Jiří Sobotka
Sobotka in 1961 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name |
Jiří Sobotka also known as: Georges Sobotka | ||
Date of birth | 6 June 1911 | ||
Place of birth | Prague, Austria-Hungary | ||
Date of death | 20 May 1994 | (aged 82)||
Place of death | Intragna, Switzerland | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Youth career | |||
Čechoslovan Košíře | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1931–1939 | Slavia Prague | 311 | (77) |
1939–1941 | Hajduk Split | 34 | (17) |
1942 | Slavia Prague | ||
1943–1946 | SK Baťa Zlín | ||
1946–1951 | Chaux-de-Fonds | ||
National team | |||
1934–1937 | Czechoslovakia | 23 | (8) |
Teams managed | |||
1940–1941 | Hajduk Split | ||
1946–1959 | Chaux-de-Fonds | ||
1959–1961 | Feyenoord | ||
1961–1965 | FC Basel | ||
1964–1965 | Switzerland | ||
1965–1967 | FC Biel-Bienne | ||
1968–1969 | Charleroi | ||
1970–1971 | UE Sant Andreu | ||
1971–1972 | Chaux-de-Fonds | ||
1972–1973 | FC Aarau | ||
1973–1976 | Bellinzona | ||
show
Honours | |||
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only |
Jiří Sobotka (6 June 1911 – 20 May 1994), also known as Georges Sobotka, was a former Czechoslovak footballer, who played internationally for Czechoslovakia (23 caps, 8 goals),[1] and participated at the 1934 FIFA World Cup when Czechoslovakia came in second.
He played for SK Slavia Praha, Hajduk Split (winning the Banovina of Croatia first league[2]) and FC La Chaux-de-Fonds.
During his period in Split, he played 36 league matches scoring 17 goals in the 1939-40[3] and 1940-41[4] seasons. Before arriving to Yugoslavia, he had been a player-coach in Switzerland with FC Winterthur.[5]
After his playing career, he coached numerous clubs in Switzerland[6] and won 6 Swiss cups.[7] He also coached Charleroi in Belgium[8] UE Sant Andreu in Spain,[9] and Switzerland national team.[10]
Curiosity[]
A well-documented curiosity was the fact that during the winter break of their 1963–64 season FC Basel travelled on a world tour. This saw them visit British Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia, Mexico and the United States. As first team manager Sobotka was together with 16 players and 15 members of staff, supporters and journalists participated in this world tour from 10 January to 10 February 1964. Team captain Bruno Michaud filmed the events with his super-8 camara. The voyage around the world included 19 flights and numerous bus and train journeys. Club chairman, Lucien Schmidlin, led the group, but as they arrived in the hotel in Bangkok, he realised that 250,000 Swiss Francs were missing. The suitcase that he had filled with the various currencies was not with them. He had left it at home, but fortunately Swiss Air were able to deliver this to him within just a few days. During the tour a total of ten friendly/test games were played, these are listed in their 1963–64 season. Five wins, three draws, two defeats, but also three major injuries resulted from these test matches. A broken leg for Peter Füri, an eye injury for Walter Baumann and a knee injury for Bruno Michaud soon reduced the number of players to just 13.[11]
Honours[]
As player[]
- with Slavia Prague
- Czechoslovak Championship: 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937
- with Hajduk Split
- with Czechoslovakia
- 1934 World Cup runner-up
As manager[]
- with Chaux-de-Fonds
- Swiss Cup: 1948*, 1951*, 1954, 1955, 1957
- Swiss Championship: 1954, 1955
- With Feyenoord
- Dutch League: 1961
- with FC Basel
- Swiss Cup: 1963
- (*Sobotka won the 1948 and 1951 Swiss Cups as player-manager)
See also[]
- Sobotka
References[]
- ^ Jiri Sobotka - International Appearances
- ^ Croatia - Championship Winning Squads
- ^ 1939-40 league stats at Hajduk Split official website.(in Croatian)
- ^ 1940-41 league stats at Hajduk Split official website.(in Croatian)
- ^ All-time coaches Archived 11 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine at FC Winterthur official website, retrieved 24-11-2015
- ^ Switzerland - Trainers of First and Second Division Clubs Archived 27 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Coupe Suisse
- ^ DH.be - Le Sporting centenaire!
- ^ Edición del viernes, 26 junio 1970, página 9 - Hemeroteca - elmundodeportivo.es
- ^ Switzerland - International Matches
- ^ Zindel, Josef (2018), "Die ersten 125 Jahre: 1964", The unbelievable world tour, pages 60 and 61, Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, Basel
External links[]
- Profile at CMFS
- Jiří Sobotka at WorldFootball.net
- Career story at Hajduk Split official website. (in Croatian)
- 1911 births
- 1994 deaths
- Czechoslovak footballers
- Czechoslovakia international footballers
- Czech footballers
- SK Slavia Prague players
- FC Fastav Zlín players
- HNK Hajduk Split players
- FC Aarau managers
- 1934 FIFA World Cup players
- Czechoslovak football managers
- Czech football managers
- FC La Chaux-de-Fonds managers
- Feyenoord managers
- FC Basel managers
- HNK Hajduk Split managers
- AC Bellinzona managers
- UE Sant Andreu managers
- FC Biel-Bienne managers
- Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
- Expatriate football managers in Yugoslavia
- Expatriate footballers in Yugoslavia
- Yugoslav First League players
- Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Yugoslavia
- Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Italy
- Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Spain
- Sportspeople from Prague
- Eredivisie managers
- Expatriate football managers in Belgium
- Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands
- Expatriate football managers in Spain
- Expatriate football managers in Switzerland
- Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
- Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
- Czechoslovak expatriate footballers
- Association football forwards
- Czech expatriate football managers