“I’m very ashamed for my club”: Slavia fan on shocking derby scenes
Czech soccer has made international headlines for all the wrong reasons, after the Prague derby between Slavia and Sparta was abandoned when Slavia fans stormed the pitch – and attacked Sparta players. Slavia were just moments away from lifting the league title but will now face disciplinary action. I discussed the situation with Slavia fan Yon Pulkrabek; he and his sons, aged 14 and 11, have been season-ticket holders for several years.
What were you thinking when the Slavia fans stormed the pitch in the 97th minute? That was evidently only moments before what would have been the final whistle, and a great moment of celebration.
“I was feeling disbelief, anger, confusion.
“I think Nick Hornby said somewhere that the ideal match is where you come back and you’re down to 10 men and everything.
“We had scored two goals to go 3:2 up, and we had a man sent off – rightly.
“At that point it’s the dream – you defeat your biggest rival in an incredible match, at home, to win the title.
“And the fans stole that from us. They stole that from the club, from the players and from the other fans.
“And that’s just incredibly infuriating and disappointing.”
Do you feel that this was something that could have been foreseen? Or was it totally out of the blue?
“I have seats on the touchline right next to the supporters’ section, from where the pitch invasion came.
“And somebody, I don’t know who, opened the gates from the supporters’ section onto the pitch at the 90th minute.
“At that point, I knew we were courting disaster.
“I don’t know what happened there. Some people said you could hear the speaker [fan leader coordinating songs and chants] from the supporters’ section calling on people to go onto the field; I didn’t hear that.
“But, you know, once you see crowds of people piling on to… at one point, they were just behind the net, you knew it was going to happen.
“I don’t like to use the word tragedy for sports, but in sports this was awful.
“It was terrible and reprehensible, and I’m very ashamed for my club.”
How do you feel Slavia handled the whole situation? I’m talking about the stewards and the other officials.
“As I related before, somebody opened the gate, so that’s a terrible dereliction of duty right there.
“Last year when we clinched the title, there was all sorts of communication about not going onto the pitch after the match, once it was clinched.
“This year there was no such communication, so I think that was a major error on the part of the club.
“And afterwards, what can you do? They immediately fired two of the players [Tomáš Chorý and David Douděra, for misconduct; both were sent off during the match], which I agree with.
“And they closed the supporters’ section indefinitely, until the people who went onto the pitch are found and banned.
“I also agree with that, but that’s way too little, way too late, at that point.”
The Czech FA disciplinary committee is meeting on Tuesday and it looks like the points from this game will be awarded to Sparta Prague. What punishment would you regard as appropriate for your club, Slavia?
“The Czech FA isn’t particularly known for its consistency, so at this point I’m resigned to more or less whatever fate we receive, and I’m not going to complain.
“Even if they take points away, or close the stadium, I think we deserve it, because those are scenes that nobody wants to see anywhere.
“It’s incredibly disappointing for this club and it’s incredibly disappointing for Czech football in general.
“So I’m basically resigned to whatever penalty we get.”
Were your two sons at the game with you? If so, what did they make of all of this?
“I don’t want to say they were traumatised, but I think it’s a level of disappointment that they’ve never experienced in their lives, thankfully.
“It’s certainly a learning experience and it’s unfortunate they had to witness that.
“My younger son cried. He was very upset with what the fans had done.
“They both blame the fans for being idiots – I guess there’s no other way to say it.
“But they calmed down and basically they don’t want to talk much football any more. Their level of excitement for football has dropped in the last couple of days.”
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