Káďa: Half a Life in Spartan Shirt IV.

HALF A LIFE IN SPARTAN SHIRT IV. — 24/06/1932 —

True, the competition between the two clubs often culminated in a very sharp situation and caused a lot of moral damage to our sport, but on the other hand, mutual rivalry incited both clubs to feverish activity to maintain prestige and priority in the football world. Clubs tried to get the best players, and only bad club politics discredited the otherwise natural efforts of clubs to concentrate all the best for Letná. Overpaying players, mutually disgusting auctions, persuading and dragging players, these are just the bad sides of acquiring new player material — the self-evident obligation of representative clubs to work to preserve the club's prestige. The concentration of the football flourishing of Czechoslovakia in Letná did not harm our football, on the contrary, it enabled capable players to develop under better conditions and enabled an overview of our strengths in the field of international competition.

The fact that the addition of teams of Letná leaders was often accompanied by immoral phenomena and did more harm than good to the clubs, is due to the bad outlook of individuals, the risk of which is not spared. After all, no similar action of any other organizational activity is spared.

After all, the signing of the agreement between Sparta and Slavia will hopefully erase for a longer period of time and make it impossible in the future all those embarrassing incidents and disgusting affairs that have brought a lot of shame on both clubs and our entire sport and caused many bad moments. Sparta-Slavia matches have always been a barometer of interest in our football, but unfortunately they have not always been a representative reflection of their best strengths, so in the pure sporting sense of the word, they have remained behind the material effect.

One result of the Sparta-Slavia match had echoes in the well-known affair of referee Štěpanovský and was actually only confirmed in court. Last year's match, from which the player Noyák was taken to the hospital, also had judicial repercussions. Of course, our Czechoslovak derby is not supposed to look like that! Let's hope that these are shadows that will never again accompany the typical attraction of Letná: Sparta-Slavia matches.

With the exception of the last game, I played all the games if they were played during my football career. The first in 1913, the last in 1932 — a full 18 years! I myself saw for myself that the matches between Sparta and Slavia are extremely intense. I was relatively lucky in football, perhaps my technical and tactical skills saved me from frequent or even serious injuries. In one Sparta-Slavia match (I think in 1928) I was also injured and had to leave the centre-half position and finish the match where I once started my career — on the left wing! Dr. Karel Pešek-Káďa

Before the Sparta-Slavia match, there is usually a lot of nervousness in the supporters' camp and among the players, which is understandable because it is never possible to determine a 100% favorite. Neither Sparta nor Slavia went to the Letná derby calmly to win! Even in times when the condition of one of the named clubs almost guaranteed victory, in the end it turned out that despite all the assumptions and paper forms, the team that was seemingly doomed to a big defeat won. However, luck also plays a big role in these matches! In this fight for the prestige of Czech football and to a large extent also for the influx of a new sea of club supporters, the audience rarely sees a nice combination system, but more often a tyrant, fast and tenacious struggle for every ball. The popularity of Sparta-Slavia matches is huge! Before the war, however, the matches did not have such great appeal, but due to the rarity of the matches between the two clubs (which had not played together for several years, for example), they were always a top football attraction.

The year 1928 was an infamous historical year for Sparta's matches with Slavia. This year, it seemed that the headquarters and directorates of the clubs wanted to weaken the magnetic force of the matches of the two rivals by simply pushing the number of matches over the maximum with comical obstinacy. Imagine the Midsummer holiday, which was repeated eight times a year. It wasn't a holiday after all, it was a very ordinary weekday. Eight matches played in one year, it will forever be an excellent example for the archives of the sports museum and at the same time a bad testimony of the foresight of the then leaders of our football! In this year, the Sparta-Slavia cup match was even played three times. It only benefited the county treasury, not the importance and popularity of the Leten derby, I hope that today even the county treasurer has no doubts about that!

In my opinion Sparta-Slavia friendlies have no prizes at all. Only the fight for league points or the cup should be a reason to measure the strength of the red and white with the red. The smaller the amount of Sparta-Slavia matches, the greater the interest of the players and the sports public in these most famous and popular matches of Czechoslovak football. I would like the Sparta-Slavia match to have a good effect not only on the economic side of the matches, but also to make a positive contribution to the matches of both clubs, which should always be a real celebration of football in terms of social, promotional and representational aspects. Just a Sparta-Slavia match, the essence of the best of the best! MR. PRESIDENT AS A SPECTATOR OF THE SPARTA-SLAVIA MATCH

In 1920, the Red and Whites played against the Reds at the Sokol stadium. The President of the Republic was present at this match.

Unfortunately, even this match was no different from many Sparta-Slavia matches and was played quite sharply. Káďa, who was carried off the field, became the victim of a sharp game. Naturally, this event had an awkward effect on the special guest, as well as on the entire auditorium. Amid the general nervousness, Hojer reproached the player who attacked Káďa for his sharp play in an unacceptable manner. The threats were heard by linesman Cejnar, who reported Hojer's actions to match referee Ženíšek. The popular referee stopped the game and called Sparta's captain to account. The captain of Sparta was Káďa, and therefore the referee's call was answered:

— The captain is being carried off the field on a stretcher!

Then the judge called the deputy captain, who was Sedláček, and told him literally:

— I'm giving you five minutes to think, if Hojer, who I'm excluding from the game, doesn't leave, I'll end the match.

However, the vice-captain replied in a flash:

— I will give you three minutes to think again to give the order to continue the game! The president of the republic is present at today's match. If you end the match, then I refuse any responsibility for the huge embarrassment!

After this answer, the otherwise prompt referee Ženíšek lost his breath.

And when he found it again after a while, he let it into the whistle and started the game again.

Sparta won the match 4:0. On the second day, the office of the President of the Republic asked about the state of health of the injured Káďa.

However, the president has not come to football since then. Let's not be surprised, after all, the ugly scenes during the Sparta-Slavia match were a very bad promotion of our national game — a new self-evident proof that the important matches of the leaders of Letná should be played scrupulously fair! SLAVISTA KÁĎA IN A SPARTAN SHIRT

A few more points of interest must be added to Káďa's transfer to Sparta. Above all, by signing the application for Sparta, Káďa's old dream in his youth — to play in a red and white shirt — faded away. In order for the Slavists to acquire some right to the most popular half-back on the continent, we must reveal to them that the young heart of the student Pešek originally belonged exclusively to Slavia. When Káďa was still a student, he went to every match of Slavia. He especially looked forward to the starts of the English like a small child. At that time, however, no one could have guessed that the thin blond boy, watching with great interest the technical maturity of the English players, would one day be a completely equal opponent to even the most famous professionals! Pešek subconsciously perceived all the charms of ball technique and often tried to imitate in practice what he saw on the pitch of Slavia in fights with other boys.

He was only interested in Sparta when they played against Slavia. And here in the guard of children's sports enthusiasts, sitting on their backs around the field, there was no more passionate supporter of the red and white team than the current, eternally young veteran Káďa!

Pešek was a great admirer of the unforgettable Košek, Baumruk, Jenny, Fiering, Veselý and Jeník! During Košek's goals, the Slavist fan Pešek jumped up with joy, threw his cap over his head and tried to drown out all the other Slavist boys by shouting goól. Well, in short, Pešek was an exhibition specimen of a true Slavic enthusiast.

When Slavia gave Sparta nine goals in one match, he came home almost beside himself with joy. He couldn't even speak — he just wheezed. Of course, those nine goals really blew the vocal chords of adults! However, fate forced Káďa to the neighboring playground.