FC Viktoria Plzen
Also written as Plzen, Vikt. Plzen, Viktoria Plzen.
The club
FC Viktoria Plzen were founded on 11 June 1911 and play at the Doosan Arena in Plzen, capacity 11,700. They play in green and white. The club spent almost its entire history in the shadow of the Prague pair and won nothing of consequence until 2010, since when it has been one of the two or three strongest clubs in the Czech Republic.
Recent seasons
Plzen finished fifth in 2020/21, won the league in 2021/22, were third in 2022/23, second in 2023/24, second again in 2024/25 and third in 2025/26. The 2025/26 season ended with 63 points from 35 matches, behind Slavia Prague on 80 and Sparta Prague on 76; after the 31-match basic part they had 56 points from 16 wins, 8 draws and 7 defeats, with 53 scored and 35 conceded. Martin Hysky took over on the bench in mid-October 2025 and steered them to that third place.
Honours and landmarks
Six Czech First League titles: 2010/11, 2012/13, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2017/18 and 2021/22. One Czech Cup, in 2009/10.
Notable scorelines
Biggest home win, 7-0, achieved twice, against Usti nad Labem in 2010/11 and against Teplice in 2020/21. Worst home defeat, 0-4, suffered against several opponents in different seasons, among them Pribram in 2003/04. The club's European reputation was made in the 2011/12 Champions League group stage, Group H alongside Barcelona, Milan and BATE Borisov, from which they finished third on a win over BATE and dropped into the Europa League.
A more recent scoreline that will be quoted at them all season: a 5-5 draw at Teplice on 8 August 2026, in which Plzen led 3-0 inside ten minutes, went 5-4 down, and were rescued by a Denis Visinsky equaliser.
European record
Plzen have played 53 matches in the Champions League proper and its qualifying rounds, with 22 wins, 9 draws and 22 defeats. The 2011/12 group stage, drawn with Barcelona, Milan and BATE Borisov, is the campaign the club is measured against.
In 2025/26 they went deep in the Europa League. Fourteen points from the eight-match league phase left them fourteenth and into the knockout play-off round, where they met Panathinaikos, drew the first leg 2-2 on 19 February 2026 and went out in the return on 26 February 2026 on penalties. The exact scoreline of that second leg was reported inconsistently across the sources read here and is not stated. They are now chasing a third successive Europa League league phase.
Quotes
Both of the following were given to the club's own television channel on 3 August 2026, after the Europa League play-off draw paired Plzen with the loser of Hapoel Beer Sheva against Crvena zvezda, and before it was known which club that would be. Memic's answer is worth reading whole: he said he would like to play Zvezda for the atmosphere, and then that the other side would probably suit Plzen better. Zvezda are who they got.
- "Oba souperi jsou velmi neprijemni, tezci. Ja bych si rad zahral s Crvenou zvezdou kvuli atmosfere, protoze vim, ze na Balkane to bude asi horouci. Ale na druhou stranu kdyz se na to podivam, asi by pro nas byl lepsi ten druhy tym." - Amar Memic, defender, to the club television channel, reported by Ceske noviny, 3 August 2026. https://www.ceskenoviny.cz/zpravy/lepsi-by-pro-nas-asi-byla-beer-seva-odveta-doma-je-vyhoda-uvedli-plzensti/2857957
- "Myslim, ze je dobre hrat druhy zapas doma. Kdyby to melo jit treba do prodlouzeni nebo penalt, je dobre mit v zadech svoje fanousky. Verim, ze fanousci nas pozenou vpred a bude to nase vyhoda." - Florian Wiegele, goalkeeper, to the club television channel, reported by Ceske noviny, 3 August 2026. https://www.ceskenoviny.cz/zpravy/lepsi-by-pro-nas-asi-byla-beer-seva-odveta-doma-je-vyhoda-uvedli-plzensti/2857957
No verbatim quotes from Martin Hysky were confirmed from the sources read here.
Right now (2026/27)
Martin Hysky is the manager and is under pressure. Plzen have started the Chance Liga badly: beaten 1-3 at home by Slovan Liberec on 25 July 2026, held 1-1 at home by newly promoted Zbrojovka Brno on 1 August 2026, Christophe Kabongo scoring and Daniel Vasulin equalising, and then the 5-5 at Teplice on 8 August 2026 in which they led 3-0 after ten minutes, fell behind 5-4 and had Krcik sent off. Two points from three matches leaves them twelfth, and the Czech press has openly questioned whether Hysky survives it. The next league match is at home to Zlin on 15 August 2026. In the transfer market Plzen were reported to have bid 1.5 million euros for the Serbian attacking midfielder Stefan Pirgic of Zeleznicar Pancevo and to have refused a counter-demand of three million; that is reported rather than confirmed.
Plzen have played no European match this season. They enter at the Europa League play-off round, and their opponent was settled on 11 August 2026 when Crvena zvezda lost their Champions League third-qualifying-round tie to Hapoel Beer Sheva 3-0 on aggregate and dropped down. The play-off first leg is in Belgrade on 20 August 2026 and the second leg is at the Doosan Arena on 27 August 2026. Losing it would put Plzen in the Conference League league phase rather than the Europa League.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Viktoria_Plze%C5%88 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_Czech_First_League https://www.fcviktoria.cz/eng/zapas.asp?sezona=2027 https://isport.blesk.cz/clanek/fotbal-chance-liga/478478/teplice-plzen-5-5-blazniva-prestrelka-viktoria-vedla-o-tri-goly-cervena-pro-krcika.html https://isport.blesk.cz/clanek/fotbal-chance-liga/478250/plzen-zbrojovka-1-1-novacek-obral-dalsiho-favorita-remizu-zaridil-vasulin.html https://www.ceskenoviny.cz/zpravy/lepsi-by-pro-nas-asi-byla-beer-seva-odveta-doma-je-vyhoda-uvedli-plzensti/2857957 https://www.ceskenoviny.cz/zpravy/souperem-fotbalistu-plzne-ve-4-predkole-evropske-ligy-bude-cz-belehrad/2860995 https://www.eurofotbal.cz/clanky/plzen-uz-ma-jasno-v-zaverecnem-predkole-evropske-ligy-narazi-na-cz-belehrad-837299/ https://www.fotbalzpravy.cz/rubriky/cesko/plzen/fc-viktoria-plzen-letni-priprava_4505.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_UEFA_Europa_League_qualifying
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.