If you ask younger football fans who are the teams they know from the Czech football league, Sparta Prague and Slavia Prague would be mentioned. Perhaps even Bohemians. Back in 2020 just before Covid we visited five stadiums on non-matchdays and it was the Dukla Prague arena which had the biggest impression. Covid thwarted us returning for a match the following season, however almost 5 years later we did return at the weekend.
Little did we expect the match to be cancelled on this occasion with the opposition having widespread illness caused by the flu epidemic!
Yes that’s right, whilst exploring the cobbled streets of Prague, in came a few messages, one from Filip at the club, who advised us that the match had been cancelled. However, with some of our research already compete we have proceeded to tell you a little more about the club.
Dukla Prague History
Dukla Prague are the third most decorated club in Prague with eleven Czech league titles and eight cups. However many people outside of the country know them more for their European Cup exploits in the 1960s. In the 1966/67 season they reached the Semi-Finals of the prestigious competition and in 1985/86 again reached the last four of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup.
Like many clubs in Europe, Dukla Prague have existed under many alias’s. Formed as ATK Praha, in 1953 they became UDA Praha before naming themselves as Dukla Prague in 1956 in honour of those who had fallen at the Battle of Dukla Pass (1944).
Dukla Prague defunct
In the 1990’s with the club facing a difficult time in their history and going bankrupt, they merged with FC Portál Příbram to become 1. FK Příbram and with the Dukla Prague name lost, the club moved to Příbram in 1997, 60km away. This club still participate as Dukla Prague’s “legal successor” in the second tier – a similar story of course we are familiar with in England with Wimbledon and MK Dons.
Military Connection
At the time of the clubs inception in 1948 the club recruited players from the Czech military and were run by the Czechoslovak Army. After all the success described, the link to the Czech Army ended in 1994 which simultaneously saw the club relegated.
Dukla Prague rebirth
Another local team formed in 1959 began playing at the Juliska Stadium in 2001 and wearing the traditional maroon and yellow kit of Dukla Prague. In 2006 the Dukla Prague management took this club over and the club returned to the top flight in 2011 and this is the team we see at the Juliska Stadium today.
The Famous Shirt
We cannot write about Dukla Prague without mentioning the song which was created by the group Half Man Half Biscuit. They released a song in 1987 called “All I want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague Away Kit”. Have a play below!
No Match?
Well, as we had put all our eggs in one basket for the Dukla Prague match and booked return flights for the Sunday morning, it meant we had no Plan B! The other local city clubs, Bohemians 1905 and Sparta Prague were both playing Sunday afternoon. Using the Futbology App we were able to find that Viktoria Zizkov were playing a friendly match on the Saturday morning at a small site with a 10.15am kick off. The location was at ABC Branik (although they were not the opposition) just a few kilometres outside the city centre.
The clubhouse was open which had ABC Branik shirts hanging from the ceiling and refreshments were available.
To our amusement, Star Media, who were at the match filming live for a YouTube Stream, managed to position themselves on top of a children’s slide in the play area to get the best angle for filming.
The match finished with a 2-1 win for Viktoria Zizkov over opposition FK Motorlet Praha, with all the goals coming in the first half.
Places to Eat and Drink in Prague
We made the most of our time in Prague and encourage visits to a few restaurants we experienced.
On Friday evening we booked the “U KRÁLE Brabantského” Medieval restaurant which is located below the castle. You may need to reserve in advance but it’s has a fantastic ambience being one of the oldest bars in Prague with most lighting produced by candles on the tables. There was an all inclusive package for food and drink when you booked the show which had fire-eaters and belly dancers right next to your table – a fascinating evening of food and entertainment.
The MEDIEVAL TAVERN “U KRÁLE Brabantského” is located right in the centre of Prague
After the Saturday morning match at ABC Branik we headed to a very unique restaurant which we had pre-booked called Vytopna Railway Restaurant. This is great for groups, couples and families, situated at Wenceslas Square in Central Prague. On arrival you are given your ticket number and you take a seat at that area. A waitress provides table service at the side of the track with your food and drink delivered by rail. The restaurant was extremely popular and much larger than we had anticipated – however the speed of service was exceptional. Be quick when the food arrives – you have just 15 seconds to remove it before the train moves on to it’s next stop!
Next up we headed to the Prague Beer Museum located just over the road from Charles Bridge. On entry you are greeted by a bar of 30 different pumps and we opted for a flight of 5 small beers including a wheat beer, cherry beer, a lager infused with blueberry and two dark options.
Next up came The Fat Cat. There are two Fat Cat locations in Prague and we are discussing the Beerhouse in the Old Town. This has much more of a bar feel, where as the Fat Cat Downtown is much more like a restaurant. With our accommodation literally across the street, we visited here three times – once for a swift beer when we arrived Thursday evening, a superb Fry Up on Friday morning for breakfast and a great meal on Saturday evening too. On all three occasions the service, beer and atmosphere was excellent – we even bought the T-Shirt!
The Fat Cat, Prague
Getting about
Prague is a beautiful city and everywhere is walkable. The main old town as you would expect is cobbled and pedestrianised. That said Uber is extremely cheap and you can pop across the city for just £3-£4 making it a good option with a tight schedule.
Who are Covert Football Trips?
Who are we? Covert Football Trips create Mystery Football Weekends. Choose from 2 or 3 Night experiences which include your flights, accommodation and match tickets. We are a travel agent so your trip is ATOL protected whilst we use our own experience to create amazing weekends.
Choose grounds to avoid, select the dates you want to travel and note the airports you would prefer to fly from and then sit back and let us do all the hard work.
You can book a Covert Football Trip for just £10 deposit per person! Get the gang together and choose your weekend of choice!
