After much deliberation and flight checking, Prague was a late change from Thessaloniki for my good pal Lee’s 40th birthday. Reunited with the Meadows bro’s after our trip to Belgium, this time with a few added extra faces.
With an abundance of options for clubs in Prague, emails were sent to all teams playing at home that weekend. Dukla Prague, currently plying their trade in the second tier responded most enthusiastically proposing a VIP Experience for less than the price of your cheapest Premier League tickets (£30), be rude not to.
Straight to an Irish Pub
As I waited for the lads to arrive in Prague I took in Tottenham’s fightback against Man United, night one, Irish Bar number one. Much as I would have loved to be cultured, when wanting to watch footy abroad there is only ever one winner.
Up bright and early the next morning I took in a Communism Walking Tour, the only catch was it was in Spanish. I caught the headlines but jokes and detail were very much lost on me.
A bit of History
Prague itself has played a significant part in European history, not surprising due to its central location. Inhabited since prehistoric times, evidence of human life goes back over half a million years. Throughout the Middle Ages Prague continued to grow in importance due to its significant location on the Vltava River.
Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV made Prague his capital and it’s from this period in the 14th century that many of the cities beautiful buildings come from. Most notably Charles Bridge which is one of the biggest draws for the 6 million tourists a year. Another huge attraction is the Astrological Clock dating back as early as 1410, a stunning piece of horology with absorbing detail. However the crowds only really begin to gather on the hour to watch a rather tame rotation of characters for 27 seconds, give me the exploding canon in Zagreb any day of the week.
Prosperity continued and by WW1 Prague was a key part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. With defeat imminent there was a push for independence and Czechoslovakia was formed on 28th October 1918.
World War II
Yet a little over 20 years on, war was to return to Europe. Again due to central position, Prague was a key location. Some clever propaganda from Hitler meant he was able to manipulate and then occupy Prague despite many resistance attempts, these were brutally quashed as expected until finally the Prague Uprising of May 1945 lead to Soviet intervention and the liberation of Czechoslovakia.
Due to the Soviet assistance, Czechoslovakia fell under the communist regime behind the iron curtain. Any resistance was continually suppressed until 1989, inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall just months earlier, The Velvet Revolution, named so for its peaceful nature began. With their power declining, USSR were unable to support the government, the pressure led to the ousting of the communist government and set up a new democracy bringing an end to 43 years of one party rule.
Independence
Two years on from the fall of communism, Czech Republic and Slovakia decided to go their separate ways, despite no referendum and only an estimated 40% of the people wanting independence, the government decided this was for the best. Though there was no great clamour for separation, the threats that united them in 1918 were no longer present and the split went ahead. A compliment to both sides is that there has been peace throughout.
And today, peace and prosperity remains, with maternity leave up to 3 years, unemployment as low as 3% and for the 29th consecutive year they remain by far and away the biggest beer drinkers in the world. This country is certainly doing something right
Dukla Prague
Back to the footy and first up was Dukla Prague, currently chasing promotion back to the top flight where they had been for 8 years until relegation in 2019. Though this doesn’t tell half of their story. Despite going through name changes and going out of business their true glory days date back as far as the first of their 11 league titles in 1953.
4 of these were won consecutively in the early 60’s, not only were they the best in the country, Czechoslovakia were up there amongst the world’s elite. The great hero of Dukla, Josef Masopust scored the opening goal in the 1962 World Cup Final against Pele’s Brazil. Sadly due to a couple of Goalkeeper errors is wasn’t enough to hold on for victory as they lost 3-1 but it was enough to win him the Ballon D’Or that year and a statue outside the Stadion Juliska.
All I want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague Away kit
Their fame was still bright in 1986 and was immortalised in the Half Man Half Biscuit cult classic song of ‘All I want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague Away Kit’.
Back to the current day and we met former player Martin who showed us around the stadium, including a walk across the pitch over to the legends lounge for a quick Staropramen. Here we met a group of 10 or so Dutch blokes who were on their 30th annual footy trip and having a wonderful time, something incredible to aspire to.
The VIP section allowed quick access to unlimited sausage and beer with wonderful views out across Prague. A really beautiful spot to watch football and a great experience all round, even if the football on show wasn’t up to too much. The game against MFK Chudrim petered out into a 1-1 draw, a small but not quite fatal blow to Duklas promotion hopes.
Traditional Czech food
Post-match it was Rocky O’Reillys for some Bangers and Mash before taking on the slightly more traditional Prague staple of a Techno music night, an interesting change for me but when in Rome…
Slavia Prague
Thankfully Sunday’s match allowed for a bit of a lie in as Slavia Prague weren’t due to continue their quest for glory against Hradlec Kralove until mid-afternoon. Looking for their 21st title and hoping to close the gap on their arch rivals Sparta (34), it was the last game before the split into play-offs. Every point was crucial.
The fans were in strong voice from the start, oh and don’t expect to sit in your own seat, just find a space amongst the crowds. Stood in with the ultras is always a great experience, if not a little disconcerting at first just to try and gauge the vibe but this was a top environment for watching football.
Fortuna Arena
Bright sunshine made for a great spectacle at the Fortuna Arena, the biggest in the country at just under 20,000 and also the most modern. With an average of 15,173 it is a perfect size for such a club. Built in 2008 it also hosts concerts and has played to greats such as Bon Jovi and my personal favourite ‘The Boss’, Bruce Springsteen.
The match started with an early goal for the opposition and a bit of taunting of fans highlighted the tightness of the stadium as goal scorer Jakub Kucera was well within range of a few plastic cups. 10 minutes later an own goal drew Slavia level and that is how it stayed until the final whistle. A disappointing result for the home side in their title race, one however that didn’t prevent them from beating city rivals Sparta to earn their 7th domestic cup the following weekend, ensuring there was some guaranteed silverware come the end of the season.
Another great weekend
It was back in to town to watch a manic Liverpool Tottenham match before checking out the remaining Irish bars the town had to offer. Sandwiched by a trip to the worst restaurant we’ve ever been to with terrible service and ice cold Lasagna, avoid the Italian on the main square at all costs. And that was that, another wonderful weekend enjoying the world’s greatest invention. A city I would highly recommend for a Footy Trip, but how does it compare to others?
So, scoring out of 100 over 10 categories, let’s see what we think…
Rating
Team Ability – Despite being the 15th best league in Europe, a couple of recent Europa League Quarter Final spots leave Slavia ranked 32nd in European co-efficient so a decent standard overall 6/10
Atmosphere –Tremendous atmosphere from the home fans from start to finish with the Capo dictating the crowd. Great place to observe the ultras – 7/10
Stadium Quality – Nice little stadium, well sized for the standard of team and good enough for UEFA to host this year’s Conference League Final – 7/10
Beer/Food at stadium – Good sausage and Lager with epic beer holders meaning carrying 8 at a time was feasible. What more could you want? – 9/10
Tourism – Prague is one of the top destinations in Europe and understandably so, beauty around every corner and perfect for couples and groups alike – 9/10
Accessibility – Cheap flights can be found all year and although the halcyon days of £1 pints are long gone, steer away from the Irish Pubs and there is still value to be had. – 9/10
People – I didn’t get too involved with the locals but neither did they come across as too open and friendly – 6/10
Stadium Surroundings – Not too much exciting around the stadium and a fair walk from the centre – 6/10
History – 20 league titles and a Mitropa Cup win in 1938, a kind of old school Central European Cup, not too shabby – 7/10
Ease/Cost of ticket pricing – Pretty simple and straight forward. Tickets can cost as low as a tenner and almost all games will have tickets available – 9/10
Total – 75/100
All in all a bloody wonderful place to go for a Footy Trip, certainly one I would recommend to any football fan, particularly with the amount of teams in the city
Accomplishments
Countries in the World watched football 19/195 (10%)
Countries in Europe watched Football 13/55 (24%)
Sadly not a new country visited for me but a new country watching footy is the next best thing
Until the next footy trip, take it easy