Sparta Prague U18

Czech First League U18
26 Sep 2027
Sunday
Process
60 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

20 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Pavel Kadeřábek out for 19 days

19 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sparta Prague lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Match

Sparta Prague do the business in Europe

0‑0. Continental football is where a club finds out what it actually is, and Sparta Prague came through the finding-out well against Basaksehir.

Market

Jan Kuchta wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Squad

A falling-out at Sparta Prague

John Mercado and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

A goal and an assist for John Mercado — 7.97

Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.97 beside his name.

Squad

Magnus Kofod Andersen signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Magnus Kofod Andersen and Sparta Prague agree another 4 years.

Squad

Adam Karabec falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Sparta Prague see off CSKA 1948

Three points for Sparta Prague, 2‑1 the final word against CSKA 1948 in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Matej Malenšek

At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

In brief

Back issues
59 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

13 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Pavel Kadeřábek

28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sparta Prague lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Player ratings

A brace, and Jan Kuchta takes the afternoon — 8.76

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jan Kuchta provided it, and the 8.76 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Not going: Ondřej Pavlík stays at Sparta Prague

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Vitebsk had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Market

Ki-Jana Hoever raises the bar for Sparta Prague

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Sparta Prague heard it as anything else.

Market

Edoardo Corvi has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Sparta Prague can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Squad

Filip Panák in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sparta Prague this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Sparta Prague

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and John Mercado was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Jan Kuchta the difference as Sparta Prague beat Pribram

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jan Kuchta. 3‑1 against Pribram, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The terraces

One of their own: Garang Kuol

He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

In brief

58 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

6 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Pavel Kadeřábek

37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sparta Prague lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

No mercy from Sparta Prague

Jihlava will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Sparta Prague were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Market

John Mercado hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sparta Prague can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Only the photograph left for Jaroslav Zelený

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jaroslav Zelený will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sparta Prague the goodbyes have quietly begun.

The dugout

Joao Grimaldo: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sparta Prague have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 23 in, 9 out at Sparta Prague

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 23 arrived, 9 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Market

Rodina come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Sparta Prague did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

A move Jakub Janetzký would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Jakub Janetzký is living that version at Sparta Prague, and it tends to show in the first month.

Squad

Words exchanged at Sparta Prague

Jakub Surovčík and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

In brief

57 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

30 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Pavel Kadeřábek out for 45 days

45 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sparta Prague lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Only the photograph left for John Mercado

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. John Mercado will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sparta Prague the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Market

Sparta Prague turn down Slavia Mozyr for Ondřej Pavlík

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Words exchanged at Sparta Prague

Filip Panák and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Words at Sparta Prague training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adam Karabec is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Boardroom

Ondřej Čelůstka will join Sparta Prague for nothing

The paperwork is done long before the player is. Ondřej Čelůstka has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Sparta Prague have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.

Player ratings

Matěj Ryneš runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Banik Ostrava take the points off Sparta Prague

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Market

Stanislav Cerny attracts admirers

The name of Stanislav Cerny has come up in conversations Sparta Prague were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

In brief

56 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Pavel Kadeřábek out for 52 days

52 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sparta Prague lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

10 saves: Edoardo Corvi was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Squad

Dominik Hollý takes the match ball home

4 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Match

Dominik Hollý sends Sparta Prague through

Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Dominik Hollý obliged against Pribram. 7‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Sparta Prague.

Market

Sparta Prague say no — this time

The offer from Slovan Liberec for John Mercado was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

Josimar Alcócer takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Player ratings

David Lášek, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.52

A mark of 8.52 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

The dugout

Peter Vindahl: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sparta Prague have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Player ratings

Sivert Mannsverk pops up at the right end — 7.83

7.83, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

In brief

55 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Pavel Kadeřábek damages knee ligaments — 60 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 60 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Player ratings

Daniel Sykora could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 9.09

Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 9.09, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.

Player ratings

Matěj Ryneš scores twice — 9.17

Two goals and a mark of 9.17 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Market

Terms done: Daniel Kerl is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Mlada Boleslav waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Sparta Prague is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Market

Only the photograph left for Ondřej Pavlík

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ondřej Pavlík will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sparta Prague the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Market

Sparta Prague say no — this time

The offer from Zlin for Stanislav Cerny was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Match

Nobody wants to play Sparta Prague right now

3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Squad

Adam Karabec falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Matěj Ryneš the difference as Sparta Prague beat Zlin

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Matěj Ryneš. 3‑1 against Zlin, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

In brief

54 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Pavel Kadeřábek damages knee ligaments — 68 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 68 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Market

John Mercado has said yes to Slovan Liberec

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sparta Prague have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

John Mercado puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sparta Prague, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Sparta Prague turn down Liepaja for Ondřej Pavlík

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Ki-Jana Hoever raises the bar for Sparta Prague

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Sparta Prague heard it as anything else.

Squad

Tempers go at Sparta Prague

John Mercado was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Sparta Prague training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adam Karabec is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Sparta Prague get the job done against Sigma Olomouc

A 1‑0 win over Sigma Olomouc, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Sivert Mannsverk was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

In brief

53 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Pavel Kadeřábek

75 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sparta Prague lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Transfer targets

Charlton Athletic tell Sparta Prague: Tyreece Campbell is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Market

Ondřej Pavlík agrees terms with Zlin

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sparta Prague people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Market

Dániel Gazdag moves on

Partizan pay $4.9M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

Market

Slovan Liberec watching John Mercado

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Sparta Prague have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Market

Jaroslav Zelený has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sparta Prague they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

The dugout

Tobias Guddal: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sparta Prague have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Words exchanged at Sparta Prague

Filip Panák and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

John Mercado falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

52 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Pavel Kadeřábek out for 82 days

82 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sparta Prague lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Terms done: Dániel Gazdag is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Partizan waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Sparta Prague is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Transfer targets

Hull City tell Sparta Prague: Ilyas Ansah is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

The dugout

Filip Vaško says Sparta Prague went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

6 saves: Edoardo Corvi was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Market

Sparta Prague may not be able to give Jan Kuchta what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Jan Kuchta wants continental football; whether Sparta Prague can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Market

Sparta Prague say no — this time

The offer from Kano Pillars for Kévin-Prince Milla was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

Tempers go at Sparta Prague

Filip Panák was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Sparta Prague training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adam Karabec is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

51 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

19 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Pavel Kadeřábek out for 89 days

89 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sparta Prague lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Partizan watching Dániel Gazdag

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Sparta Prague have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Market

Sparta Prague turn down Bohemians 1905 for Joao Grimaldo

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Edoardo Corvi has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Sparta Prague can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Sparta Prague

John Mercado and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Matěj Ryneš has improved at 26, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

Boardroom

5 academy graduates step up at Sparta Prague

Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.

Squad

Words at Sparta Prague training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adam Karabec is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Market

Sparta Prague promote Lukas Vydra from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Lukas Vydra has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

In brief

50 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Pavel Kadeřábek damages knee ligaments — 99 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 99 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Market

John Mercado hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sparta Prague can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Slavia Prague come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Sparta Prague did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market

Adam Karabec raises the bar for Sparta Prague

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Sparta Prague heard it as anything else.

Squad

Jan Kuchta signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jan Kuchta commits to Sparta Prague for another 4 years.

Squad

A falling-out at Sparta Prague

Filip Panák and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Edoardo Corvi has improved at 26, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

Market

One of our own: Daniel Sykora joins the Sparta Prague first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Daniel Sykora is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

The dugout

Adam Karabec knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Adam Karabec trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

49 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

5 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Pavel Kadeřábek damages knee ligaments — 108 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 108 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Market

Jaroslav Zelený has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sparta Prague they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

The step up is real for Aleš Sukdolák

At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Market

Jan Kuchta wants more than Sparta Prague are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

Squad

Jakub Surovčík stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Jakub Surovčík and Sparta Prague agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Market

Roman Macek moves on

Pribram pay $1.1M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

Squad

Words exchanged at Sparta Prague

Filip Panák and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Market

Bohemians 1905 join the queue for Joao Grimaldo

Add another name to the list: Bohemians 1905 have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Joao Grimaldo. The answer from Sparta Prague has not changed — yet.

Boardroom

Intake day at the Sparta Prague academy

10 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.

In brief

48 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Pavel Kadeřábek

116 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sparta Prague lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Jan Kuchta’s exile

34 goals in 21 games at Legia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Sparta Prague updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

Market

Sparta Prague spend $13.1M to raise the standard

This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $13.1M has been paid because Edoardo Corvi is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.

Market

Roman Macek has said yes to Pribram

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sparta Prague have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

Jaroslav Zelený asks to leave Sparta Prague

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Real improvement from Andrej Kostić at Sparta Prague

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Andrej Kostić is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Transfer targets

Sigma Olomouc tell Sparta Prague: Abubakar Ghali is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Transfer targets

Matej Malenšek is a medical away from Sparta Prague

The deal with Jablonec is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.

Squad

Sivert Mannsverk has improved at 25, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

In brief

47 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

21 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Pavel Kadeřábek out for 124 days

124 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sparta Prague lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Jaroslav Zelený agrees terms with Pribram

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sparta Prague people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Transfer targets

An offer of $13.1M for Edoardo Corvi

Sparta Prague have gone to Parma with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Transfer targets

Sparta Prague rebuffed over Jamie Cumming

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Oxford United have kept their man, and Sparta Prague go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Roman Macek hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sparta Prague can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Remember the name: Andrej Kostić

He is 20, he is averaging 7.32, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.

Market

Sparta Prague say no — this time

The offer from Zlin for Ondřej Pavlík was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

Real improvement from Aleko Basiladze at Sparta Prague

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Aleko Basiladze is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Words exchanged at Sparta Prague

John Mercado and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

In brief

46 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

14 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Pavel Kadeřábek out for 134 days

134 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sparta Prague lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

John Mercado hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sparta Prague can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Sparta Prague say no — this time

The offer from Banik Ostrava for John Mercado was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Transfer targets

Sigma Olomouc tell Sparta Prague: Hilmir Rafn Mikaelsson is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Squad

A falling-out at Sparta Prague

Filip Panák and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Zlin join the queue for Ondřej Pavlík

Add another name to the list: Zlin have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ondřej Pavlík. The answer from Sparta Prague has not changed — yet.

Squad

Jan Fortelný falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Market

Pribram are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. Sparta Prague will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

The dugout

Patrik Blahút has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Sparta Prague will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

45 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

7 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Pavel Kadeřábek

141 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sparta Prague lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Emmanuel Uchenna Aririerisim agrees terms with Viktoria Plzen

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sparta Prague people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Market

Bas Kuipers puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sparta Prague, and it is not being withdrawn.

Transfer targets

Sigma Olomouc tell Sparta Prague: Václav Sejk is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Squad

Words exchanged at Sparta Prague

Filip Panák and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

The step up is real for David Lášek

At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

Words at Sparta Prague training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrej Kostić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

Dániel Gazdag has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Sparta Prague will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Loan watch

9 goals on loan for Sivert Mannsverk

26 appearances at Sparta Prague and the goals keep coming. Sparta Prague are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

In brief

44 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Pavel Kadeřábek out for 151 days

151 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sparta Prague lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Jan Kuchta’s exile

34 goals in 21 games at Legia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Sparta Prague updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

Squad

Andrej Kostić is the young player of the season

Not a month, not a run of form — a whole season of being the best 20-year-old anybody in this division could put on a pitch. This is the honour that gets mentioned for the rest of his career.

Squad

The season belongs to John Mercado

An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Sparta Prague have had the benefit of it.

Squad

Tempers go at Sparta Prague

Filip Panák was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

John Mercado has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Sparta Prague will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Market

Ondřej Pavlík returns from a loan that gave him nothing

3 appearances and 0 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Daniel Kerl

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Patrik Vydra knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sparta Prague, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

43 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

24 May 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Remember the name: Andrej Kostić

He is 20, he is averaging 7.32, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.

Squad

Filip Panák in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sparta Prague this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Sparta Prague training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Fortelný is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Tobias Guddal

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market

The Matěj Ryneš talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sparta Prague know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

The dugout

When it matters, Tobias Guddal plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

42 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

17 May 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A row about effort at Sparta Prague

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrej Kostić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

Sparta Prague promote Tomas Darida from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Tomas Darida has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

Patrik Soucek steps up from the Sparta Prague academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Patrik Soucek has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

Sparta Prague promote Patrik Barak from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Patrik Barak has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

Sparta Prague promote Lukas Krejci from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Lukas Krejci has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Squad

Jan Fortelný in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sparta Prague this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Patrik Blahút has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Sparta Prague will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

The dugout

A door opens for Emmanuel Uchenna Aririerisim

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

The dugout

David Lášek asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

41 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A row about effort at Sparta Prague

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrej Kostić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

A falling-out at Sparta Prague

Joao Grimaldo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Loan watch

Ondřej Pavlík counts the days

“I watch every Sparta Prague game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at BATE runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

The dugout

Dániel Gazdag gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Dániel Gazdag is on it.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Sivert Mannsverk’s exile

9 goals in 26 games at Sparta Prague — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Sparta Prague updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

The dugout

Roman Macek is still paying for one afternoon at Sparta Prague

Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.

Market

John Mercado linked with a move away

The name of John Mercado keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Sparta Prague say nothing, which says plenty.

Loan watch

4 goals on loan for Garang Kuol

13 appearances at Jablonec and the goals keep coming. Sparta Prague are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

The dugout

Jan Fortelný knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jan Fortelný trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

40 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Jan Kuchta’s exile

34 goals in 21 games at Legia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Sparta Prague updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

Market

Sparta Prague may not be able to give John Mercado what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. John Mercado wants continental football; whether Sparta Prague can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

A falling-out at Sparta Prague

John Mercado and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Sparta Prague training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Fortelný is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

When it matters, John Mercado plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

Jan Fortelný knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sparta Prague, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

39 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

26 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Andrej Kostić is the real thing at 20

A season average of 7.32 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Sparta Prague know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.

Squad

Filip Panák in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sparta Prague this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Sparta Prague

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrej Kostić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Tobias Guddal has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Sparta Prague will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Market

The Ki-Jana Hoever question follows Sparta Prague around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ki-Jana Hoever’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

The dugout

A door opens for Emmanuel Uchenna Aririerisim

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

In brief

38 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

19 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Filip Panák in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sparta Prague this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Sparta Prague training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrej Kostić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

When it matters, Patrik Blahút plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Market

The Matěj Ryneš talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sparta Prague know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

The dugout

The manager makes Patrik Blahút a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Sparta Prague. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

Boardroom

Sparta Prague keep producing them

13 graduates from an academy now rated 15 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.

In brief

37 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

12 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at Sparta Prague

Filip Panák was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Jan Fortelný falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Loan watch

Ondřej Pavlík counts the days

“I watch every Sparta Prague game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at BATE runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

The dugout

When it matters, Dániel Gazdag plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Loan watch

9 goals on loan for Sivert Mannsverk

26 appearances at Sparta Prague and the goals keep coming. Sparta Prague are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Daniel Kerl

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

The manager has not finished forgetting Roman Macek's mistake

Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.

Market

The John Mercado story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until John Mercado signs something — a contract at Sparta Prague or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

Squad

A wage question at Sparta Prague

John Mercado has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.

In brief

36 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Loan watch

34 goals on loan for Jan Kuchta

21 appearances at Legia and the goals keep coming. Sparta Prague are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

Squad

Dániel Gazdag stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Dániel Gazdag and Sparta Prague agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Sparta Prague

Filip Panák and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

A row about effort at Sparta Prague

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrej Kostić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

John Mercado has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Sparta Prague will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Squad

A step back for Adam Ševínský at Sparta Prague

Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.

In brief

35 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

29 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

At 20, Andrej Kostić is already the best thing here

An average of 7.32 in a first team he is several years too young for. Sparta Prague have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.

The dugout

David Lášek says Sparta Prague went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

The step up is real for David Lášek

At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

Words at Sparta Prague training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrej Kostić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Tempers go at Sparta Prague

Jhoanner Chávez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

No hiding place for Emmanuel Uchenna Aririerisim

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emmanuel Uchenna Aririerisim, and the manager let it.

In brief

34 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

22 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A falling-out at Sparta Prague

Andrej Kostić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Loïc Mbe Soh falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

When it matters, Patrik Blahút plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Market

The Matěj Ryneš talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sparta Prague know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Squad

Filip Panák goes off with his country

A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Sparta Prague would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.

Squad

Oliver Sonne goes off with his country

A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Sparta Prague would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.

The dugout

Jan Fortelný knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sparta Prague, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

The manager makes Patrik Blahút a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Sparta Prague. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

Loan watch

Patrik Vydra first choice at Slovan Liberec

21 starts and a season average of 6.71. The loan is doing exactly what it was arranged to do.

In brief

33 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Filip Sima

23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sparta Prague lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

The dugout

Jan Fortelný: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sparta Prague have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

A falling-out at Sparta Prague

John Mercado and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Sparta Prague

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrej Kostić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Adam Ševínský signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Adam Ševínský and Sparta Prague agree another 4 years.

Loan watch

Ondřej Pavlík wants to come home

“I did not go to BATE to sit and watch. I want to come back to Sparta Prague and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 26 matches say the rest.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Adam Ševínský

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Dániel Gazdag gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Dániel Gazdag is on it.

Loan watch

Sivert Mannsverk keeps scoring at Sparta Prague

26 appearances away from home and 9 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

In brief

32 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Loan watch

34 goals on loan for Jan Kuchta

21 appearances at Legia and the goals keep coming. Sparta Prague are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

Squad

The knee: Filip Sima out for 30 days

30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sparta Prague lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

Words exchanged at Sparta Prague

Filip Panák and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Pavel Kadeřábek stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Pavel Kadeřábek and Sparta Prague agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A row about effort at Sparta Prague

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrej Kostić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

John Mercado has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Sparta Prague will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

31 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Filip Sima out for 37 days

37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sparta Prague lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Sparta Prague say no — this time

The offer from Kashiwa Reysol for Dániel Gazdag was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

At 20, Andrej Kostić is already the best thing here

An average of 7.32 in a first team he is several years too young for. Sparta Prague have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.

Market

John Mercado has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Sparta Prague can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Squad

A falling-out at Sparta Prague

Filip Panák and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Sparta Prague

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jan Fortelný was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

30 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Kashiwa Reysol join the queue for Dániel Gazdag

Add another name to the list: Kashiwa Reysol have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Dániel Gazdag. The answer from Sparta Prague has not changed — yet.

The dugout

Daniel Kerl says Sparta Prague went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Filip Panák in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sparta Prague this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Loïc Mbe Soh falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Tobias Guddal

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Patrik Blahút has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Sparta Prague will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Market

The Matěj Ryneš talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sparta Prague know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

The dugout

Joao Grimaldo knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sparta Prague, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Boardroom

The Sparta Prague academy earns its keep

13 graduates, from a department now rated 15 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.

In brief

29 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at Sparta Prague

Filip Panák was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Sparta Prague

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrej Kostić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Loan watch

Ondřej Pavlík has seen enough of BATE

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Sparta Prague, and 0 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.

The dugout

When it matters, Dániel Gazdag plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Sivert Mannsverk’s exile

9 goals in 26 games at Sparta Prague — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Sparta Prague updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

The dugout

Roman Macek is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

Market

The John Mercado story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until John Mercado signs something — a contract at Sparta Prague or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

The dugout

Emmanuel Uchenna Aririerisim asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Loan watch

4 goals on loan for Garang Kuol

13 appearances at Jablonec and the goals keep coming. Sparta Prague are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

In brief

28 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Loan watch

Jan Kuchta keeps scoring at Legia

21 appearances away from home and 34 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Transfer targets

The window shuts on the Robert Mizo deal

Sparta Prague ran out of time with Aswan. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.

Match

Andrej Kostić’s goal not enough for Sparta Prague

Andrej Kostić scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Slovacko, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Loan watch

Adam Ševínský wants to come home

“I did not go to Slovan Liberec to sit and watch. I want to come back to Sparta Prague and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 24 matches say the rest.

Squad

Andrej Kostić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Tempers go at Sparta Prague

Jan Fortelný was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Boardroom

Inquest at Sparta Prague

The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.

Player ratings

Tomas Jankto runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Dániel Gazdag is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.21 with 7 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

In brief

27 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Jan Kuchta’s exile

33 goals in 20 games at Legia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Sparta Prague updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

Match

Sparta Prague tear Mlada Boleslav apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑1 against Mlada Boleslav, and it could have been more.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on John Mercado

23 goals and a season average of 7.47 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

A day John Mercado will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Squad

Jakub Surovčík keeps Sparta Prague in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Transfer targets

Sparta Prague rebuffed over Nathan Trott

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cardiff City have kept their man, and Sparta Prague go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Transfer targets

Sparta Prague bid $3.1M for Robert Mizo

The offer went to Aswan this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Squad

At 20, Andrej Kostić is already the best thing here

An average of 7.31 in a first team he is several years too young for. Sparta Prague have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.

Player ratings

Sivert Mannsverk pops up at the right end — 7.89

7.89, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

In brief

26 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Matěj Ryneš

14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sparta Prague lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Loan watch

Jan Kuchta keeps scoring at Legia

19 appearances away from home and 32 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Match

Teplice punish Sparta Prague for switching off

2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. John Mercado will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Sparta Prague escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.

Market

Andy Irving moves on

Standard Liege pay $11.0M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

Market

Jaroslav Zelený hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sparta Prague can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

John Mercado is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.40 with 20 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

The terraces

Supporters turn on the $11.0M sale of Andy Irving

He is going to Standard Liege, the club has $11.0M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Andrej Kostić at 20 — 7.78

The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Andrej Kostić did not need any: 7.78, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Wladimiro Falcone

Sparta Prague asked and Lecce said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

In brief

25 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Matěj Ryneš out for 22 days

22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sparta Prague lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Loan watch

30 goals on loan for Jan Kuchta

18 appearances at Legia and the goals keep coming. Sparta Prague are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

Match

Sparta Prague tear Zbrojovka Brno apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑2 against Zbrojovka Brno, and it could have been more.

Squad

3 goals for John Mercado

The match ball belongs to John Mercado, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Sam Tickle

Sparta Prague asked and Wigan Athletic said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Andrej Kostić at 20 — 8.18

The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Andrej Kostić did not need any: 8.18, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Squad

John Mercado is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.39 with 19 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Transfer targets

Sparta Prague make their move for Denis Višinský

$970.0K on the table at Viktoria Plzen. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Transfer targets

Too dear: Sparta Prague walk away from Matej Malenšek

$970.0K was the most the club would pay and Jablonec were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

In brief

24 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Matěj Ryneš damages knee ligaments — 31 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 31 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Loan watch

Jan Kuchta keeps scoring at Legia

17 appearances away from home and 28 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Player ratings

Andrej Kostić, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.74

A mark of 7.74 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Market

Sparta Prague say no — this time

The offer from Foolad for Joao Grimaldo was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Market

Andy Irving attracts admirers

The name of Andy Irving has come up in conversations Sparta Prague were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Marek Rodák

Sparta Prague asked and Al-Ettifaq said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

Sparta Prague get their man

The chase for Filip Vaško ended with $320.0K changing hands and Slovacko out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.

Squad

John Mercado in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sparta Prague this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Real improvement from David Lášek at Sparta Prague

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. David Lášek is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

In brief

23 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

A derby to forget for Sparta Prague

Beaten 1‑2 by Slavia Prague in the one fixture where losing is not allowed. The football was bad enough; the week ahead will be worse.

Squad

Matěj Ryneš damages knee ligaments — 39 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 39 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Market

John Mercado turns Olimpia down

“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Jan Kuchta’s exile

26 goals in 16 games at Legia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Sparta Prague updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

Squad

Jakub Surovčík keeps Sparta Prague in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Transfer targets

Sparta Prague bid $4.4M for Sampson Dweh

The offer went to Viktoria Plzen this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Squad

John Mercado is named among the best

There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Sparta Prague will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.

Squad

Andrej Kostić is the real thing at 19

A season average of 7.27 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Sparta Prague know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.

Transfer targets

Sparta Prague make their move for Matej Malenšek

$850.0K on the table at Jablonec. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

In brief

22 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Sparta Prague tear Bohemians 1905 apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑0 against Bohemians 1905, and it could have been more.

Player ratings

A brace, and John Mercado takes the afternoon — 9.36

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. John Mercado provided it, and the 9.36 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Loan watch

25 goals on loan for Jan Kuchta

15 appearances at Legia and the goals keep coming. Sparta Prague are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

Player ratings

Andrej Kostić, 19, steals the show — 7.71

Marked 7.71 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Market

John Mercado attracts admirers

The name of John Mercado has come up in conversations Sparta Prague were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Player ratings

Up for the corner, and Sivert Mannsverk delivers — 7.80

Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Sivert Mannsverk scored, was marked 7.80, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on John Mercado

16 goals and a season average of 7.36 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

Nobody wants to play Sparta Prague right now

3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Squad

Tempers go at Sparta Prague

Andy Irving was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

In brief

21 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Sparta Prague tear Pribram apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 6‑0 against Pribram, and it could have been more.

Player ratings

A brace, and Andrej Kostić takes the afternoon — 9.23

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Andrej Kostić provided it, and the 9.23 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Sivert Mannsverk scores twice — 8.31

Two goals and a mark of 8.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Loan watch

Jan Kuchta keeps scoring at Legia

14 appearances away from home and 23 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Player ratings

Jaroslav Zelený, 34, rolls back the years — 7.96

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.96 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

John Mercado is carrying Sparta Prague

14 goals and a season average of 7.30. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

6 goals as Sparta Prague and Pribram go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Sparta Prague and Pribram, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Player ratings

John Mercado in the eights

A performance of 9.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Words exchanged at Sparta Prague

Jan Fortelný and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

In brief

20 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Sparta Prague say no — this time

The offer from Platense for Andy Irving was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Jan Kuchta’s exile

22 goals in 13 games at Legia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Sparta Prague updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

Player ratings

Andrej Kostić, 19, steals the show — 7.99

Marked 7.99 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Player ratings

Up for the corner, and Sivert Mannsverk delivers — 7.86

Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Sivert Mannsverk scored, was marked 7.86, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.

Squad

A falling-out at Sparta Prague

Andy Irving and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Andrej Kostić the difference as Sparta Prague beat Jihlava

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Andrej Kostić. 3‑1 against Jihlava, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on John Mercado

13 goals and a season average of 7.24 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Andrej Kostić

At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Match

Sparta Prague settle it inside twenty minutes

2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Jihlava spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.

In brief

19 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

At 19, Andrej Kostić is already the best thing here

An average of 7.18 in a first team he is several years too young for. Sparta Prague have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.

Loan watch

Jan Kuchta keeps scoring at Legia

12 appearances away from home and 20 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Squad

Words exchanged at Sparta Prague

Andy Irving and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Match

Sparta Prague come up short against Banik Ostrava

Banik Ostrava left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Andrej Kostić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Emmanuel Uchenna Aririerisim signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Emmanuel Uchenna Aririerisim and Sparta Prague agree another 4 years.

Player ratings

Sivert Mannsverk was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

The dugout

Lukas Krejci answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

The dugout

No hiding place for Santiago Eneme-Bocari

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Santiago Eneme-Bocari, and the manager let it.

In brief

18 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Loan watch

Jan Kuchta keeps scoring at Legia

11 appearances away from home and 19 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Squad

Tempers go at Sparta Prague

Andy Irving was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

Andy Irving gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

Sparta Prague come up short against Dukla Prague

Dukla Prague left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Sparta Prague

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

Player ratings

Matěj Ryneš beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Lukas Krejci: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

Squad

A row about effort at Sparta Prague

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Loïc Mbe Soh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Pavel Kadeřábek dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

In brief

17 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Sparta Prague out of the cup

Slovacko ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.

Player ratings

Both of them John Mercado's — 9.15

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.15, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

Pavel Kadeřábek, 34, rolls back the years — 8.00

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.00 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

Andy Irving in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sparta Prague this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Sparta Prague find a way past Zlin

Zlin made Sparta Prague work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on John Mercado

12 goals and a season average of 7.24 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Andrej Kostić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Sparta Prague dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Dániel Gazdag

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Sparta Prague told Dániel Gazdag something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

In brief

16 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Joao Grimaldo: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sparta Prague have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Player ratings

Andrej Kostić, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.90

A mark of 7.90 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Match

7 unbeaten for Sparta Prague

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Sparta Prague did not have in the autumn.

Squad

A falling-out at Sparta Prague

Andy Irving and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The terraces

One of their own: Andrej Kostić

He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

Match

Andrej Kostić the difference as Sparta Prague beat Sigma Olomouc

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Andrej Kostić. 1‑0 against Sigma Olomouc, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Squad

A row about effort at Sparta Prague

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jan Fortelný was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Loan watch

Ondřej Pavlík counts the days

“I watch every Sparta Prague game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at BATE runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Lukas Krejci, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

In brief

15 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

7 saves: Jakub Surovčík was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Player ratings

Andrej Kostić, 19, steals the show — 7.83

Marked 7.83 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Squad

At 19, Andrej Kostić is already the best thing here

An average of 7.20 in a first team he is several years too young for. Sparta Prague have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.

Squad

Jakub Surovčík signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jakub Surovčík and Sparta Prague agree another 3 years.

Loan watch

Jan Kuchta keeps scoring at Legia

10 appearances away from home and 17 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Squad

Words exchanged at Sparta Prague

Andy Irving and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Match

6 unbeaten for Sparta Prague

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Sparta Prague did not have in the autumn.

Match

Late, late show earns Sparta Prague a point

Minute 96, against Slovan Liberec, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.

Match

Halfway: Sparta Prague sit in position 10

20 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.

In brief

14 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Jan Kuchta’s exile

14 goals in 9 games at Legia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Sparta Prague updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

The dugout

No hiding place for Jakub Surovčík

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jakub Surovčík, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Dániel Gazdag in the eights

A performance of 8.66 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

A row about effort at Sparta Prague

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrej Kostić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

A falling-out at Sparta Prague

Jan Fortelný and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A month that belonged to Andrej Kostić

The young player of the month award goes to a 19-year-old at Sparta Prague who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.

Match

Sparta Prague rescue it on 93 minutes

Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 93. Viktoria Plzen had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.

Match

Sparta Prague and Viktoria Plzen take a point apiece

It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Squad

Andrej Kostić makes the team of the month

Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

In brief

13 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Andrej Kostić, 19, steals the show — 8.52

Marked 8.52 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Squad

Andy Irving in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sparta Prague this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Andy Irving the difference as Sparta Prague beat Slovacko

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Andy Irving. 3‑1 against Slovacko, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Dániel Gazdag at his very best

Marked 8.85. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Sparta Prague.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Andy Irving at his very best

Marked 8.03. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Sparta Prague.

Squad

A row about effort at Sparta Prague

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jan Fortelný was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Loan watch

Adam Ševínský wants to come home

“I did not go to Slovan Liberec to sit and watch. I want to come back to Sparta Prague and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.

The dugout

Lukas Krejci has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Lukas Krejci on a 3‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

Squad

Dániel Gazdag is off the mark for Sparta Prague

The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.

In brief

12 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

A 2-goal lead gone for Sparta Prague

It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Mlada Boleslav kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Sparta Prague will be asked about the last half hour all week.

Squad

A falling-out at Sparta Prague

Andy Irving and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Andy Irving

Marked 8.01 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Loan watch

Ondřej Pavlík wants to come home

“I did not go to BATE to sit and watch. I want to come back to Sparta Prague and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.

Match

Sparta Prague and Mlada Boleslav take a point apiece

It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

The dugout

No hiding place for Emmanuel Uchenna Aririerisim

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emmanuel Uchenna Aririerisim, and the manager let it.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Sparta Prague

Something was said to Pavel Kadeřábek and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

Player ratings

Andrej Kostić ran the game

Chances created: 11. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.

The dugout

When it matters, John Mercado plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

  • Squad Words at Sparta Prague training over how hard people work
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • Squad Young player of the week: Andrej Kostić
11 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Andrej Kostić, 19, steals the show — 8.20

Marked 8.20 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Squad

Remember the name: Andrej Kostić

He is 19, he is averaging 7.13, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.

The dugout

David Lášek says Sparta Prague went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Words exchanged at Sparta Prague

Andy Irving and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Player ratings

Dániel Gazdag runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of John Mercado at his very best

Marked 8.60. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Sparta Prague.

Squad

Andrej Kostić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Teplice snatch it back from Sparta Prague

A goal on 90 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.

Squad

Sparta Prague are still strangers to each other

12 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

In brief

10 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Andrej Kostić, 19, steals the show — 8.06

Marked 8.06 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Squad

Tempers go at Sparta Prague

Andy Irving was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Andy Irving

Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Sparta Prague see off Zbrojovka Brno

Three points for Sparta Prague, 2‑1 the final word against Zbrojovka Brno in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Loan watch

Jan Kuchta keeps scoring at Legia

8 appearances away from home and 14 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Andrej Kostić

At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Squad

Sparta Prague lose Jan Fortelný

17 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Tobias Guddal

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

A satisfied Lukas Krejci

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Lukas Krejci could afford to be generous.

In brief

9 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Andy Irving in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sparta Prague this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Sivert Mannsverk

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Match

A bad afternoon for Sparta Prague against Jablonec

0‑2 to Jablonec, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Loan watch

Jan Kuchta keeps scoring at Legia

7 appearances away from home and 12 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Boardroom

Inquest at Sparta Prague

The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.

Loan watch

Adam Ševínský wants to come home

“I did not go to Slovan Liberec to sit and watch. I want to come back to Sparta Prague and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.

The dugout

Lukas Krejci answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

Squad

A row about effort at Sparta Prague

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Loïc Mbe Soh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Jaroslav Zelený dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

In brief

8 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Slavia Prague take the derby

2‑4, and no way to dress it up. A derby defeat follows a supporter to work on Monday, and this one will follow him all week.

Player ratings

Both of them John Mercado's — 8.68

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.68, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

A falling-out at Sparta Prague

Andy Irving and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

6 goals as Sparta Prague and Slavia Prague go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Sparta Prague and Slavia Prague, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Squad

A row about effort at Sparta Prague

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrej Kostić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Filip Panák

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Loan watch

11 goals on loan for Jan Kuchta

6 appearances at Legia and the goals keep coming. Sparta Prague are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Matěj Ryneš

Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 2‑4 defeat, delivered by Lukas Krejci to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

7 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Andrej Kostić at 19 — 8.00

The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Andrej Kostić did not need any: 8.00, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Player ratings

Sivert Mannsverk pops up at the right end — 7.77

7.77, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Squad

At 19, Andrej Kostić is already the best thing here

An average of 7.04 in a first team he is several years too young for. Sparta Prague have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.

Squad

Andrej Kostić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Looking ahead

All roads lead to Slavia Prague

The fixture the calendar is arranged around. Form goes out of the window, the table is not consulted, and for ninety minutes Sparta Prague will be judged on one thing only.

Squad

Jan Fortelný in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sparta Prague this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Sparta Prague rescue it on 92 minutes

Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Bohemians 1905 had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.

The dugout

Jakub Surovčík gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

Sparta Prague and Bohemians 1905 take a point apiece

It finished 3‑3, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

6 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Andrej Kostić scores twice — 8.82

Two goals and a mark of 8.82 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

Sivert Mannsverk goes up and wins it — 7.93

A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.93 for the rest of it.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 16 in, 4 out at Sparta Prague

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Squad

Tempers go at Sparta Prague

Andy Irving was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Transfer targets

Sparta Prague rebuffed over Filip Vaško

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slovacko have kept their man, and Sparta Prague go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match

Sparta Prague see off Pribram

Three points for Sparta Prague, 3‑1 the final word against Pribram in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

Jan Fortelný out for 48 days

The medical room confirms 48 days on the sidelines for Jan Fortelný, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Andrej Kostić

At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Market

BATE join the queue for Ondřej Pavlík

Add another name to the list: BATE have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ondřej Pavlík. The answer from Sparta Prague has not changed — yet.

In brief

5 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

A brace, and John Mercado takes the afternoon — 9.21

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. John Mercado provided it, and the 9.21 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Andrej Kostić, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.04

A mark of 8.04 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Market

Business is business: Elias Cobbaut goes

OH Leuven paid $4.0M and Sparta Prague took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Market

Veracruz watching Andy Irving

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Sparta Prague have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Market

Dániel Gazdag signs for Sparta Prague to fix the gap everybody could see

There is a particular relief in a club addressing the thing its own crowd has been shouting about. Dániel Gazdag arrives for exactly that job, and now he has to do it.

Transfer targets

Sparta Prague rebuffed over Lamin Jawo

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Jablonec have kept their man, and Sparta Prague go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Sparta Prague turn down Bohemians 1905 for Jakub Martinec

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Andy Irving in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sparta Prague this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

John Mercado among the goals in a wild afternoon

6 goals in one match, John Mercado on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Sparta Prague and Jihlava.

In brief

4 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Sparta Prague march on in the cup

Jihlava are out and Sparta Prague go through, 4‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Player ratings

A brace, and Patrik Blahút takes the afternoon — 9.38

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Patrik Blahút provided it, and the 9.38 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Joao Grimaldo scores twice — 9.32

Two goals and a mark of 9.32 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Andrej Kostić at 19 — 8.25

The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Andrej Kostić did not need any: 8.25, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Market

Viktoria Plzen come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Sparta Prague did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Aleš Čermák

Sparta Prague asked and Bohemians 1905 said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Transfer targets

Sparta Prague baulk at the price for Cletus Nombil

Zlin wanted more than $530.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Squad

A falling-out at Sparta Prague

Andy Irving and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

A bad afternoon for Sparta Prague against Banik Ostrava

2‑3 to Banik Ostrava, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

In brief

3 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Nowhere to hide for Sparta Prague

1‑5 against Dukla Prague, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Market

Sparta Prague turn down Sigma Olomouc for Andy Irving

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Transfer targets

Sparta Prague make their move for Dániel Gazdag

$9.2M on the table at New England Revolution. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Transfer targets

Sparta Prague rebuffed over Christos Zafeiris

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. PAOK have kept their man, and Sparta Prague go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Business is business: Matyáš Vojta goes

Slovan Liberec paid $2.7M and Sparta Prague took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Squad

A move Patrik Blahút would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Patrik Blahút is living that version at Sparta Prague, and it tends to show in the first month.

Market

Jan Fortelný comes home

The shirt still fits. Jan Fortelný is back at Sparta Prague, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Transfer targets

No deal for Pavel Juroška at that price

Sparta Prague offered $840.0K; Slovacko said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Market

Patrik Blahút is a Sparta Prague player

The fee is $320.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Slovacko drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.

In brief

2 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Sivert Mannsverk leads the rout of Zlin

4‑1, and Sivert Mannsverk took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Sparta Prague tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

Both of them Sivert Mannsverk's — 8.19

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.19, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

Andrej Kostić, 19, steals the show — 8.80

Marked 8.80 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Transfer targets

$320.0K settles it between the clubs for Patrik Blahút

Slovacko have accepted the money. What Sparta Prague do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.

Market

Eyes on Andy Irving again

The phone has started ringing about Andy Irving again, and this time the name on the line is Sigma Olomouc. Sparta Prague are listening politely and promising nothing.

Transfer targets

An offer of $840.0K for Pavel Juroška

Sparta Prague have gone to Slovacko with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Transfer targets

An offer of $790.0K for Jan Fortelný

Sparta Prague have gone to Teplice with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Transfer targets

Viktoria Plzen tell Sparta Prague: Václav Jemelka is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Squad

Andy Irving signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andy Irving and Sparta Prague agree another 4 years.

In brief

1 Edition

The Sparta Prague Herald

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Matěj Ryneš stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Matěj Ryneš and Sparta Prague agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Sparta Prague

Andy Irving was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Matěj Ryneš

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Match

Sparta Prague come up short against Sigma Olomouc

Sigma Olomouc left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

Sivert Mannsverk runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Sparta Prague dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

Market

49 months and counting on Matěj Ryneš

Still no offer on the table, and Matěj Ryneš’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.

Squad

9 new faces, and Sparta Prague are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

The dugout

Lukas Krejci: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

In brief