you care? Why are Vitkovice so bad nowadays? Well, all of these questions and more will be answered as we take a look back at the Czech League in its maiden year, and where the 16 teams featured in the ‘Class of 94’ ended up thirty years on.  Given that it’s the midway point of the season, positions indicated will be based on their current position at the time of writing (late January), and will indicate First League unless otherwise stated in brackets. I should also thank Callum Blyth for the inspiration with his excellent video on Scottish football with a similar idea, which...

  The word Zlín probably doesn’t mean much for anyone beyond the Czech borders, but it’s an important city within the wider framework of the country’s history. Known by the German name of Gottwaldov until as recently as 1989, it’s always been something of an industrial epicentre for Moravia and beyond, particularly with regard to shoe making. After all, it’s the birthplace of iconic entrepreneur Tomáš Baťa, founder of the Bata shoe company. I’ve always thought of it as the Northampton of the Czech Republic for that reason, but that does the town a disservice. It’s incredibly distinct compared to some of the other towns and cities in the country, even those nearby, which in many cases cannot be distinguished due to the influence of communism on the country. Zlín somehow breaks this mould with its unique almost American or Canadian modernity. A recent visit for a Tipsport Liga fixture between Zlín and Zbrojovka (a 2-1 away win) inspired this blog, having been a couple of times now, a...

  With competitive football generally hard to come by in this part of Europe at this time of year, the first fixture of 2024 would have to involve travelling a little further than usual. Despite having been to Berlin twice in the last decade, I’d always regretted that I never got to watch anything more than Hertha’s 2nd team losing 2-0 at home to Turkish diaspora club Berliner AK.  As enjoyable as that was back in 2016, we’d missed out on Hertha Berlin v Werder Bremen when they moved the fixture to before our flight. The whole purpose of our trip had been scuppered before it had even begun. With Germany offering the nearest competitive fixtures for me in Brno, a trip to Leipzig seemed a great idea to kick the year off, and so it proved. Say the name RB Leipzig, and it probably conjures up images of evil conglomerates and energy drinks spoiling the game we know and love, but there’s more than what meets the eye with this club. Whatever your opinion on them, their growth has bee...