René Bolf (born 25 February 1974) is a Czech former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He spent most of his club career at

FC Baník Ostrava FC Baník Ostrava is a football club from the Silesian part of the city of Ostrava, Czech Republic. Founded in 1922 as ''SK Slezská Ostrava'', Baník has won numerous national and international trophies. History Formation and history to 1 ...

, also playing in his home country for

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 ...

. During a three-year stay in France, he played for

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

side

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or simply Auxerre (), is a French football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division o ...

. He spent most of his

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 ...

career at FC Baník Ostrava, where he played over 200 league matches. He was a member of the squad of Baník Ostrava in the 2003–2004 season, when Baník won the league title. Bolf represented the national team between 2000 and 2005 and represented the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...

Club career

Bolf played for a club in

Rožnov pod Radhoštěm Rožnov pod Radhoštěm (; german: Rosenau unter dem Radhoscht) is a town in Vsetín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts Rožnov pod Radhoštěm is made up of one administrativ ...

as a child, moving to

FC Vítkovice FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

in 1990 and Hranice in 1993. After a short spell at LeRK Brno in 1994, he started his professional football career at

FC Karviná FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakist ...

. He moved to Ostrava in 1995, playing with

until a summer 1999 move to

. He won the

with Sparta in his first season with the club, but returned to his former club, Ostrava, during the following season. The November 2000 deal which saw Bolf and teammate

Martin Prohászka Martin Prohászka (born 18 August 1973) is a Slovak former football player. Prohászka played for FC Nitra, appearing in 48 league matches, before moving to the Czech Republic to play for SFC Opava in 1997. Prohászka played eventually for Sp ...

transferred to Ostrava was valued at 17.5 million

CZK The koruna, or crown, ( sign: Kč; code: CZK, cs, koruna česká) has been the currency of the Czech Republic since 1993. The koruna is one of the European Union's 9 currencies, and the Czech Republic is legally bound to adopt the euro curre ...

, and saw Bolf sign a three-year contract. He was appointed

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 ...

of Baník Ostrava in 2002 following the departure from the club of

Milan Baroš Milan Baroš (; born 28 October 1981) is a Czech footballer who plays as a striker. He currently plays for FK Vigantice at amateur level. In 2005, he was part of the Liverpool team which won the UEFA Champions League. He went on to win Ligue ...

. His first league title with Ostrava, and second overall came during the 2003–04 season. He moved to France in 2004, joining

side

as a replacement for outgoing defender

Philippe Mexès Philippe Mexès (; born 30 March 1982) is a French former professional Association football, footballer who played as a centre back. He represented AJ Auxerre, Auxerre, A.S. Roma, Roma and A.C. Milan, AC Milan at club level during a career that ...

. He stayed with Auxerre for three seasons. Bolf returned to the Czech Republic in 2007. Due to injury, he didn't play his first league match after returning from France until March 2008. He spent four more seasons with Baník Ostrava, before playing out his career in the Czech 2. Liga with Karviná. He announced his retirement from professional football in December 2012 after the first half of the 2012–13 Czech 2. Liga.

International career

Bolf made his debut for 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 Republic ...

on 16 August 2000 in a friendly match against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. It was April 2002 before he won his second

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 ...

, playing the whole of a goalless friendly match against

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. He went on to play eight matches in the qualifying competition for Euro 2004. At

he played the whole match in the Czech Republic's opening game against

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. After not featuring in his country's second game, against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, Bolf returned to the starting lineup against

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 ...

. He played the whole match as the Czech Republic won 2–1 and knocked Germany out of the tournament. Bolf was one of only three players who started against Germany to be selected in the quarter final match against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. He didn't finish the match, having sustained an injury he was replaced by

David Rozehnal David Sebastian Klement Rozehnal (born 5 July 1980) is a Czech former footballer who currently plays as a defender for amateur club Sokol Kožušany (Czech 7th tier). He previously played for a host of European clubs, making over 400 appearances ...

in the 64th minute. Bolf's fitness was unclear before the semi final match against Greece, but he played the whole game, which the Czech Republic lost after a

silver goal The golden goal or golden point is a rule used in association football, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of normal time. It is a type of sud ...

Personal life

Bolf was born in

Valašské Meziříčí Valašské Meziříčí (; german: Wallachisch Meseritsch) is a town in Vsetín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban mon ...

.Article in Hattrick magazine
/ref> He is married to wife Vladislava, with two daughters.

Honours

Club

Sparta Prague *

: 1999–2000 Baník Ostrava * Czech First League: 2003–04

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolf, Rene Living people 1974 births Czech footballers Czech First League players MFK Karviná players FC Baník Ostrava players AC Sparta Prague players Ligue 1 players AJ Auxerre players UEFA Euro 2004 players Czech Republic international footballers Czech expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France People from Valašské Meziříčí Association football defenders Sportspeople from the Zlín Region