Czech Cup Fever in Havlíčkův Brod

The teams warm up before the game.

Now a few days have passed following a somewhat disappointing result 'away' at Artis Brno, the footballing schedule waits for no man, and we're immediately back on the road again. This time, we're actually leaving Srbska, and even Brno for Havlíčkův Brod, as the MOL Cup enters the first round stage.

Technically it's the third round of matches, though the first stage of the competition is the preliminary stage involving two rounds, in which teams as low as the fifth tier have the opportunity to enter the tournament proper. To my knowledge, it's usually teams that end up winning their respective regional fifth tier cup.

The second preliminary round sees teams from the third tier enter, and to my knowledge, there haven't been any major upsets here. In fairness, I wouldn't know a major upset given the sheer array of teams in this round, with my knowledge below the second tier only really encompassing Moravia, and Silesia to a lesser extent. 

From that round, Zbrojovka Brno were drawn away to either Slovan Havlíčkův Brod or Žďár nad Sázavou in what was very much a local affair - then again, at this stage of the competition, everything is regionalised. Havlíčkův Brod were comfortable 3-0 winners, setting up a fairly huge tie with Zbrojovka Brno. 

As with many European domestic cup competitions, more often than not, the lower club hosts the tie in the early stages. Last season, Zbrojovka had a much more local tie away to Tatran Bohunice in East Brno, which they won 6-2. After seeing off Frenstat in the following round, the draw brutally gave them Sparta away in the next round, ending any hopes of a surprise cup run.

From a local perspective, there are two other standout ties - namely Tatran Bohunice v Start Brno, and Kurim v Artis Brno - the latter of these could certainly be a tricky one for the away side. In any case, there are sure to be at least a couple of upsets given the sheer volume of fixtures.

If we look through last season's first round ties for instance, Kurim knocked out Start Brno 1-0, Ligmet Milin dumped Vlasim out on penalties, the aforementioned Žďár nad Sázavou did the same at home to Jihlava, and Vysoke Myto managed to knock Chrudim out with a 1-0 victory. Who goes out this year is anyone's guess, but none of the bigger teams will be counting their chickens yet.

Slovan Havlíčkův Brod 0-1 Zbrojovka Brno

It was a nice late start at Brno hlavní nádraží, with the train booked for 12.20, as I met up with fellow Gentlemen Ultras Sam and Fraser. With Havlíčkův Brod only being an hour and a half from Brno, we had plenty of time to explore the town beforehand. It seemed a delightful town based on this brief day-trip, which made me thankful for the existence of football. It's not often you think to visit a town like Havlíčkův Brod on a whim, regardless how pleasant it may seem.

With kick-off at half five, we had time to grab some lunch and a couple of beers. The Svíčková at the Rebel brewery (the town's beer) was absolutely incredible, and I'm almost certain the best I've had since I got here. The beer was okay, but didn't go down all that smoothly - it had a subtle sharpness to it that was nice at first, but generally speaking didn't really do a lot for me. 

We paid our 150kc and headed to the away section, where we'd brought a good couple of hundred fans. A few locals turned out to see their team as well in what must have been a pretty big game for them. The game itself was pretty dreadful if I'm being completely honest. Zbrojovka took the lead through Jakub Klima fairly early on, courtesy of a lovely cross from Lukas Saal.

After the goal though, barely anything of note happened, with Zbrojovka demonstrating the most comfortable 1-0 win you can imagine. The hosts barely laid a glove on Zbrojovka bar a chance at the very end of the first half, but to their credit, they defended resolutely, putting bodies on the line and making it incredibly difficult for Zbrojovka to add to their tally. 

Regrettably, some of the squad players didn't do a great deal to convince manager Martin Svědík to ring the changes for Saturday's league game against Prostějov. The only thing to happen in the second half was a fellow away fan somehow finding a can of air freshener and spraying it at will, including to celebrate the win at full time. 

Chants of UEFA do Brna rang around the ground as we left, but it's clear that the team will have to improve significantly if they're to go on any significant cup run this season. 

Some sights and scenes from HB.

Five things you didn't know about Havlíčkův Brod

1.) The club were founded in 1911 as SK Sazavan, meaning they exist as one of the oldest sports clubs in the entirety of the Vysocina region. They've undergone various name changes, eventually becoming Slovan Havlíčkův Brod in 2003. 

2.) The club were once as high as the second tier, though this was all the way back in the 1950s when this level was a lot more regionalised. They actually most recently managed their highest finish since the foundation of the current Czech pyramid in the early nineties, finishing 4th in Divize D, the fourth tier last season.

3.) The town was known as Německý Brod until 1945 due to the presence of German miners in the town. The name changed to Havlíčkův Brod after Karel Havlíček Borovský - a man considered the founder of Czech journalism, satire, and literary criticism. 

4.) The town is home to Pivovar Havlíčkův Brod, where Rebel beer is made, with the brewery here dating back as far as the 15th century.

5.) Arguably one of the Premier League's best Czech footballers of the modern era was born in Havlíčkův Brod - a certain Tomáš Souček. He was so good aged nine back in 2004 that Slavia Praha snapped him up from his hometown club. He appeared 114 times for Slavia, as well as having loan spells at Žižkov and Liberec, before a loan move to West Ham became permanent in 2020.