The usual nagger would say well why not if the whole country has a lion in its emblem although its well documented that the first lions appeared on its territory only in 1934 when the pavilion of beasts was opened in Prague Zoo.

In this case there´s no fable behind, but a very real legendary trip that AFK VRŠOVICE (the old name of the club) made to Australia in 1927.

It all started by an invitation for the Czechoslovakian national team. The national team had to turn down the offer coz it would have meant changing the schedules of several clubs. Then the offer was passed to our bitter rivals, Sparta Praha, but they turned it down as well coz they had just returned from a three-months trip to America. Other clubs refused, too, because noone believed in a success of such a huge tour, so AFK Vršovice was made an offer at last. There was a problem with the name though, coz the Australians demanded a name correspionding with the country of origin. It was a bit of a circus I suppose and may seem ridiculous these days, but the Vršovice team adopted the name BOHEMIANS,which means the Czechs, since Bohemia is historical name of the western part of Czechoslovakia.

The team set off on April 7, 1927. They took a train to Naples, then continued by ship through Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal and Indian Ocean and further down. During the four months of constant travelling they played 20 matches (19 in Australia and 1 on the island of Ceylon). The results were admirable: 15 wins, 2 draws and only 3 lost matches, score 94:50. Upon they return on July 30 there was a massive welcoming celebration held at the main train station. The team did credit to the good name of Czechoslovakian football and so they were awarded by the national association - they were allowed to keep the name BOHEMIANS.

Moreover, the government of Queensland presented a couple of kangaroos (wallabies) to the first president of independent Czechoslovakia T.G.Masaryk. During the long journey a subsitute called Havlín took care of them and brought them safe and sound to Prague. President Masaryk received them symbolically and donated them to Prague Zoo. The players of Bohemians then started to be called klokani (kangaroos) and the exotic animal found its way into the club emblem.

That was the end of AFK Vršovice era and beginning of the Bohemians.

Jedině klóóókan, jedině klóóókan, jedině klokan z Vršovic! [traditional fans chant]