2020–21 Czech First League

The 2020–21 Czech First League, known as the Fortuna liga for sponsorship reasons, will be the 28th season of the Czech Republic's top-tier football for professional clubs since its establishment in 1993. Slavia Prague are the defending champions, having won their twentieth league title the previous season, their third in the last four years. The season was initially scheduled to start on 11 July [1] but was delayed until 21 August as a consequence of the postponement of the previous season's conclusion due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The first half of the season will only have 15 rounds, finishing on 19 December, and the spring half will commence on 29 January 2021, the earliest such date in league history.

Czech First League
Season2020–21
Dates21 August 2020 – 28 May 2021
Matches played34
Goals scored55 (1.62 per match)
Top goalscorerLukáš Juliš
(10 goals)
2021–22 →
All statistics correct as of 30 August 2020.

This season is set to be played with 18 clubs, each team will play in the round-robin format home and away and the bottom three teams will be relegated directly to the second league at the end of the season. It will be the third season to use VAR, featuring it in six to eight matches per match-week in the first half of the season. From January 2021, all nine matches should have VAR.[2] As was the case at the end of the previous season, there will be limited attendance from the fans in the stadiums due to measures related to COVID-19 pandemic.

Summary

This season is the third to have betting agency Fortuna as the title sponsor. In February 2020 the sponsorship contract was extended by another two years and will expire in 2023–24.[3] It also will be the third season with TV broadcasting rights held by O2 TV, showing all nine matches per match-week. Further, the national broadcaster ČT Sport will broadcast one match per round (fourth option) and newspaper iSport.cz holds rights for the highlights from all matches.[4][5]

Ahead of the season, many experts predict that Slavia, Sparta, and Plzeň will battle for the championship. After the match-week 6, Sparta leads the table with full points, followed by Slavia and Plzeň.

Due to the Covid break the fixture congestion was proposed.

Season events

On 4 August the management of FK Pardubice and Bohemians Prague agreed that Pardubice will play its home matches at Ďolíček stadium, as their current home stadium Pod Vinicí does not fulfil first league criteria.[6]

On 5 August the league announced pairings for the 34 match weeks. The first match is due to take place on 21 August. In the same meeting, the association announced other following changes to the game. The champions will be declared in a case that pandemic would not allow completing all matches of the season. As soon as teams finish 50% of their matches and assuming no more matches will take place, the league final placings will be based on using an average of points per game system. In case that teams have not completed half of their matches, a champion can not be declared and teams can not advance to European cup competitions. The relegation process for the last three teams will be enforced even if the teams play less than 50% of the schedule. Each squad member, player, and the official must present a negative COVID testing certificate not older than three days ahead of each game.[7]

Last season, when a player cumulated 4 yellow cards, he would be banned for the next match. In the case of 8 yellows, the ban was next 2 matches, 12 yellows meant 3 matches, etc. Unlike last season, the ban after 4, 8 or 12 cards will always be one match.[8]

Teams
Locations of the 2020–21 Czech First League teams

Teams relegated from Czech First League

In the last season's format of the league, all teams played a round-robin home and away format of the league. After 30 matches the teams were divided into championship (top 6), play-off (7th–10th), and relegation (bottom 6) groups. Points and goals in the relegation group were fully carried over from the regular season. The last team should have been relegated and the two teams positioned 14th and 15th should have played a playoff format with second league teams positioned second and third. The relegation group was scheduled to conclude on 7 July 2020 but as a result of three Karviná players tested positive for COVID-19, the final two rounds of matches were postponed to 23 and 26 July.[9] On 23 July, the date of the first postponed round, one player from Opava tested positive and the team was placed into two weeks long isolation which led to the abandonment of the last two rounds.[10]

On 24 July the league FA announced that due to time pressure, the relegation group would remain unfinished. As a consequence, no team can be relegated and the winner of the second league was promoted. To avoid playing the 2020–21 season with an odd number of teams, automatic promotion was granted to the second-placed team as well. The eliminations play-offs were cancelled and the number of participants for 2020–21 season increased from 16 to 18.

At the end of the regular season, the last position was occupied 1. FK Příbram, with elimination playoff spots held by MFK Karviná and SFC Opava. The same order was recorded after playing three rounds of the relegation group.

Teams promoted to Czech First League

The second league was also impacted by COVID pandemic but fully finished after a delay. On 11 July 2020 in the penultimate round of the season FK Pardubice beat Vyšehrad 4–1 and secured automatic promotion for the first time in Czech football history. Pardubice were previously represented three times in the Czechoslovak First League, most recently in 1968.[11]

Since the decision that all sixteen teams would remain in the top league and to prevent having an odd number of participants, the second place holder Brno was invited to join the top tier after two years absence. Third-placed team Dukla Prague remained in the second league without the right to play a playoff match.

Locations and stadiums

The home stadium of a newly promoted FK Pardubice is not certified by the league to host the First League matches. The club opted to play their home league matches at Bohemians' Ďolíček stadium.[6]

Personnel and kits
Team Manager Manager Appointed Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Slavia Prague Jindřich Trpišovský[29]22 December 2017 Jan BořilPumaCitic Group
Viktoria Plzeň Adrián Guľa[30]18 December 2019 Jakub BrabecMacronDoosan
Sparta Prague Pavel Vrba[31]3 February 2021 Bořek DočkalNikeTipsport
Jablonec Petr Rada[32]14 December 2017 Tomáš HübschmanCapelli SportTelmo
Baník Ostrava Luboš Kozel[33]3 January 2020 Jan LaštůvkaPumaMW Dias
Slovan Liberec Pavel Hoftych[34]14 June 2019 Jaroslav DrobnýNikePreciosa
Mladá Boleslav Karel Jarolím[35]8 December 2020 Lukáš BudínskýAdidasŠkoda
Sigma Olomouc Radoslav Látal[36]31 May 2019 Roman HubníkAdidas--none--
Fastav Zlín Bohumil Páník[37]10 March 2020 Petr JiráčekAdidasLukrom
Teplice Radim Kučera[38]30 November 2020 Jakub MarešPumaAGC, Bílinská kyselka
Slovácko Martin Svědík[39]10 November 2018 Stanislav HofmannPumaZ-Group
Opava Radoslav Kováč[40]11 June 2020 Jan ŽídekNikeIsotra
Bohemians 1905 Luděk Klusáček[41]10 October 2019 Josef JindřišekAdidasBalshop.cz
Příbram Pavel Horváth[42]11 March 2020 Jan RezekJako--none--
Karviná Juraj Jarábek[43]14 November 2019 Martin ŠindelářAdidasROKD
České Budějovice David Horejš12 October 2015 Jiří KladrubskýAdidasAutodraft
FK Pardubice Jiří Krejčí30 May 2013 Jan JeřábekLottoStrabag
Zbrojovka Brno Richard Dostálek [44]15 December 2020 Peter ŠtepanovskýNikeWedos

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Match-week Position in table Replaced by Date of appointment Contract valid until
Teplice Stanislav Hejkal[45]Sacked29 November 2020915th Radim Kučera[46]30 November 2020Summer 2023
Mladá Boleslav Jozef Weber [47]Sacked7 December 20201015th Karel Jarolím[48]8 December 2020Summer 2021
Zbrojovka Brno Miloslav Machálek [49]Sacked15 December 20201117th Richard Dostálek [50]15 December 2020Summer 2021
Sparta Prague Václav Kotal [51]Sacked3 February 2021173rd Pavel Vrba [52]3 February 2021Summer 2022

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Slavia Prague 17 15 2 0 51 8 +43 47 Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
2 Jablonec 17 11 2 4 33 19 +14 35
3 Sparta Prague 17 11 2 4 33 19 +14 35 Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round
4 Slovácko 17 9 4 4 30 17 +13 31
5 Viktoria Plzeň 17 8 3 6 32 21 +11 27
6 Sigma Olomouc 17 6 8 3 26 20 +6 26
7 Baník Ostrava 17 7 5 5 21 15 +6 26
8 Slovan Liberec 16 7 4 5 24 17 +7 25
9 České Budějovice 17 6 7 4 23 23 0 25
10 FK Pardubice 17 7 4 6 16 19 −3 25
11 Karviná 17 5 6 6 17 25 −8 21
12 Bohemians 1905 17 5 4 8 19 22 −3 19
13 Fastav Zlín 16 5 3 8 18 24 −6 18
14 Teplice 17 5 2 10 18 37 −19 17
15 FC Zbrojovka Brno 17 3 4 10 15 31 −16 13
16 Mladá Boleslav 17 2 5 10 18 31 −13 11 Relegation to the FNL
17 Příbram 17 2 4 11 12 33 −21 10
18 Opava 17 1 5 11 11 36 −25 8
Updated to match(es) played on 2 February 2021. Source: Fortuna Liga
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Fair-play ranking; 8) Draw.[53]

Results
Home \ Away BOH BRN CBU JAB KAR LIB MLA OLO OPA OST PCE PLZ PRI SLA SLO SPA TEP ZLN
Bohemians 1905 — 6 Feb 27 Feb 3 Apr 13 Mar 8 May 4–0 14 Feb 0–0 17 Apr 1–1 1–4 2–1 24 Apr 1–3 22 May 2–0 2–0
FC Zbrojovka Brno 0–0 — 1–3 13 Mar 0–2 0–3 8 May 2–4 22 May 0–1 17 Apr 27 Feb 1–1 3 Apr 2–1 1–4 24 Apr 13 Feb
České Budějovice 2–1 10 Apr — 24 Apr 1–1 0–2 6 Mar 21 Apr 21 Feb 5 Feb 8 May 0–0 2–1 0–6 22 May 20 Mar 2–0 1–2
Jablonec 2–1 0–1 2–1 — 21 Apr 20 Mar 19 Feb 1 May 4–1 2–0 1–0 3–2 2–1 22 May 7 Feb 6 Mar 8 May 10 Apr
Karviná 2–1 6 Mar 17 Apr 2–2 — 21 Feb 0–0 20 Mar 6 Feb 0–0 0–2 10 Apr 24 Apr 1–3 8 May 2–5 22 May 0–2
Slovan Liberec 1–1 15 May 14 Feb 1–3 1–1 — 3–0 29 May 2–0 3 Apr 27 Feb 4–1 3–0 17 Apr 1–1 1 May 13 Mar 31 Jan
Mladá Boleslav 29 May 1–1 2–2 2–0 27 Feb 24 Apr — 1–1 17 Apr 1–3 4–1 14 Feb 3 Apr 13 Mar 2–3 15 May 0–2 1–3
Sigma Olomouc 3–0 20 Feb 1–1 1–3 3–0 1–0 22 May — 4–1 24 Apr 3 Apr 2–2 1–1 8 May 13 Mar 7 Feb 17 Apr 27 Feb
Opava 1 May 0–2 0–0 27 Feb 1–2 21 Apr 2–2 15 May — 1–2 13 Mar 29 May 13 Feb 0–6 3 Apr 0–3 2–1 0–0
Baník Ostrava 1–0 1 May 2–2 14 Feb 29 May 1–0 21 Apr 1–1 10 Apr — 3–0 0–2 13 Mar 0–1 1–2 0–0 27 Feb 15 May
FK Pardubice 10 Apr 2–1 0–2 29 May 1 May 3–0 20 Mar 1–1 1–0 20 Feb — 15 May 1–0 1–1 6 Mar 21 Apr 2–1 0–0
Viktoria Plzeň 21 Feb 4–1 3 Apr 17 Apr 0–1 6 Feb 2–1 6 Mar 3–1 22 May 2–0 — 8 May 0–1 24 Apr 3–1 7–0 20 Mar
Příbram 21 Apr 20 Mar 1 May 15 May 0–1 6 Mar 2–1 10 Apr 1–1 0–4 22 May 0–0 — 7 Feb 20 Feb 1–3 1–3 1–0
Slavia Prague 2–1 1–1 29 May 3–0 15 May 3–0 1–0 3–1 20 Mar 6 Mar 13 Feb 1 May 3–0 — 3–0 10 Apr 5–1 21 Apr
Slovácko 15 May 21 Apr 0–0 1–1 2–0 10 Apr 1 May 0–0 3–1 20 Mar 0–1 4–0 5–1 27 Feb — 1–2 12 Feb 29 May
Sparta Prague 0–1 29 May 2–4 2–1 14 Feb 1–1 1–0 3–0 24 Apr 8 May 2–0 13 Mar 27 Feb 0–3 17 Apr — 3 Apr 3–1
Teplice 20 Mar 1–0 15 May 0–5 2–2 1–2 10 Apr 1–1 6 Mar 2–1 7 Feb 21 Apr 29 May 21 Feb 0–2 0–1 — 1 May
Fastav Zlín 6 Mar 3–1 13 Mar 0–2 3 Apr 22 May 6 Feb 0–1 8 May 1–1 24 Apr 1–0 17 Apr 2–6 1–2 20 Feb 2–3 —
Updated to match(es) played on 2 February 2021. Source: Fortuna Liga
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics

Top scorers
As of 2 February 2021.[54]
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Lukáš Juliš Sparta Prague 11
2 Abdallah Sima Slavia Prague 10
3 Jan Kuchta Slavia Prague 9
4 Michael Rabušic Slovan Liberec 7
Tomáš Poznar Fastav Zlín
6 Dyjan Baník Ostrava 6
Jakub Mareš Teplice
Aleš Čermák Viktoria Plzeň
Jan Kliment Slovácko
Jean-David Beauguel Viktoria Plzeň
Jhon Mosquera Slovan Liberec
Ivan Schranz Jablonec

Clean sheets
As of 28 November 2020.[55]
Rank Player Club Clean sheets
1 Ondřej Kolář Slavia Prague 6
2 Aleš Mandous Sigma Olomouc 5
3 Patrik Le Giang Bohemians 1905 4
4 Marek Boháč FK Pardubice 3
5 Vladimír Neuman Karviná 2
Petr Mikulec Mladá Boleslav
Filip Nguyen Slovan Liberec
Stanislav Dostál Fastav Zlín
Jan Laštůvka Baník Ostrava

Awards

Monthly awards
Month Player of the Month Manager of the Month
Player Club Manager Club
August Lukáš Juliš Sparta Prague Václav Kotal Sparta Prague
September Adam Hložek Sparta Prague Radoslav Látal Sigma Olomouc
October N/A N/A
November Tomáš Poznar Fastav Zlín David Horejš České Budějovice
December
February
May
June

Annual awards
Award Winner Club
Player of the Season
Manager of the Season
International of the Season
Fans' Player of the Season
Newcomer of the Season
Figure of the Season
Goalkeeper of the Season
Defender of the Season
Midfield of the Season
Forward of the Season

Attendance
Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Slavia Prague 0 0 0 0 n/a†
2 Sparta Prague 0 0 0 0 n/a†
3 Viktoria Plzeň 0 0 0 0 n/a†
4 Baník Ostrava 0 0 0 0 n/a†
5 Slovan Liberec 0 0 0 0 n/a†
6 České Budějovice 0 0 0 0 n/a†
7 Slovácko 0 0 0 0 n/a†
8 Teplice 0 0 0 0 n/a†
9 Bohemians 1905 0 0 0 0 n/a†
10 Sigma Olomouc 0 0 0 0 n/a†
11 Fastav Zlín 0 0 0 0 n/a†
12 Opava 0 0 0 0 n/a†
13 Mladá Boleslav 0 0 0 0 n/a†
14 Karviná 0 0 0 0 n/a†
15 Jablonec 0 0 0 0 n/a†
16 Brno 0 0 0 0 n/a†
17 Pardubice 0 0 0 0 n/a†
18 Příbram 0 0 0 0 n/a†
League total 0 0 0 0 n/a†

Updated to games played on 1 August 2020
Source:

See also

References
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