Club histories

FK Jablonec

Also written as Jablonec.

The club

FK Jablonec were founded in 1945 and play at the Stadion Strelnice in Jablonec nad Nisou, a ground holding 6,108. It is one of the smallest venues in Czech top-flight football and by some distance the smallest still hosting European ties this August. The club play in green and white. No official nickname was confirmed from the sources read here.

Recent seasons

Jablonec finished thirteenth in the Czech First League in 2021/22 with 34 points and thirteenth again in 2022/23 with 40. They improved to eleventh in 2023/24 with 41, then jumped to fifth in 2024/25 with 63 points, and held fifth in 2025/26 with 55. That fifth place is what put them into Conference League qualifying.

Honours and landmarks

Jablonec have won the Czech Cup twice, in 1997/98 and 2012/13, and the Czech Supercup in 2013. They were second-tier champions in 1993/94. Their best league finish is second, in 2009/10; their worst is fourteenth, in 1999/2000.

Notable scorelines

Biggest home win: 8-0 against Ceske Budejovice in 1997/98. Heaviest defeat: 0-6 at Sparta Prague in 1996/97. The heaviest European beating was 0-6 at Real Betis in the 2013/14 Europa League play-off round, which made the tie 1-8 on aggregate.

European record

Jablonec have been in Europe on and off since 1997 and the record is fuller than the club's size suggests.

They began in the 1997/98 UEFA Cup by beating Qarabag 8-0 on aggregate, 5-0 at home and 3-0 away, then went out to Orebro on away goals after 1-1 at home and 0-0 away. In the 1998/99 Cup Winners' Cup they drew 3-3 on aggregate with Apollon Limassol, winning 2-1 at home and losing 1-2 away, and lost 4-3 on penalties. In the 2007/08 UEFA Cup they lost 5-4 on aggregate to Austria Wien, drawing 1-1 at home and losing 4-3 in Vienna.

In the Europa League they lost 4-1 on aggregate to APOEL in the 2010/11 third qualifying round. In 2011/12 they beat Flamurtari 7-1 on aggregate before losing 3-1 to AZ. In 2013/14 they beat Stromsgodset 5-2 on aggregate, then met Real Betis in the play-off and lost 1-2 at home and 0-6 in Seville. In 2015/16 they knocked out Copenhagen on away goals after losing 0-1 at home and winning 3-2 in Denmark, then lost the play-off to Ajax 0-1 on aggregate, drawing 0-0 at the Strelnice.

The high point is the 2018/19 Europa League group stage, where Jablonec finished fourth in a group with Rennes, Dynamo Kyiv and Astana. The sources read here list the results as 0-1 and 1-2 against Rennes, 2-2 and 1-0 against Dynamo Kyiv, and 1-1 and 1-2 against Astana, without confirming which of each pair was the home leg.

In 2019/20 they went out to Pyunik 2-1 on aggregate in the second qualifying round, and in 2020/21 they lost 5-3 after extra time to DAC Dunajska Streda. In 2021/22 Celtic beat them 7-2 on aggregate in the Europa League third qualifying round, 4-2 at the Strelnice and 3-0 in Glasgow, but Jablonec dropped into the inaugural Conference League, won the play-off round 8-1 on aggregate against Zilina, and finished third in a group with AZ Alkmaar, CFR Cluj and Randers, drawing 1-1 at home and losing 0-1 away to AZ, beating Cluj 1-0 at home and losing 2-0 there, and drawing 2-2 with Randers both home and away.

Quotes

- "Máme vybudovaný nějaký náskok, ale na něj se nemůžeme ohlížet. Půjdeme do zápasu, jako kdyby to bylo 0:0. Pokusíme se dát rychlý gól. Věřím, že to zvládneme." - Martin Cedidla, Jablonec forward, to fkjablonec.cz, in a preview published ahead of the second leg in Riga, August 2026. https://fkjablonec.cz/article/11874-Jablonec-miri-do-Rigy-v-poharove-odvete-s-RFS-bude-hajit-vedeni - "Nečeká nás tam nic lehkého. Víme, že na domácím hřišti jsou silní, o víkendu tam vysoko vyhráli 6:1. Jsou vysocí a silní ve standardních situacích. Letíme tam se vším respektem. Chceme to zvládnout a postoupit." - Jan Suchan, Jablonec midfielder, to fkjablonec.cz, in the same preview, August 2026. https://fkjablonec.cz/article/11874-Jablonec-miri-do-Rigy-v-poharove-odvete-s-RFS-bude-hajit-vedeni

Both are quoted in the published Czech, with the diacritics as printed. The page did not display an explicit calendar date, so only the month is given. Cedidla's sense is that the lead cannot be looked back on, that the team will play as though the tie were goalless, and that they will try to score early. Suchan's is that nothing there will be easy, that RFS are strong at home and had won 6-1 at the weekend, that they are tall and dangerous from set pieces, and that Jablonec travel with respect and intend to go through. No quotation from the manager was confirmed from the sources read here.

Right now (2026/27)

Lubos Kozel is the manager. Summer additions confirmed here include Kevin-Prince Milla on loan from Sparta Prague and several other loan arrivals; a fuller transfer list was not established and should not be invented.

The domestic start has been perfect. After three matches, as of 9 August 2026, Jablonec had 9 points from three wins, five goals scored and one conceded, level with Slavia Prague at the top of the Czech First League and second on goal difference.

The tie they are in right now is the Conference League third qualifying round against RFS of Latvia. Jablonec reached it by beating Varazdin in the second round: they lost 3-2 at the Stadion Varteks on 23 July 2026, Cedidla scoring on 27 minutes and Tekijaski on 56 against goals from Tavares, Mamut and Mamic, then won the return at the Strelnice 2-0 on 30 July through a Puncec own goal on 29 minutes and Pavlovic on 54, going through 4-3.

The first leg against RFS was at the Stadion Strelnice on 6 August 2026 and Jablonec won 2-0, Chanturishvili scoring on 18 minutes and Polidar on 52. The second leg is at LNK Sporta Parks in Riga on 13 August 2026, with Jablonec defending a two-goal lead and no away goal conceded.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FK_Jablonec https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_Czech_First_League https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_UEFA_Conference_League_qualifying_(first_and_second_round_matches) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_UEFA_Conference_League_qualifying_(third_and_play-off_round_matches) https://fkjablonec.cz/article/11874-Jablonec-miri-do-Rigy-v-poharove-odvete-s-RFS-bude-hajit-vedeni

Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.