Jiří Lopata (22 December 1936 – 20 April 2021) was 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 ...
player and manager. He played two seasons in the
Czechoslovak First League, scoring 27 goals in 51 games for
Spartak Plzeň Spartak may refer to:
In sports
*Spartak (sports society), an international fitness and sports society that unites some countries of the former Soviet Union
In Russia
*FC Spartak Moscow, a football club
*FC Spartak Kostroma, a football club
*PFC ...
. He spent more time in the league as a manager, mainly at
RH Cheb, where he remained for five years. He later went on to manage
Plastika Nitra,
Dukla Prague and
Bohemians Prague in the same league.
In 1985, he also took charge of the
Czechoslovakia under-21 side.
[ Lopata died in 2021 after a long illness.
]
Playing career
As a player, Lopata scored 16 goals in the 1961–62 season for Spartak Plzeň Spartak may refer to:
In sports
*Spartak (sports society), an international fitness and sports society that unites some countries of the former Soviet Union
In Russia
*FC Spartak Moscow, a football club
*FC Spartak Kostroma, a football club
*PFC ...
, a record which had still not been surpassed in 2006.[ Later in his career, he played for Škoda České Budějovice in the third league, before finishing his playing career in 1967.][
]
Management career
As a manager, Lopata joined RH Cheb in 1978.[ He celebrated promotion with them and continued in the First League before leaving in the 1983–84 season in order to take over at Plastika Nitra.][
Lopata took charge of Dukla Prague for two seasons as manager. He led the club to third place in the 1985–86 Czechoslovak First League,][Pivoda 2013, p. 36.] a season which included the club securing a record win of 10–0 against opponents Dynamo České Budějovice
"Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, )
A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the founda ...
.[Pivoda 2013, p. 28.] The following year was less successful as the club finished the 1986–87 season in ninth place.[ The last First League club Lopata managed was Bohemians Prague, where his engagement ran out in 1993.][
]
References
Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopata, Jiri
1936 births
2021 deaths
Footballers from Plzeň
Czech men's footballers
Czechoslovak men's footballers
Men's association football forwards
FC Viktoria Plzeň players
Czech football managers
Czechoslovak football managers
FK Hvězda Cheb managers
FC Nitra managers
Dukla Prague managers
Bohemians 1905 managers