Vlastimil Kopecký

Vlastimil Kopecký
Personal information
Date of birth	14 October 1912
Place of birth	Vilémov, Austrian-Hungarian Empire
Date of death	30 July 1967 (aged 54)
Place of death	Hlinsko, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team
1927–1932	Rapid Vinohrady
1932–1951	Slavia Prague
Total
International career
1932–1948	Czechoslovakia
1939	Bohemia
Managerial career
1959	Slavia Prague
Medal record
Representing Czechoslovakia
Men's Football
FIFA World Cup
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Vlastimil Kopecký (14 October 1912 – 30 July 1967) was a Czech football player. He played 26 games for Czechoslovakia, scoring eight goals. He was a participant in the 1934 and 1938 FIFA World Cups.

Club career

There were rumours that Kopecky was to transfer to Slavia Prague or Sparta Prague from Rapid Vinohrady in early November 1931. However in mid-November, Rapid announced that he was not to do so. Playing for Slavia Prague, he scored 252 league goals in 325 matches (1932-1950). He twice scored five goals in a single match for Slavia.^[2] He is the second highest Czech league goalscorer in history, only Josef Bican has scored more goals in the Czech league.

He suffered a heart attack on the pitch in a friendly match against SK Hlinsko Old Boys. Slavia Prague Old Boys won 4-2, but in the midst of the game, Kopecký collapsed to the floor and František Plánička tried to revive him. Kopecký was already gone, a second attempt to revive him at a polyclinic in Hlinsko, but again it was too late.^[3]^[4]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season, and competition. Official games are included in this table.^[5]^[6]
Club	Season	Czech First League		Czech Cup^[a]		Mitropa Cup		Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Rapid Vinohrady	1930/1931	5	8	0	0	0	0	5	8
Rapid Vinohrady	1931/1932	0	0	1	3	0	0	1	3
Slavia Prague	1931–32	5	5	2	3	4	3	6	6
	1932–33	18	10	2	1	2	2	21	13
	1933–34	15	16	0	0	1	0	16	16
	1934–35	16	11	2	4	5	3	23	18
	1935–36	25	16	3	1	4	1	32	18
	1936–37	21	28	1	0	2	0	24	28
	1937–38	18	9	0	0	8	1	26	10
	1938–39	21	20	0	0	2	0	23	24
	1939–40	22	25	1	1	0	0	23	26
	1940–41	20	21	8	14	0	0	28	35
	1941–42	21	18	6	10	0	0	28	28
	1942–43	14	13	4	4	0	0	18	17
	1943–44	24	20	0	0	0	0	24	20
	1944–45	0	0	7	2	0	0	7	2
	1945–46	16	10	3	0	0	0	19	10
	1946–47	13	6	0	0	0	0	13	6
	1947–48	9	2	1	1	0	0	9	2
	1948	11	5	0	0	0	0	11	5
	1949	21	5	0	0	0	0	21	5
	1950	12	5	0	0	0	0	19	5
	Total	327	263	41	41	28	10	396	314

Style of play

Josef Bican commented on his and Vlastimil's relationship on the field; "We understood each other perfectly: we were, as it were, connected mentally. Whenever Vlasta had the ball at his feet, I felt what he was going to do with it, and he felt the same when I had the ball. It was simple and logical. I knew that he would handle the ball in the way that was most beneficial for the team at that moment, and I arranged accordingly. He was the best technician I ever met. We passed without even looking.^[7]

Honours

Czechoslovak First League: 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1936–37, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1946–47, 1948
Czechoslovak Cup: 1940–41, 1941–42, 1944–45
Central Bohemian Cup: 1932, 1935, 1941, 1943, 1944
Liberty Cup: 1945
Mitropa Cup: 1938

Notes

^ Includes Bohemian Cup

References

^ https://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=11009 ^{[bare URL]}
^ "Koloušek má první hattrick - Pepi Bican jich zvládl sedmadvacet" [Koloušek's first hat-trick - Pepi Bican mastered them with twenty-seven] (in Czech). Slavia Magazin. 4 September 2004.
^ https://archiv.ucl.cas.cz/index.php?path=RudePravo/1967/7/31/3.png ^{[bare URL image file]}
^ "Národní listy".
^ "Digitální knihovna Kramerius". www.digitalniknihovna.cz.
^ "index2". www.slavistickahistorie.cz.
^ "Před 105 lety se narodil legendární slávista Vlasta Kopecký".

Houška, Vítězslav (1996). Slavné postavy Slavie a Sparty [Famous figures from Slavia and Sparta]. Riopress. ISBN 9787115374844.
Šálek, Zdeněk (1980). Slavné nohy: českoslovenští fotbaloví reprezentanti [Famous feet: Czechoslovakia national football team players]. Práce.
Vaněk, Karel (1984). Malá encyklopedie fotbalu [Small football encyclopedia]. Olympia.