Bohemians: Praha and Panenka

Words: Dave Harry

Images: Dave Harry

“We were just happy to do things. It was more bohemian. We knew we were doing something we liked and it was not like everyone else. It was a happy world”.

Anna Karina.

Vršovice is one of Prague’s many beautiful districts but fittingly, it is perhaps its most bohemian.

The Dolíček Stadium (“The Dimple”) could not fit into it better; it compliments rather than dominates its surroundings and from many of its vantage points, you can pick some of the wonderful architecture of Vršovic including art deco apartment blocks and the stunning MANA Theatre tower.

It is the home of Bohemians 1905: Warm, welcoming and just that little bit different to most football clubs.

©Dave Harry/ Terrace Edition. Bohemians Praha 1905.

Results matter of course, but I’ve seen them win, lose and draw here yet the atmosphere is always convivial and enjoyable – the team gets solid vocal backing but people seem to have a sense of perspective and I’ve never witnessed the level of anger and aggression that I have at other clubs, when the team are struggling.

It’s not that emotions don’t manifest themselves though. In the 00’s the club had financial woes and lost its professional licence.

Whilst the majority of the clubs supporters set-up a phoenix club – Bohemians 1905 – and began to plot their way back, a team called FK Bohemians Prague (Střížkov) was also established.

“FK Bohemians” did attract a small group of support and the sides met in fixtures but after a protracted legal case, Bohemians 1905 won out and “FK Bohemians” dissolved.

I don’t doubt that troubled period has helped make Bohemians 1905 one of the most community focused and welcoming clubs around.

The food and beer stands are staffed by friendly people and there’s a calmness around the stadium as people queue for drinks, even as kick-off draws near.

People are here to enjoy more than just the game.

The club crest of a kangaroo isn’t exactly normal either, after all we’re 10,000 miles from Canberra. It dates back to a famous tour of Australia in 1927 by the then AFK Vršovice.

Concerned that no-one in Australia would have known of Vršovice, the club renamed themselves Bohemians as a nod to the Kingdom that eventually formed the core of what is now Czechia.

After the success of the trip, the name stuck and they adopted the “Kangaroos” as a nickname and the club crest was suitably changed.

That’s different to most clubs as well, but perhaps the most striking symbol of the club’s uniqueness was that by its most famous son and current Chairman: Mr Panenka.

Antonín Panenka.

A name we all know. Most of us never saw that penalty in real-time but its so famous that we all know it and I can visualise it as I write – the confidence and cheek of the chip, the ball floating slowly toward the goal as if trapped in its own time and space before landing in the back of the net.

The winning strike that helped the then Czechoslovakia beat, of all sides, West Germany in a penalty shootout, to win the 1976 European Championship.

Antonín Panenka did that on the biggest stage of all. He played for Bohemians and I don’t doubt they did things differently back then either.

It’s safe to assume that if his penalty had been saved he’d have been mocked the world over but I sense that score or miss, the people back in Vršovice would’ve smiled wryly and understood his approach.

The audacity he had to take the kick that way to me at least, was born out of playing at the Dolíček, the swagger, the “Dimple” in the smile… He knew he was doing something he liked and he wasn’t like everyone else, he was doing it his way; he chipped, he scored.

So very bohemian.