SK Úvaly (Czech Republic)

SK Úvaly is a football club from the town of the same name, located around eleven miles east of the Czech Republic capital of Prague. The club was formed on the 30th March 1919 following a meeting at hotelu Křovák, where it was decided to collect subscriptions to try and buy a football.

The title Sports Club Kubalech was soon changed to Sportovní Klub Ouvaly. By October 19th 1919 the club had raised enough money to rent some land for a pitch near to the forest on the edge of town. In the opening game SK Pečky were defeated 8-2 in front of 300 fans.

The club struggled to survive in the first part of the 1920’s before regathering and renting a new ground and changing the club title to SK Úvaly in 1928 as well as joining local competition rather than playing in just friendly games.

In 1929 the street where the club was located was named in honour of Guth-Jarkovského, who had been Chairman of the club. A new clubhouse was completed the following year. The team competed in the 1B class of local competition.

In 1958 Úvaly reached 1A level, before reaching the regional championship in 1964; the third tier of football in the republic. The ground was improved with the construction of a grandstand, before the team dropped down the divisions in a period of decline.

By 2000 the club committee decided to try and restore the club back its former glory. They managed to attain a place in the Prague Championship before dropping back down after a terrible opening season at the new level.

The club decamped to play matches at Škvorec fpr a year while a new pitch with drainage was laid and cultivated, while new changing room blocks were constructed. In 2004-05 the 1B division was won.

The 2004-05 season saw the first team lift the 1A title and move back to the Prague Championship (Pražský přebor), while the youth teams at the club continued to show promise to set up a sound base.

The club continued to consolidate and improve their club facilities, going on to build new facilities for handball and tennis in 2010 as well as reconstructing the grandstand. The hard work paid dividends as the club reached the fourth tier of Czech football for the 2012-13 season and were placed in Divize B, finishing in fifth place.

Úvaly consolidated their place over the next few seasons, before a final eleventh placed slot saw them stave off the fear of relegation in 2015-16 before an even narrower escape took place the following season.

A season of mid table came in 2017-18 before the club disappeared from football before returning to the Central Bohemian Region competition for 2019-20 where they were placed in the seventh tier 1.B Class Group B. The team were in third place when the COVID-19 pandemic halted proceedings.

SK Úvaly will play in the Středočeský Kraj I.B Třída Skupina B in the 2020-21 season.

My visit

Sunday 13^th March 2016

My weekend in Prague was going really well and I was in good form after attending the Viktoria Žižkov Sunday morning match. I decided to walk into the city before heading out for my afternoon’s entertainment, which was to be between SK Úvaly in the fourth tier Divize B.

To reach Úvaly I needed to catch a train from Praha Masarykovo Nádraží station. I paid for my ticket on board, which cost around £3 return. The journey took around twenty minutes. On alighting I walked through the quite streets, which I noticed had loud hailers attached to assorted telegraph poles.

Just before heading down Klánovická, I bumped into a fellow groundhopper. This chap was from Germany and walking away from the ground. He broke the bad news that the game was off. This was extremely disappointing as the weather seemed fine; even if rain was forecast later.

Regardless, I continued on to have a look at Stadion SK Úvaly, where I found a tidy venue with a small stand backing onto Guth-Jarkovského. The rest of the ground was flat standing areas with tennis courts further along from the extensive changing room blocks.

Despite the disappointment I was happy to have filled in some time. I returned to the city and my room in Žižkov for a siesta before heading back down town where I headed to Rocky O'Reilly's Irish Pub on Štěpánská to watch multiple sports on the many screens and then enjoy a nice local meal at a fine traditional local establishment.