František Kloz (19 May 1905 – 13 June 1945) 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 ...

football player.

Club career

Kloz played most of his career for SK Kladno and became its manager in 1942-43. He scored 175 goals in 192 matches in the

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 ...

(172 for Kladno, 3 for Slavia), making him the third highest scorer in the competition's history. He was twice the top goalscorer of the league, the first time in the 1929-30 season with 15 and the second in the 1936-37 season with 28 goals.

International career

He played for Czechoslovakia national team, from 1929 to 1937 - scoring six goals in 10 matches. He made his international debut on 28 October 1929 in a Friendly against

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, and he only needed 2 minutes to leave his mark as he netted the opening goal in a 4-3 win. However, it took him 7 years to score another goal for his nation, but the wait was worth it as he scored not one, but four goals against

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in a 1936–38 Central European Cup fixture. His last international goal was a late winner against

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in 24 October 1937.

International goals

:''Czechoslovakia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Kloz goal.''

World War II

An anti-Nazi during German occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II, in May 1945 Kloz went out to fight as a volunteer non-soldier against German Nazi occupants. He was seriously wounded on 7 May, when his party sought to capture a German-held ammunition store two days before the enemy surrendered in Czechoslovakia. He died a month later in a hospital in Louny.

Legacy

Kloz is the most famous player in the history of

SK Kladno Sportovní klub Kladno, commonly known as SK Kladno, is a football club from Kladno, Czech Republic. It plays in the Bohemian Football League (third tier of the Czech football system). The club was founded on 15 February 1903. The team plays at ...

. The team's home stadium is named after him.

References

External links

*
ČMFS entry
1905 births 1945 deaths People from Hradec Králové District People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Czech men's footballers Czechoslovak men's footballers Czechoslovakia men's international footballers SK Kladno players SK Slavia Prague players AC Sparta Prague players Men's association football forwards Czech resistance members Czechoslovak civilians killed in World War II Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany Footballers from the Hradec Králové Region {{Czechoslovakia-footy-bio-stub