Daniel Pudil (; born 27 September 1985) is 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' Places *Czech, ...

former professional

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 ...

who played for the Czech Republic national team and currently plays as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Northern Counties East League The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the football pyramid respectively. History ...

Premier Division club Hallam.

Club career

Czech Republic

Pudil started his youth career in the Czech Republic with

Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...

. He left the club at age of eighteen and joined

FK Chmel Blšany FK Chmel Blšany was a Czech football club based in the village of Blšany. The club played in the Czech First League between 1998 and 2006 and was the first professional club of goalkeeper Petr Čech. The club disbanded in 2016 after resigning ...

. At Chmel Blšany Pudil used to play left back in defence and scored two goals in eleven appearances. After six months Pudil joined

FC Slovan Liberec FC Slovan Liberec (), commonly referred to as Slovan Liberec or simply Slovan, is a Czech football club based in the city of Liberec. The club is one of the most successful in the Czech Republic, having won three league titles and the domestic ...

. Though making twelve appearances in his first season, Pudil soon became a member of the first team which would win its second league title with Pudil making 29 appearances and scoring three goals. During the season, Pudil scored the first goal of his career in a 2–2 draw against

Příbram Příbram (; german: Freiberg in Böhmen, ''Przibram'', or ''Pribram'', in 1939–1945 ''Pibrans'') is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 32,000 inhabitants. It is well known for its mining history, and more ...

on 7 November 2005. Throughout the season, Pudil would establish himself in the starting eleven at the club. In 2007, he had a trial with English side

Watford Watford () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal en ...

, but manager

Aidy Boothroyd Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who is currently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he was r ...

decided not to sign Pudil on a permanent contract. In the 2007–08 season in which he played three games for Slovan Liberec, Pudil left Liberec to join

SK Slavia Praha Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in th ...

on loan for a season and made his debut on 15 September 2007, in a 0–0 draw against

Baník Ostrava ''Baník'' is a Slovak language, Slovak word meaning "miner". Since the 1950s it has been part of the name of various sports clubs in Czechoslovakia associated mostly with coal mining regions. In Poland, the same practice was conducted with the name ...

; Four days later, he made his Champions League debut in a 2–1 win over Romanian side

Steaua București Steaua or Steaua București may refer to: * CSA Steaua București, a Romanian multi-sports club * CSA Steaua București (football), the football team of the multi-sports club * Fotbal Club FCSB, a football team that used this name between 2003 ...

. On 29 September 2007, Pudil then scored his first goal in a 7–1 win over Fastav Zlín; followed four days later when he scored his first goal in a 2–1 loss against

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsul ...

and his second league goal came in a 2–0 win over Sparta Prague six days later. In the UEFA Champions League third match in the Group Stage, Pudil was in the squad when Arsenal thrashed Slavia 7–0. Six days later after the 7–0 loss, Pudil played against his former club in a 1–1 draw; but the next meeting soon happened again six months later, when Pudil set up a goal for

Zdeněk Šenkeřík Zdeněk Šenkeřík (born 19 December 1980) is a Czech former football striker. His last professional club was Bohemians, who he played for in the Czech 2. Liga. On 19 September 2007, he scored Slavia Prague's first ever UEFA Champions Leag ...

, to score the only goal in the game. Following Slavia Praha's Champions League elimination to UEFA Cup, Pudil set up a goal for Matej Krajčík to make it 1–1 against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

in the second leg. However, Slavia Praha lost 3–1 on aggregate, having lost against them in the first leg. On the final game of the season, Pudil scored in a 2–2 draw against Baumit Jablonec. At the end of the season, Slavia Praha won the league title. Due to his flamboyance and controversial lifestyle, Slavia Praha had decided against signing Pudil.

Genk

Pudil signed for Belgian club

KRC Genk Koninklijke Racing Club Genk (), commonly known as KRC Genk, Racing Genk or simply Genk, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and have won four cha ...

from

on 1 July 2008, for worth 1.5 million euros. Pudil was linked with Italian sides

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are ni ...

and

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the provinc ...

but Genk managed to win the race. On the opening game of the season on 17 August 2008, Pudil made his debut for the club in a 1–1 draw against

Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbalclub Antwerpen, or simply Beerschot, is a Belgian professional football club located in Antwerp, that competes in the second-tier First Division B after relegating from the top tier in the 2021–22 season. In 201 ...

; then two appearances later, Pudil scored his first goal in a 3–1 win over

Zulte Waregem Sportvereniging Zulte Waregem (), commonly known as Zulte Waregem or by their nickname Essevee (), is a Belgian professional football club based in Waregem, West Flanders. Zulte Waregem plays in the Belgian First Division A. Their highest finish ...

on 14 September 2008. However the next game, Pudil received a red card after a second bookable offence in a 1–0 loss against

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

. In his first season, Pudil scored four goals in twenty nine appearances. At Genk, Pudil had established himself in the first team during his three seasons at Genk. The next season with Pudil made 27 appearance. However, in the Europa League fourth round second leg against

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord ...

, having loss 2–1 in the first leg, Pudil set up a goal for Elyaniv Barda but received a red card after a second bookable offence. The next season, Pudil was involved in the squad with Genk that won the title for the second time. He spent three seasons with the Belgian side before joining

Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...

on a five-and-a-half-year contract in January 2012.

Cesena

After joining Granada, Pudil was immediately loaned out to

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and '' comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. History Cesena was ...

for the rest of the 2011–12 season. On 1 February 2012, Pudil made his debut, playing in defensive midfield, in a 0–0 draw against

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. Eighteen days later after making his debut, Pudil scored his first goal in a 3–1 loss against A.C. Milan. On 7 March 2012, the match didn't turn well for him when he received a red card after a second bookable offence, just one minute after receiving a yellow in a 0–0 draw against Catania. At the end of the season, Pudil couldn't help Cesena retain their Serie A status as the club was relegated to Serie B.

Watford

Pudil then joined Watford on a season-long loan for the 2012–13 season, joining Czech teammate

Matěj Vydra Matěj Vydra (, born 1 May 1992) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a striker for Viktoria Plzeň and the Czech Republic national team. Vydra previously played for FC Chotěboř, Vysočina Jihlava, Baník Ostrava, Club Brugge, U ...

. In pre-season, Pudil played his first match in a friendly against

in Lloyd Doyley's testimonial match but after playing five minutes, he came off with a suspected hamstring injury. This turned out to be a minor injury. Pudil made his Watford debut, in the second game of the season, a 1–0 loss against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

. Having played as a left back for six games, Pudil was slotted into the left midfield role and assisted several goals. On 23 October 2012, Pudil received a straight red card in a 2–1 loss against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

after violent conduct against

Craig Noone Craig Stephen Noone (born 17 November 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for A-League club Macarthur FC. He has also played professional football for Plymouth Argyle, Exeter City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Cardiff ...

. After the game, Watford appealed the decision, with support from

and Noone himself. His three-game suspension was thus reduced to one by the FA. In the first match of 2013, Pudil scored his first goal for

in a 4–3 loss against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

. Later in the 2012–13 season, Pudil would go on to make 40 appearances in all competitions, and at the end of the season, Pudil would return to Granada, as his loan spell with Watford came to an end. On 4 July 2013, Pudil announced via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that he had joined Watford permanently from

, signing a four-year contract. Pudil's first game after signing for the club on a permanent basis came after coming on for

Ikechi Anya Ikechi Anya (born 3 January 1988) is a Scottish former professional footballer. A versatile player, Anya was fielded in a number of positions, including winger, wing-back and full-back. He played for Wycombe Wanderers, Northampton Town, Wa ...

in the 75th minute, in the opening game of the season, in a 1–0 win over

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

, while his first goal would come in a 1–1 draw against

on 14 September 2013.

Sheffield Wednesday

On 29 August 2015, Pudil signed for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

on a season-long loan deal. He scored his first goal for Sheffield Wednesday in a 3–1 win over

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syst ...

on 3 October 2015. Pudil completed a permanent move to Wednesday on 28 July 2016 for £1,500,000. He was released by Sheffield Wednesday at the end of the 2018–19 season.

Mladá Boleslav

After his release from Sheffield Wednesday in July 2019, he signed for Czech side

Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav (; german: Jungbunzlau) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 42,000 inhabitants. Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region and a major centre of the Czech automotive ind ...

on a two-year deal.

Viktoria Žižkov

Pudil signed for Czech side

Viktoria Žižkov Viktoria usually refers to Viktoria, a name which is the same as Victoria (name), but may also refer to: Places * FK Viktoria Stadion, stadium of Viktoria Žižkov * Viktoria-Luise-Platz, building in Berlin * Viktoriastadt, now known as Victor ...

on a one-year deal for free.

Hallam

On 24 July 2022, Pudil returned to Sheffield and signed for Northern Counties East League Premier Division side Hallam - the second oldest football club in the world.

International career

Pudil represented his country at under-19 and under-21 level. He made his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

debut in 2007 and scored his first goal at this level on 21 November 2007 in a 0–2 away victory against

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier. Pudil was a member of the Czech Republic squad that competed in

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Genk *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

: 2009 Belgian Cup Final, 2008–09 *

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( nl, Belgische Supercup, ; french: Supercoupe de Belgique; german: Belgischer Fußball-Super Cup), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian First Division A champio ...

: 2011

References

External links

* * * * *
krcgenk.be

sport.be
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pudil, Daniel Living people 1985 births Footballers from Prague Association football fullbacks Association football wingers Czech footballers Czech Republic youth international footballers Czech Republic under-21 international footballers Czech Republic international footballers Czech expatriate footballers SK Slavia Prague players FK Chmel Blšany players FC Slovan Liberec players FK Mladá Boleslav players K.R.C. Genk players Granada CF footballers A.C. Cesena players Watford F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players FK Viktoria Žižkov players Hallam F.C. players Czech First League players Belgian Pro League players Serie A players English Football League players Czech National Football League players UEFA Euro 2016 players Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Italy Czech expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Czech expatriate sportspeople in Spain Czech expatriate sportspeople in England Czech expatriate sportspeople in Italy