Slavia PragueSK Slavia Prague, founded on 2 November 1892 by a group of medical students as an academic club, is one of the two pillars of Prague and Czech football, alongside its eternal rival Sparta. The club enjoyed its golden era between the wars. Wearing the colours of Sešívaní (The Stitched-Together) was Josef Bican, regarded by many football historians as the most prolific goalscorer in the sport's history with over 800 career goals, while goalkeeper František Plánička, captain of Czechoslovakia's 1934 World Cup final side, guarded the net. That generation brought the club the Central European (Mitropa) Cup title in 1938, the era's equivalent of the European Cup for clubs from Central Europe and Italy.
Slavia's honours list includes 13 Czechoslovak championship titles, won mostly during the interwar and wartime years (including 1925, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1933–1935, 1937, and 1940–1943 and 1947). After Czechoslovakia split, the club went through ups and downs, but from the mid-1990s it steadily rebuilt its standing in domestic football, winning its ninth Czech championship in the 2025–26 season, cementing its status as the country's most successful club since the independent Czech league was established in 1993. Particularly memorable was the 2020–21 season, when Slavia went the entire league campaign unbeaten, setting a Czech record of 54 consecutive top-flight matches without defeat, and reached the Europa League quarter-finals, eliminating Leicester City along the way.
The most memorable match of the modern era came on 29 August 2007, when Slavia beat Ajax Amsterdam 2–1 at home in a Champions League play-off, sealing the club's first-ever qualification for the group stage of the competition. The club has since returned to the Champions League group or league phase on several further occasions, including in 2025–26, when it faced opponents such as FC Barcelona.
Slavia play in their distinctive red-and-white shirts featuring an inverted red star, and host matches at their stadium in Prague's Vršovice district, known among supporters for decades simply as Eden. The age-old rivalry with Sparta Prague in the so-called "S" Derby is one of Central Europe's oldest and fiercest football traditions, with roots reaching back to the Austro-Hungarian era, when the two clubs vied for the title of the best team in Bohemia.
