Karel Brückner celebrates his 82nd birthday! What was his football life like?

Former national coach Karel Brückner celebrates his 82nd birthday. Together, we take a look at his extensive football biography and his incredible journey, which in 2004 saw him achieve unbelievable international success. Happy birthday, Coach!

The football matador became the darling of many players who passed under his hands, to this day he enjoys huge respect from former national team stars.

But what was his football journey like from the very beginning? Karel Brückner was born in Olomouc at the beginning of the Second World War. And that’s where he dedicated his playing life. From the age of 6 he played for the local Spartak Moravské železárny Olomouc (now SK Sigma Olomouc), where he played all his youth football and grew up to the men’s category.

In Olomouc he was also a player of the A-team. He basically played there from the age of 17 until he was 34. After a successful 69/70 season, in which he was the team’s top scorer, he tried a league engagement at Baník Ostrava, but played only 2 matches there and soon returned to Hana.

Coaching career mainly in Olomouc

Where else could his incredible journey have started than in his hometown. Karel Brückner started on the bench of Sigma as a playing coach and gradually more and more his full-fledged coaching career came to an end.

With Olomouc, he rose from the divisional competitions to the second highest competition within a few seasons. He first entered the league in the early 1980s as coach of Brno Zbrojovka, which he led for two seasons.

After the Brno team was relegated to the second league, Kleki Petra (one of the nicknames of the legendary coach) headed back to his home town of Olomouc. With the latter he managed to immediately advance to the top league and managed to stabilize the team in the league.

In the later 80s and 90s came the best times of Olomouc football ever. Under the baton of the rising star coach, Sigma managed to fight its way to the European Cup several times, where it also met Real Madrid or Juventus. In the UEFA Cup quarter-final in Olomouc, the White Ballet drew 1-1.

Brückner wrote his name in bold letters in the Olomouc football annals in the 95/96 season. Back then, he led Sigma to their best ever league finish, with Olomouc finishing second behind Prague Slavia. The big farewell came the following season, the last time Brückner managed Sigma Olomouc.

He worked as a coach in Haná four times, always leaving for a season, at most two, to another club (e.g. Žilina, Vítkovice, Drnovice, Inter Bratislava). However, no significant successes came anywhere, apart from the only club trophy Brückner ever won. That was the Slovak Cup with Inter Bratislava.

National team career

But that was not the end of the successful ride! The biggest successes came on the international stage. From 1998-2001 he worked with the U21 national team and in 2000 he won a silver medal with them at the European Championship. Our youngsters then lost to a strong Italy 1:2 in the final.

Back then, youngsters like Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso were on the pitch. It was Pirlo who scored two goals to decide the victory of the Italians.

In 2001, the seasoned coach sat on the bench of the national A-team and became the most successful coach of the Czech Republic in its modern history.

He qualified for three consecutive major tournaments (2004 European Championship, 2006 World Cup and 2008 European Championship). At the Euro 2004 he was on the verge of an incredible success, his charges were one step away from the final, but unfortunately they lost 0:1 to a defensive-minded Greece in the semi-final extra time.

His last coaching stint came between 2008-2009 with the Austrian national team.

He collected countless individual awards. He won the domestic Coach of the Year award seven times, and in 2003 the International Federation of Football Historians and Statisticians (IFFHS) voted him the second best coach in the world! In 2014 he was inducted into the Czech Football Hall of Fame. In 2020, he even received a state award from the President of the Czech Republic, the Medal of Merit 1st Class.

Sources:: Wiki, SK Sigma Olomouc, fotbal.cz