Sports - The Rough Guide to Prague - page 331

BATTLE OF THE KANGAROOS
In 1927, the Czech football club AFK Vršovice toured Australia and was given two
kangaroos as a gift. The kangaroos were kept at Prague zoo, the club renamed itself Bo-
hemians , and its nickname (and logo) became Kangaroos , or klokani . Under the Com-
munists, they attracted alot ofdissident support, andin1983,the Bohemians enjoyed their
finest moment, winning the Czechoslovak league and making it to the semi-finals of the
UEFACup.However,in2005,financialmismanagementsawthesiderelegatedtothethird
tier of Czech football. A club in the northeast of the city, FC Střížkov , took a lease out on
the name and the distinctive logo, and became FC Bohemians (Střížkov) , but when the
contract expired refused to give up the Bohemians name, the kangaroo logo or its claim
to the club's legacy. Meanwhile, back in Vršovice, the original club was saved by its fans
and refounded as Bohemians 1905 . The five-year dispute came to a head in 2010 when
Bohemians 1905 were due to play FC Bohemians (Střížkov) in the first division. FC Bo-
hemians (Střížkov) threatened to boycott the game, but instead vented their anger by quad-
ruplingtheticketpricesfortheawayfans.AtthereturnfixtureinVršovice,Střížkovdelib-
erately failed to turn up for the match - the first time this had ever happened in the history
of the league - and had twenty points deducted, relegating them to the second division.
Finally, in 2013, a court in Prague handed back the real Bohemians their legacy, though
somewhat absurdly Střížkov, a club now playing in the lower leagues, still uses the Bo-
hemians' name and badge.
TEAMS
Sparta Praha The most successful club in the country, Sparta Praha ( sparta.cz ) has won
more league titles than any other club since the Czech league began in 1993. Its traditional
working-class fan base is one of the largest in the country and has possibly the worst repu-
tation for racism. They play in claret and white (in honour of Arsenal's original strip) at the
20,000 all-seater Letná stadium (latest sponsor name Generali Arena; 5min walk from metro
Hradčanská or take tram #1, #5, #8, #12, #18, #20, #22, #25 or #26 to Sparta); international
matches are also regularly played there.
Slavia Praha Prague's second most successful team, Slavia Praha ( slavia.cz ) , is Sparta
Prague's closest rival having won the league in 1996, 2008 and 2009. Slavia has traditionally
attractedasmaller,moreeducated,fanbase,andisthefavouriteamongtheexpatcommunity.
Their strip is red-and-white shirts with white shorts, and they play in a modern 21,000-seater
stadium called Eden, in Vršovice (tram #4, #7, #22 or #24 to Slavia).
Viktoria Žižkov Viktoria Žižkov ( fkvz.cz ) , based in the traditionally working-class dis-
trict of Prague 3, won the league championship for the first and only time in 1928. It has
won the Czech cup twice in living memory, but is currently seesawing between the first and