Martin Jiránek (; born 25 May 1979 in Prague) is a former Czech international footballer. A defender, Jiránek played in the top division of several countries. Jiránek played in a number of international tournaments for his country. In 2002, he was part of the Czech under 21 side which won the

2002 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2002 was the 13th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Switzerland between 16 and 28 May 2002. Czech Republic U-21s won the competition for the first time. Qua ...

in Switzerland. He subsequently travelled with the senior international squad for the Euro 2004 and

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

tournaments.

Career

Club

Early career

Jiránek started his professional career in 1997 for Bohemians Prague, making 55 appearances, before leaving for

Slovan Liberec FC Slovan Liberec (), commonly referred to as Slovan Liberec or simply Slovan, is a Czech football club based in the city of Liberec. The club is one of the most successful in the Czech Republic, having won three league titles and the domestic c ...

in 1999. He made 32 appearances, and helped Slovan to win the Czech Cup in the 1999/2000 season.

Reggina

In 2001, Jiranek moved to Italian Serie B side Reggina. In his time at Reggina, Jiranek would make 100 league appearances, helping Reggina gain promotion to Serie A in the 2001/02 season.

Spartak Moscow

Spartak Moscow signed Jiránek in 2004 for €4.7m from Reggina.Martin Jiránek - biography, stats, rating, footballer’s profile , Football Top.com
/ref> Jiránek made his debut against FC Lokomotiv Moscow. Jiránek was a regular in the starting line-up for six years. Jiránek was the captain of the team in 2009–2010.

Birmingham City

On 31 August 2010, he moved to English Premier League club Birmingham City, signing a one-year deal, having rejected offers from a variety of clubs. Jiránek made his debut in the starting eleven for the League Cup third-round match against MK Dons, and had a good chance to score as Birmingham won 3–1. His second start came in a tidy performance as several first-team regulars were rested for the FA Cup third round tie against Millwall which Birmingham won 4–1. After

Scott Dann Scott Dann (born 14 February 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre back for club Reading. He began his Football League career with Walsall, before moving on to Coventry City and then to Birmingham City in 2009. Af ...

was injured in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final against West Ham United, Jiránek became a regular starter, and he was in the starting eleven as Birmingham beat favourites

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

2–1 in the

League Cup Final The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by t ...

at Wembley Stadium. A toe injury that eventually required surgery disrupted the latter part of his season, and following Birmingham's relegation from the Premier League, he rejected the option of another season with the club.

Terek Grozny

In July 2011, Jiránek signed a two-year contract with Russian Premier League club

Terek Grozny Republican Football Club Akhmat ( ce, футболан клуб Ахмат Соьлжа-ГӀала; russian: Республиканский футбольный клуб Ахмат Грозный), commonly known as Akhmat Grozny, is a Russian ...

. In his second season with the club he scored a goal from 45 yards in the league game against Kuban Krasnodar.

International

Jiránek was part of the Czech side which won the UEFA U-21 Championships in 2002. He made his senior international debut against Poland in 2002. Jiránek's first major international tournament came at Euro 2004, where he made 4 appearances before being ruled out of the semi-final with a thigh injury. He also was named in the Czech squad for the

, but despite playing 5 qualifying matches, he did not make an appearance at the finals. He appeared in 5 qualifying matches for Euro 2008, but was not named in the Czech squad due to an ankle injury. His 31st (and as of February 2011, last) appearance was in March 2007, against Germany - after which, he was fined for his involvement in a birthday party with prostitutes.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Statistics accurate as of match played 28 March 2007''

Honours

;Slovan Liberec * Czech Cup: 1999–2000 ;Birmingham City *

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jiranek, Martin 1979 births Living people Footballers from Prague Men's association football defenders Czech men's footballers Czech Republic men's under-21 international footballers Czech Republic men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2004 players 2006 FIFA World Cup players Bohemians 1905 players FC Slovan Liberec players LFA Reggio Calabria players FC Spartak Moscow players Birmingham City F.C. players Czech First League players Serie A players Serie B players Russian Premier League players Premier League players Czech expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in England FC Akhmat Grozny players FC Tom Tomsk players FK Příbram players FK Dukla Prague players