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

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and current manager of Dukla Banská Bystrica.

Playing career

Straka played most notably for

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

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

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

and participated at the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, 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 ...

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

Coaching career

Early coaching career

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

FK Teplice FK Teplice is a Czech professional football club based in the city of Teplice. The club competes in Czech First League, the top tier of Czech football. The club was founded after World War II in 1945. The club advanced to the Czechoslovak First ...

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 Victor ...

. 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 (), recognised by FIFA as Czechia, represents the Czech Republic in men's international Association football, football. The team is controlled by the Football Association of the Czech Republic (FAČR). H ...

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

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

on 5 June 2009. In June 2010, Straka was appointed head coach of the North Queensland Fury in

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

, 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, but the club folded in 2011 because of financial difficulties. After speculation that he was going to replace Ernie Merrick at

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 ...

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

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

club

Arka Gdynia Morski Związkowy Klub Sportowy Arka Gdynia () is a professional football club based in Gdynia, Poland, that plays in the Ekstraklasa after winning the 2024–25 I liga. The club was founded as Klub Sportowy Gdynia in 1929. History The h ...

. In October 2011, he was announced as the replacement for Michal Petrouš 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 association football, football football team, club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are ...

. 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 Czech First League after a year's break in March 2013, joining bottom-table club 1. FK Příbram. He lasted only half a year in this job before being replaced by their former manager, Petr Čuhel. In December 2016, Straka was appointed as manager of Egyptian club

Ismaily SC Ismaily Sporting Club () is an Egyptian football club, established on 20 March 1921 as El Nahda Sporting Club () ( Egyptian pronunciation: Nady El Nahda), based in Ismaïlia, Egypt. The club is best known for its football team. Also it's consi ...

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

2020s

On 20 February 2024, Straka was appointed as manager of Slovak football club

Michalovce Michalovce (; , , Romani language, Romani: ''Mihalya'', Yiddish language, Yiddish: מיכאלאָווצע ''Mikhaylovets'' or ''Mykhaylovyts''; ) is a town on the Laborec river in eastern Slovakia. Originally named after the Archangel St Michael ...

. The same year on 28 July, he was appointed as manager of Dynamo České Budějovice. On 10 January 2025, Straka was sacked by Dynamo České Budějovice following poor match results that resulted in the club being the bottom of 2024–25 Czech First League table. On 17 March 2025, he was appointed as coach of FK Dukla Banská Bystrica.

Honours

Managerial

Teplice *

Czech Cup The Czech Cup (), 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 1961. The winner ...

: 2002–03 Sparta Prague *

: 2003–04 Slovan Bratislava * Slovak Super Cup: 2014

References

External links