Groundhopping24

This bin certainly knew the score come midday... Back in September of 2023, I had the pleasure of catching a 6am train to Prague for Zbrojovka's away match at Viktoria Žižkov. While the day was excellent with new and old friends alike, the result for Zbrojovka was a poor 4-2 defeat to a Žižkov side who hadn't got going before this encounter. That said, at least it was an entertaining  defeat. Fast forward almost exactly a year, and it's another 4-2 defeat at the hands of Žižkov. I didn't attend this time, but it was nice of them to repeat the game for those that didn't manage the 2023 encounter. This season, Viktoria Žižkov v Zbrojovka Brno happens once again, almost another year to the day. Surely third time's the charm, right? For whatever reason, after my first and only visit so far, I didn't write a blog on Žižkov, though that works to my advantage this weekend. The plan for me is to head up at some point on Saturday and stay with some good friends befor...

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...

For those that only casually observe Czech football, you may have noticed a new team in the Czech Second Tier (the FNL, not to be confused with the NFL). In fact, you may have noticed four new teams in Hanácká Slavia Kroměříž (who were legitimately promoted from the MSFL), Ústí nad Labem (who were legitimately promoted from the CFL, despite not needing to play their promotion play-off against Domažlice), Příbram (who swooped in to take Vyškov's licence), and Artis Brno (who as you can probably tell from the title, have simply changed their name). Although there is a huge issue with Artis Brno, in that they've actually done more than simply change their name - they've changed their entire identity in more ways than one. Back in May of this year, after months of deliberations following a takeover from Czech billionaire Igor Fait, SK Lišeň were no more. Despite some healthy progress on and off the pitch since their promotion to the FNL in 2018/19, the club became Artis Brno....

  Problém Zbrojovky - How a decade of malaise is finally coming to a head in Brno Football is crap isn’t it? Some of you may have read my blog last week celebrating my lack of goalless draws so far this season. It’s only natural that it would end with the very next fixture. It’s not often that both my beloved Stevenage and Zbrojovka draw blanks and keep clean sheets on the same day, but both Fleetwood and Tábor managed to earn what they would probably see as solid points on the road. That said, Tábor will feel a little hard done by, with Viktoria Plzen’s loanee goalkeeper Dominik Sváček and some excellent last ditch defending at times keeping them at bay. In truth, they were the better side, and it was clear as to why they find themselves just above Zbrojovka in the league standings. That said, given the difference in resources between the two clubs, it was indicative of a decade-long malaise in the heart of South Moravia which shows little sign of ending if Václav Bartoněk contin...