Pavel Vrba (born 6 December 1963) is a Czech football manager and former player. He is known for applying an offensive football philosophy in the teams he coaches.[1]

Pavel Vrba
Vrba in 2013
Personal information
Full name Pavel Vrba
Date of birth (1963-12-06) 6 December 1963 (age 60)
Place of birth Přerov, Czechoslovakia
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1973–1979 FK Přerov
1979–1981 Baník Ostrava
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1981–1982 Železárny Prostějov
1982–1984 RH Cheb
TJ RH Sušice (loan)
TJ Nýrsko (loan)
1984–1985 Baník Ostrava
1985–1993 Baník Havířov
1993–1994 FK Přerov
Managerial career
1994–1996 FK Přerov
1996–2004 Baník Ostrava (Assistant)
2003 Baník Ostrava
2004–2006 Púchov
2006–2008 Žilina
2006–2008 Slovakia (Assistant)
2008–2013 Viktoria Plzeň
2014–2016 Czech Republic
2016 Anzhi Makhachkala
2017–2019 Viktoria Plzeň
2019–2020 Ludogorets Razgrad
2021–2022 Sparta Prague
2022 Baník Ostrava
2022–2023 Zlín
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

As a player, Vrba played for several clubs, including Baník Ostrava. As a coach, he led several Czech and Slovak clubs, including a Czech First League record of five seasons in charge of FC Viktoria Plzeň, whom he led to two league titles, one cup title, and three consecutive seasons of participation in the UEFA Europa League knockout stage – a record for any Czech club.[2]

Managerial career

edit

Early career

edit

Having been assistant to manager Erich Cviertna, Vrba took charge of FC Baník Ostrava for a short time towards the end of the 2002–03 Czech First League after Cviertna's departure.[3] His first match in charge resulted in a 7–0 loss for Ostrava away to Slavia Prague.[4]

He won the Slovak Superleague with MŠK Žilina in the 2006–07 season and led the team to second place the following season.[5]

Viktoria Plzeň

edit

In 2010, he led Viktoria Plzeň to the victory in the Czech Cup for the first time in the club history. He was voted the Czech Coach of the Year for 2010. In the 2010–11 season of the Czech First League, he won the league with Viktoria Plzeň for the first time in the club history. Vrba was awarded the title "Czech Coach of the Year" for 2012, symbolising the third consecutive year he had won the award.[6] He led Plzeň to a second league title in 2013. In October 2013 Vrba led Plzen for a 152nd consecutive top-flight match, setting a league record.[7] Despite having a contract with Plzeň until June 2015,[7] the Czech Football Association activated a buy-out clause, paying his club 8 million Czech koruna and he was announced as the new manager of the Czech Republic national football team in November 2013.[8] His last game in charge of the club was the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage tie against CSKA Moscow which Plzeň won 2–1 with a last-minute goal from Tomáš Wágner, thus earning them a place in the Europa League knockout stage. At the end of the match, the fans unfurled a banner reading "always remember that it wasn't wasted time".[9]

Ludogorets Razgrad

edit

On 16 December 2019, Vrba became manager of Bulgarian Ludogorets Razgrad.[10]

Sparta Prague

edit

On 3 February 2021, Vrba became manager of Sparta Prague.[11]

Trinity Zlín

edit

On 28 November 2022, Vrba became manager of Trinity Zlín.[12]

Honours

edit

Managerial

edit

Žilina

Viktoria Plzeň

Ludogorets Razgrad

Individual

edit

Managerial statistics

edit
As of match played 23 October 2023
Team From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Ostrava 3 May 2003 17 June 2003 5 2 2 1 7 10 −3 040.00
Púchov 18 June 2004 7 April 2006 65 18 14 33 54 91 −37 027.69
Žilina 1 July 2006 24 September 2008 87 58 17 12 200 68 +132 066.67
Plzeň 8 October 2008 15 December 2013 231 134 51 46 453 247 +206 058.01
Czech Republic 1 January 2014 30 June 2016 25 10 5 10 41 36 +5 040.00
Anzhi Makhachkala 30 June 2016 30 December 2016 19 7 5 7 19 19 +0 036.84
Plzeň 1 July 2017 17 December 2019 117 69 22 26 204 131 +73 058.97
Ludogorets Razgrad 18 December 2019 25 October 2020 28 15 6 7 57 28 +29 053.57
Sparta Prague 3 February 2021 9 May 2022 73 44 11 18 152 95 +57 060.27
Baník Ostrava 18 June 2022 10 October 2022 12 3 5 4 17 18 −1 025.00
Zlín 28 November 2022 23 October 2023 35 9 11 15 45 65 −20 025.71
Career totals 697 369 149 179 1,249 807 +442 052.94

References

edit
  1. ^ iDNES.cz: Komňacký, Koubek, Psotka. Kdo je nejlepším trenérem? - 14 May 2010
  2. ^ "Vrba: I couldn't imagine a better ending". UEFA. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  3. ^ "Sedm slávistů dalo Ostravě sedm branek". idnes.cz (in Czech). 5 May 2003. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  4. ^ "Muž, který stvořil plzeňský zázrak. Ovšem v lize začínal porážkou 0:7". idnes.cz (in Czech). 17 May 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Žilina bank on Vrba dexterity". UEFA.com. 25 July 2008. Archived from the original on 6 July 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  6. ^ "Fotbalovým králem je opět brankář. Čech vyhrál pošesté a má rekord" [Football king is again a goalkeeper. Čech won for the sixth time and has the record]. idnes.cz (in Czech). Mladá fronta DNES. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Vrba definitivně k reprezentaci nepůjde, Plzeň ho neuvolní". Česká televize (in Czech). 21 October 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  8. ^ "Vrba to become national soccer coach after huge success with Plzeň". Czech Radio. 19 November 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  9. ^ Kratochvíl, Marek. "Na tohle budu vzpomínat celý život, hodnotil postupovou rozlučku Pavel Vrba" (in Czech). Gambrinusliga.cz. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  10. ^ "Potřeboval jsem změnu, přiznal Vrba. V Bulharsku si vydělá přes 30 milionů". isport.blesk.cz (in Czech). 18 December 2019.
  11. ^ "Vítejte, trenére". sparta.cz (in Czech). Sparta Prague. 3 February 2021.
  12. ^ Folk, Čestmír (28 November 2022). "Kouč Vrba už podepsal ve Zlíně smlouvu, povede na jaře Ševce k záchraně mezi elitou". sport.cz (in Czech).
edit