František Svoboda (5 August 1906 – 6 July 1948) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

football player who played as a striker. His nickname was "Franci" (the French).

Club career

He started his career with Vinohrady Rapid, from where he moved to

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...

in 1926, and with them he was the Champions of Czechoslovakia 8 times, played a pivotal role in helping the club to win 8 national league titles, scoring 101 league goals in his 14 years at the club and being the top goalscorer of the 1934–35 season with 27 goals. He remained in Slavia until 1940, after which he succeeded

Viktoria Žižkov Viktoria usually refers to Viktoria, a name which is the same as Victoria (name), but may also refer to: Places * FK Viktoria Stadion, stadium of Viktoria Žižkov * Viktoria-Luise-Platz, building in Berlin * Viktoriastadt, now known as Victor ...

. Svoboda enjoyed great fame in his playing days, being a respected and feared striker throughout Europe. Svoboda was a very strong and muscular player, but despite being robust in stature, his movement was elegant and he excelled especially at rocket shots even from great distances, becoming known for his goals from long range.

International career

He played 43 matches in 10 years for the Czechoslovakia national team, scoring 22 goals, and he was a member of the team that reached the

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of the

1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the 2nd edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, senior men's national teams. It took place in Kin ...

, playing in three matches and scoring a goal in the match against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Half of his international tally came in the Central European Cup, and with those 11 goals, he is the fourth all-time top goal scorer in the competition's history.

International goals

:''Czechoslovakia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Svoboda goal.''

Honours

Club

;

Czechoslovak First League The Czechoslovak First League (, ) was the premier football (soccer), football league in the Czechoslovakia from 1925 to 1993, with the exception of World War II. Czechoslovakia was occupied by German forces who formed Gauliga Sudetenland and Ga ...

: *Champions (8): 1928–29, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1936–37 and 1939–40

International

;Czechoslovakia

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

: *Runners-up (1):

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

Central European Cup: *Runners-up (1): 1927–30

Individual

*Top goalscorer of the

1934–35 Czechoslovak First League Statistics of Czechoslovak First League in the 1934–35 season. Overview It was contested by 12 teams, and Slavia Prague won the championship. František Svoboda was the league's top scorer with 27 goals. League standings Results Top goals ...

with 27 goals

References

External links

* 1906 births 1948 deaths Czech men's footballers Czechoslovak men's footballers 1934 FIFA World Cup players SK Slavia Prague players Czechoslovakia men's international footballers Footballers from Vienna Men's association football forwards {{Czechoslovakia-footy-bio-stub