František Svoboda (5 August 1906 – 6 July 1948) was a Czech football player who played as a striker. His nickname was "Franci" (the French).

Club career

He started his career with Vinohrady Rapid, from where he moved to Slavia Prague in 1926, and with them he was the Champions of Czechoslovakia 8 times, played a pivotal role in helping the club to win 8 national league titles, scoring 101 league goals in his 14 years at the club and being the top goalscorer of the 1934–35 season with 27 goals. He remained in Slavia until 1940, after which he succeeded

Viktoria Zizkov 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 ...

. Svoboda enjoyed great fame in his playing days, being a respected and feared striker throughout Europe. Svoboda was a very strong and muscular player, but despite being robust in stature, his movement was elegant and he excelled especially at rocket shots even from great distances, becoming known for his goals from long range.

International career

He played 43 matches in 10 years for the Czechoslovakia national team, scoring 22 goals, and he was a member of the team that reached the

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of the

1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934. The 1934 World Cup was the first in w ...

, playing in three matches and scoring a goal in the match against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Half of his international tally came in the Central European Cup, and with those 11 goals, he is the fourth all-time top goal scorer in the competition's history.

International goals

:''Czechoslovakia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Svoboda goal.''

Honours

Club

; Slavia Prague

Czechoslovak First League The Czechoslovak First League ( cs, 1. fotbalová liga, sk, 1. futbalová liga) was the premier football league in the Czechoslovakia from 1925 to 1993, with the exception of World War II. Czechoslovakia was occupied by German forces who formed ...

: *Champions (8): 1928–29, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1936–37 and 1939–40

International

;Czechoslovakia World Cup: *Runners-up (1):

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

Central European Cup: *Runners-up (1): 1927–30

Individual

*Top goalscorer of the

1934–35 Czechoslovak First League Statistics of Czechoslovak First League in the 1934–35 season. Overview It was contested by 12 teams, and Slavia Prague won the championship. František Svoboda was the league's top scorer with 27 goals. League standings Results Top goalsc ...

with 27 goals

References

External links

* 1906 births 1948 deaths Czech men's footballers Czechoslovak men's footballers 1934 FIFA World Cup players SK Slavia Prague players Czechoslovakia men's international footballers Footballers from Vienna Men's association football forwards {{CzechRepublic-footy-forward-stub