Tomáš Řepka

Tomáš Řepka

Personal information
Full name	Tomáš Řepka
Date of birth	2 January 1974 (1974-01-02)
Place of birth	Slavičín, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	SK Dynamo České Budějovice
Youth career
1979–1989	Sokol Brumov
1989–1991	TJ Gottwaldov
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1991–1995	Banik Ostrava	77	(3)
1995–1998	Sparta Prague	82	(6)
1998–2001	Fiorentina	89	(0)
2001–2006	West Ham United	167	(0)
2006–2011	Sparta Prague	130	(2)
2011–	České Budějovice
National team‡
1996	Czech Republic U21	2	(0)
1993	Czechoslovakia	1	(0)
1994–2001	Czech Republic	46	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 June 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 May 2010

Tomáš Řepka (born 2 January 1974) is a professional Czech football defender, currently playing for SK Dynamo České Budějovice.

Career

Řepka started his career at Banik Ostrava, where he played from 1990 to 1995. He then joined Sparta Prague, where he spent almost three years, before moving to Fiorentina in Italy. He joined English Premiership club West Ham United early in Glenn Roeder's tenure as manager, for a club record fee of £5,500,000, in September 2001.

He was sent off on his debut for West Ham for two bookable offences, missed a match through suspension, and was sent off again in the third game he played for the club. He went on to form a central defensive partnership with Christian Dailly before the club's relegation to the Football League Championship, although he gained a reputation for his disciplinary record, and received 10 yellow cards that first season. After relegation at the end of the 2002-03 season, the appointment of Alan Pardew as manager saw Řepka move to right back. In the summer of 2005, after the club had regained their Premiership status, he was re-signed by Pardew on a two-year contract, albeit on reduced terms, but left the club on 23 January 2006 to return to the Czech Republic to be with his family. He played his final game for them on the previous night against Fulham in what was an emotional swansong for the Czech hardman; To chants of "Super Tom" from the West Ham faithful, he left the field in tears.

In 2006 he returned to Sparta Prague and is playing there to date as a backbone of team's defence. In 2009 he won the Personality of the League award at the Czech Footballer of the Year awards.

In December 2011, Řepka left Sparta Prague following a mutually agreed early termination of his contract.

After making his international debut for Czechoslovakia in June 1993 against the Faroe Islands, Řepka played 45 times for the Czech Republic between 1994 and 2001. He missed Euro 1996 because of two match suspension for a red card. However, he played for his country at Euro 2000.

Honours

Fiorentina

• Italian Cup: 2000–01

Disciplinary problems

Řepka is notorious for his lack of self-control and disciplinary problems. During his professional career, he has received eighteen red cards (see table below). One scandal included attacking game officials and a TV cameraman in September 2007.

Team	Red cards
Baník Ostrava	1
Sparta Prague	4
AC Fiorentina	5
West Ham United	4
Czech Republic national football team	2
Czech Republic national football team U-21	1

External links

• Tomáš Řepka international stats at the Czech Football Association website (Czech)
• Official website of Tomáš Řepka
• Official page (in Czech)
• Tomáš Řepka at Soccerbase
• Tomáš Řepka. Wild man.(Russian)
• Tomáš Řepka at FootballDatabase
• Tomáš Řepka at official Sparta Prague website