Marek Matějovský (born 20 December 1981) is a Czech footballer who plays for

FK Mladá Boleslav FK Mladá Boleslav is a Czech football club based in the city of Mladá Boleslav . The club currently plays in the Czech First League. Mladá Boleslav were runners up in the 2005–06 Czech First League and went on to play in the 2006–07 UEF ...

as a central

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

Early career

Matějovský started his football career at the age of five with Slavoj Stará Boleslav, progressing to Alfa Brandýs nad Labem at the age of 13. After turning 18, he signed professional terms with

Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav (; german: Jungbunzlau) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 42,000 inhabitants. Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region and a major centre of the Czech automotive in ...

for the 1999–2000 season, who were then playing in the Czech 2. Liga. In the spring of 2001, he switched to

Gambrinus liga The Czech First League, known as the Fortuna liga for sponsorship reasons, is a Czech professional league for football clubs. At the top of the Czech football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Seasons typically ...

team Jablonec, but returned to Mladá Boleslav in January 2003. After settling back into the team, he helped them win promotion to the Gambrinus liga for the start of the 2004–05 season, where they remained for the rest of Matějovský's stay at the club. He was promoted to captain of Mladá Boleslav at the start of the 2005–06 season.

Reading

Matějovský's performances in the Czech Republic alerted big clubs elsewhere in Europe to his ability, and he was linked with moves to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and Steaua Bucharest. However, it was announced on 7 January 2008 that Reading had signed Matějovský on a three-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £1.42 million.

Nick Hammond Nicholas David Hammond (born 7 September 1967 in Hornchurch, England) is an English former football goalkeeper. Playing career Hammond was an Arsenal apprentice, making his league début whilst on loan at Bristol Rovers in 1986, followed by ...

said, "Marek is primarily a central midfield player but he is also capable of playing in both wide positions or behind the strikers – he is a player we have been following for some time, and when the opportunity arose to sign him it was too good to turn down." Brian McDermott kept an eye on him for roughly 18 months, and had seen him in action a number of times. He said "He's captain of his club, and has played all their games in the last three years except when he's been suspended. That's the type of guy he is." He made his debut for Reading on 19 January in a 2–0 home defeat to Manchester United, coming on as an 80th-minute substitute for Bobby Convey. His first start for Reading was in another 2–0 home defeat, this time to Bolton Wanderers on 2 February. Matějovský scored his first goal for Reading on 15 March, with a 20-yard effort in a 2–1 loss at

. Two weeks later, he was sent off in a goalless draw against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

at the

Madejski Stadium The Madejski Stadium (currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a Association football, football stadium in Reading, Berkshire, Reading. It is the home of Reading F.C., Reading Football Club, who play in the E ...

. He totalled 15 appearances in his first season, which ended with relegation to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

Sparta Prague

Matějovský returned to the Czech Republic in 2010, joining

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 ...

and was announced as the new club captain ahead of the 2011–12 Gambrinus liga, taking over from

Tomáš Řepka Tomáš Řepka (born 2 January 1974) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a defender for Baník Ostrava, Sparta Prague, Fiorentina, West Ham United and České Budějovice, and the Czech national team. Currently, Řepka is p ...

International career

Morocco vs Czech Republic, February 11 2009-07

Matějovský was

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

ped 15 times by 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 Republi ...

. Karel Brückner first called him up as a replacement for the injured

David Jarolím David Jarolím (; born 17 May 1979 in Čáslav) is a Czech former footballer and manager of Ústí nad Labem. A central midfielder by position, Jarolím was known for his stamina, passing and technical skill. Club career Born in Caslav, Czecho ...

for the Czech Republic's

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of Europea ...

qualifier against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

on 2 September 2006, but had to wait until 7 February 2007 to make his international debut as a 70th-minute substitute in a friendly with

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, coming on for

Tomáš Galásek Tomáš Galásek (; born 15 January 1973) is a Czech former football player and current manager. He was a holding midfielder who was also strong as a centre-back. Club career Galásek started his career with Banik Ostrava in 1991, before mo ...

and assisting the second goal in a 2–0 win. He scored his only international goal in the Czech Republic's 3–0 win over

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in Munich, also hitting the post, to cement their place at Euro 2008. He started the second and third group games at the

but was taken off with an injury against Turkey.

Personal life

Matějovský married in the summer of 2007. Outside football, he is also a keen

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player.

Career statistics

International

''Statistics accurate as of match played 18 November 2009''

International goals

Honours

;Sparta Prague *

Czech First League The Czech First League, known as the Fortuna liga for sponsorship reasons, is a Czech professional league for football clubs. At the top of the Czech football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Seasons typically r ...

: 2013–14 *

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 ...

: 2013–14 *

Czech Supercup The Czech Supercup () was an annual football match between the winners of the Czech First League and the Czech Cup, organised by the Czech Football Association. It was last sponsored by Synot Tip and was therefore officially known as the Synot Tip ...

: 2010, 2014

References

External links

* *
Profile at iDNES.cz

at readingfc.co.uk * {{DEFAULTSORT:Matejovsky, Marek 1981 births Living people People from Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav Czech footballers Czech Republic international footballers Association football midfielders FK Mladá Boleslav players FK Jablonec players AC Sparta Prague players Reading F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players UEFA Euro 2008 players Czech First League players Czech expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Czech expatriate sportspeople in England Sportspeople from the Central Bohemian Region