Josef Vojta (19 April 1935 – 6 March 2023) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

Career

His youth football career started in

FK Ústí nad Labem FK or fk may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Flyer Killer, fictional automated robots in the ''Terminator'' film franchise * Fox Kids, a former American children's television programming block * Funky Kong is a series of video games pub ...

. During his professional club career he played most of the time (1960–1968) for

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

Czechoslovak First League The Czechoslovak First League (, ) was the premier football (soccer), football league in the Czechoslovakia from 1925 to 1993, with the exception of World War II. Czechoslovakia was occupied by German forces who formed Gauliga Sudetenland and Ga ...

. Between 1960 and 1968 he made 351 league appearances and scored 77 goals from his position of midfielder. He earned 13 caps and scored 3 goals for the Czechoslovakia national team, and was part of the bronze team at the

UEFA Euro 1960 The 1960 European Nations' Cup was the inaugural tournament of the UEFA European Championship, held every four years and organised by UEFA. The first tournament was held in France. It was won by the Soviet Union, who beat Yugoslavia 2–1 in Par ...

, and also won a silver medal in

Football at the 1964 Summer Olympics The Association football, football competition at the 1964 Summer Olympics started on 11 October and ended on 23 October. Only one event, the men's tournament, was contested. The tournament features 14 men's national teams from six continental co ...

. Vojta was famous for his hard style of playing – he was the "hardest footballer" in the 1960s in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. And also, he was famous for his versatility, because his position on field could be attacker or midfielder same as defender. After leaving Sparta Prague in 1968, he played in FK Chomutov, FK Meteor Prague and other smaller Czech football clubs. He ended up with his professional career in the end of 1970s. Vojta still played football for Formal Sparta Prague players team. In 2010, he was elected to Sparta Prague Hall of Fame.

Honours

Sparta Prague *

: 1964–65, 1966–67 *

Czechoslovak Cup The Czechoslovak Cup () was a football cup competition held in Czechoslovakia. It was officially created in 1960 and folded in 1993 with the split between Czech Republic and Slovakia. The cup was played throughout Czechoslovakia until 1968–69. F ...

: 1964 *

Mitropa Cup The Mitropa Cup, officially called Coupe de l'Europe Centrale, Mitteleuropäischer Pokal or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European association football, football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the suc ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

Czechoslovakia *

: Bronze medal *

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

: Silver medal

References

External links

* *
Interview with Josef Vojta
(Czech) * * 1935 births 2023 deaths Czech men's footballers Czechoslovak men's footballers Czechoslovakia men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Czechoslovakia Olympic silver medalists for Czechoslovakia Olympic medalists in football Footballers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics 1960 European Nations' Cup players AC Sparta Prague players Footballers from Plzeň Men's association football midfielders FK Viagem Ústí nad Labem players {{Czechoslovakia-Olympic-medalist-stub