Five years ago Slavia Prague had climbed back to the top of Czech football, reaching the Champions League group stages for the first time in 2007/08. They might not have emerged from a strong group featuring Arsenal, Sevilla and Steaua Bucharest, but that season they went on to claim the Gambrinus Liga (Czech First Division) in 2007/08.
They followed that up by reclaiming the Czech league the next season.
How times have changed. Slavia have plummeted from the reckoning and this season they are 14th, just one point and one place above the relegation zone.
But it has not been a sudden decline. They have not finished in the Top 6 since winning the title in 2008/09. Starting with 2009/10 their record over the past four seasons reads 7th, 9th, 12th and 7th.
For a team considered to be among Czech Republic’s traditional big clubs along with city rivals Sparta Prague, it has been a dramatic fall from grace.
The reasons for their decline are slightly similar to the problems faced by Danish club Brondby who I have looked at in Euro Footy Focus.
Prague’s oldest club ended up owing about €4 million to their previous part-owner. In Slavia’s case it was British-registered sports and entertainment company, ENIC Group, which has also owned parts of AEK Athens, Rangers (two clubs which have been relegated to the lower leagues after major financial problems) and Tottenham Hotspur.
Things got so bad that there was even a threat that Slavia would be thrown out of the Gambrinus Liga over unpaid wages and failing to pay back their debts. The highest earners were sold to try and save money but the Czech FA turned down their application for a new top flight licence ahead of the 2011/12 season.
Fans showed their anger in May 2011 when 1,500 of them stormed the pitch during a Czech Cup semi-final, forcing the cancellation of the game.
However, after Czech investment group Natland purchased a 51 per cent stake and paid about €1 million to cover outstanding debts and wages, the Czech FA accepted the club’s appeal and gave them a licence which prevented from being forcibly relegated.
However, the ownership situation was not solved easily. Until June 2011, ENIC claimed to own over 90 per cent of the club, stating that Czech businessmen Tomas Rosen and Petr Dolezal had fraudulently acquired control of the club back in 2006 under the name Key Investments.
In order to rectify the problem, Natland Group bought out ENIC’s remaining shares to settle the issue. They set up a holding company called Viscontia which took control of the club.
Later that summer, ex-Transport Minister Ales Rebicek bought 70 per cent of Viscontia shares to add to the 28 per cent he already owned which made him majority shareholder with 98 per cent control of the club.
While immediate problems have become more distant, results on the field have not improved as the last few seasons and the current campaign have shown.
Attendances have not helped with an average of about 6,900 people going through the gates last season, despite the fact that the club’s 21,000 seater Eden Park is the most modern stadium in the Czech Republic and hosted the 2013 European Super Cup.
Managerial instability has not helped with seven separate managerial stints over the past three and a half years. It has been that disorganized that a couple of former managers have returned and in turn lost their jobs. Prior to that, Slavia had thrived when ex-player Karel Jarolim managed the club for five years until 2010, winning two league titles in a row.
In addition, other clubs have risen to prominence in the Czech Republic in recent years. Viktoria Plzen, who are in Manchester City’s Champions League group, have won two out of the last three Gambrinus Liga titles and are currently second in the league this season, while Slovan Liberec took the 2011/12 trophy.
It will surely hurt Slavia fans to see derby rivals Sparta riding high in the league this season. Czech Republic’s most famous club might not have won the league over the past three seasons, but they have remained far more competitive than Slavia, finishing runner up in each of those campaigns.
But Slavia are known as the Eternal club and they have suffered major droughts before. In 1996 they won their first domestic league title in 49 years. Their fans will hope that they do not need to wait as long again, despite the enduring turmoil.
