Final host city Prague: impressive stadiums and beautiful squares
Tonight, the city of Prague hosts the final of the UEFA Europa Conference League, and the city is flooded with football fans of Fiorentina and West Ham United. SANTOS gives you the best local tips and leads you along the football hot spots of Prague, a city with a great and rich football history.
Fortuna Arena, Slavia Prague
The final will be played at the Fortuna Arena of Slavia Prague, the oldest club of Czechia. The in 2008 opened stadium lays in the southeast of Prague, on the spot where Slavia has been playing since the fifties of last century. It only has 20.800 places, by which the UEFA has chosen for a relatively small stadium for the Conference League final: It's even smaller than the Air Albania Stadium in Tirana which hosted the final last year. You'd wish the large fan bases of Fiorentina and West Ham United a bigger podium.
Sparta Prague, the biggest club of the country
Sparta Prague is historically the biggest club of the country, but over recent years they had to accept arch rivals Slavia above them on the table. This season, Sparta came back with the first league title in nine years. Their Letna Stadium - due to sponsorship called Epet Arena - is the place where Czechia has played a lot of big international games over the years. The stadium is located on the other side of the Vltava River, a 15 minute-walk from the old city.
Dukla Prague
Dukla Prague was quite a big name in European football in the fifties of last century. Their Juliska Stadium lays in the northwest of Prague and has been a real impregnable fortress to many European clubs. In 1967, the great Josef Manopust took them by the hand and they even managed to kick Cruyff's Ajax out of the European Cup's quarter finals. Due to its high location of Juliska, the main stand offers an imposing view over Prague. On the square in front of the stadium you'll find a statue of the legendary Masopust. And oh, a certain Pavel Nedved debuted here as a professional football player.
The club of Antonin Panenka
Bohemians 1905 is the club of Antonin Panenka, the mastermind behind the most famous penalty kick ever. By the way, in Czechia the 'panenka' is called the ‘vrsovicky dloubak’, named after the Prague arena of Vrsovice where the trick finds its origin: in the Ďolíček Stadium, where Bohemians still plays. Team mate Stefan Ivančík performed the trick here earlier, before Panenka left the world in awe in 1976. Antonin Panenka is still the main legend of Bohemians, and is even the club's president until this day.
Strahov and the former Slavia Stadium
In the west of Prague you'll find the Strahov Stadium, the world's biggest stadium complex. It doesn't have the usual stadium measurements - the six pitches already measure more than 300 by 200 yards - and has place for a whopping 220.000 fans. Back in the days, the communist party used to hold large meetings, nowadays there aren't usually more than some hundreds of people for Sparta Prague's youth matches.
Right next to Strahov lays the Evžena Rošického Stadium: At the beginning of this century Slavia Prague has played here for several years.
The Hall of Fame of Czech football
Just around the corner of these stadiums you'll find the head squarters of the Czech Football Association (Atleticka 2474/8), which contains the Hall of Fame of Czech football. The most legendary Czech players and squads have gotten an honorable place. Absolute showpieces are the European trophy won by Czechoslovakia in 1976 and the Ballon d'Or of Masopust of 1962. The gallery of honour is open during office hours and the entrance is free.
The stadium of Viktoria Žižkov
Through the back side of the central station of Prague you'll get within minutes to the FK Viktoria Stadium of Viktoria Žižkov, one of the smaller teams of the city. But still, the stadium is more than worth a visit, encapsulated by typical Eastern European apartments and with a giant television tower on the background.
Beers on the old town square
Pilsner as we know it is originally from Czechia and is all over Prague quite cheap to get. On the central square of the city (Staroměstské náměstí) are the prices a little bit higher, but compare to European standards you'll still having a laugh. It's traditionally the place where away fans gather when they play the Czech national team or one of the club teams from Prague.
U Zlatého tygra, a classical pub full of history
Not far from the square you can find 'U Zlatého tygra' (The Golden Tiger), an old football bar. Here you'll find great souvenirs from the Czech football history, and from Slavia Prague in particular.
Images: BSR Agency, Shutterstock