Roman Kukleta (22 December 1964 – 26 October 2011) was a Czech

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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He won three

Czechoslovak First League The Czechoslovak First League ( cs, 1. fotbalová liga, sk, 1. futbalová liga) was the premier football league in the Czechoslovakia from 1925 to 1993, with the exception of World War II. Czechoslovakia was occupied by German forces who formed ...

titles with

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 ...

between 1988 and 1991, during which time he also finished as top scorer of the First League. Other clubs he played for include

Zbrojovka Brno Pre-war Československá zbrojovka, akc.spol. (or a.s.) (Czechoslovak Armory)and post-war Zbrojovka Brno, n.p.(Brno Armory) was a maker of small arms, light artillery, and motor vehicles in Brno, Czechoslovakia. It also made other products and ...

, RH Cheb and

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

. Kukleta represented

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

internationally, winning four

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

, all in 1991.

Club career

Kukleta started to play his club football in Czechoslovakia for

and RH Cheb. In 1986, he was awarded the ''Křišťálovou kopačku'' award for goal of the year, for his scissors kick in Brno's second division match against Slušovice. In 1988, he joined

, with whom he won the league three times in three seasons, as well as the

Czechoslovak Cup The Czechoslovak Cup () was a football cup competition held in Czechoslovakia. It was officially created in 1960 and folded in 1993 with the split between Czech Republic and Slovakia. The cup was played throughout Czechoslovakia until 1968–69. Fr ...

in the 1988–89 season. Jeřábek, p. 105. He was the top scorer of the

1990–91 Czechoslovak First League Statistics of Czechoslovak First League in the 1990–91 season. Roman Kukleta was the league's top scorer with 17 goals. Overview It was contested by 16 teams, and Sparta Prague won the championship. Stadia and locations League standings Re ...

with 17 goals. In 1991 Kukleta moved to Spain to play for

, where he joined compatriot manager Jozef Jarabinský, as well as players

Michal Bílek Michal Bílek (born 13 April 1965) is a football manager and former player. He led the Czech Republic national football team for four years between 2009 and 2013. As a player, he represented Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic at international ...

and

Alois Grussmann Alois Grussmann (born 6 September 1964) is a Czech football manager and former player, who played as a forward. He played in the Czechoslovak First League with Baník Ostrava and Vítkovice between 1984 and 1991, before spending a season in Spa ...

. He scored six goals in 28 appearances for the Spanish side. Kukleta later returned to his homeland where he played for Brno for the rest of his professional career. He amassed a total of 159 appearances and 58 goals (counting First League only) in his professional career. Kukleta went on to play in the lower leagues for

Děčín Děčín (; german: Tetschen, 1942–1945: ''Tetschen–Bodenbach'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. It is the 7th largest municipality in the country by area. Administrative parts D ...

, Zeman Brno, Mutěnice and

Velké Meziříčí Velké Meziříčí (; german: Groß Meseritsch) is a town in Žďár nad Sázavou District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre with the castle complex is well preserved and is pr ...

International career

Having scored on his only appearance for the Czechoslovakia Olympic team in 1987, Kukleta made his debut for the full national side in January 1991 in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. His only competitive appearance was in a 2–0

UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 1992 was a series of parallel association football competitions to be held over 1990 and 1991 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 1992, to be held in Sweden. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held ...

win against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

, where he played alongside

Pavel Kuka Pavel Kuka (born 19 July 1968) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a forward. Born in Prague, Kuka started and finished his career at Slavia Prague, playing with the club from 1989–93 and then from 2000–05. He has also ...

Personal life

Kukleta was divorced and had a son, Roman. He worked as a

lorry driver A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster, or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; a HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...

after his footballing career. Kukleta died suddenly in October 2011.

Honours

Sparta Prague *

: 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91 *

: 1988–89 Individual *

top scorer: 1990–91

References

Cited texts

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kukleta, Roman 1964 births 2011 deaths Footballers from Brno Czech footballers Czechoslovak footballers Czechoslovakia men's under-21 international footballers Czechoslovakia men's international footballers Czech First League players FC Zbrojovka Brno players FK Hvězda Cheb players AC Sparta Prague players Czechoslovak expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Segunda División players Real Betis players Men's association football forwards