As it is known in the first qualifying round of the 2019/20 Europa League Pyunik overcame Macedonian Shkupi and will face Czech Jablonec in the next round.
This will be second Czech club which our team will face in the Euro Cups. In the second qualifying round of the 2011/12 Champions League Pyunik had conceded in both legs to Czech champion Viktoria Pizen and dropped out of the competition.
History
The club was founded in 1945 and was named ČSK Jablonec nad Nisou. Jablonec means “apple tree” in Czech. The team succeeded for the first time in 1963 when it qualified for the Czech Second League. In 1964 LIAZ company producing cars became the team’s general sponsor and the club was renamed LIAZ Jablonec. In 1974/75 Jablonec spent its first season in the Czechoslovak First League but placed 15th next season and left the ranks of the best teams.
Playing for years in the Second and Third Leagues, the team won the 1993/94 Second League led by Josef Pesice and returned to the Czech First League staying there till today.
The first success in the inner championship took place during 1995/96 and 1996/97 seasons when Jiri Kotrba trained the team and Jablonec placed 3rd two times in a row.
From 1998 to 2008 the team was called Jablonec 97 and after it till 2015 the team played as Baumit Jablonec. In 2015 the team was finally renamed Jablonec.
In the 2009/10 season Jablonec headed by Frantisec Komnacky struggled till the last minute for a champion title but conceded to Sparta Prague only by a point and took the second position.
Jablonec is a two-time Czech Cup winner (1998, 2012/13). Jablonec placed 4th in the previous Czech First League.
Squad
Jablonec mainly consists of Czech footballers. There are also two legionaries from Slovakia, two from Montenegro, one from Uruguay and one from Ukraine.
The team’s most experienced footballer is 37-year-old Tomas Hubschman who is famous for his performances in the Czech national team and Shakhtar Donetsk. It’s noteworthy that it’s not the first time Hubschman will play against Pyunik. In particular, in the second qualifying round of the 2004/05 Champions League playing for Shakhtar Donetsk he took part in both legs against Pyunik and scored the only goal of the second leg in Donetsk.
During the summer transfer window the team has lost several footballers such as Michal Travnik and David Lischka who moved to Sparta Prague, Tomas Holes and David Hovorka who moved to Slavia Prague as well as Shakhtar Donetsk’s Eduard Sobol whose loan term expired. All these footballers played in the main lineup.
Instead of them Jablonec has got new footballers; defenders Jakub Jugas (Slavia), Dominik Plechaty (Sparta), Libor Holik (Zlin), Jan Krob (Teplice), midfielders Jan Sykora (Slavia), Jan Matousek (Slavia) and forward Zoran Petrovic (Titograd).
Coach
60-year-old specialist Petr Rada is the head coach of Jablonec. He was a midfielder and for many years defended the colors of native Dukla. He also played in Germany for Fortuna Dusseldorf. He spent 11 matches in the Czech Republic national team and scored two goals there.
During his coach career he has managed 8 Czech clubs such as Teplice, Viktoria Plzen, Jablonec, Slovan Liberec, Vysocina Jihlava, Pribram, Slavia Prague and Sparta.
From 1998-2001 he was Jozef Chovanec’s assistant in the national team, from 2006-2008 he worked with Karel Bruckner in the national team and from 2008 to 2009 he was the manager of the Czech Republic national team.
This specialist manages Jablonec for the second time. First time he became the team’s manager in October, 2003 and after working 4 years with the team he managed to lead Jablonec to the final of the Czech Cup where his team conceded to Sparta Prague.
Petr Rada heads Jablonec since January, 2018.
Stadium
Jablonec spends its home matches at the Stadium Strelice. Many years ago the area was named Strelice that means shooting range. There was a shooting range instead of the current stadium and from it the stadium got its name.
After the Second World War Jablonec allocated funds for the damaged stadium and in 1955 built the main tribune and 8 years later placed the grass cover.
The stadium has been reconstructed several times and last time was officially reopened on May 30, 2005 before a friendly match between the Czech Republic and Costa Rica national teams. During the last reconstruction an automatic heating system was installed in the stadium.
From October 2017 the stadium bore the name of Bookmaker Company Chance but on the eve of the 2014/15 season the stadium was given its former name.
At present Strelice can host 6268 spectators.
Jablonec in Eurocups
The Czech club has participated in the Euro Cups 9 times. It made its debut in the first qualifying round of the 1997/98 UEFA Cup where won Azerbaijan’s Karabakh overall 8-0.
In the previous Europa League Jablonec performed in the group stage where its opponents were Dynamo Kyiv, Stade Rennais and Astana.
Jablonec’s lineup
Goalkeepers
1 Jan Hanus 24.04.1988 Czech Republic
30 Vlastimil Hruby 21.02.1985 Czech Republic
33 Adam Richter 25.06.1998 Czech Republic
Defenders
4 Jakub Jugas 05.05.1992 Czech Republic
12 Jifi Vana 05.07.1989 Czech Republic
13 Dominik Plechaty 18.04.1999 Czech Republic
16 Jan Krob 27.04.1987 Czech Republic
20 Libor Holik 12.05.1998 Czech Republic
23 Tomas Brecka 12.05.1994 Czech Republic
Midfielders
3 Tomas Hubschman 04.09.1981 Czech Republic
6 Tomas Pilik 20.12.1988 Czech Republic
7 Jakub Povazanec 31.01.1991 Slovakia
8 Jan Sykora 29.12.1993 Czech Republic
10 Milos Kratochvil 26.04.1996 Czech Republic
18 Rafael Acosta 02.10.1990 Uruguay
21 Jan Matousek 09.05.1998 Czech Republic
22 Andrej Fabry 01.03.1997 Slovakia
25 Vladimir Jovovic 26.10.1994 Montenegro
Forwards
15 Martin Dolezal 03.05.1990 Czech Republic
19 Jan Chramosta 12.10.1990 Czech Republic
