FK Dukla Praha; Prague, Czech Republic

I finally got a game in here on my tenth visit to Prague, & saw Dykla draw at home to Sezimovo Usti, on Friday 22nd October 2010. The following photos are all from that match, which complements the set I previously published, which you can see in my original post at the end of them.

Walking up to the ground from the tram stop I passed the Juliska sports centre, which has the ame name as the ground.



As I came into the ground I was just in time to see the team line up before kick off.



Looking across the pitch.



And down the terraced side.



Moving round toward the imposing main stand.



Once over there, across the pitch to the changing rooms, & executive area.



Looking over the pitch to the not very packed away section!



The main stand, with the fans' shirt-flag at the front.



This small group was their noisy support.



Further up, we look across the benches.



And over the pitch.



Open terracing to the left.



To the right of the stand, as we sat in it, was this food tent, with souvenirs on the left hand part of it.



Another small stand, selling beer.



Back over the other side of the pitch, the main stand impressive under the floodlights at night.



A list of great players, on the wall under the executive area, by the changing rooms.



The main stand, from the other corner.



Various banners at the front of the main stand.



As well as that giant shirt. And, yes that banner is upside down!



Back up the other end of the main stand, ettling down to watch the rest of the game.



A shot over the pitch further along.



Hmm...they're arguing about something.



It's a penalty...he shoots...



He scores!



A goal is a goal, it hasn't been the reatest of games so far...



So which team is the Micky Mouse outfit?



The game continues, sparsely populated terracing on the far side.



A look up, from the bottom of the main stand.



Not a happy bunch, this Dukla lot!



The scoreboard, as the game went into stoppage time. That was the final score.



In the corner, in front of the main stand. The bit on top is the police control room. Below is a press room. You can pick up a press team sheet from in ther if you ask nicely as I did, to stick inside your programme, which was on sale for 10 CZ Kc, less than 50 pence.



Game over, the hardy band at the front stay to salute their players.



An action shot from the game.



Looking across the track, from the front row.



Another photo of the match.



And a self portrait of my good self, main stand behind me.





And so to my original post:

Dukla Praha, or Dukla Prague, as we know them in English, is the ground at the top of places I want to see football at! Not because they are one of the most historic names in olden Czechoslovakian football. Nor because of their just as famous away shirt!

I've been to the ground once before, just to look round, but went back to take this full set for you. On all my previous nine visits to the city they have always been away! 'Gutted' is an overused word, but in my case here, is perfectly applicable!

So why my fascination with their stadium? It's the name! Dukla Praha play at the Juliska Stadium. I have no idea why it's called this, and would be most grateful if anybody knows the reason behind the name. For, to me, Juliska is a girls' name. As 'Juliska' is the name of one of my sisters! We all have Hungarian names, as my father was originally from there, even though we are all English. Maybe I will be lucky at last, and they will be at home when I return to Prague in October 2010.



This is the street name, on which the ground stands. Presumably this is where the stadium name may have it's roots?



But it is clearly the JULISKA stadium.



Here are some of the turnstiles, at the top of the ground, by the main road.



That entrance is to the left of this snap, as is the ground itself. Walk down this side road to the main entrance.



A couple of quid to get in, and less than ten bob for the programme!



There was this diagram inside the entrance.



A club car was parked outside.



Still outside this building is the main old one for the multi-sport complex.



Huge pylons for the stadium.



Inside now, we see the open terracing straight ahead. But we're going to walk round the other way, clockwise.



Opposite the open terrace is this impressive, huge, steep grandstand. In club colours, and with the famous Dulka name on the seating. They average around the 500 mark for games, which must be lost in the place!



Behind the goal, at the end we're beginning our walk round the ground, is the main old building, with a small amount of terracing in front, and a huge old scoreboard.



Here we look at the classic 'Soviet style' building face on, from on the pitch. Look at the middle, left, of the picture...



It's a club clock!



Note the friezes in the brickwork too.



Here is the low rows of terrace, at the front of it, just before we reach the huge main stand.



Over the track, and we look at the stand, right by the net.



Now we're at the bottom corner of the stand. Backed bucket seats at the front, wooden rows further up.



Moving up slightly, we look upward.



And along.



It's a bit of a climb, but the view over the pitch is fantastic.



To our left we see an all-weather pitch behind the far goal.



A wide walkway at the back of this section, but we can go higher!



Here we look directly over the centre of the lush pitch.



Back to the majestic old red tiled complex which we've already seen.



And to our left once more. See that wooded area in the hill in the distance? It's actually Prague Zoo.



Here we look back down the stand.



At the back is a large sign for another section of the Club.



At the end of the stand are these steps leading up to an old exit.



And these steps which are also at this end of the stand show you how steep it is.



We're back in the stand now, it's so impressive I don't really want to leave it!



Here we're looking back along it, from near the bottom end of it.



Same area, but now toward the track at the front.



Here we look along the seats nearest the track.



And-about bloody time, I hear you shout-we're now going onto the open terracing, behind the goal.



Set back behind this terrace is this all-weather pitch, which we saw from 'up in the gods'.



Even this secondary pitch has some substantial terracing. Wouldn't mind something as good as this at Champion Hill!



Back at the main stadium, we look directly over the pitch, goal to goal.



The open terracing continues round the corner, and along the last side.



Here is another angle of the stand.



Looking the other way we see the full length of the open side terracing. Some sort of gantried building is in the middle, possibly changing rooms.



Across the pitch we see the stand once more.



Now wer'e on the corner of the terrace, and glance down the length of it.



From here yet another shot of the stand. I make no apologies for this, even if you're getting a bit sick of it by now. I'm 'in love' with it! ;-)



Behind us is another, small sized, all-weather pitch, you can see the full sized one up above, on the left. So much terracing here, I can't believe it!



Back to the main stadium once more. Back on the side terrace, looking over the pitch.



Moving along the terracing ,we reach the pavilion, clearly under renovation.



Oh come on, be realistic! Of course we were going to look at the DUKLA stand again! ;-)



There appears to be a players' tunnel there, somewhere!



On the rear of this structure are a couple of memorial plaques. One dedicated to Svlatopluk Pluskal...



...& the other to Jaroslav Vejvoda.



We've noe reached the last part of the terracing, almost completing our full circuit of the stadium. Note the red fencing...



This 'boxes in' the away section.



Which we look at, from by the side of the pitch. The 'bubble' behind it, with the club crest on it, is some sort of indoor sports centre.



A final view of the stand.



Before we're back at the corner where we started.



Time to head out of the ground.



And jump on the bus at the stop that has my sister's name on it!