Štěpán Vachoušek (born 26 July 1979) 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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He spent most of his career playing for

FK Teplice FK Teplice is a Czech professional football club based in the city of Teplice. The club competes in Czech First League, the top tier of Czech football. The club was founded after World War II in 1945. The club advanced to the Czechoslovak First ...

, but also spent time abroad playing for clubs in France and Austria. He played internationally for the

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

at youth and full level, winning the

2002 UEFA European Under-21 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. Qu ...

with the under-21 team before making his way to the full team, for whom he played 23 times between 2002 and 2006, including at

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. Th ...

. He is a skillful left-wingback or playmaker.

Club career

Vachoušek started playing in the

Czech First League The Czech First League () also known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Czech Republic and the highest level of the Czech Republic football league system. Seasons typically run from A ...

for

in the 1997–98 season. He left his home country to play for French club

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

in 2003 before moving to

FK Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (), known in English as Austria Vienna, and Austria Wien in German language in Europe, German-speaking countries, is an Football in Austria, Austrian professional association football club from the capital city of Vi ...

in 2004. He returned to FK Teplice in 2008. He joined

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

on loan in 2010, but spent just four months there before returning in December of the same year. In March 2014 the player extended his contract with Teplice until the end of the 2014–15 season. He retired from playing at the end of the

2016–17 Czech First League The 2016–17 Czech First League, known as the ePojisteni.cz liga for sponsorship reasons, was the 24th season of the Czech Republic's top-tier football league. Slavia Prague won the league, while defending champions Viktoria Plzeň finished in s ...

, describing the move as "the most difficult decision in my life".

International career

Vachoušek represented his country at youth level, playing in the final of the

, a match in which the Czech Republic won the tournament. In June 2004 he was named in his nation's squad for the

tournament. He played in the match against Germany at the tournament.

Later career

After finishing his playing career, Vachoušek became sporting director at FK Teplice. His son, Tadeáš, broke into Teplice's first team in the 2022–23 season and was rewarded with a contract extension until 2026.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vachousek, Stepan Living people 1979 births People from Duchcov Footballers from the Ústí nad Labem Region Czech men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Czech Republic men's international footballers Czech Republic men's under-21 international footballers Czech Republic men's youth international footballers UEFA Euro 2004 players FK Teplice players FK Chmel Blšany players SK Slavia Prague players AC Sparta Prague players FK Austria Wien players Olympique de Marseille players FC Oberlausitz Neugersdorf players Ligue 1 players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Czech First League players Czech expatriate men's footballers Czech expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Czech expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Czech expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany