FC Viktoria Plzeň

Viktoria Plzeň

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Full name	Football Club Viktoria Plzeň a.s.
Nickname(s)	Viktorka
Founded	1911
Ground	Doosan Arena
Capacity	11,722
Chairman	Adolf Šádek
Manager	Roman Pivarník
League	Czech First League
2015–16	1st
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

FC Viktoria Plzeň (pronounced [ˈvɪktorja ˈpl̩.zɛɲ]) is a Czech professional football club based in the city of Plzeň (Pilsen). They currently play in the Czech First League, the top division of football in the country.

As runners up in the 1970–71 Czechoslovak Cup they gained the right to play in the following season's UEFA Cup Winners' Cup as winners Spartak Trnava also won the championship and played in the European Cup. In 2010, they played in the UEFA Europa League after winning the 2009–10 Czech Cup.

The club won the Czech league for the first time in 2011, and participated in the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League group stage, during which they won their first Champions League match, earning five points and qualifying for the Round of 32 in the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. The club won their second Czech league title in the 2012–13 season.

In 2013–14, the club participated in the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage finishing third. Then reached the Round of 16 in 2013–14 UEFA Europa League before being eliminated by Lyon.

History

Early history

In 1911 Jaroslav Ausobský, an official of the state railways, filed a request for the establishment of a new football club in Plzeň. In August of that year the newly formed team Viktoria played their first match, losing 7–3 against Olympia Plzeň.

For the first eighteen years of its existence, Viktoria Plzeň was a purely amateur club, although in 1922–1923 they took their first foreign trip to Spain, where they won six out of nine games. In June 1929 an extraordinary meeting of members agreed to go professional and enter the national professional league. Viktoria finished their first season in seventh place, but the very next season, improved and reached second place, which meant a first-ever promotion to the First League. In the 1934–35 Czechoslovak First League, Viktoria finished in fourth place and subsequently played in the 1935 Mitropa Cup, the top European club competition at the time. Two matches against Juventus of Italy brought Viktoria to the attention of European football at large. They drew 3–3 at home, but lost 5–1 in Italy.

Viktoria played without success in the First League, being relegated for the 1938 season but returning to top competition the next year. The outbreak of World War II interrupted competition, notably through the absence of teams from Slovakia. In 1942 Viktoria fell again into the divisions, but again returned to the top league the next year, where they would remain until 1952. That same year the club changed its name to Sokol Škoda Plzeň. For nine years they remained in the divisions, struggling to return to the First League, and in 1961, now under the name of Spartak Plzeň, achieved that promotion. The club was relegated and promoted frequently between the top two tiers until 1972, when as Škoda Plzeň they settled in the First League for eight years.

In 1971, Viktoria won the Czech Cup by drawing lots after the two-legged final ended 4–4 on aggregate and 5–5 in a limited penalty shootout against Sparta Prague B. They lost 7–2 on aggregate in the Czechoslovak Cup final against Slovak Cup winners Spartak Trnava, but as Trnava had won the league title that season, Viktoria was the country's entrant to the next season's Cup Winners' Cup. The club was eliminated in the first round by Bayern Munich of West Germany, 7–2 on aggregate. From 1980 until the division of Czechoslovakia 13 years later, Viktoria moved frequently between the top two tiers again.

Recent history

Pavel Horváth was voted as Viktoria's best player of all time at the club's centenary gala in 2012.

In 1992, the club returned to its historical name FC Viktoria Plzeň and the very next season, advanced to the first league, where it remained until 1999.

In the first years of the new millennium, Viktoria was owned by a foreign investor – Italian Football Company Ltd EAST. This situation lasted until March 2005, when 100% of the club's shares were bought by local interests. The Summer of 2005 also brought back relations with the Czech motor company Skoda, who had previously been the club's name sponsors.

On 18 May 2010, Viktoria won the Czech Cup final 2–1 against FK Jablonec, and returned to European competitions (the 2010-11 UEFA Europa League). Viktoria entered in the third qualifying round against Beşiktaş of Turkey, and held them 1–1 at home before losing 3–0 away.

Viktoria won its first ever league championship in 2010–11, finishing with 69 points to Sparta Prague's 68. The club therefore qualified for a play-off to the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League, in which they beat FC Copenhagen of Denmark 5–2 on aggregate. Viktoria were placed in Group H with reigning champions FC Barcelona and AC Milan, and reached third place in the group by recording a victory over BATE Borisov. This saw the club drop into the 2011-12 UEFA Europa League in the last 32, where they lost 4–2 on aggregate to Schalke 04 of Germany after extra time.

The club's Stadion města Plzně was also rebuilt in 2011. On 11 June 2011 Viktoria celebrated together with fans in the courtyard of the Pilsner Urquell brewery for a centennial anniversary. In January 2012, the club held a festive gala for its centenary, and voted current midfielder Pavel Horváth as its greatest player of all time.

The 2011–12 season saw Viktoria finish in third place in the league, three points behind champions Slovan Liberec, to qualify for a third consecutive Europa League campaign. Starting in the second qualifying round, the club advanced past Metalurgi Rustavi of Georgia and Ruch Chorzów of Poland to set up a play-off against the Belgian club Lokeren, in which Viktoria advanced on away goals after a 2–2 aggregate draw. The club finished first in Group B, above the tournament's reigning champions, Atlético Madrid. In the round of 32, Viktoria were drawn against Napoli of Italy, and won 3–0 away and 2–0 at home to advance to the last 16, where they played Fenerbahçe of Turkey. Viktoria lost the home leg 1–0, and in the away leg (which was played behind closed doors due to the Istanbul club's fans' recent conduct) drew 1–1, nevertheless being eliminated from the competition. Viktoria won the Czech league for a second time at the end of the 2012–13 season.

Historical names

• 1911 – SK Viktoria Plzeň (Sportovní klub Viktoria Plzeň)
• 1949 – Sokol Škoda Plzeň
• 1952 – Sokol ZVIL Plzeň (Sokol Závody Vladimíra Iljiče Lenina Plzeň)
• 1953 – DSO Spartak LZ Plzeň (Dobrovolná sportovní organizace Spartak Leninovy závody Plzeň)
• 1962 – TJ Spartak LZ Plzeň (Tělovýchovná jednota Spartak Leninovy závody Plzeň)
• 1965 – TJ Škoda Plzeň (Tělovýchovná jednota Škoda Plzeň)
• 1993 – FC Viktoria Plzeň (Football Club Viktoria Plzeň, a.s.)

Players

Current squad

As of 20 July 2016.

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	SVK	Matúš Kozáčik
2	DF	CZE	Lukáš Hejda
3	DF	CZE	Aleš Matějů
4	DF	CZE	Roman Hubník (captain)
6	MF	CZE	Václav Pilař
7	MF	CZE	Tomáš Hořava
8	DF	CZE	David Limberský
9	FW	CZE	Martin Zeman
10	MF	CZE	Jan Kopic
11	MF	CZE	Milan Petržela
12	FW	SVK	Michal Ďuriš
13	GK	CZE	Petr Bolek

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
14	DF	CZE	Radim Řezník
15	FW	CZE	Michal Krmenčík
17	MF	SVK	Patrik Hrošovský
18	FW	CZE	Tomáš Poznar
19	MF	CZE	Jan Kovařík
20	MF	ALB	Ergys Kaçe
22	DF	CZE	Jan Baránek Jr.
23	FW	SVK	Marek Bakoš
24	MF	CZE	Jan Suchan
25	MF	SVK	Jakub Hromada
28	DF	SVK	Marián Čišovský
30	GK	CZE	Dominik Sváček

Out on loan

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
-	MF	CZE	David Štípek (to Zlín until 30.6.2017)
-	MF	CZE	Martin Chrien (to Ružomberok until 30.6.2017)
-	MF	CZE	Egon Vůch (to Liberec until 30.6.2017)
-	MF	CZE	David Štípek (to Zlín until 30.6.2017)

Transfer

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
-	MF	CZE	Ondřej Vaněk (to FK Ufa)
-	DF	CZE	Matěj Končal (to FK Jablonec)
-	FW	CZE	Daniel Černý (to SK České Budějovice)

Notable former players

For all players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:FC Viktoria Plzeň players

Managers

For all managers with a Wikipedia article, see Category:FC Viktoria Plzeň managers

• Rudolf Krčil (1963)
• Vlastimil Chobot (1967–68)
• Karel Kolský (1969–70)
• Jiří Rubáš (1970–75)
• Tomáš Pospíchal (1975–77)
• Jaroslav Dočkal (1977–78)
• Svatopluk Pluskal (1978–79)
• Josef Žaloudek (1979–??)
• Václav Rys
• Zdeněk Michálek (1993–95)
• Jaroslav Hřebík (1995–96)
• Antonín Dvořák (1996–97)
• Petr Uličný (1997–99)

• Milan Šíp (1999)
• Luboš Urban (1999–2000)
• Miroslav Koubek (Oct 2000 – 01)
• Petr Rada (Dec 2001 – Oct 2002)
• Zdeněk Michálek (Oct 2002 – May 2003)
• František Cipro (May 2003 – May 2004)
• Martin Pulpit (May 2004 – May 2005)
• Zdeněk Michálek (May 2005 – April 2006)
• František Straka (April 2006 – May 2006)

• Michal Bílek (July 2006 – Sept 2006)
• Stanislav Levý (Oct 2006 – April 2008)
• Karel Krejčí (April 2008 – May 2008)
• Jaroslav Šilhavý (July 2008 – Oct 2008)
• Pavel Vrba (Oct 2008 – Dec 2013)
• Dušan Uhrin, Jr. (Dec 2013 – Aug 2014)
• Miroslav Koubek (Aug 2014 – Aug 2015)
• Karel Krejčí (Aug 2015–)

History in domestic competitions

1993–1999 Czech First League 1999–2000 Czech 2. Liga 2000–2001 Czech First League 2001–2003 Czech 2. Liga 2003–2004 Czech First League 2004–2005 Czech 2. Liga 2005– Czech First League

• Seasons spent at Level 1 of the football league system: 16
• Seasons spent at Level 2 of the football league system: 4
• Seasons spent at Level 3 of the football league system: 0
• Seasons spent at Level 4 of the football league system: 0

Czech Republic

Season	League	Placed	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Cup	Super Cup
1993–1994	1. liga	5th	30	12	11	7	35	23	+12	35	Quarterfinals
1994–1995	1. liga	9th	30	12	4	14	32	37	–5	40	Quarterfinals
1995–1996	1. liga	9th	30	11	6	13	33	34	–1	39	Round of 32
1996–1997	1. liga	11th	30	7	11	12	33	37	–4	32	Quarterfinals
1997–1998	1. liga	14th	30	9	6	15	37	47	–10	33	Quarterfinals
1998–1999	1. liga	15th	30	8	8	14	26	43	–17	32	Round of 32
1999–2000	2. liga	2nd	30	17	8	5	50	22	+28	59	Quarterfinals
2000–2001	1. liga	16th	30	4	9	17	30	65	–35	21	Round of 32
2001–2002	2. liga	4th	30	15	5	10	56	34	+22	50	Round of 32
2002–2003	2. liga	1st	30	17	7	6	47	27	+20	58	Round of 32
2003–2004	1. liga	16th	30	4	7	19	23	53	–30	19	Round of 16
2004–2005	2. liga	3rd	30	12	10	6	32	23	+9	46	Semifinals
2005–2006	1. liga	14th	30	7	10	13	30	43	–13	31	Round of 64
2006–2007	1. liga	6th	30	12	10	8	35	29	+6	46	Quarterfinals
2007–2008	1. liga	9th	30	10	8	12	32	37	–5	38	Round of 16
2008–2009	1. liga	8th	30	11	10	9	45	38	+7	43	Quarterfinals
2009–2010	1. liga	5th	30	12	12	6	42	33	+9	48	Winners
2010–2011	1. liga	1st	30	21	6	3	70	28	+42	69	Quarterfinals	Runners-up
2011–2012	1. liga	3rd	30	19	6	5	66	33	+33	63	Quarterfinals	Winners
2012–2013	1. liga	1st	30	20	5	5	54	21	+33	65	Quarterfinals
2013–2014	1. liga	2nd	30	19	9	2	64	21	+43	66	Runners-up	Runners-up
2014–2015	1. liga	1st	30	23	3	4	70	24	+46	72	Quarterfinals	Runners-up
2015–2016	1. liga	1st	30	23	2	5	57	25	+32	71	Semifinals	Winners

History in European competitions

Main article: FC Viktoria Plzeň in European football

The following is a list of the all-time statistics from Plzeň's games in the three UEFA tournaments it has participated in, as well as the overall total. The list contains the tournament, the number of seasons (S), games played (P), won (W), drawn (D) and lost (L). The statistics include qualification matches.

As of 3 April 2016.

Tournament	S	P	W	D	L
Cup Winners' Cup	1	2	0	0	2
Europa League	6	34	16	7	11
Champions League	4	26	15	2	9
Total	9	62	31	9	22

Honours

National

Czech First League:

• Winners (4): 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16
• Runners-up: 2013–14

Czech Cup:

• Winners (1): 2009–10
• Runners-up: 2013–14

Czech Supercup:

• Winners (2): 2011, 2015
• Runners-up: 2010, 2013, 2014

Czech 2. Liga:

• Winners (1): 2002–03

External links

* Official club website Template:Cs icon