David Pavelka (born 18 May 1991) is a 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 lea ...

who last played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for Sparta Prague B and the Czech Republic national team.

Club career

First spell at Sparta

Pavelka started his career with

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 ...

, from where he joined 1. FC Slovácko on loan in 2011. Two days after his loan was announced, he scored his first Slovácko goal in a 1–1 draw with Sigma Olomouc.

Liberec

At the start of 2013 Pavelka transferred from Sparta Prague to Slovan Liberec, as part of a deal involving

Lukáš Vácha Lukáš Vácha (born 13 May 1989) is a former Czech Republic, Czech professional association football, footballer who last played as a midfielder for AC Sparta Prague B. Club career Vácha moved to AC Sparta Prague from FC Slovan Liberec in 201 ...

moving in the opposite direction. After the 2014–15 Czech Cup final finished without a winner on 27 May 2015, Pavelka took Liberec's first

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

in the shoot-out and converted his spot-kick as his club defeated Jablonec 3–1 to win the trophy.

Playing abroad

On 19 January 2016, Pavelka moved abroad for the first time, joining

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

football club Kasımpaşa in a transfer worth a reported $1.65 million. He signed a contract until the end of the 2017–18 season.

Return to Sparta

On 6 October 2020, Pavelka returned to his native country, signing for Sparta Prague in the

Czech First League The Czech First League () also known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Czech Republic and the highest level of the Czech Republic football league system. Seasons typically run from A ...

. In one of his first games after returning, he received a red card in a November 2020 4–2 home loss against

České Budějovice České Budějovice (; ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 97,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is the largest ...

. On 3 January 2025, it was decided that Pavelka will move to Sparta Prague B, where he will mentor the young players.

International career

On 3 September 2015, Pavelka debuted as a starter in the Czech senior squad in a

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams joining the automatically qualified host team France in the UEFA Euro 2 ...

against

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, ending in a 2–1 victory for the Czechs. He was eventually selected to represent the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

at the

final tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

held in France. With the arrival of

Jaroslav Šilhavý Jaroslav Šilhavý (; born 3 November 1961) is a Czech professional football manager and former player. As a player, Šilhavý made a total of 464 top flight appearances spanning the end of the Czechoslovak First League and the beginning of th ...

to the national team in 2018, Pavelka played all the minutes in the three remaining matches of the

2018–19 UEFA Nations League The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The league phase of the competition ...

as well as a friendly match against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, becoming a key player of the entire team. Pavelka scored his first national team goal in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

on 26 March 2019.

Career statistics

Club

International

. :''Scores and results list Czech Republic's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pavelka goal''.

Honours

Sparta Prague *

: 2022–23, 2023–24 *

Czech Cup The Czech Cup (), officially known as the MOL Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the major men's football cup competition in the Czech Republic. It is organised by the Czech Football Association. The Czech Cup was first held in 1961. The winner ...

: 2023–24

References

External links

Player's profile
FAČR (in Czech) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pavelka, David Living people 1991 births Footballers from Prague Men's association football midfielders Czech men's footballers Czech Republic men's under-21 international footballers Czech Republic men's international footballers Czech First League players AC Sparta Prague players 1. FC Slovácko players FC Slovan Liberec players Kasımpaşa S.K. footballers Süper Lig players UEFA Euro 2016 players Czech expatriate men's footballers Czech expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey 21st-century Czech sportsmen