Ivo Knoflíček (born 23 February 1962) is a former 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 ...

coach and player. He played for the Czechoslovakia national team, making 38 appearances and scoring seven goals. At club level, Knoflíček played mostly for

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 ...

. Knoflíček played a total of 50 matches 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 ...

, scoring seven goals.

Biography

Knoflíček grew up in Šardice in

Hodonín District Hodonín District () is a Okres, district in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Hodonín. Administrative division Hodonín District is divided into three Districts of the Czech Republic#Municipalities with ...

and also holds a Bolivian passport. In 1988, he and compatriot

Luboš Kubík Luboš Kubík (born 20 January 1964) is a former Czech professional footballer who played as a midfielder or defender. He represented the former Czechoslovakia at the 1990 FIFA World Cup and then the Czech Republic in their runners-up-finishing ...

defected to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

from a training camp in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. In January 1989, they attempted to sign for

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

as free agents and were presented as new signings by the club's then-owner, the Czechoslovak-born

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, politician and fraudster. After escaping the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, ...

, during a match against

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. However, both players were still under contract with

, who refused to allow the players to transfer. The following year, Knoflíček transferred to FC St. Pauli, making his league debut in a 2–1 victory against

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

with a goal in the 88th minute. At international level, he participated at the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

. His final appearance was a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in August 1992.

References

External links

* 1962 births Living people Sportspeople from Kyjov Czech men's footballers Czechoslovak men's footballers Men's association football forwards Czechoslovakia men's international footballers Czech First League players SK Slavia Prague players FK Hvězda Cheb players FK Příbram players VfL Bochum players FC St. Pauli players SK Vorwärts Steyr players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players 1990 FIFA World Cup players Czech football managers SK Slavia Prague non-playing staff Czech football coaches Czechoslovak expatriate men's footballers Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Czech expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Footballers from the South Moravian Region Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany Czech expatriate men's footballers Czechoslovak defectors Czech expatriate sportspeople in Germany {{Czechoslovakia-footy-bio-stub