Tomáš Jun (born 17 January 1983) is a Czech former 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
striker. Mainly playing in his native Czech Republic, where he was part of the Sparta Prague team which won 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 ...
four times between 1999 and 2005, Jun also spent time playing club football in Turkey and Austria. He was the Czech First League's top scorer in the
2004–05 season. At international level Jun scored 2 goals in 10 appearances for the
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 ...
.
Career
Sparta Prague
Jun joined
AC Sparta Prague
Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional association football, football club based in Prague.
It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in cen ...
's youth system as a nine-year-old in 1992. Progressing through the club's youth teams he made his senior debut aged just 16. Only a year later he was in the starting formation in Sparta's
Champions League clash with
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 ...
. He also became an important member of the national youth team. By 2001 his first team opportunities became more restricted and he was loaned out to
FK Jablonec 97. After a few months at Jablonec he was recalled by Sparta Prague and managed to score a few important goals for the team. The next season saw Jun being given more first team chances, but he was still restricted to just 19 league appearances. In the 2002–03 season the youngster featured on a more regular basis with a decent tally of 8 goals. After a change in management in the 2004–05 season he hit his best form yet becoming Sparta's and 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 ...
's top scorer with 14 goals in 30 appearances, helping Sparta Prague regain the league title.
Trabzonspor
His great season at Sparta had raised his profile, and not only did he break into the
national team
A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport.
The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...
but a number of foreign clubs became interested in signing the promising young striker. In the end he moved to Turkish team
Trabzonspor
Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...
in 2005 for a €3.25 million transfer fee, signing a five-year deal with the
Süper Lig
The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...
outfit. The excitement of his transfer was short-lived, however, as he failed to make an impact, moving to
Beşiktaş J.K. on loan after only a few months without having scored a single goal for Trabzonspor. His luck at Beşiktaş was not much better as he spent most of his time as a substitute, only finding the net once.
In the 2006–07 season Jun returned to Sparta Prague on a season-long loan, hoping to regain his previous goal scoring form after a bad run in the Süper Lig, but even there he was mainly used a late substitute, resulting in him managing to score only one league goal. He was called back to Trabzonspor main squad for 2007/08 season by trainer
Ziya Dogan Ziya () is a Turkish given name for males and females, it is of Arabic origin, in Turkish ''Ziya'' means ''light''.
* Ziya Doğan, Turkish football manager
* Ziya Gökalp, Turkish sociologist
* Nazmi Ziya Güran, Turkish impressionist painter
* ...
after the loss of explosive striker
Ersen Martin
Ersen Martin (23 May 1979 – 19 March 2024) was a Turkish professional footballer who played as a forward. He amassed a total of 256 games and 73 goals in the Süper Lig over the course of 12 seasons, representing ten different clubs.
Club ca ...
to injury, but did not feature.
Teplice
In January 2008 Jun was again on his way back to the Czech First League, this time joining
FK Teplice on loan. After six months in the league, where he netted 4 goals in 14 league appearances, Teplice made his loan move permanent. He continued in similar form in the next six months, scoring 3 times in 14 appearances.
In January 2009 he left FK Teplice on a six-month loan move to
Austrian Bundesliga
The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...
side
SCR Altach
Sportclub Rheindorf Altach, also known as Rheindorf Altach, SCR Altach or simply SCRA, is an Football in Austria, Austrian association football club based in Altach, Vorarlberg. It plays in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club is currently ...
. His form seems to be recovering as he grabbed 8 goals in just 14 appearances for the club. Unfortunately despite this good run for the team he was unable to save them from relegation.
Austria Wien
Jun returned to the Austrian Bundesliga for the 2009–10 season on a season-long loan with
FK Austria Wien
Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (), known in English as Austria Vienna, and Austria Wien in German language in Europe, German-speaking countries, is an Football in Austria, Austrian professional association football club from the capital city of Vi ...
and immediately made an impact, scoring no fewer than nine times during the first two months of the season in the league as well as the
Austrian Cup
The Austrian Cup (), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for a record 27th time. Wo ...
(hat-trick against FAC in the second round) and the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
.
On 4 October 2009, Jun once again scored the winner against SV Mattersburg. It was to be his last appearance for Austria Wien for a couple of months as he was diagnosed with a
cruciate ligament rupture, sustained after a foul in the same match.
With the expected pause for an injury like this no less than six months, Jun surprised everyone by making a speedy recovery, already being fit for a short comeback against
Red Bull Salzburg on 21 March 2010. In the following weeks, he quickly regained his form, scoring his first goal after the pause against SV Mattersburg, after giving the assist for Austria Wien's winning goal in Ried just one week after his comeback. He went on to score four times until the end of the 2009–10 season, making him second-best goal-scorer after
Milenko Ačimovič with a total of nine goals and ten assists.
As a result of this good first season, Austria Wien made the loan deal with FK Teplice permanent on 14 May 2010, just one day after the season finale, with Jun's new contract running until 2012.
A torn hamstring from which he never had the chance to fully recover hindered Jun's first half of the season. Nevertheless, he scored once in Austria Wien's 3–1 away win at Ruch Chorzów in the third round of the Europa League qualification and (league, cup and Europa league combined) as of February 2011, lead his club's assists statistic with eleven assists. As well as his incomplete pre-season, Jun sustained a further serious injury in training in October 2010, a ruptured ligament in his ankle keeping him on the sidelines for another six weeks.
At the time of writing, he considers himself being "injury and pain - free" for the first time in months and with the second half of the Austrian League season starting soon, Jun could once again prove a valuable asset to Austria Wiens campaign for a 21st title / 28th win in the cup. He left the club after five years there, in the spring of 2014.
International career
Jun won silver at the 2000
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
under-17 European Championship and scored seven goals in the tournament. He also helped them to win the 2002 UEFA under-21 European Championship. In February that season, he scored his first goal for the full national team. Jun's most important goal of his career came in the final group match of
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
The 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America ...
, scoring the first goal against
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
as a starting replacement for the injured
Jan Koller
Jan Koller (; born 30 March 1973) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was noted for his height, strong physique and heading ability.
He began his career at Sparta Prague, then moved to Belgium, where he beca ...
and
Vratislav Lokvenc
Vratislav Lokvenc (, born 27 September 1973) is a Czech former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. After playing youth football for FK Náchod-Deštné, Náchod and FC Hradec Kr ...
. The win allowed the
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 ...
to advance to the playoff stage against
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. In summer 2005 he joined
Trabzonspor
Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...
of Turkey but failed to score a single goal. He struggled to make even substitute appearances at Beşiktaş, which has led to his omission from the Czech Republic squad for the
2006 World Cup.
Honours
Club
Beşiktaş
*
Turkish Cup
The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...
:
2005–06
References
External links
*
*
uefa.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jun, Tomas
1983 births
Living people
Footballers from Prague
Men's association football forwards
Czech men's footballers
Czech Republic men's youth international footballers
Czech Republic men's under-21 international footballers
Czech Republic men's international footballers
Czech expatriate men's footballers
Beşiktaş J.K. footballers
AC Sparta Prague players
Trabzonspor footballers
FK Jablonec players
FK Teplice players
SC Rheindorf Altach players
FK Austria Wien players
Czech First League players
Süper Lig players
Austrian Football Bundesliga players
Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey
Expatriate men's footballers in Austria
Czech expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
Czech expatriate sportspeople in Austria
21st-century Czech sportsmen