Bohemians Praha (1895) folds....

[Canadian_Supporter]

A sad day for all Czech supporters and especially those of Bohemians Praha. Last year they were relegated to the second division. Not sure if anyone cares, but this club had been around since 1895. This topic deserves its own thread.

http://imgs.idnes.cz/fotbal/A050129_OT_V_BOHEMIANS1_V.JPG

Bohemians had six owners in one year and their players weren't paid since October. They played their last game yesterday in the Tipsport Cup (winter exhibition tournament) in which they lost 5-0 to Slavia Praha. 500 fans showed up for the game at Xaverov (suburb of Praha).

Their last league match (2nd division) was a 1-1 tie with second place Viktoria Plzen. At the end of the fall season, Bohemians Praha sat in last place.

Very sad. There is a chance the team might form with another club and return in one form or another.

In 1980 Bohemians Praha beat Sporting Gijon in the first round of the UEFA Cup and then went on to play English giants (at the time) Ipswich Town.

http://www.fc-bohemians.cz/clanek.asp?kod=4962&lng=EN

Pictures of the last game can be found at the bottom of the above page.

"It was inevitable but still nobody could imagine this moment: Bohemians are no more...


"Poslední zápas FC Bohemians Praha, 29.1. 2005
origin: www.fc-bohemians.cz
The once proud club that was founded during the era of Austro-Hungarian empire, managed to survive both World Wars, capitalist years in between, brutal oppression during the years of communist rule, has not survived the succession of crooked owners that ran the club into the ground in the years following the so called Velvet Revolution. And this all is happening in the year the club was supposed to celebrate its centennial.

The last ditch effort to sell the club to Mr. Emil Kristek, the former CEO of Bohemians, fell apart on Friday morning, January 28. Although the deal was almost sealed, Mr.Kristek’s financial backers came with one additional demand - that the current owners (Mr. Mr.Køížek and Mr.Vejsada) give up their claim for the money owed to them by the club. They refused and that was the end of the road. It was clear that the club was about to fold.

Bohemians played their last game on Saturday, January 29. Playing for 5th place in the Tipsport Cup, they faced Slavia Prague. The game was attended by fans who wanted to see their beloved team for the last time. They even broke the barrier during the game and started hugging with players until the police pushed them out of the field. The game was of no importance - many Bohemians players had already made arrangements to join other clubs. The mood at the game can be described with one word - somber.

Bankruptcy proceedings against the club will start on Monday. Monday is also the day, when Mr.Vejsada will officially announce that the club is withdrawing from the second league competition.

There are rumours that the club may resurface after a merger with another club but we will have to wait and see. In the meantime, this web site will remain active for at least the next few months and its further future will depend on the club’s fate.


From: Vaclav & Jeffrey Nerad"

A few pictures from the Bohemians-Sigma match I attended in 2000....

http://faroesefootball.tripod.com/boh1.jpg
http://faroesefootball.tripod.com/oloboh.jpg

[:(]

[Canadian_Supporter]

Pictures and videos of the last game.

http://www.doublefish.cz/bohemians/

Apparently old men were crying into their beer as the game ended.

[RichardL]

A real shame. I've sort of loosely followed the club for a few years after visiting the ground on a trip to Prague a few years ago. Alas I couldn't see a game - the nearest I got was buying a ticket for the upcoming Viktoria Zizkov v Bohemians derby. Remarkably that was virtually a top of the table clash at the time, and pulled in a crowd of nearly 8000 (sadly I was back in England by then). Two subsequent attempts to watch them play were thwarted by late re-arrangements of fixtures.

I really like their ground, as ramshackle as it is. It has character, as summed up by its name of "The Dimple". It may not have had much else other than character, but how can you not like a team who plays somewhere like this?


Hopefully the club will reform somehow, and the next time I'm in Prague I'll be able to watch them play at last, rather than the midfield action being played out by bulldozers.

[PhillyFury]

There's talk of at least resuscitating the name, tacking it on to a third division team, or at least that's the latest. While things are going smoothly on the field for the Czech national team, the domestic league is in trouble. There are reports two first division teams, Opava and Blsany could fold after this season. Attendance is pretty low, even Sparta Praha struggles to pull in 7,000 or so. Slavia is up to its ears in debt, and its British owner is looking to ditch that team. On top of that, you've got all kinds of game-throwing scandals. Liberec just lost six points in the standings after being found guilty of match fixing. Supposedly Sparta is being investigated as well....

[albionroad]

Can't they just reform the team under a slightly different name (Bohemians 1895, 1895 Bohemians, whatever) and start again at a lower division? Seems like that what other clubs in this situation have always done.

[Mar3k]

Can't they just reform the team under a slightly different name (Bohemians 1895, 1895 Bohemians, whatever) and start again at a lower division? Seems like that what other clubs in this situation have always done.
If they pay a $130k fine for not finishing the season they can start playing in 3rd league. If not they will be relegated to the lowest division(it would take them 10 years to get back to the top - if they would get promoted every year ;) ) .

There was a talk that a 3rd league team would use Bohemians name and use their stadium.

[Russian Scouser]

A real shame. I've sort of loosely followed the club for a few years after visiting the ground on a trip to Prague a few years ago. Alas I couldn't see a game - the nearest I got was buying a ticket for the upcoming Viktoria Zizkov v Bohemians derby. Remarkably that was virtually a top of the table clash at the time, and pulled in a crowd of nearly 8000 (sadly I was back in England by then). Two subsequent attempts to watch them play were thwarted by late re-arrangements of fixtures.

I really like their ground, as ramshackle as it is. It has character, as summed up by its name of "The Dimple". It may not have had much else other than character, but how can you not like a team who plays somewhere like this?


Hopefully the club will reform somehow, and the next time I'm in Prague I'll be able to watch them play at last, rather than the midfield action being played out by bulldozers.

I stood under that scoreboard in August 2003 - Bohemians-Mlada 1-1. Great bunch of fans, seemed knowledgeable and patient with the team. 2.500 there. A quid to get in, 40p a pint. Needless to say, we were somewhat drunk by the end. :)

They are trying to save the club:

http://www.fc-bohemians.cz/default_en.asp

Hope they do!

[RichardL]

I stood under that scoreboard in August 2003 - Bohemians-Mlada 1-1. Great bunch of fans, seemed knowledgeable and patient with the team. 2.500 there. A quid to get in, 40p a pint. Needless to say, we were somewhat drunk by the end. :)

They are trying to save the club:

http://www.fc-bohemians.cz/default_en.asp

Hope they do!
Yep. Easter is indeed the season for resurrection.

They have to raise 3 million Kc (about £65000) to pay the fine to the league. In less than a week they've raised a third of that total. Each person who pledges 1000 Kc becomes a member of the new club.

The link above now includes application forms, so if there is anyone else interested in helping save a club, as well as becoming a member (stuff Barcelona and their 100,000 members - be a member of a proper club) get filling in.

where would the world be without its dimples?

[Russian Scouser]

Yep. Easter is indeed the season for resurrection.

They have to raise 3 million Kc (about £65000) to pay the fine to the league. In less than a week they've raised a third of that total. Each person who pledges 1000 Kc becomes a member of the new club.

The link above now includes application forms, so if there is anyone else interested in helping save a club, as well as becoming a member (stuff Barcelona and their 100,000 members - be a member of a proper club) get filling in.

where would the world be without its dimples?

I got my form through a couple of days ago. Now figuring out a way to get my 22 squids over. :) Also good to see on the web-site, Martin Jiranek - now at my childhood heroes Spartak - donating a few hundred bob.

I did like the fact that when I went to see the it was Panenka - of the '76 outrageous penalty fame - who was the assistant. And you gotta love a club with a kangaroo on its bagde, :) 'cos someone gave them a kangaroo in the '20s. :)

[Canadian_Supporter]

I am thinking about becoming a member (whatever that means) to help save the club.

[Zenit]

Someone should set up something here in the US & UK for taking PayPal donations. I'd send them their requested contribution in a New York minute if they'd agree to take funds via PP instead of bank transfer, which is cumbersome.

[RichardL]

Someone should set up something here in the US & UK for taking PayPal donations. I'd send them their requested contribution in a New York minute if they'd agree to take funds via PP instead of bank transfer, which is cumbersome.
I'm in a similar fix. I have applied, and I'm on the membership list on their site, but I can't get my money to them. According to the application I should have received an email confirming my number and some details about how to send the money, but nothing has turned up. All I have is the IBAN number, and that's not enough. I've tried emailing but got no reply. Worldpay (via HSBC)does it for a more reasonable £9, but you need the account number, account holder's name and name and location of the bank.

After having a real effort to buy a football ticket for a football match in Germany recently, I was quite amazed that there isn't an internet site that allows you to pay into foreign accounts by credit card. One or two do exist, but only for paying to third world/developing countries.

[pylon]

www.fc-bohemians.cz/default_en.asp (http://www.fc-bohemians.cz/default_en.asp)

The tireless work from the supporters group has paid off. It looks as if Bohemians will be playing at Ďolíček this coming season in the third division. They've got a new director (http://www.fc-bohemians.cz/clanek.asp?kod=5127&lng=EN) and coach. Still working out some details, like about using the name and logo, not to mention putting a squad together. But it looks like Bohemians are saved.

A brilliant effort all around!! Here's hoping the klokan are back in the big time soon.

[Canadian_Supporter]

So, what division will they play out of?

[RichardL]

Czech third division.

1461 members so far, and 3.201.536,00 Kč raised. I should now officially be a member as I got the details I needed and paid last week, but not showing up on the site as paid yet.

Unless it clashes with Reading's first home game of the season, I'm going to try and go to the first home game of Bohemians Prague. Fixtures should be out in two or three weeks I'd guess.

I don't know if the Czech third division is a single division or if it's regional. Either way Bohemians 'should' be favourites to go up as they should have more support and finances than the other clubs at that level.

[Canadian_Supporter]

The Czech 3rd division is regional.

Bohemians will play in the CFL (Bohemia) and the MSFL is the "Moravian" league. Only the first place team gets promotion to the second division.

I would have thought Bohemians might start out again in the 4th division.

I wonder how the inclusion of Bohemians will mess up the promotion/relegation? Perhaps only one team will be relegated from the Czech 2nd division?

Here is a link to the 2004/05 CFL standings. Note that the league still has a few more rounds left and the promotion spot is still up for grabs.

http://fotbal.idnes.cz/db_fotbal.asp?soutez=1000123

[RichardL]

The Czech 3rd division is regional.

Bohemians will play in the CFL (Bohemia) and the MSFL is the "Moravian" league. Only the first place team gets promotion to the second division.

I would have thought Bohemians might start out again in the 4th division.

I wonder how the inclusion of Bohemians will mess up the promotion/relegation? Perhaps only one team will be relegated from the Czech 2nd division?

Here is a link to the 2004/05 CFL standings. Note that the league still has a few more rounds left and the promotion spot is still up for grabs.

http://fotbal.idnes.cz/db_fotbal.asp?soutez=1000123
I'm certain they'll be in the third. I think only one team went down from the 2nd because of it, with (the new) Bohemians just taking the place the old club would have had if they'd gone down. It was the paying off of the debts and the fine to the league which meant they could take the old club's place. Had they not done that they'd have apparently had to drop right to the bottom - Division 8.

With the games not finishing until the first week in July, but the following season starting just a month later, I wonder when the fixtures will come out. There's not exactly much of a close season.

[Canadian_Supporter]

With the games not finishing until the first week in July, but the following season starting just a month later, I wonder when the fixtures will come out. There's not exactly much of a close season.

Expect fixtures by mid-July.... that is my guess.

[Canadian_Supporter]

Looks like Bohemians Praha will be renamed to AFK Vrsovice (the area of Praha where the stadium is).

http://fotbal.idnes.cz/fot_dsouteze.asp?r=fot_dsouteze&c=A050630_161012_fot_dsouteze_min

[Canadian_Supporter]

My mistake, looks like they are called Bohemians 1905...

Their first game in the CFL (Bohemian 3rd division) is at home against Slavia Praha B on August 7th.

Here is the full schedule
http://www.fotbal.cz/c/KaO/RKCechy/Souteze.asp?soutez=002A1A&show=Los

They will be playing their home games at Dolicek.