Czech football cup
The Czech Football Cup (Pohár FAČR) is the football cup competition for Czech club teams. It is organized annually by the Czech Football Association (FAČR).
precursor
As a precursor of the Czech football cup of the Charity Cup is considered, which was held in 1906 for the first time and becoming the first competition of the then to Austria-Hungary belonging Bohemia was. However, only clubs from Prague and the surrounding area took part in the Charity Cup . It was played eleven times by 1916, including the first three years in the league system . In 1918 the Charity Cup was replaced by the Central Bohemian Cup ( Středočeský Pohár in Czech ), which, like its predecessor , was limited to Central Bohemia . The cup has been officially called Pohár FAČR since 2011 after the association changed its name.
Winner Charity Cup and Central Bohemian Cup
Charity Cup
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Středočeský Pohár
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Středočeský Pohár (cont.)
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Středočeský Pohár (cont.)
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Czech Cup
The clubs of Central Bohemia, especially the Prague teams, were able to prevent the creation of a nationwide cup competition for a long time, as this would have made their own cup less important. In the 1938/39 season, the then Czechoslovak Football Association managed to organize a national cup competition for the first time. The first round was played, but the Munich Agreement meant that the competition was not played.
In 1939/40 the premiere of the Czech Cup (Czech Český Pohár ) took place, which the then second-class SK Olomouc ASO was able to win in the final with a return match against SK Prostějov . The competition was, however, still in strong competition with the older and popular Central Bohemian Football Cup, which was held until 1945. Slavia Prague won in 1941 and 1942, and its city rival Sparta Prague in 1943 and 1944 . In 1945 the Czech Cup was the only competition, as the league did not play due to the war and the Central Bohemian Cup was not played. The Liberation Cup (Czech Pohár osvobození ) called competition won Slavia Prague. The Czech Cup was played for the last time in 1946, with Sparta Prague winning. It was not until 1960 that a nationwide cup competition was created again with the Czechoslovak Cup .
After the reorganization of Czechoslovakia into a federal state made up of the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1969, both states had their own cup competitions again. The winners of the two competitions met in a final to determine the Czechoslovak Cup winner, who was allowed to take part in the European Cup Winners' Cup. The first winner in 1970 was TJ Gottwaldov , who also won the Czechoslovak Cup after defeating the Slovak Cup winner Slovan Bratislava on penalties in the nationwide final .
Until the end of the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the cup was dominated by Sparta Prague, whose players were able to receive the cup eleven times between 1970 and 1993. However, winning the competition alone did not necessarily have a high priority, after all, in order to qualify for the European Cup, you had to defeat the Slovak cup winner. This changed in 1993 with the independence of the Czech Republic , when the Czech Cup winner qualified directly for the European Cup Winners' Cup. The first year was won by the Prague club Viktoria Žižkov , in the final the team defeated Sparta Prague 6-5 on penalties . In the past few years a sponsor was part of the official name. The trophy was called the Raab Karcher Cup in 1997/98 , the Sport 1 Cup in 2000/01 and 2001/02 and the Volkswagen Cup in 2003/04 .
Record cup winner with 20 titles is Sparta Prague.
The final usually takes place in the Evžena Rošického stadium in Prague. This practice was abandoned in 2005 and 2006, firstly to avoid giving Prague clubs a home advantage, but mainly to make the final more attractive to fans. In those two seasons, it took place in a convenient location about halfway between the locations of the two finalists.
mode
The Czech Football Cup is played with 112 teams in eight rounds (including the preliminary round) in a simple knockout system . The final will take place in a neutral location. B teams are excluded from the competition. Since the regional cup winners can take part in the preliminary round, the competition is open to all clubs in the Czech Football Association. In theory, a team from the lowest division can also win the cup. If there is a tie after 2 × 45 minutes, a penalty shoot-out follows immediately.
Preliminary round
In the preliminary round, 32 teams meet, 14 district cup winners and 18 teams from Divize, the fourth-highest division. The home right is drawn by lot.
1st, 2nd and 3rd main round
In the first main round, the 16 winners from the preliminary round and 80 other teams are represented: All second division teams are compulsory, after registration also teams from the ČFL and MSFL, the two groups of the third division. There are also other teams from Divize. The home right is drawn by lot. The second division are set.
In the second round, in addition to the 48 winners from the first round, there are 16 first division teams that have been seeded, so that the field of participants now includes 64 teams. From here until the second round, the lower-class club always has home rights.
In the 3rd round, the 32 winners of the 2nd round meet according to a predetermined key.
Eighth, quarter and semi-finals
In the round of 16, the 16 winners of the 3rd round meet according to a predetermined key. In the quarter-finals, the remaining eight teams will be drawn against each other; like the semi-finals, it will take place in the home and away leg.
final
The final will take place on neutral ground, the venue will be determined by the association at short notice according to the two finalists.
Cup surprises
At the first edition in 1939/40 there was a surprise final. The dominant teams in Czech football, Sparta Prague and Slavia Prague, failed in the semifinals to SK Slezská Ostrava and SK Prostějov, respectively . In the final, the first division Prostějov lost to the second division SK Olomouc ASO with 1: 3 and 1: 2.
When the competition was reintroduced in 1970, the second division LIAZ Jablonec made it to the final, where TJ Gottwaldov, who played in the first division, was able to wrest a 2: 2 in the first leg after a 2-0 deficit, but was clearly defeated 4: 0 in the second leg .
In the following year 1970/71, the B-team from Sparta Prague came into the final after they had defeated their own A-team 2-1 in the semifinals. The final against Škoda Pilsen had a curious outcome. The first leg ended 1: 1, the second leg 3: 3. In the penalty shootout, the two teams separated 5: 5, the lot determined Škoda Pilsen the winner. Škoda Pilsen was relegated and took part in the European Cup Winners' Cup as a second division team, as the final opponent of the Czechoslovak Cup Spartak Trnava had also become Czechoslovakian champions .
In 1976, SONP Kladno, the next second division team , made it into the final, but had no chance against Sparta Prague. As early as 1978 it smelled like another sensation. Second division AŠ Mladá Boleslav won the final first leg against Baník Ostrava 1-0, but had to admit defeat 2-0 in Ostrava. The next feat succeeded in 1985 Dynamo České Budějovice , who made it to the finals as a second division side, but lost 3-1 to Dukla Prague . 1985 was, apart from 1982, the first year in which there was only one final on neutral ground.
In 1990, Slovácka Slavia Uherské Hradiště even made it into the final, a third division team, but first division Dukla Prague retained the upper hand with 5-3. 1991 moved again Dynamo České Budějovice as a second division into the final, but again won the higher class team, Baník Ostrava. In 1996/97, Dukla Prague made it into the final as a second division team, while Baník Ratíškovice succeeded in 1999/2000, both were unsuccessful in the final.
The finals at a glance
Leaderboards
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* 1977 as Sklo Union Teplice
** 1971 as Škoda Pilsen
*** 1998 as FK Jablonec 97
**** 1970 as TJ Gottwaldov
Web links
- List of cup winners on rsssf.com (English)
- Current draw ( Czech )
- Current Results ( Czech )
- All years 1970/71 - 1992/93 ( Czech )
- All years since 1993/94 ( Czech )