By the way, the famous Trnava shooter Josef Štibrányi also served part of his military service here, thanks to his goal Czechoslovakia defeated the star-studded Spaniards 1:0 at the 1962 World Cup in Chile.
Slavia over the descent chasm
The staunch supporters of Prague’s Slavia, the witnesses of that era, on the other hand, do not like to remember those times at all. First of all – Slavists had to play under the ruling regime imposed on them by the name Dynamo Prague, and secondly, it was not possible for the slavists at all. Even though they had Jan Lála, teammate Jozef Štibrányi from our highly successful “Chilean” national team.
In the year 1963/1964, the seamers quite seriously had to look at the basement of the second league table, because of the 14 participants in Group B, five (!) teams were relegated and Dynamo Prague was badly soaked in that relegation mire.
On May 7, 1964, it was Dukla Tábor who stepped onto the pitch of the stadium in Eden in Vršovice, and a few thousand of the most loyal Slavist souls believed that the seamers would finally come to their senses, win and score two points, much needed for the longed-for salvation. The impending relegation to the regional championship of Prague, then the third highest competition in our football, would be, without exaggeration, a fatal tragedy for a club whose jersey was once worn by world-famous footballers Plánička, Puč, Vytlačil, Ženíšek, Franci Svoboda, Bican and others.
A dark shadow fell on Eden…
The young men from Jordan, who were doing two years of mandatory military service in the Hussite city, did not take this into account in the slightest. The then secretary of Dukla Tábor JUDr. Miroslav Gründl remembered that memorable match as follows: “After half a dozen KPS Brno shootings (Dukla won at home 6:1 – author’s note) we went to Slavia and won there 2:0! The goals were scored by Kamír, who scored against his parent club, and Čaban. Václav Zajíček, later the goalkeeper of VS Tábor, and a doctor of law for a little longer, already played for Dukla.
On May 7, 1964, a dark shadow fell on Eden and crowds of disappointed Slavia fans, among whom was the actor Karel Effa, one of Slavia’s most loyal fans, left the stadium with the darkest fears for the fate of their beloved club. And they also cursed Vašek Kamír, a Slavist protege, who “started” his team with the first goal in the Dukel jersey…
Let it be remembered that with this 2:0 win, Dukla Tábor avenged Dynamo’s autumn home defeat at Svépomoci 0:1.
Last minute rescue
However, the serious fears of the Slavist public did not come true after all. At the end of the 2nd league, Dynamo Prague finally took action, and even though it was difficult, they saved themselves after all. In the final ranking, it took 8th place, three points from the relegation zone.
Slavoj Praha, Dukla Písek, Spartak Brno ZJŠ B (Zbrojovka reserve), Jiskra Úpice and Baník Ratíškovice fell down from the B-group.
The most successful camp in southern Bohemia
In the end, Dukla Tábor took an excellent 4th place, behind – progressing to the 1st league – Jizkra Otrokovice, VCHZ Pardubice and TJ Gottwaldov (Zlín). It thus became the most successful South Bohemian team ever, because Dynamo ČB, which also occupied the 4th position in Group A, gained one less point…
In conclusion, let us note that in the following year, i.e. 1964/1965, the Vršovice club of famous traditions unexpectedly grew. Already under the restored name of Slavia Praha, with a number of reinforcements in the lineup, it successfully fought for the top spot in the 2nd league with Škoda (Viktoria) Plzeň and permanently returned to the 1st league.
And Dukla Tábor? She managed again successfully, to the satisfaction of her fans, who at that time came to the Míru stadium in the amount of three, sometimes even four thousand. In Group A, she only dropped one place and finished fifth.
