Czech First League Stadiums & Stats
Known as the Fortuna Liga because of sponsorship, the Czech First League was formed ahead of the 1993-1994 season following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia and the formation of two essentially new countries: Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Prior to that the united country of Czechoslovakia had teams that played its games in the Czechoslovak League, but the creation of a new nation required the formation of a new league and the Czech First League was created for the job.
The format has changed numerous times over the years, but the one thing that remains constant is that Slavia Prague will always be one of the most competitive teams in the division.
Having won more titles than any other side, they remain the Czech Republic’s most successful team. Here we’ll tell you about the league’s history, the format currently used for it, and we’ll also have a brief look at the sort of stadiums that you’d end up sitting in if you decided to travel to the Czech Republic to watch a top-flight game or two.
Stadium Stats
| Stadium | Year Opened | Capacity | Ave Attendance | Record Attendance | Record Attendance Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Sinobo Stadium
Slavia Prague & Czech Republic |
2008 | 20800 | 13511 | 19370 | Slavia Prague v Sparta Prague (14/04/2019) |
Team Stats
| Team | Year Founded | Nickname | Team Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slavia Prague | 1892 | Červenobílí (The red and whites), Sešívaní (The stitched), Věčná Slavia (The Eternal Slavia) | CITIC Group |
Czech First League Stadiums
If you chose to head to the Czech Republic in order to catch a football match then you’d most likely find yourself sat in grounds that were more akin to what you might expect to find in League One or League Two back in England. The biggest stadiums in the country don’t fit into that bracket, but they’re still more like the average Championship club’s home than those you’d expect to see sides such as Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur or Manchester City play their matches in. As an example, here’s a look at the capacities of the five biggest grounds in the Czech Republic:
- Eden Arena – 20,232
- Stadion Evžena Rošického – 19,032
- Generali Arena – 18,944
- Na Stínadlech – 18,221
- Městský stadion – 15,123
When you consider that Old Trafford has room for more than 75,000 spectators you can see why the comparison to Premier League clubs isn’t overly fair. Had we opted for the tenth largest ground in the Czech Republic then that’s the Na Litavce, which can take 9,100 supporters through its gates – a far cry from even the 11,364 capacity of the Premier League’s smallest stadium in Bournemouth.
In terms of design of the stadiums in the Czech Republic, some are more interesting than others but they mostly all follow the same pattern of having a stand on each side of the pitch and keeping things as basic as possible. Again, they are closer to League Two sides than anything more extravagant.
About The League
A new format to the Czech First League was introduced ahead of the 2018-2019 campaign. There are 16 teams in the league and in the first-half of the season each side plays all of the others twice: once at home and once away. At the end of that period, which lasts from July until April, the 16 teams are broken up into three groups.
The top 6 sides go into what is known as the Championship Group; the teams from 7th to 10th take part in the Europa League Play-Off; the teams from 11th to 16th then make up the final group.
The top 6 teams play each other once and the team that ends that period at the top of the league, with the newly earned points added to those won during the season, is the title winner. The same sort of thing takes place for the final group, with the team that finishes 16th relegated to the Czech National Football League and the sides that finish 14th and 15th entering into a play-off against the teams that finished 2nd and 3rd in the Czech National League, to decide which teams will play the following season in the top-flight and which will be in the second-tier.
Arguably the most interesting section is the middle one. Teams that finished the regular season between 7th and 10th all play each other once, with the best of them at the end of that period going up against the team that finished 4th or 5th, depending on the result of the Czech Cup and the Czech coefficient ranking, to figure out which team will end up participating in the Europa League.
Czech First League History
The league was re-organised ahead of the 1993-1994 campaign because of the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. That resulted in the Czechoslovak League no longer being valid, so the Czech First League was created to take its place and was for clubs from the new Czech Republic, with Slovakia having its own league system created.
There have been 16 teams in the division ever since it was created, but the format has changed a number of times of the years. Initially the season would last from August to May and all teams would play each other twice, following the same sort of league system currently used in the Premier League.
The inaugural version of the Czech First League only allotted two points for a win, with three points not being introduced until 1994. The current version of the league system, which uses three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a defeat, came into being ahead of the 2018-2019 campaign.
The league has enjoyed numerous sponsors over the years, with the first one being Plzeňský Prazdroj, a. s., better known in the UK as the Pilsner Brewing Company. That came into force in 1997 continued until 2014, at which point the betting company Synot took over the sponsorship duties. The most successful club side in the league is Sparta Prague, with the city of Prague also taking home more titles than any other city in the country to date.