A window to the past: the great talent of Czech football Martin Fenin ruined his career. He couldn’t handle the rookie

He was considered a great talent of Czech football, after the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada, where the Czech team won silver medals, the Teplice striker was coveted by the richest clubs in Europe. Martin Fenin, however, spoiled his career. He succumbed to the temptations of life, the so-called rookie. Lubomír Král describes his fall to the bottom in his three-volume work ‘Football Fates’, published by Epocha.

Fenin’s rise and fall is depicted in the volume ´The Journey to the Depths of the (Football) Soul´, which tells the stories of players who failed or even succumbed to the temptations of life. The football pilgrimage of the thirty-six-year-old Cheb native is probably over, but not his personal one. And it continues to be accompanied by sad transgressions.

Here and there, it appears that he had a fight, had a spat with the police or fled across the border. He continues to fill the pages of tabloids, police reports and medical records.

The author of the book describes how he spoiled his perfectly launched football career, scoring three goals in the jersey of Eintracht Frankfurt in his first Budesliga match in January 2008 in the net of Hertha Berlin.

“He also found friends in Frankfurt, but of a similar nature, and so he and his teammate Stenhöfer managed to set fire to a house while barbecuing on the terrace of Martin’s apartment, which the fire brigade had to deal with. The boys talked about bad luck, an accident, but it was eventually named – a large supply of alcohol by both barbecuers.

So the German press took them on and heavily “grilled” them on their pages. In Germany, it’s not customary to hide and cover up. He didn’t learn his lesson, he didn’t grill anymore, but he spent all the more time in night bars, and there was a drunken car crash.

There was also a fall from a hotel window, a brain hemorrhage, and after healing at the Carl Them Clinic he played only a few games for the red and white Energy. He also admitted to mental problems and depression, but strictly rejected suicide and went to the Czech Republic to recover.

At the beginning of the 2013/2014 season, he was acquired by Slavia Prague for free from his German engagement, he played the autumn part of the season there, but for performance reasons he was dropped from the squad and in December the Sšiovans terminated his contract. Martin’s several alcoholic excesses and a fight were too much even for a reputable agency.

Only he knows how far the fact that he bought an apartment in Prague’s Old Town near his favourite pub Kozička played a negative role in this. After all, it was not only his favourite pub, it had once become very popular and frequented by the entire representation, and one can only speculate about the rest.

To add to his misfortune, acute appendicitis, surgery and other complications resulting from it, everyone kept their hands off him, there was no guarantee of decent cooperation. The newcomer of the league, 1. SC Znojmo, showed interest, as they needed to strengthen their team for the top competition. In April 2014, he joined the team, but only with amateur status, but he was not welcomed warmly even by the fans, who remembered that he had rejected the club’s offer twice before.

He had the makings of a great career, he could have become a star of big football, but he blew it all on his own. Liver problems brought him repeatedly to the hospital, to the ICU, and he became a human wreck, and all his troubles were finally confirmed on the TV programme TIKI-TAKA. He is sick and does not want to solve it himself, the people around him have always tried to help him, but it seems that he does not want help either, and that he does not even want it. Martin’s career has been affected by intemperance, alcohol and an unwillingness to admit the truth that it is the demon of alcohol that controls him.”

Fates of famous and lesser-known personalities, but always extremely interesting stories. All this is offered by Lubomír Kral’s new publication – Football Fates.