Vacenovský won league titles with Dukla in 1958, 1961-1964 and 1966. In the uniform of the then army club, he also won the Czechoslovak Cup four times and advanced to the semi-finals of the Champions Cup of European countries, today’s Champions League. At the end of his career, he worked in Belgium, including in Lokeren.
In 1964, Vacenovský made his only start in the national team in a friendly match against Poland. In 1960, he was part of the national team at the final tournament of the premier European Championship, where Czechoslovakia won bronze, but he did not get on the field.
It is with regret that we announce that on Monday, December 4, 2023, at the age of 86, former league football player Dukla Praha and representative Josef Vacenovský died.
Honor his memory! pic.twitter.com/ioWUXNYOUB
— FK Dukla Praha (@FKDuklaPraha) December 5, 2023
The legendary Josef Masopust had a major influence on the member of the unforgettable “Velké Dukla” team of the 1960s.
“I joined the team as a boy from Ratíškovice and he immediately offered me a chance to play. And when I received an offer from a Moravian club, he persuaded me to stay in Dukla. He continued to help me, it was thanks to Pepík’s recommendation and his contacts in Belgium that I got to Lokeren,” recalled Vacenovský with gratitude, who later got his Czech successors, including Jan Koller, to the Belgian club for a change.
Bohumil Paukner, chairman of Dukla’s board of directors, also came up with a personal memory on the club’s website.
“He left not only an excellent footballer, but above all a great person whom we all liked and respected for his human qualities. I remember the words of the actor Radek Brzobohatý, who had a warm relationship with Dukla, was friends with many of our players, and said about Josef: ‘Maybe Váca is like that, he is an extremely intelligent person. You can talk to him about many other things than just football and women.’ I will never forget him,” assures Paukner.
2023-12-06 09:58:00
#Dukla #mourns #champion #Vacenovský #died #man #Koller #Belgium
