Czech National Football League Explained

Chance Národní Liga
Country:Czech Republic
Confed:UEFA
Founded:1993
Teams:16
Promotion:Czech First League
Relegation:ČFL
MSFL
Level:2
Domest Cup:Czech Cup
Champions:FK Dukla Prague (2nd title)
Season:2023–24
Most Successful Club:MFK Karviná,
SK Dynamo České Budějovice,
FC Hradec Králové (3 titles)
Current:2024–25 Czech National Football League

The Czech National Football League (Czech: Fotbalová národní liga, FNL), known as Chance Národní Liga due to sponsorship reasons, is the second level professional association football league in the Czech Republic. Before 2013 it was known as 2. liga or Druhá liga. The top two teams each season are eligible for promotion to the Czech First League.

The league replaced the I.ČNL (I. Česká národní liga; First Czech National League), which had been established following the end of the nationwide Czechoslovak Second League in 1977. The league became known as simply II. liga (Second League) in 1993 following the establishment of the Czech Republic as an independent state.[1]

Structure

There are 16 clubs in the FNL. During the season, which runs from August to May or June, with a winter break between November and February or March, each club plays each of the other clubs twice (once at home, once away) and is awarded three points for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the top-ranked team is promoted to the Czech First League, providing they obtain a license and meet league requirements, and is replaced by the team that finished 16th in that league. The two teams positioned 2nd and 3rd play a play-out with two teams from the first league positioned 14th and 15th in a home and away format. The two teams that finished at the bottom of the FNL are relegated to either the Bohemian Football League or the Moravian-Silesian Football League, based on geographical criteria. In turn, the champions of each of these regional divisions are promoted to the FNL.In the 1993–94 season the league was played with 16 teams, before expanding to 18 teams in the 1994–95 season. Since 1995, the league is usually played with 16 teams, but on two occasions a team did not fulfil its fixtures and the full 30 rounds were not completed. Firstly in the 1997–98 Czech 2. Liga as Ústí nad Labem did not fulfil their fixtures and their results were cancelled,[2] and secondly in the 2004–05 Czech 2. Liga as Bohemians' results were expunged after playing only the first half of the season.[3] In the 2020–21 season, only 14 teams competed because of the suspension of the first league in the previous season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participating teams

The following 16 clubs are competing in the 2024–25 Czech National Football League.

ClubLocationStadiumCapacity2023–24 position
FC ZlínZlín5,898 16th in First League
SK Sigma Olomouc BOlomouc12,483 2nd
FC Silon TáborskoSezimovo Ústí5,000 3rd
MFK VyškovVyškov6,616 4th
MFK ChrudimChrudim1,500 5th
SFC OpavaOpava7,758 6th
FC Sellier & Bellot VlašimVlašim6,000 7th
FK Viktoria ŽižkovPragueeFotbal Arena5,037 8th
FC Zbrojovka BrnoBrno10,200 9th
SK LíšeňBrno2,100 10th
AC Sparta Prague BPrague5,037 11th
1. SK ProstějovProstějov4,500 12th
FK VarnsdorfVarnsdorf5,000 13th
FC Vysočina JihlavaJihlava4,500 14th
SK Slavia Prague BPragueStadion Olympia Radotín1,500 1st in ČFL
FC Baník Ostrava BOstrava15,123 1st in MSFL

FNL champions

SeasonWinnersRunners-up
1993–94Sklobižu Jablonec nad NisouFK Švarc Benešov
1994–95Uherské HradištěOstroj Opava
1995–96FC KarvináFK Teplice
1996–97FC Dukla PragueAFK Atlantic Lázně Bohdaneč
1997–98FK Chmel BlšanyFC Karviná
1998–99Bohemians PragueSK České Budějovice
1999–2000Synot Staré MěstoFC Viktoria Plzeň
2000–01FC Hradec KrálovéSFC Opava
2001–02SK Dynamo České BudějoviceFK Zlín
2002–03FC Viktoria PlzeňSFC Opava
2003–04FK Mladá BoleslavFK Drnovice
2004–05FK SIAD MostFC Vysočina Jihlava
2005–06SK KladnoSK Dynamo České Budějovice
2006–07FK Viktoria ŽižkovBohemians 1905
2007–08Bohemians PragueFK Marila Příbram
2008–09Bohemians 1905FC Zenit Čáslav
2009–10FC Hradec KrálovéFK Ústí nad Labem
2010–11FK Dukla PragueFK Viktoria Žižkov
2011–12FK Ústí nad LabemFC Vysočina Jihlava
2012–131. SC ZnojmoBohemians 1905
2013–14SK Dynamo České BudějoviceFC Hradec Králové
2014–15SK Sigma OlomoucFK Varnsdorf
2015–16MFK KarvináFC Hradec Králové
2016–17SK Sigma OlomoucFC Baník Ostrava
2017–18SFC Opava1.FK Příbram
2018–19SK Dynamo České BudějoviceFC Vysočina Jihlava
2019–20FK PardubiceFC Zbrojovka Brno
2020–21FC Hradec KrálovéSK Líšeň
2021–22FC Zbrojovka BrnoFC Sellier & Bellot Vlašim
2022–23MFK KarvináMFK Vyškov
2023–24FK Dukla PragueSK Sigma Olomouc B

Teams promoted to the First League since 1993

Top scorers

All information in this table can be found at[4] except for the 2003–04 season, which is sourced from the following link.[5]

SeasonTop scorerClubGoals
1993–94 Tibor MičinecBenešov18
1994–95 Bedřich HamsaLeRK Brno22
1995–96 Patrik HolomekPoštorná16
1996–97 Václav KoloušekDukla Prague18
1997–98 Vítězslav TumaKarviná19
1998–99 Patrik HolomekStaré Město18
1999–00 Vladimír MalárStaré Město24
2000–01 Pavel ČernýHradec Králové17
2001–02 Radek DrulákHFK Olomouc16
2002–03 Petr ŠvancaraOpava20
2003–04 Tomáš KaplanJihlava10
Roman BednářMladá Boleslav
Vojtěch SchulmeisterSigma Olomouc B
2004–05 Horst SieglMost16
2005–06 Petr FaldynaČeské Budějovice19
2006–07 Petr FaldynaJihlava15
2007–08 Petr FaldynaJihlava13
2008–09 Martin JiroušSokolov18
2009–10 Pavel ČernýHradec Králové14
Dani ChigouDukla Prague
Karel KroupaZlín
2010–11 Dani ChigouDukla Prague19
2011–12 Jiří MlikaSokolov19
2012–13 Lukáš ŽelezníkZlín13
2013–14 David VaněčekHradec Králové17
2014–15 Václav VašíčekSigma Olomouc13
2015–16 Jan PázlerHradec Králové17
2016–17 Jakub PlšekSigma Olomouc18
2017–18 Jan PázlerHradec Králové21
2018–19 David LedeckýČeské Budějovice18
2019–20 Stanislav KlobásaJihlava17
2020–21 Jaroslav MálekLíšeň13
2021–22 Jakub ŘezníčekZbrojovka Brno18
2022–23 Tomáš WágnerViagem Příbram17
2023–24 Jakub ŘezníčekZbrojovka Brno13

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Jeřábek, Luboš. Ceský a ceskoslovenský fotbal – lexikon osobností a klubu. 2007. Grada Publishing. Prague. cs. 978-80-247-1656-5. 34–35.
  2. Web site: Czech Republic 1997/98. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 21 January 2013.
  3. News: Bohemians přišli o licenci, ve 2. lize končí . cs. iDNES.cz . 28 February 2005 . 4 December 2011.
  4. Web site: FOTBAL.CZ – Historie Fotbalové národní ligy. Football association of Czech Republic. nv.fotbal.cz. 6 April 2018.
  5. Web site: Czech Republic 2003/04. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 6 April 2018.