'I Cringe' - A Saturday Morning in Central Bohemia

When looking up Chrudim for this particular blog, auto-translate had amusingly changed the town of around 23,000 inhabitants to ‘I Cringe’. Having asked my student if this is an accurate translation, she had no idea. In any case, it was highly amusing - almost as much as Vlašim becoming ‘my hair’, and Příbram becoming ‘I’m gaining weight’.

In any case, it’s clear technology still perhaps has some catching up to do with regard to the auto-translation of towns or surnames, as well as AI. Just take a look at some of the badges here for living proof of that. Yeesh. Up Zzroovvka Brrno I guess.

In fact, Zzroovvka Brrno (I’ll go back to their real name next time I promise) were set for a 10.15am KO in Chrudim one Saturday morning, which six of us decided would be a good idea to attend, even in light of some of us attending the previous week’s drab goalless draw at home to Tabor. Something to do, I guess.

We did the only natural thing in this scenario and hired a minibus for the sub-two-hour journey to this small town just outside Pardubice. I didn’t expect a great deal having heard about the kind of town Chrudim was, and I was neither underwhelmed, nor overwhelmed. Let’s just say I was whelmed. We were pretty much able to see the town in a ten minute walk to find a cash machine.

As for the match itself, well, rather fittingly, a few of us in the away end did cringe. Zbrojvka seemed to be on the front foot, until Chrudim opened the scoring with Daniel Langhamer against the run of play in the first-half. Zbrojovka never really recovered, and just after half-time, they found themselves two down, with Langhamer again finding the net.

A goal back soon after from Roman Potocny threatened a potential comeback, but those threats were soon dismissed as Chrudim grabbed their third through David Latal. Despite beating Chrudim back in August quite comfortably 4-1, the tables have turned significantly since then. Chrudim now find themselves level on points, in perhaps one of Europe’s most temperamental second tiers.

The 2nd League - A brief rundown

With Chrudim beating Zbrojovka, they now find themselves level on points, along with ‘my hair’ (Vlašim, remember?) and Zbrojovka’s cross-city rivals Líšeň. The former came from a goal down to beat struggling Prostějov 2-1 on Friday night, with Líšeň enjoying a 3-0 win over Opava, themselves only a couple of points behind the four sides on 27 points.

Jihlava and Sigma Olomouc B should also be mentioned, given that both are on 26 points in perhaps the tightest 2nd League in years. Jihlava squandered a lead to lose 2-1 at 3rd placed Tábor, where Sigma B compounded Vyškov’s misery with a 1-0 win. Despite leading the table going into the winter break, Vyškov have fallen off a cliff since the restart, with Dukla Prague’s late 1-0 success over cross-city rivals Žižkov enough to see them go top of the tree.

Příbram are also very much in the hunt after a 2-0 win at struggling Kroměříž, in a game where both sides were reduced to ten. Prostějov and Žižkov are propping up the table currently, after Varnsdorf grabbed a crucial win away at Sparta B on Sunday - only their fourth of the season, which may have even dragged their opponents into the dogfight.

As for the next round of fixtures following the international break, leaders Dukla face a tricky trip to Jihlava, with Vyškov and Tábor facing off in a 2nd v 3rd clash. Příbram and Vlašim will also go toe-to-toe, with Zbrojovka looking to record a first post-winter break win at home to Sparta B. 

Chrudim and Líšeň have great opportunities to grab successive victories as they travel to strugglers - Prostějov and Varnsdorf respectively. Fellow strugglers Žižkov will host Sigma B, with Kroměříž heading north to Opava. It’s an utterly insane league this season, and it appears to be getting more and more competitive with each passing week. Every team has something to play for right now.

Who are ya? MFK Chrudim edition

Established in 1923 some 101 years ago, MFK Chrudim have been a mainstay in the second tier for a good few years at this point, having made their first foray into the division back in 2018. They have been a second-tier side before, however, having started out in the East Bohemian Division back in 1937 under the Czechoslovak banner.

Despite the obvious tumult of the 1940s, they emerged out of it still in the 2nd tier, in 1951. Records are spotty from around that point in the club’s history, but they spent the sixties and seventies dropping from the 3rd tier down to the 4th tier (1970-71), before dropping a further division in 1974.

They would yo-yo for the best part of a couple of decades, before dropping into the 5th tier before the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The nineties would bring considerable challenge, though in the newly formed Czech Republic, they finished top of the East Bohemian regional championship, gaining promotion to Division C (the 4th tier) in 1994.

Another promotion would follow in 1998, but their stay in the 3rd tier would end again in 2004. This time, they would not return to the 3rd tier until 2011, becoming a fairly stable and solid presence at that level. A 3rd tier ČFL title would come in 2018, with the club finishing 10th in all but two of their five seasons in the 2nd tier. 

With a stadium of only 1,500 capacity (with plenty of charm and character I should add), it’s unlikely it’ll be seeing Czech First League football, even if Chrudim do somehow buck the trend with their small but passionate ultras section waving the flag that almost resembles the French one in a certain light, the stadium will be too small. A ground-share with Pardubice would be likely, who incidentally went up in their place back in 2012 due to ground issues, despite having won the Bohemian Football League.

The likes of Chrudim pushing their way up the pyramid and being able to challenge the likes of Zbrojovka and others with budgets considerably larger than them is a great part of what makes this such an enjoyable league, even if as a Zbrojovka fan, it can be incredibly frustrating.