Baník Ostrava v. Bohemians 1905 2:0 (1:0)

Everyone knew that. Out of this everyone, many still believed. Including me even though I tried not to.

Odds were against us. Baník Ostrava are quality side and they had something to play for - only a win could secure them UEFA Cup place. They are second best team at home (9-4-1 before the match), we are third worst team away (1-4-9). They had the support of sold-out Bazaly (attendance 17372) and last week they won vital match away at Letná against Sparta Praha. In Václav Svěrkoš they have the top league scorer (15 goals altogether and 8 in last 8 games) who has found his name on the nomination list for EURO 2008 on Wednesday. You get the point.

In spite of all this circa 500 fans travelled 395km to Ostrava on special trains and buses. I wouldnt be surprised to see TV report about a fan who jumped kangaroostyle all his way to the Steel heart of the republic (as the industrial city was called in the communist era) in protest against the inevitable relegation of Bohemka. All the papers were crying that Bohemka belongs to the Gambrinus Liga and how much the best fans deserve to stay up (our competitors, SK Kladno, have virtually no supporters). However, this doesnt count in the table.

I didnt go to Ostrava and instead wanted to see the match in Ďolíček, but the stadium was closed. So I moved to the nearby pub U Pepíčka where handful of old men and punks were supping beer and watching the match on TV. I must say I was shocked by our performance, I couldnt recognise the team that lost the infamous home match against Teplice a week ago. They didnt create any single decent chance last Saturday, whereas today, despite conceding an early unlucky goal, the team passed the ball in the manner we rarely got to see throughout the whole season. Otherwhiles harmless David Bartek was causing serious troubles on the right wing and created great chance for captain Slezák, who was in the starting eleven for the first time since end of March. Pacesetter Morávek was at his best creating chances as well as throwing them away, Rezek looked sharp and the defence... Well they didnt have much to do. The celebrated offensive power of Baník was invisible because it got absolutely no support from midfield. We had 54% possession and shots stats came 12:3 in our favour. However, representative for the whole season, we couldnt score.

Second half was more boring, Ostrava defenders approached our players more tightly and didnt let us do much offensively speaking. Our tactics also changed from fast moving on both wings to long balls up front for the ineffective forwards Ordoš and Škoda. We didnt create hardly any chances and conceded in injury timy, last nail in the first league coffin.

This sad afternoon had also a positive side - after 12 years our Vršovice neighbours and good friends Slavia Praha made the last step on their journey to the title. This all happened not even a mile away from Ďolíček, at their brand new hypermodern (it holds a bank and McDos inside, how amazing!) Eden stadium. Nice housewarming in front of the crowd of nearly 21000 I reckon.

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]

hi there, behind the screen somewhere.

in this very first post i´d like to explain why i do what i do, meaning the whole bohemians1905 oleole profile.

first of all, the idea is to spread the good name of BOHEMIANS around the virtual world, especially outside of the tiny wee little country that is czech republic. i will write everything in english with consideration of abroad fans only - the czech fans and local bohemka supporters have other forums, blogs and sites which provide broader information of higher quality.

so in case you are czech, see Virtuální Ďolíček or Bohemiansfans.cz or B1905 fan web or Bohemians Ultras blog or Řvi Bohemka for info and various stuff. the best bohemians blog is definitely Coitus1905.

i dont suppose any fans could read these lines anyway. not the hard-core fans for sure coz they dont give a shit about internet and i guarantee they never heard the word blog. those ladies and gentlemen stick with their beers&fags&rum&lousy jobs and of course bohemka. naturally, there is all kinds of people who support bohemians, but for me these are the real ones - always drunk, singing rude songs, slagging refs and throwing the odd beer towards the visitors keeper (not that i wouldnt drink, sing rude songs, slag refs and throw beers - however, i do it solely at the stadium on the matchday, the rest of the time i´m an outstanding citizen).

so its the overseas fans or the german fans or the french ones i´m writing it for. these days prague is also full of british lads, on stag parties or just up for a cheap weekend from manchester and to be honest, prague doesnt have much to offer them from the football point of view. except of bohemka, obviously, because there is not (yet) any bangladeshian trillionaire pulling strings and the club is as poor as a church mouse (czech expression) and its run mainly by passion of the fans and board alike. so i reckon, its baroque architecture in the morning and 1960s football in the afternoon. then off you go for the cheap pints of tasty lager and then the night clubs. i mean, what more could you possibly ask for?

all in all, i guess i am writing this coz i enjoy it and there´s no need for audience then...