Gareth Hughes and Slavia: A long-distance relationship
For Slavia we travel everywhere,
we always support them proudly.
We are here with them,
faithful forever,
so, let’s go and sing together.
This is one of the most distinctive chant of Slavia fans. And it is well known that they really travel everywhere with the club and that they are from all around the Czech Republic. But there is a man who travels for many Slavia games despite his hometown being some 1,300 kilometres from Slavia stadium. His name is Gareth Hughes and he comes from Welsh seaside city of Rhyl, about one-hour drive from Liverpool. As he says, 2020 will see his third decade of following Slavia. And he managed to visit almost 100 Slavia games during his unlikely romance.
We spoke to Gareth for our matchday programme “Poločas” for the 295th Prague Derby against Sparta. And now you can read his story too.
The First Date
It´s something I never guessed would happen when I first set foot inside the old Eden Stadium in the year 2000. There was no match being played but the security guard at the entrance kindly allowed me to look around and I was in awe at the old wooden stand and the traditional oval terraces with the dates of Slavia´s Championship wins written in big white numbers on a red background around the perimeter.
Underneath the old wooden stand was a cafe bar and it was in here that I found an amazing connection with my hometown in Wales. On the walls of the cafe was a picture of the Slavia and Oxford University players from the opening game of Eden in 1899. Whilst reading the names of the players I was stunned to see the name of M Morgan-Owen in the Oxford University team. Now M Morgan-Owen was the son of Church minister in my hometown and when he was not studying at college, he would also play for the local club Rhyl in the North Wales league. So, here I had a former player of my local club, a proud Welsh speaking Wales International player pictured on the wall of a cafe at a stadium in the middle of Bohemia!
Gareth and one of his first visits to the old Eden Stadium.
After returning home from this trip to Eden I researched more and also discovered that when Slavia played Oxford University for a second time in 1907, the younger brother of M Morgan-Owen, Hugh Morgan-Owen who also played for Rhyl was playing for Oxford! Little did I know then that these discoveries were the start of a journey that would lead me to adopting Slavia as my team, and despite living in the far South West corner of Wales, watching them play regularly at home and away over the decades to follow.
The Matchday Experience
It´s hard to explain why I became Slavia fan. I was curious to watch Slavia, and when I did it was a combination of things. The distinctive red and white jerseys were the same colours as Wales and were a factor, but the whole matchday experience was one I enjoyed. I hadn´t seen such a good engagement between players and fans before and I was captivated by the whole experience. As I read more about the history, players like Bican and Planicka I was consumed by the club and the traditions and wanted to be part of it. The opportunity to mix football and tourism also suited me, I am very fond of Prague and Czechia and being able to combine this with watching Slavia was ideal. My bond with the club has grown stronger with each passing year.
It is a big regret of mine that I never saw Slavia actually play a game in the old stadium. Strahov was the home in the early years when I started watching games, but I still visited the old stadium on each visit to Prague and before the old stadium was closed forever, I got to walk on the overgrown pitch. I am so pleased that the Eden Arena as we know it now is built on the same site. I have some good memories of Strahov, I wasn´t there for the 4-1 win against Sparta, but I did see the 4-2 victory against CSKA Sofia in the Europa League group games as well as many league matches. I was captivated by the atmosphere at games and the engagement between the players and fans.
When I think of those days in Strahov and compare it with our return there for the Championship winning match against Brno in 2017 I think we´ve come a long way as a club. Tribuna Sever has gone from being a couple of sections behind the goal at Strahov to filling a whole tribune at Eden and I must confess to enjoying the choreography and singing at games. In recent seasons I´ve taken part in the march from Eden to Letna for the “S” derby match and that experience, especially when the route takes us through the Letna tunnel has been incredible.
Gate to Czech Football
Watching Slavia has opened the door to rest of the Czech Republic for me. I plan tourism around away matches and that has introduced me to some beautiful places. Last season at Karvina v Slavia I stayed over in Cesky Tesin and previous visits to Teplice have seen stays at the nearby spa towns. I like it that the F:L and F:NL games are spread over the whole weekend, and because of this I also get to see matches in the lower leagues. Last season I completed a “full house” of watching games at every stadium in League 1 and 2 - Chrudim was the last in my collection. Now my ambition is to watch Slavia play at them all!
Stadiums have changed a lot since I first started watching Slavia but Banik Ostrava´s Bazaly was always a favourite of mine. I fondly remember a game played in the snow in December 2005 with an orange ball. Slavia won 3-1 in a game that would never have been allowed to go-ahead in the UK!
Watching Slavia compete in Europe has also been a highlight of the season for me. It took until 2019 for me to witness an away win and before then there was the pain of heavy defeats at Arsenal in 2007 and Lille (again in the snow) in 2009. I saw Slavia achieve some creditable results at Tottenham (1-1) in 2008 and Ajax Amsterdam (2-2) later in the same year, I also saw another 2-2 draw at Villarreal in 2017 just as Slavia was starting to establish itself with the European elite.
In Europe
2019 was something else however! I was lucky to be part of the Sesivani army at Genk, Sevilla, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Barcelona and Dortmund and my chest swells with pride at the performances of the team and the fans at all these games.
I had a feeling that something special was going to happen before the kick off at Genk but that second half performance surpassed all expectations. I was speaking to a journalist after the match and upon hearing that I was from Wales he said the last time he felt so bad about a result was when Wales beat Belgium in Euro 2016. Morale of the story: Never underestimate the underdog!
Sevilla next and such a beautiful city and stadium to visit. The owner of the hostel I stayed at warned me that it was full of Czech´s staying to a watch a football match and was stunned when I said that I was as well, despite me checking in with a UK passport! Slavia played without fear in that game and grew with confidence as the game went on - much to the displeasure of the home supporters. I was unable to attend the return match, but it was shown on BT sport in the UK with English commentary and I must admit to waking my village up with the celebrations at the final whistle!
Friends got used to…
My close friends are used to it by now and have been to the occasional game with me. They all support teams in Wales or in the English Premier League so I don´t get the chance to discuss the Slavia matches in detail with them, but they always ask about the team and my trip. The recent games in the Europa and Champions League have been shown live on UK television so it´s been a good opportunity for them to see Slavia for themselves.
My wife teases me about my interest, saying I´m eccentric! She has little interest in football although she has been with me to a few games. We have three dogs and two cats at home so it´s not always possible to visit Prague together, but she tolerates my trips away and is more concerned about the Slavia jerseys and souvenirs which are filling up the house.
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Gareth with his wife Genette visiting Prague Derby at Sinobo Stadium.
I am an IT engineer by profession and work for the Wales National Health service supporting IT Infrastructure in Health Centres throughout Wales. I have thirty days holiday per year and usually book Fridays and Mondays around Slavia fixtures as well as other games like the MOL Cup and the European matches. About half of my holidays are used watching Slavia, the rest I spend with my wife.
Sharing Special Moments
A quarter final tie with Chelsea next and as I´m used to travelling five hours to London and then another two hours to the airport and another two-hour flight to the Czech Republic this was something of a “home” game for me. Rather than use the underground to travel around London I went back to Slavia´s roots and hired a bicycle for the day. It was a warm enough day to cycle around London in my Slavia shirt and it was great to get so many cheers from travelling Slavista. Considering that the population of London is 9 million the first people I bumped into when cycling past Trafalgar Square were Odbor Pratel secretary Petr Vrsecky and his wife doing some sight-seeing! Having cycled to Earls Court it was great to march to Stamford Bridge with several hundred others and this vocal support continued throughout the game. Slavia again dominated the second half on the pitch and silenced the home fans off it. I was very proud to share this moment from the visitor section.
Slavia achieved the ambition of qualifying for the group stages of the Champion´s League and with it came games against some of the giants of World Football in the “group of death”. “Super” Slavia showed that they deserved a place with Europe´s elite. For me the games at Barcelona and Dortmund stand out. I caught the plane to Barcelona from London Stansted and there was a good thirty or so Slavia fans doing the same - outnumbering the group of four Barcelona fans!! For Dortmund I took the overnight bus from London. I was able to combine watching the game with a visit to the Christmas markets - although nobody beats the Czech´s for a Christmas market!
More than 40 original shirts at home
My home in Wales is a shrine to Slavia with programmes, scarves, badges and over 40 different team jerseys dating back to 1995. Most are replicas but some of them have been match-worn which I´ve acquired through charity auctions or as a result of player swaps. It´s really hard to choose a favourite as so many are precious and have special memories for me but the highest profile one is probably Ulich´s all-red shirt from the UEFA Cup quarter final at Leeds in 2000. I have also programmes and tickets from every game I have watched. I think it´s getting close to a hundred by now. I usually arrange to watch Slavia in the league four times a year, in March, May, September and November and on top of this is the cup games so usually a minimum of 6 games a season.
Part of Gareth´s Slavia shirt collection, probably the biggest in Western Europe.
I´ve met lots of great people whilst watching Slavia and many have been very helpful with getting tickets to games, souvenirs, etc. I´d like to give a special mention to Irishman Mark Keogh and Englishman Ian Hunt who have been season ticket holders at Eden for many years. Marek and Jana who have given me excellent service in the club shop and Odbor Pratel secretary Petr Vrsecky and Fans Liaison Officer Martin Benda who have helped with arrangements for many games.
Having met so many fine people either following or involved with the club I´ve been inspired to improve my basic knowledge of the Czech language in 2020. Who knows? maybe one day I´ll have the confidence to lead the singing in the Tribuna Sever!
