It wasn’t until May 10, 2002 that he ended his five-year flight. Respectively, the fact that Sparta will not defend gold was decided less than three weeks earlier, when the Letna family fell at home with Teplice. The words of the then Sparta coach Vítězslav Lavička, who replaced Jaroslav Hřebík in the failed season in April, are worth remembering today. “I can’t guess whether Sparta is at the very bottom now or can fall even lower.”
In any case, three rounds before the end, it was already certain that only the leader Liberec or the second Žižkov would share the title. And it was a big drama. The North Bohemians were six points ahead of their pursuer. But in the 28th round they lost in Teplice and Žižkov lost to three points by winning in Drnovice. Before the last round, the lead decreased to a mere point, when Nezmar et al. at home, he drew with Brno 3: 3 to the sounds of thousands of trumpets, which the club handed out in a masterful anticipation. However, Žižkov defeated Jablonec at his stadium.
Do you know what you did for the day exactly 2-10 years ago? We know exactly! At that time, for the first time in the history of the independent Czech league, a non-Prague team took the championship cup from Prague. ???? And he drove to Liberec! ????⚽️ #FCSL pic.twitter.com/5hM9IdZWPB
– FC Slovan Liberec (@FCSlovanLiberec) May 10, 2022
So before the last round, the cards were dealt clearly. It was enough for Liberec to win in Ďolíčko over Bohemians. In the event of his loss, Žižek’s point in Strahov and Slavia would be enough, as he had better matches with the North Bohemians.
Liberec eventually lost 1: 2 at Bohemka, but it was his most famous defeat in history. Zizkov held a championship draw 0-0 in Strahov for a long time. Pavel Kuka scored the winning goal five minutes before the end. The match in Ďolíčko ended earlier, the fans of Slovan were already screaming, but they were not sure yet. If Zizkov managed to equalize, he would end up like Leverkusen in Germany in the same season. The director of the club, Ivan Horník, just watched the beach as his Žižkov eventually fell to third place behind Sparta.
The cup for the Czech football champion moved from Prague for the first time. Liberec with an exceptional group around Štajner, Nezmar, Koloušek, Holeňák, Janů and Johana with coaches Škorpil and Csaplár shook the “certainties” in Czech football in exaggeration. it is now also close to embarking for the sixth time on the path that “provincial” Liberec first opened twenty years ago.
Hynek Preisler
He has been working as a sports journalist for over thirteen years. Since 2008 he has been working as an editor of the daily Sport as a reporter in Liberec, since 2017 he has been writing for the Liberec editorial office of the daily Právo and the most visited Czech sports website Sport.cz. He not only informs about sports events, but also likes sports. He ran the Jizera Fifty ten times and Vas’s run twice, and so far he has always reached the finish line. He graduated from the Faculty of Arts, Charles University.
