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Developing football in Czechia

Through on-field success and focused strategic planning, the Football Association of the Czech Republic (FAČR) aims to put Czech football in the European and world spotlight in the coming years.

AFP via Getty Images

Overview

The FAČR has a wide-ranging package of strategic projects and initiatives addressing the upcoming period, including:

Data + IT: (new information system, completion of the membership digitisation project, XPS software for coaches and players).

Image: Building a positive PR image and constantly improving the perception of the FAČR; achieving a 5% increase in the number of people who perceive the FAČR to be a modern, dynamic and progressive organisation, as well as a 10% increase in the number of people who feel that the FACR shows a high degree of social responsibility.

Sport Concept: The association's aim is to compete and succeed in all of the major tournaments during the 2021–24 period.

Membership: A target of 360,000 members in total by 2024, with 170,000 of the membership below the age of 19.

Women's football: The FAČR has been able to boost the number of registered female members to almost 17,500, which currently corresponds to 5% of the member base. The aim is to reach 25,000 female members by 2024.

Referees: The association's goal is to have 6,000 referees by 2024.

A key on-field challenge that the Czech association has set is to be among the top 30 teams in the FIFA rankings by 2024, returning Czech football to its historical position of prominence.

"Czech football is at the start of a new era. We want to be an inspirational role model, whether it's working with young players and integrating them into national teams or in the area of sport development as a whole. We will adapt structure and processes accordingly. We want to write the history of European football and are ready to put our best efforts into it."

Petr Fousek, president, Football Association of the Czech Republic

UEFA support

The UEFA HatTrick programme is giving significant help to the FAČR in various areas, as these past and present examples show:

Multifunctional national FAČR centre – construction of an additional building at FAČR headquarters

  • Construction of an FAČR headquarters building allowing all the FAČR's administrative offices to be centralised in one location in Prague and the creation of an educational centre for coaches and youth coaches, as well as quality infrastructure for the training of national youth teams of all age categories, with suitable conditions to develop their potential. This new building also includes a modern press centre and the Czech Football Hall of Fame.

UEFA's HatTrick programme also led to the creation of the position of FAČR social projects manager in 2016.

Since then, HatTrick has helped to finance a wide range of social responsibility projects, including those for people with disabilities – health-related, mental or social.

The greatest moment in Czech football was when Czechoslovakia won the 1976 European Championship following Antonín Panenka's legendary penalty
The greatest moment in Czech football was when Czechoslovakia won the 1976 European Championship following Antonín Panenka's legendary penalty©UEFA.com

In addition to the FAČR’s own social projects, this specific work also involves cooperation not only with many non-profit organisations but also with other sports associations that help those in need to participate in sports – and football in particular – as well as helping them, thanks to inclusion, in many difficult life situations.

Timeline

In 1993, following the peaceful division of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the Football Association of the Czech Republic (FAČR) began writing its own footballing history.

Association history

1892 The city of Prague embraces football and in 1892 its first club, SK Slavia Praha, was founded. 1893 Královské Vinohrady, or King's Vineyard, follows a year later, becoming AC Sparta Praha in 1894. 1901 Thirteen clubs unite to form what is known as the Czech Football Association. 1907 The association joins FIFA. 1927 Sparta Praha are the first winners of an international competition for central European teams, the Mitropa Cup. 1954 The association is a UEFA founder member. 1988 Czechoslovakia hosts the European Under-18 finals. 1994 The post-independence Football Association of the Czech Republic (FAČR) is admitted to UEFA. 1999 The Czech Republic stages the European Under-16 finals. 2008 The Czech Republic hosts the men's European Under-19 finals. 2013 Prague hosts the UEFA Super Cup match between Bayern München and Chelsea. 2015 The Czech Republic plays host to the UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals. 2017 The European Women's Under-17 Championship finals are staged in the Czech Republic with the Women's Under-19s following in 2022. 2023 Prague hosts UEFA Europa Conference League final between Fiorentina and West Ham United. Present day

 

National team history

1920 Czechoslovakia's national team finish runners-up in the Olympic football tournament in Antwerp. 1934 Czechoslovakia reach the FIFA World Cup final, going down to hosts Italy. Oldřich Nejedlý finishes as the tournament's leading scorer. 1960 Third place for Czechoslovakia in the inaugural UEFA European Championship. 1962 A magnificent run takes Czechoslovakia to the World Cup final in Chile, before they are defeated by Brazil. 1964 Olympic silver for the Czechs in Tokyo. 1976 Czechoslovakia capture the EURO title. Antonín Panenka's famous penalty wins the final against West Germany. 1980 A third-place finish for Czechoslovakia at EURO 1980 and gold at the Moscow Olympics. 1982, 1983 In two consecutive European Under-18 Championships, Czechoslovakia finish as runners-up. 1990 Czechoslovakia emerge victorious in what was then the European Under-16 Championship. 1993 The Czech Republic's women's national team make their debut against Slovakia. 1994 The Czech Republic men's national team's first official match against Turkey. 1996 A fine Czech Republic team finish runners-up at EURO '96. 2001 In the European Under-18 finals, the Czech Republic finish as runners-up. 2002 The Under-21 team win the European title. 2004 The Czechs reach the EURO semi-finals in Portugal. 2007 Silver medal at the FIFA U-20 World Cup. 2011 Runners-up position for the Czech youngsters in the men's European Under-19 Championship. 2019 Qualification for UEFA EURO 2020. The Czechs have reached every final tournament since independence in 1993. Present day

 

President

Petr Fousek

Nationality: Czech
Date of birth:
19 November 1962
Association president since:
June 2021

General secretary

Martin Procházka

Nationality: Czech
Date of birth:
6 July 1981
Association general secretary since:
February 2024

Martin Procházka
Martin Procházka©FAČR

Football Association of the Czech Republic website