Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
second divisions. Viktoria play in red and white vertical stripes and their 5600-seater ground
is on Seifertova in Žižkov (tram #5, #26 or #29 to Husinecká); they traditionally play their
games on Sun mornings.
Dukla Praha
The old army team, Dukla Praha (
fkdukla.cz
) - immortalized in the pop
song
All I Want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague Away-Kit
by British band Half Man Half
Biscuit - was forced to leave the capital in 1997 and merge with Příbram, 60km southwest
of Prague. However, in 2006 Dukla Praha was refounded and is now back in the top flight.
Theyplay,intheirclaret-and-yellowstrip,atthe18,000-capacityNaJuliscestadium,Dejvice
(tram #5 or #8 to the Podbaba terminus).
Bohemians
The “Kangeroos” (
klokani
;
bohemians.cz
)
play in distinctive green-and-
white-striped jerseys at the 7500-capacity Ďolíček stadium in Vršovice (tram #7, #22 or #24
to Bohemians). The club's sole league triumph came in 1983; the last decade has been a tur-
ICE HOCKEY
Runningfootballaclosesecondasthenation'smostpopularsportis
icehockey
(
lední hokej
)
- it's not unusual to see kids playing their own form of the game in the street, rather than
kicking a football around. The country's best players usually leave to seek fame and fortune
in North America's National Hockey League (NHL), but the Czech national team continues
to rank among the world's top five hockey nations.
INFORMATION AND TICKETS
Domestic games take place onSat and can last foranything upto 3hr; they are fast and phys-
ical and make for cold but compelling viewing. The season starts at the end of Sept and cul-
minates in the annual World Championships the following summer, when the fortunes of the
national side are subject to close scrutiny, especially if pitched against the old enemy Rus-
sia,nottomentiontheirformerbedmateandnewrival,Slovakia.Ticketsfordomesticgames
(60-120Kč) can be bought on the day.
TEAMS
Sparta Praha
As in football, Sparta Praha (
hcsparta.cz
)
is one of the country's most suc-
cessful teams, having won the Extraliga (
hokej.cz
) four times since 2000. Sparta plays
at the Tipsport Arena, next door to the Výstaviště exhibition grounds in Holešovice (metro
Nádraží Holešovice).
Slavia Praha
Prague's only other first division team is Slavia Praha (
hc-slavia.cz
), which
has won the league twice, in 2003 and 2008, and plays at the O2 Arena in Libeň (metro
Českomoravská).
