I remember my first ever Sparta match. It was about a month after I had moved to the Czech Republic towards the end of the 2005-2006 season and they were playing Viktoria Plzen at Letna, or the Toyota Arena as it was back then. I didn't know much about Czech football and I'd never heard of Plzen but I was shocked. There were about 5000 fans in the stadium and Sparta were 3-0 down at half time. Mr Repka conceded two penalties. Plzen needed to win as they were third bottom so there were a few mumblings after the game that indicated there might have been some foul play involved somewhere. Imagine if Plzen had gone down that season...things might have looked quite different these past few years! Anyway, my point is I was shocked at the lack of atmosphere and small crowd. It wasn't what I had been expecting, at all. Maybe my expectations were a bit high. I had been watching Blackburn Rovers every weekend home and away for many years and obviously the crowds and stadiums in the Premier League are on a slightly different level but still, despite a tepid introduction to Czech football, I liked the place and chose Sparta as my team. I left Prague and moved up north towards Teplice about a year later and only managed the odd game before finally becoming a season ticket holder in 2011. After almost 9 years watching Sparta I now understand why there were only 5000 in the stadium that day, and it pisses me off.
I have discovered that there are too many Czech football fans (not only Sparta fans) that are 'plastic'. They pick and choose when to be a fan. If you ask someone in the pub who they support the majority will reply either 'Sparta' or 'Slavia' with some of the younger generation throwing 'Plzen' into the ring due to their recent success. The majority of these people don't have a clue when, where and who 'their club' is playing unless it's a big game. The average attendance this season is almost 2000 lower than last season. Why? Sparta won a league and cup double last season. It seems strange to see your team win 2 trophies, qualify for the champions league and say 'nah I won't bother'.
If Sparta play Plzen, Slavia or a top European team the stadium is sold out. A week later they play Slovacko and you would be lucky to have more than 7000 in the stadium. It's a disgrace. Who are these so called fans!? I remember when we played Chelsea two seasons ago in the Europa League. I went to both matches. The away match was great but the match at Letna was awful. I was surrounded by Sparta 'fans' wearing suits who were there just to see Chelsea. The attendance that night was 18,952 and I remember wondering how many would be at the following league game after such a good performance where we were eventually undone by some individual brilliance from Oscar. The game after Chelsea was a home league match against Slovacko. I remember it being a boring match which sprung to life when Sparta scored 4 in the last 20 mins, including a Vaclav Kadlec double. There were 4566 fans in the stadium that day. Pathetic.
So what's the reason?
Money? No chance. Czech football is extremely affordable even to those of us earning a Czech salary. My season ticket for Sparta costs about 1300kc. That's the same price as ONE match in England.
Unimportant matches. This is a common excuse. People seem to think a match against Plzen means everything and matches against smaller clubs don't warrant a visit to the stadium. I disagree. In England we follow our team NO MATTER who the opposition. Every match is important. You are a fan so you follow your club. I remember the 2011/2012 season where we missed out on the title and Liberec took the trophy. We had the usual sell outs that season against Slavia and Plzen. An important home game against Přibram attracted very few fans. We lost 0-2. We would have had a better chance in that match with 15,000+ fans in the stadium cheering the team on. Instead we lost with a whimper and the title became an uphill struggle.
Hooligans, Kotel, Idiots. Ok, I agree that there are some Sparta fans who embarrass the club. They aren't real fans. The players hate them, the fans hate them. It's an absolute minority of idiots.The recent trouble in Bratislava...it was started by 2 idiot kids with their faces covered. The racism...it's about 5 idiots in the stand and nobody else joins in. So these fans who use this as an excuse are going to let a couple of brainless kids scare them away? Pathetic. I've met a few people from the kotel and they are real fans. These people live and breathe Sparta. They meet about 8 hours before kick off on match days just to prepare banners. They watch the team home and away. I played at a fan club football tournament in Týnec nad Sazavou back in July and there were good people everywhere, no idiots. We should be proud to have these fans because it's a rarity in Europe these days...especially in England. When the kotel have a stadium full of fans they can create one of the best football atmospheres in Europe, absolutely no doubt about it. We need that!
What next? Who knows. We have been knocked out of the Europa league which will cost us about 12,000 fans until the derby game so we will probably have around 5000 in the stadium when we play Přibram on the 21st February. Retaining the title is going to be extremely difficult.
Stay at home Sparta fans need to support the club. Everyone is in this together.
If Sparta play Plzen, Slavia or a top European team the stadium is sold out. A week later they play Slovacko and you would be lucky to have more than 7000 in the stadium. It's a disgrace. Who are these so called fans!? I remember when we played Chelsea two seasons ago in the Europa League. I went to both matches. The away match was great but the match at Letna was awful. I was surrounded by Sparta 'fans' wearing suits who were there just to see Chelsea. The attendance that night was 18,952 and I remember wondering how many would be at the following league game after such a good performance where we were eventually undone by some individual brilliance from Oscar. The game after Chelsea was a home league match against Slovacko. I remember it being a boring match which sprung to life when Sparta scored 4 in the last 20 mins, including a Vaclav Kadlec double. There were 4566 fans in the stadium that day. Pathetic.
So what's the reason?
Money? No chance. Czech football is extremely affordable even to those of us earning a Czech salary. My season ticket for Sparta costs about 1300kc. That's the same price as ONE match in England.
Unimportant matches. This is a common excuse. People seem to think a match against Plzen means everything and matches against smaller clubs don't warrant a visit to the stadium. I disagree. In England we follow our team NO MATTER who the opposition. Every match is important. You are a fan so you follow your club. I remember the 2011/2012 season where we missed out on the title and Liberec took the trophy. We had the usual sell outs that season against Slavia and Plzen. An important home game against Přibram attracted very few fans. We lost 0-2. We would have had a better chance in that match with 15,000+ fans in the stadium cheering the team on. Instead we lost with a whimper and the title became an uphill struggle.
Hooligans, Kotel, Idiots. Ok, I agree that there are some Sparta fans who embarrass the club. They aren't real fans. The players hate them, the fans hate them. It's an absolute minority of idiots.The recent trouble in Bratislava...it was started by 2 idiot kids with their faces covered. The racism...it's about 5 idiots in the stand and nobody else joins in. So these fans who use this as an excuse are going to let a couple of brainless kids scare them away? Pathetic. I've met a few people from the kotel and they are real fans. These people live and breathe Sparta. They meet about 8 hours before kick off on match days just to prepare banners. They watch the team home and away. I played at a fan club football tournament in Týnec nad Sazavou back in July and there were good people everywhere, no idiots. We should be proud to have these fans because it's a rarity in Europe these days...especially in England. When the kotel have a stadium full of fans they can create one of the best football atmospheres in Europe, absolutely no doubt about it. We need that!
What next? Who knows. We have been knocked out of the Europa league which will cost us about 12,000 fans until the derby game so we will probably have around 5000 in the stadium when we play Přibram on the 21st February. Retaining the title is going to be extremely difficult.
Stay at home Sparta fans need to support the club. Everyone is in this together.
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