...you should go see them, right? So at 7.30 I will take the five minute drive to Dukla Prague, (or perhaps I really should walk) where they will take on my favourite Czech team, Viktoria Plzen. This will cost me the princely sum of four quid.
Apart from the chance to see Viktorka, I also want to finally visit Dukla's Juliska stadium, which I drive past every day on the way to work, and try to also find out, who exactly supports Dukla. Older English fans, when asked to name a Czech club side, usually come with them first, much to the bemusement of modern Czechs. They were indeed a force before the Velvet Revolution - because they were sponsored by the Army, and thus detested by most other fans. Like many such clubs they fell on hard times, and basically didn't exist for a while. It's a moot point whether the current club is even the old Dukla, but it bears their name, and plays in the lovingly tended old stadium. I could probably more or less ask their fans individually why they support them, because on a good day they will have a max 2,500 in a ground which can now hold only 4,500. But tonight's game is on TV....
I'm wrestling with the baffling economics of Czech football, and one of the puzzles is that this won't be an easy game for Viktorka, who need a win so as not to lose sight of Sparta. Last season Dukla finished 6th and have made a decent start to this season. Yet think of the revenue when compared to England.
On their website it seems I could buy a season ticket in the best seats in the house for £40, or £32 if I join the fan club. Yet this is a team who will go head to head with a team that held its own against Barcelona and would rip both Charlton and Forest to pieces.
I'll post some fotos with a short report for the curious few...
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Great update and enjoy the game.
Gotta get your fix somewhere..........................
Anyway, off we went to a backdrop of an 80% unused stadium and a view across the north of Prague
Mind you that's partly because Viktorka ran the show. By half time they were 1-0 up with a superb free kick, but Dukla had been chasing shadows throughout. Second half Viktorka stepped on the gas, 2 of their goals were typical sublime results of 20+ pass moves. By 80 minutes they were 4-0 up, and only conceded late on through an own goal. By that time it kind of felt like Champions League meets Conference. Although one thing, their talismanic captain Pavel Horvath who plays CM is now 36, and appears to have spent the summer on a special diet of pork knee and Pilsner Urquell. He makes Johnnie Jackson look like Theo Walcott. But in this league it doesnt matter, you have time on the ball, and he uses it well still.
Keisaslauton
It was the most intense atmosphere i have seen and it was only a friendly
The hotel i was in was housing the tunisian football team and some of them were playing for sousse
We went with them and sat in seats that cost us about 3 quid and we sat in what i supose was the directors seats
We were escorted with the tunisian team into some waiting mercs and driven in a police
Concade back to our hotel
Sousse won that day and the place was packed and loud as i have ever experienced
The opposite of here, then.
I mean, if we lost 4-1 at home, and had been completely outclassed for 90 minutes, you can imagine the uproar.
This lot all had a jolly time, and went home.
Look at some of the south American teams if they lose to their rivals whole city's implode with violence and retribution then you have the poor Colombian executed for an own goal
Looks like the defunct Meadowbank Thistle's ground.
Beer in the local pub, ground admission, upgrade to the best stand, programme, hot dog at half-time and a team poster that the programme seller insisted I took: all this cost just one pound!
Glad to see it's still sensible pricing there.
Can't remember the score or even the opposition, as I'd had several beers in town before the game. They were a rip-off at about 20p compared to the local Slavia Prague bar!
Nice summary of team and club. although I think Cisovsky is injured. But there again, so is Vincent Kompany...I'll be watching in the pub, with Charlton live scores at the same time.