Czech First League


The Czech First League, known as the Fortuna liga for sponsorship reasons, is a Czech professional league for football clubs. At the top of the Czech football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 16 clubs, operating a system of promotion and relegation with the Czech National Football League. Since 2018–19, seasons run from July to May, with teams playing 30 games each. Then teams are divided into three groups playing superstructure for final positions. The league is currently ranked 13th in Europe in the UEFA league rankings.
The history of the Czech football league began at the end of the 20th century. It was reorganised for the 1993–1994 season, after the dissolution of former Czechoslovakia and therefore of the Czechoslovak League. Having won 12 league titles, Sparta Prague is the most successful team in Czech First League history. Other clubs who have won the title are Slavia Prague, Slovan Liberec, Baník Ostrava and Viktoria Plzeň.

Competition format

1993–2018

There are 16 clubs in the league. During the course of a season, which lasts from August to May, each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 30 games. In the inaugural season, two points were awarded for a win, before switching to three points for a win in 1994. Teams receive one point for a draw and no points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, in the case of two or more teams finishing with equal points, the head-to-head record between the teams is used for ranking, counting points in relevant games, then goal difference and then goals scored. The two lowest placed teams are relegated to the second tier.

Changes from 2018

The 2018–19 season was the first season played with the new competition format. After a regular season, which lasts from July to April and which is played by the same key as previous season, the teams are divided into three groups. The top 6 teams from the regular season enter the championship group, with the first-placed team winning the championship of Czech Republic. The teams play against each other only once, having total of 5 matches. Earned points are added to the points from the regular season.
The teams from 7th–10th position in regular season take part in the Europa League play-offs. The best of them play against the fourth-placed or fifth-placed of the championship group to determine who will participate in the Europa League.
The teams from 11th–16th position in regular season play by the same key as championship group. The team placed on 16th position is relegated straightly into the Czech National Football League, while teams on 15th and 14th places play relegation play-off against 2nd and 3rd team from the Czech National Football League.

Participating teams in 2019–20

Map

The following 16 clubs are competing in the 2019–20 Czech First League.
ClubStadiumCapacity2018–19 Position
1. FC SlováckoMěstský fotbalový stadion Miroslava Valenty8,121
1. FK PříbramNa Litavce9,100
AC Sparta PragueGenerali Česká pojišťovna Arena19,416
Bohemians 1905Ďolíček5,000
FC Baník OstravaMěstský stadion 15,163
FC Fastav ZlínLetná Stadion6,375
FC Slovan LiberecStadion u Nisy9,900
FC Viktoria PlzeňDoosan Arena11,722
FK JablonecChance Arena6,280
FK Mladá BoleslavLokotrans Aréna5,000
FK TepliceNa Stínadlech18,221
MFK KarvináMěstský stadion 4,862
SFC OpavaStadion v Městských sadech7,758
SK Dynamo České BudějoviceStadion Střelecký ostrov6,681'
SK Sigma OlomoucAndrův stadion12,566
SK Slavia PragueSinobo Stadium20,800'''

Sponsorship

In 1997 the league started a sponsorship deal with Plzeňský Prazdroj, a. s. and became known as the Gambrinus liga. In 2008, the sponsorship was extended until the end of the 2013–14 season.
In May 2014, the league announced a four-year sponsorship deal with betting firm Synot, becoming the Synot liga. However, in January 2016 the company announced that their deal would conclude at the end of the 2015–16 season.
In July 2016 a new two-year sponsorship deal was announced, with the league partnering ePojisteni.cz, an online insurance company. The league subsequently became known as the ePojisteni.cz liga. Due to a government subsidy scandal and the arrest of FAČR chairman Miroslav Pelta, ePojisteni.cz terminated the contract prematurely in May 2017.
In October 2016 FAČR, LFA and Czech betting company Fortuna signed a 6-year partnership deal. In accordance with this deal, the Czech First League will be called Fortuna liga from the 2018–19 season.

Champions

Year by year

Performance by Club

Media coverage

Managers

NameClubAppointed
Slavia Prague22 12 2017
Viktoria Plzeň18 12 2019
Sparta Prague18 02 2020
Jablonec14 12 2017
Baník Ostrava03 01 2020
Slovan Liberec13 06 2019
Mladá Boleslav27 02 2018
Sigma Olomouc31 05 2019
Fastav Zlín
Teplice25 09 2018
Slovácko10 11 2018
Opava11 6 2020
Bohemians 190510 10 2019
Příbram18 03 2019
Karviná13 11 2019
České Budějovice12 10 2015

All time Czech First League table

The table counts all the seasons since the Czech First League was founded in 1993.
1AC Sparta Prague2678549016513014526178351617
2SK Slavia Prague2678540320917312737455281402
3FC Slovan Liberec2678534222122210508342161236
4FK Jablonec2575529721224610208671531103
5FC Viktoria Plzeň226653081621959737472261074
6SK Sigma Olomouc24722282196244919829901028
7FC Baník Ostrava257562582222769679616982
8FK Teplice2369225820323187580966977
9FC Zbrojovka Brno24720242186292840948-108902
101. FK Příbram20605180155270650866-216695
11FK Mladá Boleslav15455190122143683567116692
121. FC Slovácko17515162140213568651-83626
13SK Dynamo České Budějovice18540151153236551798-247595
14Bohemians 190517515138149228496707-211555
15FK Viktoria Žižkov14420144106170478539-61526
16FC Fastav Zlín14424124116184408568-160478
17FC Hradec Králové14420105113202374601-227419
18FK Drnovice1030011467119392398-6396
19FK Dukla Prague92757776122325420-95306
20SFC Opava92757571129307411-104296
21FK Chmel Blšany82406763110255350-95264
22FC Vysočina Jihlava7210556194221315-94226
23SK Kladno412028306299173-74114
24FC Union Cheb39029263595121-26100
25MFK Karviná395252149113147-3496
26FK SIAD Most39019304196140-4487
27FK Bohemians Praha 2601483860111-5150
28FC Karviná26012123653105-5248
291. SC Znojmo13069153249-1727
30FK Ústí nad Labem13047192267-4519
31FC Slovácká Slavia Uherské Hradiště13038191965-4617
32MFK Vítkovice13037202264-4213
33FK Švarc Benešov13033242378-5512
34AFK Atlantic Lázně Bohdaneč13025231861-4311

UEFA coefficients

The following data indicates Czech coefficient rankings between European football leagues.
;Country ranking:
UEFA League Ranking as of 5 January 2020:
;Club ranking:
UEFA 5-year Club Ranking as of 5 January 2020:

Player records

Following statistics count only seasons of Czech First League since its inception in 1993.
Clubs are in order of the first appearance.
Highlighted players currently plays in the Czech First League.

Most appearances

Most appearances (expatriate players)

Appearances by age

Most goals

Most goals (expatriate players)

Goal scorers by age

Most clean sheets

Most yellow cards

Most red cards