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Viktoria Plzeň
Viktoria Plzen logo.svg
Full name Football Club Viktoria Plzeň a.s.
Founded 11 June 1911; 114 years ago (11 June 1911)
Ground Doosan Arena
Ground Capacity 11,700
President Adolf Šádek
Head coach Miroslav Koubek
League Czech First League
2024–25 2nd of 16
Third colours

Football Club Viktoria Plzeň is a professional football team from Plzeň, a city in the Czech Republic. They play in the Czech First League, which is the top football league in their country.

Viktoria Plzeň has won the Czech league six times. They have also played in big European tournaments like the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. In 2024, they reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League, showing they are a strong team in Europe.

History

How the Club Started

FC Viktoria Plzeň began in 1911. A railway official named Jaroslav Ausobský helped create the club. Their very first game was in August 1911, but they lost 7–3 to Olympia Plzeň.

For the first 18 years, Viktoria Plzeň was an amateur club. This means players did not get paid. In 1922–23, they traveled to Spain and won six out of nine matches. In 1929, the club decided to become professional. They joined the national professional league.

Viktoria Plzeň finished second in their second professional season. This helped them get promoted to the First League for the first time. In 1935, they played in the Mitropa Cup. This was a big European club competition back then. They played against Juventus from Italy. They drew 3–3 at home but lost 5–1 away. This made them known in European football.

The club was often promoted and relegated between the top two leagues. In 1952, they changed their name to Sokol Škoda Plzeň. They changed names a few more times over the years. In 1961, they were called Spartak Plzeň when they were promoted back to the First League.

In 1971, Viktoria won the Czech Cup. They then played in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. They were knocked out by Bayern Munich.

Recent Successes

In 1992, the club went back to its original name, FC Viktoria Plzeň. They returned to the first league the next season.

In 2005, local owners bought the club. They also started working with the Czech company Škoda again.

On May 18, 2010, Viktoria won the Czech Cup. This allowed them to play in the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League. They played against Beşiktaş but were eliminated.

Viktoria won their first league championship in 2010–11. They then played in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League group stage. They won their first Champions League match and finished third in their group. This meant they moved to the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. They lost to Schalke 04 in the Round of 32.

The club's stadium, Stadion města Plzně, was rebuilt in 2011. In January 2012, they celebrated their 100th birthday. Pavel Horváth was voted their best player ever.

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

In the 2012–13 season, Viktoria won their second Czech league title. They also had a great run in the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. They beat Atlético Madrid and Napoli before losing to Fenerbahçe.

Viktoria won the Czech First League again in 2014–15 and 2015–16. In 2017, they even installed a dugout shaped like a beer can!

In the 2017–18 season, Viktoria Plzeň won the championship again. They finished 7 points ahead of SK Slavia Prague. They won their sixth league title in the 2021–22 season.

In the 2023–24 season, Viktoria reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League. They won all six of their group stage matches. This was a first for a Czech team in a UEFA competition. They beat Servette FC in the Round of 16. They were then knocked out by Fiorentina after extra time.

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

No. Position Player
2 Czech Republic DF Lukáš Hejda
3 Serbia DF Svetozar Marković
5 Czech Republic DF Karel Spáčil
6 Czech Republic MF Lukáš Červ
7 Czech Republic FW Christophe Kabongo
9 Czech Republic MF Denis Višinský
10 Czech Republic MF Jan Kopic
11 Czech Republic FW Matěj Vydra
13 Slovakia GK Marián Tvrdoň
14 Iraq DF Merchas Doski
15 Czech Republic GK Matyáš Šilhavý
17 Nigeria FW Rafiu Durosinmi
18 Czech Republic MF Tomáš Ladra
19 France MF Cheick Souaré
No. Position Player
20 Czech Republic MF Jiří Panoš
21 Czech Republic DF Václav Jemelka
22 Czech Republic DF Jan Paluska
23 Czech Republic GK Martin Jedlička
24 Czech Republic DF Milan Havel
29 Czech Republic MF Tom Slončík
31 Czech Republic MF Pavel Šulc
32 Czech Republic MF Matěj Valenta
40 Liberia DF Sampson Dweh
44 Austria GK Florian Wiegele
80 Ghana FW Prince Kwabena Adu
85 Slovenia MF Adrian Zeljković
99 Bosnia and Herzegovina MF Amar Memić

Players on Loan

No. Position Player
Czech Republic GK Viktor Baier (at Blau-Weiß Linz)
Brazil FW Ricardinho (at Kairat)
Czech Republic FW Daniel Vašulín (at Sigma Olomouc)
France FW Idjessi Metsoko (at Spartak Trnava)
No. Position Player
Czech Republic MF Šimon Planeta (at Příbram)
Czech Republic FW Pavel Hašek (at Příbram)
Nigeria DF Mitchell Ejedegba (at Příbram)

Famous Former Players

For a more comprehensive list, see Category:FC Viktoria Plzeň players.

Player Records in the Czech First League

Here are some records for players in the Czech First League. Highlighted players are currently on the team.

Most Clean Sheets (Goalkeepers)

# Name Clean sheets
1 Slovakia Matúš Kozáčik 82
2 Czech Republic Aleš Hruška 34
Czech Republic Jindřich Staněk
4 Czech Republic Michal Čaloun 31
5 Czech Republic Michal Daněk 29

Managers

For a more comprehensive list, 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 – Dec 2001)
  • 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 – May 2016)
  • Roman Pivarník (May 2016 – April 2017)
  • Zdeněk Bečka (April 2017 – June 2017)
  • Pavel Vrba (Jun 2017 – Dec 2019)
  • Adrián Guľa (Dec 2019 – May 2021)
  • Michal Bílek (May 2021 – May 2023)
  • Miroslav Koubek (June 2023 –)

History in Czech Leagues

Viktoria Plzeň has spent many seasons in the top Czech football league.

  • Seasons in Level 1 of Czech football: 27
  • Seasons in Level 2 of Czech football: 4

Czech Republic League Performance

Season League Placed Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Cup Super Cup
1993–94 1. liga 5th 30 12 11 7 35 23 +12 35 Quarter-finals
1994–95 1. liga 9th 30 12 4 14 32 37 –5 40 Quarter-finals
1995–96 1. liga 9th 30 11 6 13 33 34 –1 39 Round of 32
1996–97 1. liga 11th 30 7 11 12 33 37 –4 32 Quarter-finals
1997–98 1. liga 14th 30 9 6 15 37 47 –10 33 Quarter-finals
1998–99 1. liga 15th 30 8 8 14 26 43 –17 32 Round of 32
1999–00 2. liga 2nd 30 17 8 5 50 22 +28 59 Quarter-finals
2000–01 1. liga 16th 30 4 9 17 30 65 –35 21 Round of 32
2001–02 2. liga 4th 30 15 5 10 56 34 +22 50 Round of 32
2002–03 2. liga 1st 30 17 7 6 47 27 +20 58 Round of 32
2003–04 1. liga 16th 30 4 7 19 23 53 –30 19 Round of 16
2004–05 2. liga 3rd 30 12 10 6 32 23 +9 46 Semi-finals
2005–06 1. liga 14th 30 7 10 13 30 43 –13 31 Round of 64
2006–07 1. liga 6th 30 12 10 8 35 29 +6 46 Quarter-finals
2007–08 1. liga 9th 30 10 8 12 32 37 –5 38 Round of 16
2008–09 1. liga 8th 30 11 10 9 45 38 +7 43 Quarter-finals
2009–10 1. liga 5th 30 12 12 6 42 33 +9 48 Winners
2010–11 1. liga 1st 30 21 6 3 70 28 +42 69 Quarter-finals Runners-up
2011–12 1. liga 3rd 30 19 6 5 66 33 +33 63 Quarter-finals Winners
2012–13 1. liga 1st 30 20 5 5 54 21 +33 65 Quarter-finals
2013–14 1. liga 2nd 30 19 9 2 64 21 +43 66 Runners-up Runners-up
2014–15 1. liga 1st 30 23 3 4 70 24 +46 72 Quarter-finals Runners-up
2015–16 1. liga 1st 30 23 2 5 57 25 +32 71 Semi-finals Winners
2016–17 1. liga 2nd 30 20 7 3 47 21 +26 67 Round of 16
2017–18 1. liga 1st 30 20 6 4 55 23 +32 66 Round of 16
2018–19 1. liga 2nd 35 24 6 5 57 32 +25 78 Round of 16
2019–20 1. liga 2nd 35 23 7 5 68 24 +44 76 Semi-finals
2020–21 1. liga 5th 34 17 7 10 60 45 +15 58 Runners-up
2021–22 1. liga 1st 35 26 7 2 61 21 +40 85 Round of 16
2022–23 1. liga 3rd 35 18 7 10 60 38 +22 61 Round of 32
2023–24 1. liga 3rd 35 21 7 7 76 40 +36 70 Runners-up
2024–25 1. liga 2nd 35 23 5 7 71 36 +35 74 Semi-finals

History in European Competitions

Main article: FC Viktoria Plzeň in European football

Here are Viktoria Plzeň's overall stats in European tournaments. This includes games played to qualify for the main stages.

As of 2 August 2018.
Competition S P W D L GF GA GD
Champions League 5 32 15 6 11 56 54 +2
Cup Winners' Cup 1 2 0 0 2 1 7 –6
Europa League 8 49 22 12 15 79 59 +20
Total 14 83 37 18 28 136 120 +16

Honours (Trophies)

National Titles

  • Czech First League
    • Winners (6): 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2021–22
    • Runners-up: 2013–14, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20
  • Czech Cup
    • Winners (1): 2009–10
    • Runners-up: 2013–14, 2020–21, 2023–24
  • Czech Supercup
    • Winners (2): 2011, 2015
    • Runners-up: 2010, 2013, 2014
  • Czech 2. Liga
    • Winners (1): 2002–03

Club Records

Czech First League Records

  • Best position: 1st (2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2021–22)
  • Worst position: 16th (2000–01, 2003–04)
  • Biggest home win: Plzeň 7–0 Ústí nad Labem (2010–11), Plzeň 7–0 Teplice (2020–21)
  • Biggest away win: Zlín 1–7 Plzeň (2023–24)
  • Biggest home defeat: Plzeň 1–5 Drnovice (1997–98), Plzeň 0–4 Příbram (2003–04), Plzeň 0–4 Slavia (2006–07), Plzeň 0–4 Ostrava (2007–08), Plzeň 0–4 Olomouc (2011–12)
  • Biggest away defeat: Ostrava 6–0 Plzeň (2005–06)

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Football Club Viktoria Pilsen para niños

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