Dukla Praha
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Dukla Prague (Czech: Dukla Praha) was a successful football team in the former Czechoslovakia.
The club that ultimately became Dukla Prague were originally formed by the Czech army in 1947 and were initially known as A.T.K. In time for the start of the 1953 season the club began to play under the name U.D.A. Finally in 1956 the club were renamed Dukla in honour of the Slovak village that withstood a German onslaught during World War II.
The club were one of the most successful teams in Czech footballing history, winning the league title eleven times while finishing runners-up on a further seven occasions.
By the end of the 1980s the club had fallen on increasingly hard times. Their major rivals, such as Sparta Prague, had started to acquire major sponsorship deals. Dukla found it hard to acquire the same level of sponsorship, mainly due to the communist past which tainted the club. By the end of the 1993-94 season the club had slipped into the Czech Third Division and were forced into selling many of their players.
Czech entrepreneur Bohumil Duricko finally took the plunge and agreed to save the ailing former giants. Duricko's first move was to buy rival team FC Přibram who at the time were in the Czech Second Division. The two clubs were merged and the newly formed club took the place of Přibram in the Czech Second Division. Dukla Přibram, as they were now known, eventually managed to rise back to the top level of Czech football in the mid to late 1990s with the help of the cash injection.
The club once again changed their name and are now known as FC Marila Přibram.
Dukla was immortalized by British band Half Man Half Biscuit with their song "All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit".
Former Players of Note
Honours
- Czechoslovakian League Championships - 1982, 1979, 1977, 1966, 1964, 1963, 1962, 1961, 1958, 1956
- Czechoslovak Cup - 1952, 1961, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1990.