Amateur Hour with Tišnov, or How a South Moravian football club flew too close to the sun

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 Don't be misled by the blog's title to believe Tišnov are inherently a bad side - the amateur in question is quite literally included in their name, Amatérský fotbalový klub Tišnov. That said, Tišnov are yet to pull up any trees in the fifth tier since their promotion in 2024, with the club currently sitting in 12th, five points clear of the drop zone.

Over the last ten games, Tišnov have won only two of them - a 3-2 win at Olympia Ráječko, and a thumping 6-0 at home to basement dwelling Moravská Slavia Brno. In fact, their only other win came on the opening day - a 3-1 home win over Slovan Rosice, who themselves endured a terrible start to life in the fifth tier before getting their act together.

Despite having been founded as early as 1912, Tišnov hardly boast an illustrious history, essentially floating between the lower echelons of the regional leagues. Since Czech independence in 1993, they spent twelve years in the 7th tier before promotion in 2005. It would only be a couple of seasons before they'd drop again.

They returned to the sixth tier in 2015, which began an extraordinary chain of three successive promotions to the fourth tier. 2017/18 was an unbelievable season for Tišnov in more ways than one, in that they were able to string together 14 wins in a row prior to the long winter break. Agonisingly, the club's management inexplicably withdrew them from the competition, meaning a season that should have been the club's most successful resulted in a shock relegation back to the fifth tier.

Essentially the exit of boss Oldřich Merta led to a mass exodus of players, many of whom will be familiar to fans of South Moravian football. Petr Švancara left for Tatran Bohunice, along with goalkeeper Martin Doležal, both formerly of Zbrojovka Brno. Tomáš Sodomka who'd scored 19 prior to the winter break left for Blansko, with František Schneider and Daniel Pospíšil leaving for Vyškov.

As the chairman stated, the club simply could not compete without the players, meaning the club had to call it quits despite having a ten point lead over their nearest rivals Vrchovina. And of course whatever goes up must come down, so a successive relegation meant they were back in the sixth tier. The only reason they survived in 2020 on a mere seven points was likely due to the pandemic. As a Stevenage fan, I can relate to not being punished for being crap because of a pandemic...

They did gradually get back on track in the sixth tier, eventually gaining promotion in 2024 as mentioned. An eighth placed finish wasn't too bad considering the tumultuous recent past of the club, but promotion and a return of the glory days seems to be a little while away at this point. That said, with some good momentum on their side, who knows? Almost certainly not this season, but anything is possible beyond that.

Their opponents, Banik Ratíškovice, also have a unique and storied past which I've covered in a previous blog from last season. In short, they weren't far off facing Liverpool in a European qualifier back in the early 2000s. While Tišnov can't boast having reached such highs, it will forever remain a mystery what could have been back in 2018.

Banik on the streets of Tišnov

For this season at least, both sides in today's fixture look unlikely to go up or down, such is the nature of a one up/one down division. More often than not, one team either runs away with the title, while another suffers an abysmal season, meaning there's essentially a jostling for places that, beyond pride, are ultimately meaningless.

At the moment, there's an intriguing battle to avoid the drop between Ivančice and Moravská Slavia, who both sit on 7 points. The likes of Kunštát, Moravsky Krumlov, and Tišnov aren't exactly streets ahead though should one or both of these sides decide to suddenly get it together. Banik are a lot more comfortable up in 7th, though they're pretty much equidistant from top and bottom, meaning another season in the JMKP is almost certain barring a remarkable run of results.

Having said that, results have been remarkable in some respects, particular a 6-0 drubbing of promotion chasing Krumvíř, which was swiftly followed by a 6-1 loss - at home! - to Moravan Lednice. Even last season's visit was a thoroughly entertaining six goal thriller, in which Banik came from 2-0 down against Boskovice-Letovice to take all three points in a barnstorming second half.

In any case, I left the flat on Saturday looking forward to the inevitable goalless draw, as well as a little walk around what I've heard to be a lovely town. Although others have told me it's currently a bit of a building site - so which Tišnov would I see?

Unfortunately it was the latter, though the various clock towers and churches were still visible, as well as the beautiful rolling hills that surrounded the town. I'm sure it'll be a lovely place to go back to when it's eventually finished.

A few of the sights and sounds of Tišnov

After a brief walk around the town, I headed for the ground which was a modest affair just a few minutes from the railway station with a mini seating area and plentfiul standing room. What caught my eye most, however, was the gorgeous backdrop, which even the driving rain throughout the first half couldn't spoil.

For whatever reason, Californication was played before the match and during half-time in its entirety, and I can honestly say such an album has never felt more wonderfully out of place. The game began at a fairly breakneck pace with both sides missing golden chances to get an early lead - Banik even hit the post with the ball agonisingly failing to cross the line.

The game petered out massively the longer it went on, with the weather certainly not helping matters. The main highlight was the battle between the two "ultra" groups. In Tišnov's corner, a group of kids with a drum and a megaphone. In Banik's corner, a loud man with a gruff voice, and his kid with an impossibly high voice.

It was probably the highlight given how uneventful the game was, though David Marcián took the only real chance of the second-half to give Banik a 1-0 lead - one which they were able to hold onto and secure a huge three points. Even a red card (which I didn't see) for Filip Pukančík couldn't derail them, and they took the points back to Ratíškovice.

It leaves Tišnov in 12th with 12 points, and Banik up in 6th with 25 points, still some way off league leaders going into the break, Dosta Bystrc on 38 points. With Krumvíř only a couple of points behind Dosta, it could be an interesting second half of the season when it kicks off again in March.