2024-04-29 12:09:33
Footballer Vladimír Táborský, former left back of Sparta and the national team, has a rich playing and coaching career. Although he celebrates his 80th birthday on Sunday, he is still a member of the Supervisory Board of the Endowment Fund in the summer club. “I don’t go abroad anymore, but I still follow football life closely, often as a spectator,” he smiles at the beginning of the interview for Aktuálně.cz.
What has brought you the most joy from your playing time?
In 1965 and 1966, titles with Sparta and Dukla, all the matches in the Champions Cup, two amazing overseas tours with the Letne team and in 1973 Sparta reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. In the jersey of the national team, it was a 0:0 draw with the English world champions in 1966, and five years later the European qualification in Wales, where I managed to score my only national team goal and the winning one at 1:1.
However, football is also disappointing. When and what was your biggest?
Definitely in the spring of 1975, when Sparta was relegated to the second league and I had to say goodbye to top football at the age of 31 due to a serious knee injury.
You followed the coaching path and in 1983 you became the assistant of the legendary Václav Ježek. What did it mean to you?
It was a very useful school. I got to know the coaching methods of this recognized personality and his dealings with people. I wanted to gain as much as possible from his work and apply this experience later. I managed to do it a year later, when I already led Sparta to the title in the role of coach. At the same time, I didn’t want to just imitate Václav Ježek, because I wouldn’t be myself, only a failed copy of him. I tried to apply my own knowledge, opinions and approach to players. It was mainly about keeping my charges humble and hardworking with a responsible approach to their duties.
You went to Greece that same year. How do you remember it?
Above all, I was very satisfied there. I first spent seven years in three clubs and then returned to this beautiful country several more times. There were a total of eleven coaching seasons. The first to third leagues are professional and the players still have so-called internal contracts that they must respect. They are different in individual clubs, but mostly they are fines for late arrivals to training, smoking in public, inappropriate clothing, violations of lifestyle and the like. For example, in the second division Patraikos, players could stay outside their residence only until eleven o’clock in the evening, which was occasionally checked. And whoever didn’t fulfill it, a financial penalty followed.
In 2001, you ended your coaching and became a co-commentator. What was the job like?
I didn’t want to stop playing football, so I accepted an offer from Czech Television. I enjoyed this job, it even opened the door for me to the European and World Championships, which I never managed as a player. The incident from Slavia’s league match in Mladá Boleslav, which I commented with Jaromír Bosák, was also exceptional. During the break, we were not very respectful about various situations and players, and we missed that the microphone was left on, so the viewers on the TVs must have had a lot of fun. It was quite embarrassing for us and it took us a while to laugh about it.
In 2013, you became a member of the supervisory board of the Spartan Endowment Fund. Can you elaborate a bit on this activity?
We help our former teammates. Mainly in their financial problems after operations or when they need expensive medicines. We get money mainly from the club’s management, the players of the first league team and also from sponsors who understand our activities.
Do you believe, as a great Spartan, that at the end of May the league championship will be celebrated again at Letná?
Sparta has a head start, and I think they are returning to their previous good form. But I know from my own experience how difficult it is to defend the championship title. In addition, until the end of this year’s league season, there is still a superstructure left, in which anything can happen.