Jiří Rosický (born 11 November 1977) is a Czech retired 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 ...

Career

Rosický joined local

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 ...

's youth system at the age of ten. Abroad, Rosický played for

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

, spending four seasons in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

and being relegated in his last as the main squad had also dropped down a level in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

. He then spent three years in Austria playing for

SC Bregenz SC, Sc or sc may refer to: Arts and media * ''Sim City'', a city-building simulator game * Snapchat, a multimedia messaging app * Soccer club, another name for a football club in association football * Social club, a type of club. * ''Soulcalibu ...

, where he scored three times in 63 matches. In his homeland he represented

FK Baumit Jablonec FK Jablonec () is a Czech professional football club based in Jablonec nad Nisou. The club has played in the top league of Czech football, Czech First League, since 1994. History Jablonec played its first season of top league football in the 19 ...

in the

2003–04 Czech First League The 2003–04 Czech First League, known as the Gambrinus liga for sponsorship reasons, was the eleventh season of top-tier football in the Czech Republic. Stadia and locations League table Results Squad of the champions Baník Ostrava ;Go ...

. He later played for

Bohemians 1905 Bohemians Praha 1905, commonly known as Bohemka or Bohemians Prague, is a professional association football, football club based in Vršovice, Prague, Czech Republic. The club competes in the Czech First League, Fortuna Liga, the top division ...

before retiring at the age of 29, due to persistent injury problems with both knees.

Later career

From 2018 to 2025, Rosický had roles as a scout and head scout at Sparta Prague.

Personal life

Rosický's father, also called

Jiří Jiří (; ''YI-RZHEE'') is a Czech masculine given name, equivalent to English George. Notable people with the name include: B *Georg Benda (Jiří Antonín Benda), Czech composer, violinist and Kapellmeister *Jiří Baborovský, Czech physica ...

, played football as a defender in the 1970s. His younger brother,

Tomáš Tomáš () is a Czech and Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas. Tomáš is also a surname (feminine: Tomášová). Notable people with the name include: Given name Sport *Tomáš Berdych (born 1985), Czech tennis player * Tomáš Cho ...

, a midfielder, became the third footballer of the family. Also a youth graduate at Sparta, he played several seasons with both

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, being a longtime

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 ...

international.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosicky, Jiri 1977 births Living people Footballers from Prague Czech men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Czech First League players Segunda División players Austrian Football Bundesliga players AC Sparta Prague players FK Jablonec players Atlético Madrid B players Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz players Czech Republic men's under-21 international footballers Czech expatriate men's footballers Czech expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Czech expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Association football scouts AC Sparta Prague non-playing staff