Legendary players

Jan Košek (28th July 1884 – 30th December 1927) was the most prominent football personality at the beginning of the last century not only for Slavia but for Czech football in general. He wore a Slavia shirt in 302 games and scored 819 goals, nearly a hattrick in each game. He helped the team to win the Charity Cup three times (1910, 1911, 1912). He was a leading player at the European Amateur Championship in 1911 Roubaix, France. After the end of his player career, he switched the player's shirt for the chair of a sports director.
František Plánička (2nd June 1904 – 20th July 1996) guarded Slavia’s goal in 599 games (196 league caps). He won 7 domestic titles with Slavia (1929 – 1931, 1933 – 1935, 1937) and progressed into the final of the Central European Cup (Mitropa Cup) in 1929. He had 76 national team caps (37 as captain) from 1926 – 1938. He came back from the 1934 World Cup to Prague with a runners-up medal as captain of the Czechoslovakia team. He was team captain also at the 1938 World Cup in France. He won 6 domestic cups (1926 – 1928, 1930, 1932 and 1935) and lead the team as captain in the European Nations’ Cup in 1930, 1931 and 1937. His lifelong sportsmanship was awarded in 1985 with a UNESCO fair-play Diploma of Honour.
Franci Svoboda (5th August 1906 – 6th July 1948) was a popular striker with gunshots that his teammates sang couplets about. Probably the most elegant player of those who played for Slavia between 1925 – 1929, had 479 caps and scored 381 goals. All of his 101 league goals were scored in the red-and-white shirt. He played 43 games for the national team and scored 21 goals. A silver medallist from the 1934 World Cup in Italy.
Antonín Puč (16th May 1907 – 18th April 1988) was the scorer of many memorable goals both in Slavia and Czechoslovakia international history. He was the first player to score for the national team. Antonín came to Slavia from SK Smíchov as a teenager and coach Madden immediately sent him onto the pitch in the Prague Derby against Sparta. Twice top goalscorer in the Czech league: in 1927 and in 1928/1929, each time with 13 hits. He played for Slavia in 491 games and scored 437 goals. 112 of his league goals were scored for Slavia (1925-1938), 11 for Viktoria Žižkov. He had 60 national team caps and won a silver medal at the 1934 World Cup in Italy. He scored a memorable goal in the final with his front foot from a sharp angle and sent Czechoslovakia into the lead. He also played at the 1938 World Cup in France. His record 34 national team goals remained unbeaten for a long time.
Ferdinand Daučík (31st May 1910 – 14th November 1986) was a fast, strong left back with good technique that played for Slavia between 1935 – 1941. He lifted the Central European Cup (Mitropa Cup) in 1938 as team captain. He won four titles with Slavia (1935, 1937, 1940 and 1941) and played in 231 games. He carried on with his football career as a coach in Spain – coaching Betis Sevilla, FC Sevilla and CF Barcelona.
Goalkeeper Alexa Bokšay (27th March 1911 – 27th August 2007) came to Slavia from Uzhhorod, Carpathian Ruthenia. He delivered an excellent performance in the 1938 final of the Central European Cup (Mitropa Cup) and played a major role in Slavia defeating Ferencváros 2:0. He was especially strong in areal duels and receiving high crosses. The successor of the phenomenal František Plánička won four titles with Slavia (1940, 1941, 1942 and 1943).
Vlasta Kopecký (14th October 1912 – 30th July 1967)has been a symbol of longevity and club faithfulness. An excellent striker and phenomenal assister to Josef Bican who spent 19 years at Slavia; from April 1932 until September 1950 played in an unbelievable 953 games (322 league games) and netted 715 goals (252 of them in the league). That is why he naturally became a member of the Club of League Goal Scorers where he lies in second place. He won 9 domestic titles with Slavia and the Central European Cup (Mitropa Cup) in 1938. He was with the national team at the 1934 World Cup in Italy as well as 4 years later in France. He also holds the record for the most derby matches played against Sparta (54 caps). The heart of one of the greatest Slavia giants stopped beating in 1967. He died of a heart attack during a game of Slavia veterans in Hlinsko while wearing the red-and-white shirt as he did for his whole career.
Josef Bican (25th September 1913 – 12th December 2001) is unmatched in all aspects. He won 5 league titles with Slavia (1940, 1941, 1942, 1943 and 1947) and was the top goal scorer 10 times (1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1948). He scored 395 league goals for Slavia between 1937 and 1948. He gained his greatest achievement in 1938 when the Stitched Ones won the Central European Cup (Mitropa Cup) after defeating Ferenczvaros Budapest in the final. Josef Bican scored more than three goals in a game several times: he scored 4 goals in 20 games, 5 goals in 6 games, 6 goals in 1 game and he managed to score 7 goals in 4 matches. In addition to 240 domestic league caps, he represented Slavia in 274 cup and friendly matches, scoring 714 goals. In his 514 matches for Slavia, he managed to score an unbelievable 1131 goals. He had 16 national team caps, scoring 18 goals. He netted 35 goals during 37 Prague Derbies with Sparta. His last league game was against Žilina on 20th November 1955. Back then, he was 42 years, 1 month and 26 days old. The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) acknowledged his extraordinary football skills with the title World's All-Time Best Goal-Scorer of the 20th Century (together with Pelé and Seeler) in 1997 and with the title World's Best National Top Division Scorer, surpassing Pelé and Romario in 2001.
Vojtěch Bradáč (6th October 1913 – 30th March 1947) was a symbol of reliability. This teammate of Bican and Kopecký scored 155 league goals, 103 of which were scored while wearing a Slavia jersey. The best league goal scorer of the 1935/36 season with 42 strikes made a great contribution to Slavia winning the Central European Cup (Mitropa Cup) in 1938. He gathered 289 caps for Slavia and scored 266 goals. His brother Antonín Bradáč also played for Slavia.
Ladislav Hlaváček (26th June 1925 – 21st April 2014) was the best scoring winger of our red-white history after Puč. In 1949 he scored 28 goals in 26 league games – this record has remained unbeaten ever since. He played for Slavia (Dynamo) in 178 games and netted 148 goals. He wore the national team shirt on 15 occasions.
Jan Lála (10th September 1938) played 402 games for the Stitched Ones, 143 in the Czechoslovak league. This excellent right back spent 12 cumulative years at Slavia. A true symbol of devotion to the club remained faithful to Slavia even after relegation. 37 national team caps. Especially memorable is his performance at the 1962 Chile World Cup when he, a player from second-division Slavia (Dynamo), eliminated world-class Spanish left winger Gent. An injury unfortunately prevented the silver medallist from playing in the final against Brazil.
František Veselý (7th December 1943 – 30th October 2009) spent his youth years 1953 – 1962 in the Slavia academy and the years 1965 – 1980 as a First Team player. This excellent and fast right winger with very competitive skills gathered 920 caps for Slavia and scored 250 goals (414 games and 61 goals in the domestic league). He led the team as captain to win the Czech Cup in 1974 and progress to the final of Czechoslovak Cup. He wore the national team shirt in 34 matches and won a gold medal at the 1976 European Cup in Yugoslavia. He comes from a family with a long red-white tradition: his father František, his son František and his two grandsons also wore the stitched shirt.
Dušan Herda (15th July 1951) joined Slavia as a 17-year-old youngster from Topoľčany, Slovakia. A model left winger with creative skills stayed in Slavia from 1968 till 1980 and often had the privilege to execute penalty kicks. He was a member of the 1974 Czech Cup winning team. He played 564 matches for Slavia, 223 in the domestic league, and scored 242 goals. He won a gold medal at the 1976 European Championships in Belgrade.
Peter Herda (25th November 1956) was regarded as an exceptional talent by experts and fans alike. It was his older brother Dušan who brought him to Slavia. Most of his 110 league goals were scored for Slavia (1974–1983). He was the best league goal scorer in the 1981/82 season with 15 goals. He gathered 495 caps for Slavia, 223 in the domestic league, and scored 301 goals.
Ivo Knoflíček (23rd February 1962) was a crowd favourite and successor to Puč and Hlaváček. He played 342 games (165 league caps) for Slavia between 1981–1988 and 1994–1995, scoring 173 goals. In the 1984/85 season he gained the crown for the best league goal scorer with 21 goals. He wore the national team shirt in 38 matches and scored 8 goals.
Pavel Kuka (19th July 1968) is regarded to be a typical “Slavista.” He was 6 years old when he wore the stitched shirt for the first time. A 1994 Football Player of the Season award winner, a EURO 1996 silver medallist and a Czech Cup winner in the 2000/01 season. His 153 league goals places him 16th in the Club of League Goal Scorers: 94 goals were scored in the red-white jersey, 9 during his compulsory military service for RH Cheb and 50 goals in the Bundesliga. He gathered 431 caps for Slavia, 225 in the league.
Vladimír Šmicer (24th May 1973) played 212 games for Slavia, 105 in the domestic league, and won 3 championship titles (1996, 2008 and 2009). He wore the Slavia shirt from 1987 – 1996 and 2007 – 2009. He left for France as a silver medallist from the 1996 EURO Championships in England and in 2000 greatly contributed to the Czech national team’s third place at the 2004 EURO Championships in Portugal. In France, “Šmíca” won the league with RC Lens in 1998 and the cup in 1999. His achievements with Liverpool include the 2001 FA Cup, 2001 and 2003 Football League Cup, the 2001 UEFA Cup and the 2005 Champions League. He also won the 2007 French League Cup with FC Girondins Bordeaux.
Stanislav Vlček (26th February 1976) transferred to Slavia in 2004 from Dynamo Moscow. He left for Anderlecht Brussels at the end of 2007 to come back in summer 2009 and stayed until the end of his rich professional career in 2012. He gathered 301 caps for Slavia, 167 in the league, and joined the Club of League Goal Scorers with 106 strikes. He had a great merit in Slavia progressing into the UEFA Champions League group stage thanks to two goals against Ajax.