František "Franz" Straka (born 28 May 1958) is a Czech former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and manager of Fotbal Třinec.

Biography

Playing career

Straka played most notably for

Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...

. In 1988, he moved to Germany and spent the rest of his playing career there. He played for

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and was a participant in the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...

. He played total 35 matches for the national team from 1983 to 1990.

Coaching career

After retiring from playing, he began coaching. Straka led several top flight Czech clubs, including

FK Teplice FK Teplice is a Czech football club based in the city of Teplice. The club currently plays in the Czech First League. The club was founded after World War II in 1945. The club advanced to the Czechoslovak First League in just three years after ...

and

Viktoria Plzeň Viktoria usually refers to Viktoria, a name which is the same as Victoria (name), but may also refer to: Places * FK Viktoria Stadion, stadium of Viktoria Žižkov * Viktoria-Luise-Platz, building in Berlin * Viktoriastadt, now known as Victoria ...

. He also coached abroad in Austria, Slovakia and Greece. In 2009, he was selected as temporary manager of the

Czech Republic national football team The Czech Republic national football team ( cs, Česká fotbalová reprezentace), recognised by FIFA as Czechia, represents the Czech Republic in international football. The team is controlled by the Football Association of the Czech Republic ...

. On 30 June 2009, after only one game in charge he left the position. He won his only match, a 1–0 friendly over

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

on 5 June 2009. In June 2010, he was appointed head coach of the

North Queensland Fury Northern Fury Football Club was an Australian professional soccer club based in Townsville, Queensland. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League under the name North Queensland Fury. On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from t ...

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

, Australia. He became a fan favourite in Australia, due to his affable personality and fashion sense. Straka was ready to lead the North Queensland Fury for another season, however the club folded in 2011 because of financial difficulties. After speculation he was going to replace

Ernie Merrick Ernest Merrick OAM (born 15 January 1953) is a Scottish-Australian coach, who last managed A-League soccer club Newcastle Jets. He was released on 6 January 2020. He was the former head coach of the Hong Kong national football team and A-League ...

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

, Straka returned to Europe, where he was announced manager of Polish

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 cl ...

club

Arka Gdynia Morski Związkowy Klub Sportowy Arka Gdynia () is a Polish professional football club, based in Gdynia, Poland, that plays in the Polish I liga. The club was founded as Klub Sportowy Gdynia in 1929. History The history of Arka dates back to ...

. In October 2011, he was announced as the replacement for

Michal Petrouš Michal Petrouš (born 6 December 1969) is a Czech Republic, Czech association football, football manager and former player. He worked as a manager of SK Slavia Prague, Slavia Prague on two occasions and was in charge of Czech youth national team ...

as manager of

SK Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in th ...

. His appointment as a new manager of Slavia sparked controversy and protests from Slavia fans, who saw Straka as a rival Sparta's patriot. Straka's appointment was also criticized by Sparta fans, who saw Straka as a traitor. After just five months in the job, Straka resigned in March 2012. Straka returned to the Gambrinus liga after a year's break in March 2013, joining bottom of the table side 1. FK Příbram. He lasted only half a year in this job before being replaced by their former manager, Petr Čuhel. In December 2016, he was appointed as manager of Egyptian side

Ismaily SC Ismaily Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الإسماعيلي الرياضي) is an Egyptian professional football club, established on 20 March 1921 as El Nahda Sporting Club ( ar, جمعية نهضة الشباب المصري ) ( Egyptian pronunci ...

signing a 1.5-year contract. It was the first time position in the Arab region or Africa of his career.

Personal life

Straka holds German citizenship and is fluent in German. Fans often call him Franz Straka.

Honours

Managerial

Teplice *

Czech Cup The Czech Cup ( cs, Pohár FAČR), officially known as the MOL Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the major men's football cup competition in the Czech Republic. It is organised by the Czech Football Association. The Czech Cup was first held in 19 ...

: 2002–03 Sparta Prague *

: 2003–04 Slovan Bratislava *

Slovak Super Cup The Slovak Super Cup (''Slovenský Superpohár'' in Slovak), in the past named as ''Matičný pohár'' or ''Pribinov pohár'', was a football match between the champion of the Corgoň Liga and winner of the Slovak Cup. The cup was played annually ...

: 2014

References

External links