2023–24 Czech First League

Czech First League
Season2023–24
Dates22 July 2023 – 26 May 2024
Matches played156
Goals scored441 (2.83 per match)
Top goalscorerMarek Havlík & Václav Jurečka (10 goals)
Biggest home winSparta Prague 5–0 Slovácko
17 September 2023
Biggest away winZlín 1–7 Plzeň
17 September 2023
Highest scoringZlín 5–9 Mladá Boleslav
21 October 2023
2024–25 →
All statistics correct as of 11 February 2024.

The 2023–24 Czech First League, known as the Fortuna liga for sponsorship reasons, is the 31st season of the Czech Republic's top-tier football for professional clubs since its establishment, in 1993. Sparta Prague are the reigning champions. The season is scheduled to start in July 2023. The first half of the season will have 19 rounds, finishing in December, and the other half will commence in February 2024. The season is expected to end on 26 May 2024 with two extra play-out fixtures on 29 May and 2 June 2024.[1]

In the 12th round, the highest number of goals in one game in the history of the Czech First League was seen in the match Zlín–Mladá Boleslav, which ended 5–9.[2]

Format

The season format is unchanged from last season, each team will play in the league format home and away matches. The lowest-ranked team will be relegated directly to the second league, and the two teams positioned 14th and 15th will play a play-out with two teams from the second league positioned 2nd and 3rd in a home and away format. This will be the sixth season to use VAR, featuring it in all matches played. The only change in the rules is the limited number of players that can be sent on loan.[1]

Teams

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Locations of the 2023–24 Czech First League teams

Promotion and relegation (pre-season)

A total of sixteen teams contest the league, including thirteen sides from the 2022–23 season, the winner of last season's second league, and two winners of the play-out, determined on 4 June.

Team promoted to Czech First League

After being relegated in the 2021–22 season, MFK Karviná returns to Czech First League as the champion of the 2022–23 Czech National Football League.[3]

Teams relegated from Czech First League

The lowest positioned team from the last season, Zbrojovka Brno, was relegated to the Czech National Football League.

Locations and stadiums

Managerial changes

Ahead of the season:

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Contract valid until
Hradec Králové Czech Republic Miroslav Koubek[20] End of contract 30 June 2023 Czech Republic Jozef Weber[21] 10 May 2023 Undisclosed
Viktoria Plzeň Czech Republic Michal Bílek[22] End of contract 30 June 2023 Czech Republic Miroslav Koubek[23] 5 June 2023 June 2024
Jablonec Czech Republic David Horejš[24] Sacked 29 May 2023 Czech Republic Radoslav Látal[25] 30 June 2023 Undisclosed
Mladá Boleslav Czech Republic Pavel Hoftych[26] Mutual consent 26 May 2023 Czech Republic Marek Kulič[26] 26 May 2023 Undisclosed

During the season:

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Match-week Position in table Replaced by Date of appointment Contract valid until
Hradec Králové Czech Republic Jozef Weber[27] Sacked 18 September 2023 8 11th Czech Republic Václav Kotal[27] 18 September 2023 Undisclosed
Karviná Czech Republic Tomáš Hejdušek[28] Sacked 18 September 2023 8 15th Slovakia Juraj Jarábek[29] 27 September 2023 Undisclosed
Zlín Czech Republic Pavel Vrba[30] Sacked 23 October 2023 12 16th Czech Republic Bronislav Červenka[30] 25 October 2023 Undisclosed
České Budějovice Czech Republic Marek Nikl[31] Mutual consent 23 November 2023 15 16th None None None
České Budějovice Czech Republic Tomáš Zápotočný[32] Mutual consent 13 December 2023 18 16th Czech Republic Jiří Lerch[33] 13 December 2023 Undisclosed
Mladá Boleslav Czech Republic Marek Kulič[34] Sacked 30 December 2023 19 7th Czech Republic David Holoubek[35] 2 January 2024 June 2028

Regular season

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Sparta Prague 20 17 2 1 50 13 +37 53 Qualification for the Championship group
2 Slavia Prague 19 15 3 1 39 16 +23 48
3 Viktoria Plzeň 20 12 3 5 47 26 +21 39
4 Slovácko 20 10 5 5 28 21 +7 35
5 Sigma Olomouc 19 8 4 7 28 25 +3 28
6 Mladá Boleslav 20 8 4 8 36 34 +2 28
7 Slovan Liberec 20 7 7 6 30 29 +1 28 Qualification for the Play-off
8 Baník Ostrava 20 8 3 9 27 24 +3 27
9 Bohemians 1905 20 6 6 8 17 26 −9 24
10 Teplice 19 6 5 8 18 21 −3 23
11 Hradec Králové 20 5 6 9 23 32 −9 21 Qualification for the Relegation group
12 Jablonec 20 4 8 8 21 30 −9 20
13 Pardubice 19 5 4 10 17 26 −9 19
14 Karviná 19 4 3 12 20 34 −14 15
15 Zlín 19 3 5 11 23 44 −21 14
16 České Budějovice 20 4 2 14 18 41 −23 14
Updated to match(es) played on 13 February 2024. Source: Fortuna Liga
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Fair-play ranking; 8) Draw.[36]

Results

Home \ Away BOH CBU HKR JAB KAR LIB MLA OLO OST PCE PLZ SLA SLO SPA TEP ZLN
Bohemians 1905 — 0–0 2–1 1–0 0–0 9 Mar 3–2 1–1 17 Feb 0–2 0–1 1–2 0–0
České Budějovice 3–0 — 0–2 2–1 1–0 1–2 25 Feb 3–0 0–1 2–5 1–3 0–1 10 Mar
Hradec Králové 2–2 5–1 — 1–0 1–1 24 Feb 1–3 2–3 9 Mar 1–1 1–3 1–0 2–0
Jablonec 0–1 17 Feb 2 Mar — 0–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–0 1–5 3–2
Karviná 1–0 1–1 — 5–2 1–2 0–2 1–3 14 Feb 18 Feb 2 Mar 0–3 0–1 4–1
Slovan Liberec 0–1 1–0 24 Feb 9 Mar — 2–1 2–0 3–1 1–0 3–0 2–3 0–2 3–3 5–3
Mladá Boleslav 2–1 2 Mar 5–1 3–1 2–2 2–2 — 17 Feb 1–0 1–3 0–1 0–1 3–1
Sigma Olomouc 2 Mar 2–1 17 Feb 3–1 2–0 4–0 — 0–3 1–3 1–3 1–1 2–1 0–0
Baník Ostrava 24 Feb 2–0 2–0 0–1 2–0 9 Mar — 1–1 0–1 2–3 0–0 0–1 5–1
Pardubice 0–1 1–1 0–0 2–1 2–0 1–1 — 2 Mar 0–1 1–2 17 Feb 0–1
Viktoria Plzeň 2–0 5–0 1–1 3–2 0–1 1–1 2–1 3–1 6–2 — 1–4 10 Mar 24 Feb
Slavia Prague 2–1 2–0 4–3 5–1 2–0 1–0 25 Feb 1–2 — 2–0 1–1 10 Mar 2–1
Slovácko 5–2 4–1 0–0 9 Mar 2–0 1–1 2–2 0–2 2–0 1–2 — 25 Feb 2–0 1–0
Sparta Prague 2–0 4–0 3–0 3–1 18 Feb 2–0 5–2 2–1 3 Mar 5–0 — 2–1 2–0
Teplice 1–1 0–0 24 Feb 3 Mar 1–0 21 Feb 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 — 2–1
Zlín 1–1 4–0 1–1 1–1 5–9 3 Mar 1–7 14 Feb 18 Feb 0–1 2–1 —
Updated to match(es) played on 13 February 2024. Source: Fortuna Liga
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics

Clean sheets

As of 13 February 2024[39]
Rank Player Club Clean sheets
1 Denmark Peter Vindahl Jensen Sparta 8
2 Czech Republic Milan Heča Slovácko 7
3 Czech Republic Jiří Letáček Ostrava 6
Czech Republic Tomáš Grigar Teplice
Czech Republic Martin Jedlička Bohemians 1905 / Plzeň
6 Czech Republic Aleš Mandous Slavia 5
Slovakia Pavol Bajza Hradec Králové
Czech Republic Jan Hanuš Jablonec
9 Czech Republic Hugo Jan Bačkovský Liberec 4
10 4 players 3

See also

References

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