Full name | Football Club Viktoria Plzeň a.s. |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | Viktorka |
Founded | 1911 |
Ground | Doosan Arena |
Capacity | 11,722 |
Chairman | Adolf Šádek |
Manager | Roman Pivarník |
League | Czech First League |
2015–16 | 1st |
Website | Club home page |
FC Viktoria Plzeň (pronounced [ˈvɪktorja ˈpl̩.zɛɲ]) is a Czech professional football club based in the city of Plzeň (Pilsen). They currently play in the Czech First League, the top division of football in the country.
As runners up in the 1970–71 Czechoslovak Cup they gained the right to play in the following season's UEFA Cup Winners' Cup as winners Spartak Trnava also won the championship and played in the European Cup. In 2010, they played in the UEFA Europa League after winning the 2009–10 Czech Cup.
The club won the Czech league for the first time in 2011, and participated in the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League group stage, during which they won their first Champions League match, earning five points and qualifying for the Round of 32 in the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. The club won their second Czech league title in the 2012–13 season.
In 2013–14, the club participated in the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage finishing third. Then reached the Round of 16 in 2013–14 UEFA Europa League before being eliminated by Lyon.
In 1911 Jaroslav Ausobský, an official of the state railways, filed a request for the establishment of a new football club in Plzeň. In August of that year the newly formed team Viktoria played their first match, losing 7–3 against Olympia Plzeň.
For the first eighteen years of its existence, Viktoria Plzeň was a purely amateur club, although in 1922–1923 they took their first foreign trip to Spain, where they won six out of nine games. In June 1929 an extraordinary meeting of members agreed to go professional and enter the national professional league. Viktoria finished their first season in seventh place, but the very next season, improved and reached second place, which meant a first-ever promotion to the First League. In the 1934–35 Czechoslovak First League, Viktoria finished in fourth place and subsequently played in the 1935 Mitropa Cup, the top European club competition at the time. Two matches against Juventus of Italy brought Viktoria to the attention of European football at large. They drew 3–3 at home, but lost 5–1 in Italy.