Groundhopping24

  Relieved though I am that this next team will require no copied and pasted accents from Google or Wikipedia for their name, a long journey to the other side of the country would provide the necessary difficulties. Having both got through the last round of the Czech Cup, a place in the Quarter Finals was at stake for Teplice and Zbrojovka Brno.   Thus far, Teplice have seen off Viktoria Žižkov (2-1 AET) and Viagem Příbram (0-3), where Zbrojovka have seen off Slovan Rosice (0-4), and FC Silon Táborsko (a late 1-2 success). The sides have already played in the league in Brno this season, with neither side coming out on top in a frustrating 2-2 draw.   The record is fairly even over the last 30 years, though more recent history tends to favour the draw. The Czech Cup of 2021 in fact saw this exact fixture played, in which Teplice emerged 2-0 victors. Given Zbrojovka’s recent away wobbles, getting through to the Quarters could be a tough ask. Given that the cup is ...

With the huge inconvenience of a winter World Cup that nobody wanted coming up, České Budějovice offered the last doable opportunity of an away day with the mighty Zbrojovka before that frustrating three month recess. Given the lengthy nature of the trip, it would have to be a weekender, but the chance to explore a new city is never one to be sniffed at.   As for Zbrojovka, they’ve picked up their form again in the last two, away to Pardubice (1-3) then at home to Slovan Liberec (3-0) respectively. Meanwhile, Černý have hit a real rough patch, losing 3-0 at home to Hradec Králové, then losing by that same scoreline at Jablonec.   They currently sit 14 th , and surely offer the perfect opportunity for Zbrojovka to continue their relatively impressive start to the season. Could another 3-0 success (or failure from České’s perspective) be on the cards? That said, the hosts also have a new manager at the helm, which could provide something of a bounce in their favour. ...

Another long weekend brought with it the potential for another groundhop in a new town. In this instance, a second tier game offered the chance to visit a town known for its fashion industry – Prostějov. The town is also home to one of Czech Republic’s best athletes in tennis star Petra Kvitová.   This weekend, they would play host to Opava – a side just south of the Polish border. Both sides have endured a fairly mediocre start, though at this early stage, things are still fairly tight. A couple of wins for either side could see them shoot up the table.   Opava will be looking to arrest a torrid run of three defeats, where the hosts will look to build on some impressive back-to-back league wins against Karviná and Líšeň. The formbook only points in one direction, so prediction-wise, I’ll opt for a 2-1 home win, which would break the unwanted 0-0-5 record that Prostějov have against Opava. Getting to Prostějov We left Brno hlavní nádraží on the 11.18, which got to ...

After last week’s lack of blog, it was good to be back at a game in one of the top two tiers, even if it wasn’t to be played in Pardubice itself.   Given the limited capacity of their own stadium for the top tier, Pardubice have to play their home fixtures at Bohemians’ ground in Prague during the first part of the season, meaning Ďolíček would be quieter than usual.   The cruel irony is that Pardubice may only get to play half a season in the top flight in their actual stadium given their dreadful start. Relegation seems to grow more certain with every passing game, with only two wins to their name so far. Given that Bohemians' ground is a little on the rustic side, one can only imagine how interesting Pardubice's ground is.   It would have been nice to actually visit Pardubice’s ground for this game, but a first trip to Prague since moving to Czech Republic would suffice. I’d say there’s always next season, but perhaps not…   As for the form book, Zbroj...

The wonderful world of Czech football often means you can take in a couple of games a day, and this week was no different. The plan was Vyškov in the morning (this time I’d head to the correct ground having failed before), and Zbrojovka’s huge game against Sparta in the afternoon.   This week, Vyškov would host Varnsdorf, with the two sides occupying 4 th and 3 rd respectively. The away side would make the long trip from the German border town hoping to continue their solid start, but of course Vyškov were keen to do the same.   Home seems to be where the victories are for Vyškov, with only one defeat to table topping Líšeň at this early stage. Varnsdorf meanwhile have just the solitary away win to Jihlava this season. With last week’s prediction proving a disaster, I’ll go for a 1-0 home win.   After the game The prediction wasn’t far off, with the hosts emerging 2-0 winners thanks to goals from the electric Burundi international Bienvenue Kanakimana and ...

Having already visited Brno’s highest placed club in Zbrojovka, as well as Start Brno of the fourth tier, this weekend would allow for two more ticks within the city in the form of Tatran Bohunice (4 th tier) and SK Líšeň (2 nd tier). Given that these blogs focus on primarily the second tier and up, our focus today is on the latter, who've started the season like a house on fire.   Having taken in a relatively entertaining 1-1 between Tatran Bohunice and Tatran Ždírec nad Doubravou, we took the tram to Nové Sady and grabbed some lunch at Bogota Restaurace. It was basically a chicken Kyiv with a little bit of ham and cheese. The coating didn’t want to stay on, and the chicken was pretty dry, but it filled a hole at the very least.   Before taking the tram to Líšeň, we went for a couple more beers at the Oktoberfest in the main square – the honey ale and banana beer certainly hit the spot. Come around half two, we made our way to the end of the line on the 8 tram. ...

  Long-time readers (or someone that just so happened to read my second blog about MŠK Žilina) will be aware that despite visiting MŠK Žilina’s stadium, I didn’t actually see them play. Well this week’s blog will be working in a similar vein, only this time it’s a trip to Austria Wien’s ground to watch *checks notes* Qatar v Chile? Okay then…   I’ve attended some random fixtures over the years (a goalless draw between United Koreans of Japan v Kabylie at Bracknell Town in June springs to mind), but this fixture would take its rightful place amongst the strangest. From Tring Athletic at the start of the month to watching the World Cup hosts (booo! etc) in Vienna at the end, life moves fast these days.   The Road to Qatar (Austria Wien) I’m writing this on the Wednesday after the game, which is thankfully a national holiday in Czech Republic. This played a huge part in the decision to attend, as getting back late wouldn’t be too big an obstacle.   We pick...