Sport

A year of red-and-white records

Published: 8. 10. 2021
Author: Karel Černý
Photo: Photo SK Slavia Praha
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At the time of writing, the current First League football season has just concluded its 8th round. Sitting in second so far is Prague's Slavia. And it is the team that has been setting records this year. If we were to delve deep into the archived statistics from the last almost 110 years of Czech football, we might find even more.

It was April 25, 2021, and Slavia's match with Bohemians ended in a draw at a score of 0:0. This meant the 41st consecutive match in the club's unbeaten run, beating Sparta's record from the years 1943-1946. Their best run so far had been 36 consecutive matches without a defeat, achieved by the “Patchwork” under Jaroslav Šilhavý's leadership between 2016 and 2017. The Bohemians game also marked the 20th consecutive unbeaten away match, meaning Slavia again trumped Sparta's record from 1943-1946, as well as its own from 2016-2017.

The Vršovice boys are currently running strong at 53 consecutive matches without a defeat. What's more, not too long ago, the GracenoteSports statistics site mentioned that Slavia is currently the team with the longest unbeaten league run in the world!

In May 2021, Slavia beat Sparta 3:0 in the MOL Cup semifinals, setting a new record in undefeated derby matches. The fourteenth match without a loss – they have not been beaten since 2016. Their rival from Letná had their longest run in 1993-1999, at 13 matches.

In June, Slavia's goalkeeper, Ondřej Kolář, reached his 20th clean sheet of the ongoing year, setting a Czechoslovakian record. The former, at 19, was held by Alexander Vencel from Slovan Bratislava in the 1969-1970 season and Jan Stejskal from Sparta (1986-1987).

All of the above is naturally closely tied to the coach, Jindřich Trpišovský. Should he and Slavia win the title one more time, he will be among the club's most decorated coaches. This record is currently held by two of his predecessors, who both managed to win the title four times. The legendary John William Madden lead Slavia to victory in 1913 (despite it being “only” the Czech league at the time), and then again in 1925, 1929, and 1930. The other record holder is Emil Seifert, who helped Slavia win four consecutive titles from 1940 to 1943. And if Trpišovský lasts another two years or so, he will join the top 5 longest-standing coaches of the club. In fifth place is Karel Jarolím who “served” 71 months in Slavia.

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