FK Viktoria Žižkov is a Czech professional football club from the district of Žižkov in Prague. The club competes in the Czech National Football League, the second tier of football in the country. It won the Czechoslovak First League title in the 1927–28 season, and has also won two editions of the Czech Cup.
The team was founded by students in 1903 in the town of Žižkov (since 1922 part of Prague).[1] At that time the students chose red and white striped shirts as their colours in honour of the colours of the Flag of Bohemia.[2] Those same colours remain today. Viktoria's main successes fall into the period between the world wars — until 1948 it was the third most successful Czechoslovak club, winning the Czechoslovak championship in 1928 and finishing as runners-up in 1929. It won the Czechoslovak Cup in 1913, 1914, 1916, 1921, 1929, 1933, and 1940, and came runners-up in 1919 and 1920. It successes gained international recognition, even as a result, giving the name to the Polish club Victoria Jaworzno.
After World War II and the beginning of communism in 1948 the club descended to the lower leagues and they didn't rejoin the top flight until 1993. In the 1950s the club underwent several name changes as a result of which the club briefly lost its historic name Viktoria; Sokol (1950), Sokol ČSAD (1951) and after a merger with Avia Čakovice the club was called TJ Slavoj Žižkov, a name which lasted until 1965 when the historic name was restored.
In 1993 Viktoria was promoted again to the highest league as a result of the Velvet Divorce and the Slovak clubs walking away to form their own league. Viktoria was very successful between 1993 and 2003, competing in four European cups. Žižkov has won the national knock-out cup for the eighth time in 1994 and finished as runners-up in 1995.
In 2001 Viktoria Žižkov won their ninth cup in history followed by knocking Scottish team Rangers out of the UEFA Cup in 2002, going through on the away goals rule after extra time at Ibrox.[3] The team finished third in the league on two more occasions, in 2002 and 2003.
In 2004, after a string of poor results and a corruption scandal, the team was relegated again to the second league. In 2007 the team successfully made it back to the Czech First League, finishing the season as runaway champions of the 2nd league. After finishing mid-table in their first season back in the top flight, in 2009 they were relegated back to the second league after struggling all season, with one of the only highlights being Petr Švancara winning Czech Television's goal of 2008 (gol roku), with his stunning individual effort to open the scoring in Žižkov's 4–2 home victory against FK Bohemians Prague (Střížkov).[4]
Žižkov bounced back to the top flight after finishing runners-up to FK Dukla Prague in 2011. Their season started with just seven points from the opening 14 rounds of the 2011–12 Czech First League, resulting in the club parting company with coach Martin Pulpit on 23 November.[5] In January, with the club bottom of the league, it was revealed that only ten players from the first half of the season were still at the club.[6] A particular loss was goalkeeper Tomáš Vaclík moving to Sparta Prague. Žižkov finished bottom of the league with 19 points, and were relegated to the second division.
The club's original stadium was located in the Ohrada region, but this was closed down in 1928.[7] Viktoria's present ground, FK Viktoria Stadion, was opened in 1952 and is situated on Seifertova třída, just a short walk (one tram stop) from Prague's main railway station. It has a capacity of 5,037. In 2007 the club opened a fanshop at the ground for the sale of club mementos.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
The very popular 1931 Czech comedy film Muži v offsidu is centered largely on the culture and fans of Viktoria Žižkov and features unique footage of several matches from that time. The book, on which the film is based, was written by Karel Poláček.
The Czech film actor Vlasta Burian played as the regular goalkeeper for Žižkov around 1916 before setting out on his acting career. A plaque in FK Viktoria Stadion now commemorates his appearances for the club.[9]
In 1928 Žižkov took part in the Mitropa Cup, reaching the semi-final stage, where they lost in a play off to SK Rapid Wien after the initial two-legs between the teams produced a tie. At the quarter-final stage Žižkov knocked out Građanski Zagreb (later to become Dinamo Zagreb) over two legs, winning the home tie 6–1.
