2019–20 Czech First League Explained

Competition:Czech First League
Season:2019–20
Winners:Slavia Prague
6th Czech First League title
20th Czech title
Relegated:No relegation
Continentalcup1:Champions League
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers:Slavia Prague
Viktoria Plzeň
Continentalcup2:Europa League
Continentalcup2 Qualifiers:Sparta Prague
Jablonec
Slovan Liberec
League Topscorer:Libor Kozák, Petar Musa
(14 goals)
Best Goalkeeper:Ondřej Kolář
(19 clean sheets)
Biggest Home Win:

Matches:271
Total Goals:708
Longest Wins:8
Longest Unbeaten:20
Longest Winless:18
Longest Losses:6
Highest Attendance:19,370

8 March 2020
Lowest Attendance:25

31 May 2020
Attendance:1,153,357
Average Attendance:4,470
Prevseason:2018–19
Nextseason:2020–21

The 2019–20 Czech First League, known as the Fortuna liga for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th season of the Czech Republic's top-tier football league. The defending champions were Slavia Prague, who won their fifth Czech title in the previous season. This season was the second one with a new league structure in which 16 clubs play each other home and away, until the league is split up in championship, Europa League and relegation groups.[1]

Season events

On 12 March, the League Football Association announced that all Fortuna liga games had been postponed for the foreseeable future due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]

After 2 months, on 12 May, the League Football Association announced that the Fortuna liga would resume on 25 May.[3] The regular season concluded on 14 June 2020.[4]

On 23 July, when the Champions group and the Europa League playoffs had already been finalized, SFC Opava - a team holding 15th place in the table had a suspected coronavirus case among their team members. The Czech League Football Association said it was not possible to complete the league's relegation group as a result of this, and the team was forced to quarantine. None of the three teams in danger of being relegated to the second league, namely Karviná, Opava and Příbram, would be relegated. From the Second League, the victorious Pardubice, and second-placed Zbrojovka Brno would advance to the first league, while third-placed Dukla Praha would not. The relegation group matches were suspended and no team was relegated.[5]

Teams

Stadiums and locations

TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
Bohemians 1905PragueĎolíček5,000[6]
SK Dynamo České BudějoviceČeské BudějoviceStadion Střelecký ostrov6,681[7]
FK JablonecJablonec nad NisouStadion Střelnice6,108[8]
MFK KarvináKarvináMěstský stadion (Karviná)4,833[9]
FC Slovan LiberecLiberecStadion u Nisy9,900[10]
FK Mladá BoleslavMladá BoleslavLokotrans Aréna5,000[11]
SK Sigma OlomoucOlomoucAndrův stadion12,483[12]
SFC OpavaOpavaMěstský stadion (Opava)7,758[13]
FC Baník OstravaOstravaMěstský stadion (Ostrava)15,123[14]
FC Viktoria PlzeňPlzeňDoosan Arena11,700[15]
1. FK PříbramPříbramNa Litavce9,100[16]
SK Slavia PraguePragueSinobo Stadium19,370[17]
1. FC SlováckoUherské HradištěMěstský fotbalový stadion Miroslava Valenty8,000[18]
AC Sparta PraguePragueGenerali Česká pojišťovna Arena18,944[19]
FK TepliceTepliceNa Stínadlech18,221[20]
FC Fastav ZlínZlínLetná Stadion5,783[21]

Regular season

League table

Results

Each team plays home-and-away against every other team in the league, for a total of 30 matches played each.

Championship group

Points and goals were carried over in full from the regular season.

Europa League play-offs

Teams placed between 7th and 10th position will take part in the Europa league play-offs. The best of them will play against the fourth-placed or fifth-placed of the championship play-offs to determine the Europa League play-off winners. The winners will qualify for the second qualifying round of the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League.

Final

Relegation group

Points and goals were carried over in full from the regular season. The relegation group was scheduled to conclude on 7 July but due to three players from MFK Karviná testing positive for COVID-19, the last two rounds of matches were postponed to 23 and 26 July.[22] Then, due to one player from SFC Opava testing positive for COVID-19, the last two rounds of matches were not played. As a consequence, no team was relegated and number of teams for 2020–2021 season was increased from 16 to 18.

Top scorers

Rank Name Club Goals
1 14
Sparta Prague
3 13
4 12
6 10
Roman Potočný

Awards

Monthly Awards

MonthPlayer of the MonthManager of the Month
PlayerClubManagerClub
July Jan KopicViktoria Plzeň Pavel VrbaViktoria Plzeň
August Jakub PlšekSigma Olomouc Jindřich TrpišovskýSlavia Prague
September Jakub MarešTeplice Jindřich TrpišovskýSlavia Prague
October Tomáš SoučekSlavia Prague Martin SvědíkSlovácko
November Jaroslav DrobnýČeské Budějovice David HorejšČeské Budějovice
December Milan ŠkodaSlavia Prague Martin SvědíkSlovácko
February Pavel BuchaViktoria Plzeň Adrián GuľaViktoria Plzeň
May Aleš ČermákViktoria Plzeň Adrián GuľaViktoria Plzeň
June Jakub ŘezníčekFK Teplice Jindřich TrpišovskýSlavia Prague

Annual awards

AwardWinnerClub
Player of the season Ondřej KolářSlavia Prague
Manager of the season Jindřich TrpišovskýSlavia Prague
International of the season Nicolae StanciuSlavia Prague
Fans' Player of the season Adam HložekSparta Prague
Newcomer of the season Pavel BuchaViktoria Plzeň
Figure of the season Josef JindřišekBohemians 1905
Goalkeeper of the season Ondřej KolářSlavia Prague
Defender of the season Jakub BrabecViktoria Plzeň
Midfield of the season Nicolae StanciuSlavia Prague
Forward of the season Petar MusaSlovan Liberec / Slavia Prague

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Nový herní formát. New season structure. Ligová fotbalová asociace. cs. 16 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180617165047/http://www.lfafotbal.cz/novy_herni_format/. 17 June 2018. dead.
  2. Web site: LFA odkládá profesionální soutěže do odvolání . fortunaliga.cz . Fortuna Liga . 13 March 2020 . cs . 12 March 2020.
  3. Web site: Restart profesionálních soutěží schválen! Sezóna se znovu rozeběhne dohrávkou v Teplicích . fortunaliga.cz . Fortuna Liga . 14 May 2020 . cs . 12 May 2020.
  4. Web site: Slavia se k výhře protrápila, Sparta je třetí a Příbram zase poslední. cs. idnes.cz. 14 June 2020. 23 July 2020.
  5. Web site: Football: Czech season ending early due to coronavirus. 23 July 2020.
  6. Web site: Club info Bohemians 1905 . fortunaliga.cz . Fortuna Liga . 4 July 2019.
  7. Web site: Club info SK Dynamo České Budějovice . fortunaliga.cz . Fortuna Liga . 4 July 2019.
  8. Web site: Club info FK Jablonec . fortunaliga.cz . Fortuna Liga . 4 July 2019.
  9. Web site: Club info MFK Karviná . fortunaliga.cz . Fortuna Liga . 4 July 2019.
  10. Web site: Club info FC Slovan Liberec . fortunaliga.cz . Fortuna Liga . 4 July 2019.
  11. Web site: Club info FK Mladá Boleslav . fortunaliga.cz . Fortuna Liga . 4 July 2019.
  12. Web site: Club info SK Sigma Olomouc . fortunaliga.cz . Fortuna Liga . 4 July 2019.
  13. Web site: Club info SFC Opava . fortunaliga.cz . Fortuna Liga . 4 July 2019.
  14. Web site: Club info FC Baník Ostrava . fortunaliga.cz . Fortuna Liga . 4 July 2019.
  15. Web site: Club info FC Viktoria Plzeň . fortunaliga.cz . Fortuna Liga . 4 July 2019.
  16. Web site: Club info 1. FK Příbram. fortunaliga.cz . Fortuna Liga . 4 July 2019.
  17. Web site: Club info SK Slavia Prague . fortunaliga.cz . Fortuna Liga . 4 July 2019.
  18. Web site: Club info 1. FC Slovácko . fortunaliga.cz . Fortuna Liga . 4 July 2019.
  19. Web site: Club info AC Sparta Prague . fortunaliga.cz . Fortuna Liga . 4 July 2019.
  20. Web site: Club info FK Teplice . fortunaliga.cz . Fortuna Liga . 4 July 2019.
  21. Web site: Club info FC Fastav Zlín . fortunaliga.cz . Fortuna Liga . 4 July 2019.
  22. Web site: Karvinští fotbalisté jsou zdraví, dohrání ligy nic nebrání. cs. idnes.cz. 15 July 2020. 16 July 2020.