We want to use the lines below to introduce our foreign sympathizers (and random visitors) to the current situation in our beloved football club and the fans initiative to save it.
Lets start with a brief overview of the history of the BOHEMIANS. We were established in 1905, so by the cruel twist of fate, we are about to celebrate our 100th anniversary :) The club was founded with the name of the part of Prague where it began, AFK Vrsovice.
Wondering how we got the Kangaroo into our emblem? Players of AFK went to Australia in 1927 to show off their football skills in competition with the Aussies, and as they came from Bohemia, Australians called them BOHEMIANS. Two live kangaroos were given as a gift to the players from the heart of Europe.…a nice beginning to a long story.
The growth of the club brought the need for a new stadium and it was opened in 1930. Our stadium really looks like an old man, alive now for over seventy years :) We survived WW II and through the main part of the communist era and into the golden age of Bohemians. Between 1977 and 1987 we were consistently at the top of our league table, and as a result qualified for European competitions. In those years we were proud to meet teams like: Bayern, Ipswich, Valencia, St. Etienne, Dundee, Anderlecht, Rapid Wien, Ajax, Tottenham, etc. The "piece de resistance" of these successful years was the league title in the 1982/83 season.
The 1990’s meant hard times for our club. People connected with the club (including some former owners) saw the opportunity to gain easy money with no respect to the future of the club. The money earned from the sale of players (now playing Seria A, Bundesliga or Russian league) disappeared or was used to pay the debts resulting from the poor management of the club. Frequent changes of club owners, their aversion to investing money and poor management skills has left us in bankruptcy.
And now, when it seems, that an important piece of Czech sporting history is tired and close to death at the end of its hundred-year journey, the fans have risen to try and breathe life into their beloved club. They have been with their kangaroo through both good times and bad, and are now the last hope for the club. Supporters of BOHEMIANS, inspired by English fans success in saving their clubs, decided to organize themselves and founded their own cooperative association (DFB). The goal of the DFB is to unite the power of all supporters to save FC BOHEMIANS.
The plan is to take over the license for the third division, and to collect the necessary amount of money to negotiate paying all debts connected to the club. The DFB envisages a living football club without any negative connection to the past. A club ready to start the new season with a pride in its history and a very much “alive” kangaroo (although a suited mascot these days). We are a Football club with tradition and are an attractive proposition for future investors.
Meanwhile after only two weeks, we have collected more than 1,1 million CZK and the first negotiations are started.
If you love sport, tradition, or even kangaroos and you feel compelled to join our "holy battle" you can join DFB by filling application form and paying 1000,- CZK for your membership. Please find out more on our website http://www.fc-bohemians.cz/druzstvo/default_en.asp .
by Ricky & Vertigo
