Viktoria Plzeň FC Viktoria Plzeň made headlines across Europe in the 2023–24 season, becoming the first Czech club ever to win all six of its UEFA Europa Conference League group-stage matches. Viktorka, as the club is affectionately known, went on to eliminate Switzerland's Servette in the round of 16 before being knocked out in the quarter-finals after extra time against Fiorentina, one of the most notable European runs in Czech football history.
The club was founded on 11 June 1911 in Pilsen as SK Viktoria Plzeň and spent most of the 20th century in the shadow of Prague giants Sparta and Slavia, playing under several different names, including Spartak Plzeň. Red and blue have remained the club's colours from the outset. It returned to its current name, FC Viktoria Plzeň, in 1992.
The first major success came in 1971, when Viktoria won the Czechoslovak Cup, earning a place in the European Cup Winners' Cup, where it faced a star-studded Bayern Munich side. Earlier, in 1935, the club had taken part in the prestigious Mitropa Cup, drawing 3–3 at home against Juventus before losing the away leg 5–1 in Turin — its first serious brush with Europe's football elite.
The real breakthrough, however, came in the 21st century. After winning the Czech Cup in 2010, Viktoria claimed its first-ever Czech championship the following year and went on to add further titles, six in total (2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2022), along with two Czech Super Cups (2011, 2015). The club reached the UEFA Champions League group stage three times (2011–12, 2013–14, 2022–23), facing opponents such as Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Viktoria plays its home matches at the compact Doosan Arena, which holds just under 12,000 spectators and is known for its passionate atmosphere and a distinctive beer-can-shaped substitutes' dugout, a nod to Pilsen's brewing traditions. The club's academy has produced some of the finest Czech footballers of recent decades, including Pavel Nedvěd and Petr Čech.
