František Fadrhonc (18 December 1914 – 9 October 1981) was a Czech

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

, who was born in

Nymburk Nymburk (; ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the Elbe River. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Mo ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, present day Czech Republic. He coached many teams in Europe, mostly in the Netherlands. After winning the Dutch championship with

Willem II Tilburg Willem II Tilburg (), commonly known simply as Willem II, is a Dutch football club (association football), football club based in Tilburg, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch footb ...

in 1952 and 1955, he coached SC Enschede and

Go Ahead Eagles The Go Ahead Eagles are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer in the province of Overijssel. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in th ...

. In 1970, he took over the Netherlands national team and was their coach as they qualified for the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...

, besting, among others, their rivals

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. However, it was

Rinus Michels Marinus Jacobus Hendricus "Rinus" Michels (; 9 February 1928 – 3 March 2005) was a Dutch Association football, football player and coach. He list of one-club men in association football, played his entire career for AFC Ajax, Ajax, which he ...

who took over in 1974 and who led them in the finals of that tournament. Fadrhonc left the Netherlands for Greece to coach

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

in the 1975–76 football season. He stayed until 1977. During that period, he led AEK to the semi-finals of the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

in the 1977. In the UEFA Cup campaign of the 1976–77 season, he is credited with the substitution of regular goalkeeper Lakis Stergioudas with veteran Nikos Christidis in extra-time of the second leg of the encounter against QPR. His move was justified when Christidis stopped two penalties and AEK went through to the semi-finals. He died aged 66 in

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

, Cyprus.

Honours

Willem II *

Netherlands Football League Championship The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start ...

: 1951–52, 1954–55

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fadrhonc, Frantisek 1914 births 1981 deaths Sportspeople from Nymburk Czech football managers Willem II Tilburg managers Go Ahead Eagles managers Netherlands national football team managers AEK Athens F.C. managers Czechoslovak football managers Panachaiki F.C. managers Keravnos Strovolou FC managers AEK Athens F.C. non-playing staff Czech expatriate football managers Czech expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands Czech expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate football managers in Greece Czech expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate football managers in Cyprus