Jan Košek

Jan Košek was born on July 18, 1884, in Turnov, Czech Republic. He began his football career with Union Letna. A formidable finisher, he was quickly spotted by Slavia Prague, who saw him as the team's new center-forward. He made his debut for his new team in February 1903.

Nicknamed "Onrdricek," "Kocian," or "Jenda" by the local press, he was quickly considered one of the best players in the country. His first season at Slavia Prague was a completely crazy one, with the 19-year-old scoring a total of 89 goals in just 25 matches in all competitions.

The following season, the player spent a brief stint with Sparta Prague, but he most notably had one of the best matches of his career against First Vienna, a very strong team at the time. The young striker scored nine goals in this match, against one of the best goalkeepers of the era, Karl Pekarna.

At the end of 1904, he joined Sparta Prague, Slavia's rivals. He had made this choice following the tragic loss of three members of his family. Continuing his winning ways, the player scored a total of 75 goals in 25 matches between November 1904 and November 1905.

But the player had not yet reached his best. Gaining experience over the years, 1906 was the greatest year of his career individually, as he scored 149 goals in 44 matches in all competitions, a ratio of 3.38 goals per match. A world record for almost 48 years, this incredible figure was beaten by Kocsis in 1954 with 170 goals scored in 80 matches. The crazy statistic of this season is undoubtedly that he scored a total of 31 hat-tricks in 1906, including 13 in consecutive matches.

In 1907, Jan Košek faced competition from the arrival of Josef Belka from Sparta Prague. However, the two men managed to play together, much to the delight of the club and its fans. Slavia Prague now had two of the best Czech players in history on its team. Jan reached the symbolic milestone of 400 goals in 131 matches for his club, in just four years at the club.

The year 1908 saw a slight decline in the striker's statistics; he scored only 45 goals and finished as the club's second-highest scorer behind Belka for the second consecutive year. Košek then received an offer from Newcastle United, but ultimately remained at Slavia.

Jan Košek took his revenge the following year, finishing as the club's top scorer with 67 goals in all competitions. His rival then decided to return to Sparta Prague. In the shadow of Sparta Prague, Slavia would finally win a trophy in 1910, the Charity Cup, the first trophy of the impressive striker's career.

During that famous year, 1910, the Charity Cup became the main trophy for Czech teams, and Jan returned to a phenomenal level, scoring 135 goals in the calendar year. He also reached the symbolic milestone of 200 matches played for Slavia, bringing his total goals to 576.

In 1911, he continued his winning ways, scoring 102 goals in a season. In a match against Scottish club Aberdeen, the player scored the finest goal of his career. He won the ball in midfield, dribbled past two players, and sent a powerful shot into the top right corner of the opposing team's goal. That year, he won his second Charity Cup, a total of three, the last of which came in 1912.

The year 1912 also marked the beginning of the end of Jan Košek's career. The player was less decisive, scoring "only" 68 goals that year. However, he did win the Charity Cup and the Silver Cup. A record-breaker, he had once scored four goals in ten minutes. He had also scored ten goals in another phenomenal match.

The year 1913 marked the end of the Czech striker's career, as he decided to retire. He only played a few times in important matches, having become a referee during the year. However, he made a few appearances on the pitch until 1914, a year in which he only played six matches, but he was still decisive at the age of 30, scoring eight goals.

Far from being just a finisher during his career, Jan Košek was certainly the greatest Czech athlete of the time, and perhaps in history. Indeed, he was a speed monster; at a height of 1.73 meters, the player could reportedly run the 100 yards in just 10.2 seconds... in comparison, the 100-meter record at the time was 10.6 seconds in the 1912 Olympic Games...

Also very physical, the player was applauded by observers of the time. G.O. Smith, one of the greatest players in the history of the sport and an absolute football icon of the era, even said, "Košek would certainly compete with our English professionals." During his career, Košek scored 44 times against English teams, all in 34 matches.

Criticized early in his career for scoring with only his left foot, Jan would develop under the coaching of the incredible Johnny Madden, who would turn him into one of the best players of the 1900s, capable of scoring with his head, left foot, and right foot, a complete striker, if not the most complete of his time.

A 19-year-old international for the Bohemian national team from April 1903, Jan played a total of nine matches and scored 14 goals for his country. He scored against some of the finest teams of the time, notably Hungary. 1911 will be remembered as the year of his country's breakthrough, as he finally won a trophy with his nation, the UIAFA European Tournament. During this tournament, his nation played only two matches but caused a surprise in a tournament where England was expected to be the undisputed winner.

In his first match, Bohemia faced France, Košek scored a goal and secured victory for his team. The final, therefore, pitted Bohemia against England, saw the striker score again. As team captain, he led his nation to a historic victory.

Homepage