FK VIKTORIA ŽIŽKOV (Viktoria Stadion)

FOTBALOVÁ NÁRODNÍ LIGA, FK VIKTORIA ŽIŽKOV 4-0 KOLÍN, ATTENDANCE: 1,271

There were no issues making this early kick off as I was back in the hotel at a very reasonable 2am this morning! The Viktoria Stadion was an easy tram ride from where our hotel was taking around 15 minutes but could be easily walked from the main square in about 30 minutes.

The ground is situated amongst the flats and houses of a residential area in Prague 3. It is four sided but only three sides were open this morning.

Kolín are struggling at the bottom of the Czech second league and they looked like a team bereft of ideas as Viktoria Žižkov ran out very comfortable 4-0 winners. If their finishing had been better it could have easily have been double that.

The goals came courtesy of Josef Marek (14) Igor Sukeník (27pen) Ondřej Karafiát (65) and Zdeněk Folprecht (75).

FK KRÁLŮV DVŮR (Stadion Králův Dvůr)

CZECH FOOTBALL LEAGUE, KRÁLŮV DVŮR 2-5 PŘEVÝŠOV, ATT: 220

This game was supposed to be the second leg of a double header but when you are still supping the old Pilsner Urquell at 5am in the morning then it obvious you are not going to make a 10am kick off!

In fact it was touch and go whether we made this Czech 3rd Division game but we made a late decision to take a taxi to the ground. Our hotel booked us the cab (and sorted the price out) and we made the 35km journey to Králův Dvůr.

Králův Dvůr is a pretty non-descript town, indeed the Hotel receptionist was puzzled as to why we wanted to go there in the first place, telling us in his finest English that it was basically a dump.

Anyhow thanks to the taxi driver flooring it, we made it in time and within 10 minutes the home side were two goals down - Sabou (7) Šultes (10) - and four goals down - Urbanec (30) Sedláček (38) - before half time.

The home side finally replied - Branky (65) - before Sedláček (68) added his second. Králův Dvůr netted their second through Šlapák (84) to round off the scoring.

The ground was a typical old Eastern bloc ground and I was so glad I made the effort to get to it. The £30 taxi was worth it, especially in the context of the admission being a mere £1.20 and beer around 50p. A great afternoon!

FK DUKLA PRAGUE (Stadion Juliska)

CZECH 1.LIGA, FK DUKLA PRAHA 2-2 SK SLAVIA PRAGUE, ATT: 6,080

"All I want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague away kit" is the title of Half Man Half Biscuit's legendary 1986 song and has given Dukla Prague cult status to people like me, so naturally when in Prague it would have been awfully rude not to go and pay homage!

Dukla Prague play at the Stadion Juliska, which is high upon the hills overlooking the city. From the back of the stand you get views right across the city, so i'm told, but as it was pitch black all I could see was lights glowing in the dark.

The current incarnation of Dukla Prague is not the original club immortalised in song, nor the club that played Everton in the UEFA Cup in 1978, that club actually merged with FC Portál Příbram in 1996 and currently play in the Czech 1st League as 1.FK Příbram, so legally they are the original club.


The current club was founded in 1958 as FK Dukla Dejvice before becoming FK Dukla Praha in 2001, whilst playing in low level leagues.

In November 2006, the Dukla Prague management agreed to takeover the rights of Jakubčovice Fotbal, thus taking their place in the Czech 2nd League in 2007. The name Dukla Praha returned to the Czech top flight in 2011.

Tonight was a big local derby as Dukla took on Slavia, a game broadcast live on TV. The game ended all square as Dukla came from behind twice to gain a point.

All the goals were scored in the first half as Martin Dobrotka (16) gave Slavia the lead before Matthew Hanousek (25) levelled for Dukla. Milan Škoda (29) restored Slavia's lead before Dukla drew level again through Jakub Považanec (35).

Here is a link to the Slavia Prague fans in action at this game, it is worth a look!

AC SPARTA PRAGUE (Stadion Letná)

EUROPA LEAGUE GROUP, AC SPARTA PRAHA 4-0 SK SLOVAN BRATISLAVA, ATT: 13,875

The first game of my long weekend in Prague began at Stadion Letná, currently known as the Generali Arena for sponsorship purposes. Sparta are the most successful Czech side, winning the Czech title on 36 occasions and reaching the semi-final of the European Cup in 1992.

Tonight they were in Europa Cup action, having dropped into the competion by losing on away goals to Malmo in the Champions League 3rd qualifying round. They were renewing their rivalry with Slovan Bratislava, as when the country was Czechoslovakia these were two of the biggest teams.

This seasons Europa League was the first time these two sides had met in over 20 years, since the break up of Czechoslovakia, and the first game in Bratislava (which Sparta won 3-0) was marred by crowd trouble (click here).

The game passed without incident as Sparta completed back to back wins over Slovan as they scored four without reply. David Lafata (29, 83) Ladislav Krejčí (32) and Costa Nhamoinesu (74) netted the goals.

POTTERS BAR TOWN (Parkfield)

SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE CENTRAL, POTTERS BAR TOWN 0-3 LEIGHTON TOWN, ATTENDANCE: 129

When I departed my hotel this morning, this was certainly not my intended destination!

I had set out with the intention of doing an Isthmian League 'double header' of Carshalton v Guernsey followed by Tooting & Mitcham v Sittingbourne. Sadly this went belly up when Guernsey missed their flight to Gatwick and the game was postponed. Unfortunately for me this probability never even entered my head and it was only upon arrival at the ground that I found out it was off.

I could have stuck with visiting Tooting and Mitcham but out of courtesy to my fellow passengers I decided to try and get further North (i.e closer to home) but the Sat Nav decided the quickest route (sic) was through London. I eventually made it to Potters Bar with about 10 minutes to spare.

The ground is tucked in off the High Street, behind a row of flats. The club was founded in 1960 as Mount Grace Old Scholars when PE teacher Ken Barrett formed a football club for former scholars. The club won the Hertfordshire County League in 1991 and took the promotion to the South Midlands League, changing their name to Potters Bar Town in the process.

In 2004 the club won promotion to the Southern League before being moved across to the Isthmian League before being placed back in the Southern League in 2013.

The Scholars have had a great start to the current campaign and at the start of play sat second in the table. The visitors, Leighton Town, were hovering just above the drop zone so on paper it looked a home banker.

Form went out of the window as Leighton Town cruised to a 3-0 victory. Potters Bar had the majority of possession but Leighton Town were happy to sit back and play on the counter and boy did that work a treat.

Once Phil Draycott's long range effort crashed in off the far post after 40 minutes, Leighton never really looked in trouble.

With only 4 minutes gone of the second half gone Claude Senla slotted home to double the vistors lead and after 67 minutes a corner kick was headed home by Robbie Goodman to clinch the points.

There was a scary moment at half time when a call was put over the tannoy for a replacement official as the referee was injured. After the morning postponement an abandonment at the break would have been the cherry on the cake! Luckily a replacement was found and the game was played to a finish, much to my relief, and no doubt the rest of the crowd.