Bohemians Praha 1905, commonly known as Bohemka, is a professional football club based in Vršovice, Prague, Czech Republic. The club competes in the Fortuna Liga, the top division in the Czech Republic football league system. Founded in 1905 as AFK Vršovice, the club won the 1982–83 Czechoslovak First League, its only league championship. Its colours are green and white.

Bohemians Praha 1905
Full nameBohemians Praha 1905, a.s.
Nickname(s)Bohemka
Klokani (Kangaroos)[1][2]
Founded1905; 119 years ago (1905)
GroundĎolíček
Capacity5,000
ChairmanAntonín Panenka
ManagerJaroslav Veselý
LeagueCzech First League
2023–2413th of 16
Websitewww.bohemians.cz
Current season

The best-known player from Bohemians' history is Antonín Panenka, who is now the club chairman. Bohemians' mascot is a kangaroo, the legacy of a 1927 tour of Australia. Following the tour, the club was awarded two live kangaroos, which they donated to the Prague Zoo.

History

edit

Founded as AFK Vršovice, the club played at the top level of football in the Czechoslovak First League between 1925 and 1935. They spent seasons in and out of the top division for the next 40 years before remaining in the top flight between 1973 and 1995, the most successful era for the club.[3] In the 1982–83 season the club won the Czechoslovak First League and advanced to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. In the year 2005 it survived a crisis, which was a consequence of bad management. The club was prevented from taking part in the second part of the 2004–05 Czech 2. Liga and its results were expunged.[4] The club was relegated to the 3rd Czech division due to its financial insolvency, but later was saved by its fans who paid off a portion of the club's debts.

 
Bohemians Praha celebrating with their fans after the game

The club finished third in the 2005–06 Bohemian Football League, missing out on promotion,[5] but advanced to the Second League regardless, as they bought a license to play in the Second League from SC Xaverov.[5][6] The club was then able to advance back to the top flight in 2007, where they played until relegation in 2012. After only one season in 2. Liga Bohemians returned to the First League in 2013.

Historical names

edit
  • 1905: AFK Vršovice
  • 1927: Bohemians AFK Vršovice
  • 1941: Bohemia AFK Vršovice
  • 1945: Bohemians AFK Vršovice
  • 1948: Sokol Vršovice Bohemians
  • 1949: Sokol Železničaři Bohemians Praha
  • 1950: Sokol Železničaři Praha
  • 1951: Sokol ČKD Stalingrad Praha
  • 1953: Spartak Praha Stalingrad
  • 1962: ČKD Praha
  • 1965: Bohemians ČKD Praha
  • 1993: Bohemians Praha
  • 1999: CU Bohemians Praha
  • 2001: FC Bohemians Praha
  • 2005: Bohemians 1905
  • 2013: Bohemians Praha 1905

Australia Tour

edit

In 1927 Australian football officials were looking for a European football club to come and tour. They decided on Czechoslovakia and approached Slavia Prague and Viktoria Žižkov who both declined. AFK Vršovice took up the offer.

Before leaving the team looked for a suitable name as they felt the Australians would not know where Vršovice was, let alone be able to pronounce it. They decided on Bohemians (i.e. the Czechs), referring to the country/nation they were from.

Matches played

edit

Naming dispute with FK Bohemians

edit

In 1993, Bohemians 1905 broke away from the TJ Bohemians Praha sports franchise and became a separate legal entity. The club functioned normally until financial troubles came up and the club nearly collapsed in 2005. TJ Bohemians took advantage of the situation and rented out the Bohemians logo to FC Střížkov Praha 9, a lowly team in the third tier of Czech football. TJ were able to pour money into the small club and help them rise to the first division. However, fans remained loyal to the Bohemians 1905 team, and helped the large club to recover.

In September 2012, a Czech court ruled that the former Střížkov club must not continue to use the name Bohemians after 31 January 2013.[7] However, in December 2012, the club was granted the right to appeal against the decision, thus protracting the process yet further.[8]

In 2016, Střížkov's men's team was dissolved, and in 2017 the whole club dissolved, with the women's team becoming FC Praha.

Stadium

edit

The home stadium, located in Vršovice, is called Ďolíček. However, from the 2010–11 season, for a period of five years, Bohemians undertook to play its home matches at Synot Tip Arena.[9] This arrangement was discontinued in 2012 after the club was relegated from the Czech First League, due to the regulations on stadiums being different between the two leagues.

Kits

edit
Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
1989–1990 Adidas None
1992–1993 Rank Xerox
1993–1994 RC Cola
1994–1995 KSM PasserInvest
1995–1996 Adidas
1996–1998 None
1999–2000 Commercial Union
2000–2001 Commercial Union

Velkopopovický Kozel

2001–2002 Commercial Union
Ericsson
2002–2003 Union Pojišťovna
2003–2004 Umbro Union Pojišťovna
AAA Auto
2005–2006 Kelme None
2006 Remal
2007–2008 Umbro
2008–2011 Fortuna
Remal
2011–2012 Adidas
2012–2019 Remal
2019–2022 Balshop.cz
2022– Puma Balshop.cz

Supporters and rivalries

edit
 
Bohemians' Supporters, 2017

Bohemians are one of the most popular clubs in the Czech Republic. The club is one of the few in the country to have fans with a left-wing ideology, although most fan groups identify themselves as apolitical, and there are supporters who are right-wing. The ultras group is one of the strongest in terms of choreographies and visual displays in the country. They maintain friendly contacts with Dubliners Bohemian FC,.[10] Left-wing fans have friendship with FC St. Pauli and AS Trenčín. Right-wing fans have friendship with Górnik Wałbrzych, 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig and hooligans with FK Pardubice.

There have been several conflicts in the past between left-wing and right-wing fans. The most famous are the fights in 2013 in the match against FC MAS Táborsko and in 2015 in the match against SK Sigma Olomouc.

The most prestigious match is the derby with Slavia Prague. The "Vršovice Derby" is the second most prestigious derby in Prague (after the Slavia-Sparta derby). Slavia and Bohemians are located in the Vršovice district of Prague and their stadiums are separated by only 1 km. Sparta Prague are considered their biggest rivals, and Viktoria Zizkov is the other team with whom they contest the city derbies. FK Bohemians Prague (Střížkov) were considered to be impostors and the entire club as a fraud, however that rivalry manifested itself on the pitch and towards the club management as the Střížkov club had very little support and no organised fan movement.

Players

edit

Current squad

edit
As of 5 September 2024[11]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   CZE Roman Valeš
2 DF   CZE Jan Shejbal
3 DF   CZE Matěj Kadlec
4 MF   CZE Josef Jindřišek
7 DF   CZE Matěj Hybš
8 MF   CZE Adam Jánoš
9 FW   BHR Abdulla Yusuf Helal
10 MF   CZE Jan Matoušek
11 MF   CZE Vojtěch Novák
12 GK   CZE Michal Reichl
13 MF   CZE Vladimír Zeman
14 DF   CZE Adam Kadlec
16 DF   CZE Martin Dostál
17 MF   CZE Martin Hála
18 DF   CZE Denis Vala
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 MF   CZE Jan Kovařík
20 FW   CZE Václav Drchal
21 GK   CZE Lukáš Soukup
22 DF   CZE Jan Vondra
23 GK   SVK Tomáš Frühwald
24 MF   CZE Dominik Pleštil
28 DF   CZE Lukáš Hůlka
31 DF   CZE Ondřej Petrák
34 DF   CZE Antonín Křapka
42 MF   CZE Vojtěch Smrž
47 MF   CZE Aleš Čermák
71 GK   CZE Jakub Šiman
77 FW   MKD Milan Ristovski
88 MF   CZE Robert Hrubý

Out on loan

edit

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player

Notable former players

edit

Reserves

edit

As of 2024–25, the club's reserve team Bohemians 1905 B plays in the Bohemian Football League (3rd tier of Czech football system). They play their home matches at the club's stadium, Ďolíček.

Player records in the Czech First League

edit
As of 16 December 2024.[12]

Highlighted players are in the current squad.

Most clean sheets

edit
# Name Clean sheets
1   Radek Sňozík 33
2   Kamil Čontofalský 24
3   Tomáš Fryšták 21

Management and technical staff

edit
Position Name
Head coach Jaroslav Veselý
Assistant coach Ivan Hašek junior
David Bartek
Goalkeeper coach Miroslav Miller
Reserve coach Vladimír Hruška

Managers and players

edit

Head coaches in club's history

edit

Club hall of fame

edit

History in domestic competitions

edit
  • Seasons spent at Level 1 of the football league system: 22
  • Seasons spent at Level 2 of the football league system: 8
  • Seasons spent at Level 3 of the football league system: 1
  • Seasons spent at Level 4 of the football league system: 0

Czech Republic

edit
Season League Placed Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Cup
1993–94 1. liga 14th 30 8 7 15 29 54 –25 23 Quarter-finals
1994–95 1. liga 15th 30 6 5 19 35 62 –27 23 Round of 16
1995–96 2. liga 4th 30 13 9 8 47 31 +16 48 Round of 32
1996–97 1. liga 16th 30 4 7 19 22 53 –31 19 Round of 32
1997–98 2. liga 3rd 28 15 8 5 49 22 +27 53 Round of 16
1998–99 2. liga 1st 30 23 4 3 62 12 +50 73 Round of 64
1999–00 1. liga 7th 30 10 10 10 24 28 –4 40 Round of 32
2000–01 1. liga 9th 30 10 10 10 33 34 –1 40 Round of 16
2001–02 1. liga 4th 30 14 6 10 40 35 –5 48 Round of 16
2002–03 1. liga 15th 30 5 9 16 34 56 –22 24 Round of 32
2003–04 2. liga 3rd 30 13 12 5 37 21 +16 51 Round of 32
2004–05 2. liga 16th 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 First round
2005–06 3. liga 4th 34 16 12 6 58 32 +26 60 First round
2006–07 2. liga 2nd 30 18 6 6 47 21 +26 60 Round of 64
2007–08 1. liga 15th 30 5 11 14 24 40 –16 26 Round of 16
2008–09 2. liga 1st 30 18 9 3 36 14 +22 63 Round of 64
2009–10 1. liga 12th 30 8 10 12 21 29 –8 34 Round of 16
2010–11 1. liga 6th 30 12 7 11 33 33 0 43 Round of 64
2011–12 1. liga 15th 30 6 6 18 20 54 –34 24 Round of 32
2012–13 2. liga 2nd 30 16 8 6 50 25 +25 56 Round of 64
2013–14 1. liga 14th 30 7 9 14 26 40 –14 30 Round of 64
2014–15 1. liga 8th 30 10 8 12 35 41 –6 38 Round of 16
2015–16 1. liga 9th 30 8 13 9 35 37 –2 37 Round of 32
2016–17 1. liga 13th 30 7 7 16 22 39 –17 28 Quarter-finals
2017–18 1. liga 7th 30 9 11 10 30 29 +1 38 Round of 32
2018–19 1. liga 13th 35 9 13 13 33 43 –10 40 Semi-finals
2019–20 1. liga 8th 34 15 6 13 44 47 –3 51 Round of 32
2020–21 1. liga 10th 34 10 13 11 40 37 +3 43 Round of 16
2021–22 1. liga 14th 35 8 10 17 45 61 –16 34 Quarter-finals
2022–23 1. liga 4th 35 15 7 13 56 58 –2 52 Semi-finals
2023–24 1. liga 13th 35 9 12 14 34 48 –14 39 Round of 16

Notes: † results expunged

History in European competitions

edit
Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Aggregate
1975–76 UEFA Cup 1R   Budapest Honvéd 1–2 1–1 2–3
1979–80 UEFA Cup 1R   Bayern Munich 0–2 2–2 2–4
1980–81 UEFA Cup 1R   Sporting Gijón 3–1 1–2 4–3
2R   Ipswich Town 2–0 0–3 0–3
1981–82 UEFA Cup 1R   Valencia 0–1 0–1 0–2
1982–83 UEFA Cup 1R   Admira/Wacker 5–0 2–1 7–1
2R   Saint-Étienne 4–0 0–0 4–0
3R   Servette 2–1 2–2 4–3
QF   Dundee United 1–0 0–0 1–0
SF   Anderlecht 0–1 1–3 1–4
1983–84 European Cup 1R   Fenerbahçe 4–0 1–0 5–0
2R   Rapid Vienna 2–1 0–1 2–2 (a.g.)
1984–85 UEFA Cup 1R   Apollon Limassol 6–1 2–2 8–3
2R   Ajax 1–0 0–1 1–1 (4–2 p)
3R   Tottenham Hotspur 1–1 0–2 1–3
1985–86 UEFA Cup 1R   Rába Györ 4–1 (a.e.t.) 1–3 5–4
2R   FC Köln 0–4 2–4 2–8
1987–88 UEFA Cup 1R   Beveren 1–0 0–2 1–2
2023–24 Europa Conference League 2Q   Bodø/Glimt 2−4 0–3 2−7

Club records

edit

Czech First League records

edit

Honours

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Virtuální Ďolíček – oficiální stránky Bohemians Praha 1905". bohemians.cz (in Czech). Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  2. ^ Langr, Pavel (14 February 2021). "Proč mají Bohemians 1905 ve znaku klokana? Za vším hledejme expedici do Austrálie". Ruik (in Czech). Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  3. ^ Jeřábek, Luboš (2007). Český a československý fotbal – lexikon osobností a klubů (in Czech). Prague, Czech Republic: Grada Publishing. p. 162. ISBN 978-80-247-1656-5.
  4. ^ "Bohemians přišli o licenci, ve 2. lize končí" (in Czech). iDNES.cz. 28 February 2005. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  5. ^ a b "Czech Republic 2005/06". RSSSF. 2006. Archived from the original on 31 October 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  6. ^ "Bohemians 1905 koupili druhou ligu od Xaverova" [Bohemians 1905 bought the Second League from Xaverov]. sport.cz. 6 June 2006. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  7. ^ Novák, Jaromír (4 September 2012). "Fotbalisté Střížkova definitivně nesmí používat název Bohemians". idnes.cz (in Czech). Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  8. ^ "Soud přiznal střížkovským Bohemians právo odvolat se proti změně názvu". idnes.cz (in Czech). 19 December 2012. Archived from the original on 28 February 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  9. ^ "Bohemians 1905 se přestěhují do Edenu, podepsali pětiletou smlouvu" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 3 May 2010. Archived from the original on 24 July 2010. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  10. ^ "Just who are the real Bohemians of Prague? – The Football Ramble". thefootballramble.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Bohemians Praha 1905 A". Bohemians 1905.
  12. ^ "Detailed stats". Chance Liga.
  13. ^ Jeřábek, Luboš (January 2007). Český a československý fotbal – lexikon osobností a klubů – Luboџ Jeřábek – Google Livres. Grada Publishing a.s. ISBN 9788024716565. Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
edit