Günter Bittengel (born 14 July 1966) is a Czech

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 ...

coach and former player. He played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

in the Czechoslovak First League and went on to play in the Czech First League after the

dissolution of Czechoslovakia The dissolution of Czechoslovakia ( cs, Rozdělení Československa, sk, Rozdelenie Česko-Slovenska) took effect on December 31, 1992, and was the self-determined split of the federal republic of Czechoslovakia into the independent countries o ...

. As a result, he also represented both Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic at international level.

Club career

During his playing career, Bittengel made over 100 league appearances for Dukla Prague in six seasons at the club. He was part of the Dukla team which won the 1989–90 Czechoslovak Cup. Bittengel then went to Germany to play for Bayer Uerdingen. During his time in Germany he played 153 league matches, scoring a total of 20 goals. Later in his career, Bittengel returned to the Czech Republic and played for FK Chmel Blšany, where he was the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. Bittengel, Jan Šimák and

Pavel Pergl Pavel Pergl (14 November 1977 – 1 May 2018) was a Czech professional footballer who played as a central defender. He committed suicide on 1 May 2018. Career Pergl played for Sparta Prague, SG Dynamo Dresden (two spells), Preston North End, AE ...

scored the first-ever top-flight goals for Blšany, each finding the net in a 3–1 win away at Teplice in August 1998.

International career

Bittengel played for the Czechoslovakia national under-21 football team between 1986 and 1988, scoring three times in 14 appearances. He progressed to the senior side, making his début for Czechoslovakia senior team in 1987. He played his fourth and final match for Czechoslovakia in 1991, Retrieved 14 June 2013. but would go on to play for the newly independent Czech Republic in a 1995 match against Finland, his only appearance.

Managerial career

As a manager, Bittengel's first Czech First League position was at FK Chmel Blšany, who he led between 2001 and 2003. He took charge of Blšany in the winter break of the 2001–02 Gambrinus liga, after the team had lost seven consecutive matches under boss

Miroslav Beránek Miroslav Beránek (born 24 April 1957) is a Czech football coach who was most recently the manager of the Slavia Prague. As a player, he played over 100 matches as a defender for Slavia Prague in the 1980s. Coaching career Beránek took charge ...

. Blšany remained in the top league throughout Bittengel's tenure, but suffered a run of five consecutive defeats at the beginning of the 2003–04 season. In October 2003, with the club still last in the table, having taken just two points from the opening ten matches, Bittengel was replaced by Michal Bílek. He took over at FK Viktoria Žižkov in the winter break of the 2003–04 Gambrinus liga, with the club second from bottom in the league. The club were relegated at the end of the season and Bittengel left Žižkov to join

SC Xaverov Horní Počernice SC Xaverov Horní Počernice is a football club based in Prague-Horní Počernice, Czech Republic. Formed in 1920 by a merger of Slavoj Horní Počernice and Slovan Horní Počernice as TJ Xaverov Horní Počernice, they played in the Czech 2. Li ...

, a team which had just been relegated to the Bohemian Football League, on a one-year contract. Bittengel joined FK Dukla Prague in July 2006, while the team was in the Prague Championship. He led Dukla until December 2009, when

Luboš Kozel Luboš Kozel (born 16 March 1971) is a Czech football manager and former player. Following a playing career where he was associated with Slavia Prague, he spent seven years as manager of FK Dukla Prague, overseeing their transition from the Secon ...

was brought in to lead the team and Bittengel moved to a new role as sporting director.

Honours

Dukla Prague Czechoslovak Cup: 1989–90

References

External links

Günter Bittengel
at Hall of Fame Dukla Praha {{DEFAULTSORT:Bittengel, Gunter 1966 births Living people Czech footballers Czechoslovak footballers Association football forwards Czech Republic international footballers Czechoslovakia under-21 international footballers Czechoslovakia international footballers German Bohemian people Dual internationalists (football) Dukla Prague footballers FK Chmel Blšany players KFC Uerdingen 05 players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Czech First League players Czech football managers Czech First League managers FK Viktoria Žižkov managers Czechoslovak expatriate footballers Czech expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Germany Czech expatriate sportspeople in Germany Footballers from Prague FK Dukla Prague managers