Sparta Praha II

Ground: Strahov Stadion, pitch 1

Visits: 1

Date: 16th April 2014

Match: Sparta Praha II - Kraluv Dvur 1-2 (3. Liga)

Attendance: 105

My fourth and final match of the first part of this tour was going to be a 3. Liga match in the Czech Republic. Going through my options I decided to visit Sparta Praha II vs Kraluv Dvur on Wednesday evening. Having arrived back in Prague on Tuesday evening I had almost a full day of touristing ahead of me as well. The city of Prague is popular with foreign tourists and it is easy to understand why. Quite a big and pittoresque old city (Stare mesto), a river with some nice bridges and a castle over-looking it all. I decided to start with a visit to the castle and once there I had a stunning view of the city. The weather this Wednesday was (most of the time) sunny and I could take some really good pictures. After visiting the castle I took the tram down to the old city and walked in the pittoresque surroundings for almost two hours. I twice crossed Karlovy most, one of the landmarks in Prague. At 13.00 I was in the main square of the old city and watch the astronomical watch. The clock mechanism itself is composed of three main components: the astronomical dial, representing the position of the sun and moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details; "The Walk of the Apostles", a clockwork hourly show of figures of the Apostles and other moving sculptures-notably a figure of Death (represented by a skeleton) striking the time; and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months. I was of course getting hungry by now and had a schnitzel for lunch. After some more walking in the old city I headed back to my hotel for a short rest. At 15.20 I then boarded tram number 22 taking me up to Strahov Stadion.

Strahov Stadion was used for large displays in the communist era and once had a capacity of 250 000. It was first opened in 1926 but was rebuilt several times. It looks gigantic and it would have been interesting to experience it at its finest. The stadium currently serves Sparta Prague as a training centre with 8 football pitches (6 pitches of standard sizes and 2 futsal pitches).The playing field, surrounded by seating on all sides, is 63,500 square metres. Once outside this gigantic complex I tried to find the entrance. It took me a while to find it but once inside I realized I was at a unique place. The gigantic stands are in a very poor condition and can't have been used for many years. The match this evening was played at pitch 1, in the NW corner of Strahov Stadion. Ticket price was 20 Kc (around 60p). In total around 100 were in attendance for this match. The match itself was quite good, 0-0 at half-time but in the 2nd half Sparta scored from the penalty spot to make it 1-0. Kraluv Dvur hadn't had too many chances but suddenly they equalized. They were then rewarded a penalty themselves, 1-2 which was to be the final socre. It was quite cold by now and I hurried back to the tram. Tomorrow I fly, via Copenhagen, to Manchester for the second part of this tour. Three matches for me in England but above all I am meeting up with some old friends.

Sightseeing pictures (Prague)

castle