Jiří Sobotka (also known as Georges Sobotka; 6 June 1911 – 20 May 1994) was a Czech football player and manager. He played internationally for
Czechoslovakia.
Career
Sobotka played for
Czechoslovakia national football team (23 caps, 8 goals) and participated at the
1934 FIFA World Cup
The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934.
The 1934 World Cup was the first in w ...
when Czechoslovakia came in second.
He played for
Slavia Prague,
Hajduk Split
Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, t ...
(winning the
Banovina of Croatia
The Banovina of Croatia or Banate of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Banovina Hrvatska, Бановина Хрватска) was an autonomous province ( banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1939 and 1941. It was formed by a merg ...
first league) and
FC La Chaux-de-Fonds.
During his period in Split, he played 36 league matches scoring 17 goals in the 1939-40 and 1940-41 seasons. Before arriving to Yugoslavia, he had been a player-coach in Switzerland with
FC Winterthur.
After his playing career, he coached numerous clubs in Switzerland and won 6
Swiss cups. He also coached
Charleroi
Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. in Belgium
UE Sant Andreu in Spain, and
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
national team.
Curiosity
A well-documented curiosity was the fact that during the winter break of their 1963–64 season
FC Basel travelled on a world tour. This saw them visit
British Hong Kong
Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the Briti ...
,
Malaysia,
Singapore,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
New Zealand,
French Polynesia
)Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze")
, anthem =
, song_type = Regional anthem
, song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui"
, image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of Frenc ...
,
Mexico and the
United States. As first team manager Sobotka was together with 16 players and 15 members of staff, supporters and journalists participated in this world tour from 10 January to 10 February 1964. Team captain
Bruno Michaud filmed the events with his super-8 camara. The voyage around the world included 19 flights and numerous bus and train journeys. Club chairman, Lucien Schmidlin, led the group, but as they arrived in the hotel in Bangkok, he realised that 250,000 Swiss Francs were missing. The suitcase that he had filled with the various currencies was not with them. He had left it at home, but fortunately Swiss Air were able to deliver this to him within just a few days. During the tour a total of ten friendly/test games were played, these are listed in
their 1963–64 season. Five wins, three draws, two defeats, but also three major injuries resulted from these test matches. A broken leg for
Peter Füri, an eye injury for
Walter Baumann
Walter Baumann (born 21 July 1942) is a Swiss former footballer who played in the 1960s. He played mainly as a forward, but also as a defender.
Football career
Baumann joined Basel's first team during their 1962–63 season under trainer Jiř ...
and a knee injury for
Bruno Michaud soon reduced the number of players to just 13.
Honours
As a player
Slavia Prague
*
Czechoslovak First League:
1932–33,
1933–34,
1934–35,
1936–37
Hajduk Split
*
Croatian First League:
1940–41
Czechoslovakia
*
FIFA World Cup runner-up:
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 ...
As a manager
Chaux-de-Fonds
*
Swiss Championship:
1953–54,
1954–55
*
Swiss Cup
The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...
: 1947–48, 1950–51, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1956–57
Feyenoord
:
Eredivisie:
1960–61
FC Basel
* Swiss Cup: 1962–63
References
External links
Profile at CMFS*
Career storyat Hajduk Split official website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sobotka, Jiri
1911 births
1994 deaths
Czechoslovak footballers
Czechoslovakia men's international footballers
Czech footballers
SK Slavia Prague players
FC Trinity Zlín players
HNK Hajduk Split players
FC Aarau managers
1934 FIFA World Cup players
Czechoslovak football managers
Czech football managers
FC La Chaux-de-Fonds managers
Feyenoord managers
FC Basel managers
HNK Hajduk Split managers
AC Bellinzona managers
UE Sant Andreu managers
FC Biel-Bienne managers
R. Charleroi S.C. managers
Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
Expatriate football managers in Yugoslavia
Expatriate footballers in Yugoslavia
Yugoslav First League players
Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Yugoslavia
Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Footballers from Prague
Eredivisie managers
Expatriate football managers in Belgium
Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands
Expatriate football managers in Spain
Expatriate football managers in Switzerland
Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
Czechoslovak expatriate footballers
Men's association football forwards
Czech expatriate football managers
People from the Kingdom of Bohemia