“I’m happy that I can be back. Viktorka brought me to great football and now I can return to her what she taught me. I’m really looking forward to it, it means a lot to me,” Hrošovský said.
The experienced midfielder joined the team on Thursday evening, moving from Genk’s training camp in Marbella, Spain, to Benidorm, 600 kilometers away, where Viktoria has been on a game camp since Monday. The welcome was truly festive. General manager and chairman of the board Adolf Šádek opened a special bottle of champagne.
“When Patrik left Pilsen and headed for Genk in 2019, he brought his teammates and club employees a small gift – a bottle of sparkling wine with his photo and signature. It was a thank you for the beautiful years in red and blue colors and for everything he experienced here with us,” reads the Pilsen website.
“Keep it for some special moment, then open it,” said a moved Hrošovský at the time. The bottle was kept in the club archive for almost seven years. Now it’s time to open it.
“Probably none of us thought at the time on what occasion it would happen. And it couldn’t have turned out better. Patrik is a huge personality who left a big mark on our club and now he is returning home, which I am very happy about. I am convinced that he will be an important figure not only on the field, but also off it,” said Šádek, who symbolically tapped the newly mentioned sparkling wine.
Photo: FCVP
Pilsen returnee Patrik Hrošovský with Viktoria board chairman Adolf Šádek (left) and sports director Martin Vozábal.
Hrošovský helped win three titles during his first stint in Pilsen (2014 – 2019), and played in the Champions League with Viktoria. He has 172 matches in the Czech league, in which he scored 15 goals. He played 261 games for Genk, winning the Belgian Cup with him in 2021.
The 33-year-old midfielder is Pilsen’s fourth winter signing after defenders Dávid Krčík (arrived from Karviná) and Adam Kadlec (Bohemians Prague) and Slovakian goalkeeper Dominik Ťapaj (Ružomberok). In addition, the club recalled midfielder Tom Slončík (Hradec Králové) and forward Daniel Vašulín (Olomouc) on loan.
