He set his foot in Ďolíček for the first time in 1958 and he fell in love with green-and-whites. He was a flag bearer following his team even to away matches. Meet Jiří Steinbroch - the new director of Bohemians. Mr. Steinbroch is supposed to lead Bohemians back to the first division. He has done it once before, with Viktoria Žižkov.
What club is closer to your heart - Bohemka or Viktorka?
It’s a difficult question. I had worked for close to ten years for Žižkov and now I will be working for Bohemka. It’s not about what club I cheer for more. I have always followed and will follow both clubs.
When did you step in Ďolíček for the first time?
I am from Vršovice (the district of Prague where Ďolíček is located - translater’s note), I was born there. I attended a school next to the Vršovice railway station. I started watching Bohemka’s games in 1958. I experienced the golden era in the 60’s which was unfortunately followed by relegation in 1965. I have fond memories of that time.
Did you follow Bohemka even to away games?
Yes, I usually joined trips arranged by the Klokan club. The legendary Miroslav Bičík used to organize bus trips. However, I also travelled by myself. I just grabbed a flag and away I went. One trip that is stuck in my memory is the trip to Bratislava. Slovan Bratislava was back then the winner of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and Bohemka was just promoted to the first league. It was foolish from me to go by myself but I was lucky - Bohemka lost 4:0 and Slovan’s fans took a mercy on me and did not beat me up. They were in good mood and left me alone.
The fan Jiří Steinbroch has become the director Jiří Steinbroch. How did it happen?
Since I had some health issues, I left Viktorka on 31.12.2004. The Bohemka offer caught me by surprise but I had agreed right away. It’s an ideal work for me; I had done something very similar in Viktorka. I have a good overall knowledge of football environment, not only the first league. And when Bohemka is going to return to where it belongs, I would like to be a part of it.
Who specifically contacted you?
The first contact was directly with fans. After spotting the movement SOS Klokan on Internet, I felt that I had to help in some way. I met with Jiří Dienstbier, who represented the fans. I told him that I was not a member of DFB (Bohemians Supporters’ Trust) but I would help arranging some matters. Later on, I was approached by shareholders of AFK Vršovice who outlined their vision of the club’s salvage operation. I knew right then that it was the right position for me. Bohemka belongs to the first league and we have to accomplish that.
What do you think about the fans movement to save Bohemians?
Hats off to them. There is not too many clubs that have fans like that.
Do you intend to use fans’ help when we return to Ďolíček?
We should start moving to Ďolíček at the end of this week. I would like to ask fans if they could help us up with tidying up the stadium. After all, nobody played there for half a year and the ravages of time are visible. We would like to improve our home ground and all the help from fans would be welcome.
How about the grass?
The grass is being mowed. The field will be ready.
When will you meet fans for the first time?
I will meet them for the first time on Thursday. I will be ready to answer all their questions and provide clarifications.
Fans helped out with a debt reduction. Is Bohemka definitively debt free?
We are starting completely from scratch. One advantage of the green-field project is that we are debt free and are starting with a clean slate. It’s only up to us how we will run the ship. We can’t use any excuses.
You have no debts but also no players. How are you going to tackle this problem?
We are counting on the return of many players who spent years in Bohemians. There are a lot of players out there that passed through our junior football system. I would like to appoint a coach by the end of this week and then we will concentrate on players. We would like to put together a skeleton of the team within two weeks so that we can start with practices.
What is your idea of a new coach?
In my work at Viktorka I have worked with 28 coaches and each of them was different. It all depends on a specific situation. Under normal circumstances, there may be three, four players that change teams during either summer or winter break. We are now in a similar situation as Dukla (an army team - translator’s note) where the whole year-class of conscripts leaves and another one arrives. We have to get twenty football players and the coach must be able to handle that situation. There will be a little time to get used to each other on the field but expectations will be high. Our fans won’t allow us to languish somewhere in the middle of the standings.
Do you have any experience with the third league?
I started with Viktorka in the fourth league and we were promoted to the third league. That’s where I learnt that this is probably the toughest league. Out of 18 teams only one team gets promoted. There are also a lot of reserve teams of first league teams playing there. That’s why we can’t be certain that we will get to the second league during our first season.
Will Bohemka use the name Bohemians?
The football club owns neither the logo nor the stadium. We are still negotiating about the logo. We were given a promise that if we prove the linkage to the original Bohemians club (which the Czech Football Association confirmed), the logo will be ours. So we are hoping that we will be playing under the name Bohemians.
Bohemka will start playing the third league games in August. What will one season cost?
We are still working on a budget. It looks like 10 million CZK. That’s the amount that better teams in the third league work with. The budget in the second league is about 50% higher.
Do you have that money?
Yes, we sure do.
Will Bohemka play again in green-and-white striped uniforms?
My first memories of Bohemka are in the striped uniforms and I would like Bohemka to get back to these uniforms starting this upcoming season.
So has Bohemka definitively been saved?
I can state with 100% certainty that Bohemka has definitively been saved. Now we have to only tidy up the stadium. That’s the first step.
Where will your office be?
We will be of course in Ďolíček. Mr. Danner built that stadium when he was a director of The Citizens Saving Institution. This also happened to be my first and only employer before my involvement in football. I had worked there for 27 years and I started out in the same building where Mr. Danner used to work.
We are getting close to the club’s centennial. Will there be celebrations?
Of course. Even though Bohemka has been going through some rough times, it is necessary to celebrate such an occasion. It’s somewhat typical for this club - founded in 1905, the first relegation came in 1935 and then again in 1965. Bohemka lost the title in 1985 in the last match against Trnava. Bohemka was relegated again in 1995 and it fell all the way to the third league in 2005. But we have to put it out of our minds. We will celebrate. We want to provide all the fans with a good time so that they can for a moment forget all the troubles that we have gone through.
