Frantià ¡ek PlániÃÂka (; 2 June 1904 â 20 July 1996) was a Czech football goalkeeper and one of the most honoured players in the history of Czechoslovak football. He played all his career for Slavia Prague, during which time the club won the Czech league eight times and the Mitropa Cup once. He also became a member of the Czechoslovakia national team, where his first success as a young goalkeeper was helping Czechoslovakia to become runner-up in the Central European International Cup 1931âÂÂ32 and later became captain during the World Cup finals of 1934 (where the Czechoslovakia team finished second) and 1938.
PlániÃÂka was a courageous player, to the extent that in Czechoslovakia's 1938 World Cup match against Brazil, he remained on the field despite having suffered a serious injury. This injury ended a career that saw him play a total of 1253 matches, in which he conceded only 1073 goals, an average of 0.86 goals per game. He was a goalkeeper of outstanding reflexes and shot-stopping abilities and was also characterized by his sportsmanship, never once being cautioned or sent off in his 20-year career. He was awarded the UNESCO International Fair Play Award in 1985.
Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation, and of all time, in 1999, the IFFHS elected him the best Czech goalkeeper â as well as the sixth best in Europe and the ninth best overall â of the twentieth century. In 2003, he was cataloged as the greatest pre-war goalkeeper in Europe along with other notable keepers such as Ricardo Zamora and Gianpiero Combi.
Frantià ¡ek PlániÃÂka was born on 2 July 1904 in the Prague district of à ½ià ¾kov as the eldest of three children of carpenter Karel PlániÃÂka. His childhood was marked by his father's long absence during World War I, when he had to help his mother support the family. After finishing school, he learned to be a turner. After his father's return, he could devote himself more to his great hobby, which was football. He played most of his footballing career and lived most of his life in the Czech capital. He first played football with his friends on the street, alternately in attack or goal.
In 1919, the 15-year-old PlániÃÂka signed an application for the football club Slovan Prague VII, because he thought that other friends would also go there, but in the meantime, they had become members of SK BubeneÃÂ, so he joined as a goalkeeper two years later, in 1921. Later, he was invited to train with the top-division club Sparta Prague, but he was eventually rejected due to his small height. However, he perfectly compensated for his small stature for a goalkeeper with cat-like agility and excellent observation, hence earning the nickname "Master of Robinsonades".
PlániÃÂka remained the goalkeeper of Bubeneàand from March 1923 he also trained at Slavia Prague. Both he and the club wanted to join forces, but Bubeneàrefused to let him go, so PlániÃÂka eventually stopped asking and simply went with Slavia to a match in Vienna, where he started under the name Jakubec to replace Slavia's injured goalkeeper. However, they failed to keep this a secret and SK Bubeneàsent the whole case to the Commission on Crime Prevention, which resulted in Slavia being fined for the offense, but PlániÃÂka could stay with them, an agreement that was officialized in October 1923.
PlániÃÂka played with Slavia Prague for 15 years, from 1923 to 1938, which was one of the most successful eras in the club's history, playing a total of 196 league matches as Slavia won seven league titles. He appeared in a total of 969 matches, of which Slavia won 742. Despite being of below-average height for a goalkeeper, at 1.74m (5 ft 8þ in), he was an effective shot stopper, and his acrobatic style earned him the nickname The Cat of Prague.
In 1929, PlániÃÂka helped Slavia reach the final of the Mitropa Cup, which they lost to Hungary's ÃÂjpest 7âÂÂ3 on aggregate. Three years later, Slavia reached the semifinals of the 1932 Mitropa Cup. In the first leg, they beat Juventus 4âÂÂ0; in the second leg, Juventus had a 2âÂÂ0 lead after which, according to RSSSF, Slavia resorted to obstruction and time wasting, which extended to the stands to the point that spectators started throwing stones on the pitch; one of the projectiles hit PlániÃÂka, causing him a serious injury. Slavia abandoned the pitch and the game stopped, and this led to their disqualification from the tournament.
PlániÃÂka also won six Bohemia cups (a domestic tournament) with Slavia, in 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1932, and 1935. His only international title came in 1938, when his club finally won the Mitropa Cup. During his entire career, he played 1253 matches and let in 1073 goals, which means an average of 0.86 goals per game.
Between 1926 and 1938, PlániÃÂka played 73 times in goal for Czechoslovakia, a world record at the time and a national record that stood until 1966 when Ladislav Novák earned his 74th cap. PlániÃÂka was the national team captain 37 times, another record at the time. He made his international debut on 17 January 1926 in a 1âÂÂ3 loss against Italy.
PlániÃÂka helped Czechoslovakia qualify to the 1934 World Cup, and was the team's captain in the tournament. Despite not being able to keep a single clean-sheet throughout the tournament, he led his nation to victories over Romania in the first round, Switzerland in the quarterfinals, and Germany in the semifinals to advance to the final.
On 10 June 1934, Czechoslovakia played the final against hosts Italy, who also had one of the great goalkeepers of the time, Gianpiero Combi, as its captain. The Czechs took the lead in the 71st minute with a goal by AntonÃÂn PuÃÂ, but ten minutes later a shot by Raimundo Orsi beat PlániÃÂka for the equalizer, sending the match to extra time, where a goal by Angelo Schiavio gave the Italians the victory. PlániÃÂka finished the tournament with six goals against in four matches.
PlániÃÂka captained the Czechs again to the 1938 World Cup. In the first round, they beat the Netherlands 3âÂÂ0 with all three goals coming in extra time. In the second round, they faced Brazil on 12 July, in what was one of the most violent matches in World Cup history, known as the "Battle of Bordeaux." One Czech and two Brazilian players were sent off, and players from both teams suffered serious injuries. With the game tied 1âÂÂ1, PlániÃÂka's teammate Oldà Âich Nejedlý had to abandon the pitch with a broken leg, and then PlániÃÂka himself suffered a broken arm, after colliding with Brazil's striker Perácio's kick, as the Brazilian attempted to shoot. PlániÃÂka did not leave the pitch, however, and instead played through the pain until the end of regulation and through the subsequent extra time, which had no change in the score. The game was replayed two days later, and Czechoslovakia, without PlániÃÂka or forwards Nejedlý and AntonÃÂn PuÃÂ, lost 2âÂÂ1 and was eliminated. He and Nejedlý ended up in the hospital due to broken bones and these injuries forced PlániÃÂka to retire from football.
PlániÃÂka only conceded one goal in 240 minutes played, having the lowest goals against average with 0.38 goals per 90 minutes (better than Aldo Olivieri of champions Italy). He was selected to the Best XI of the tournament by a group of journalists. The match against Brazil in Bordeaux was the last one of PlániÃÂka's international career.
After moving to Slavia, PlániÃÂka, who had previously worked as a laborer in various factories, completed basic military service with an anti-aircraft regiment in Prague. He married his childhood sweetheart, Boà ¾ena Chvojková, and their marriage lasted a lifetime. They raised two daughters together. PlániÃÂka was aware of the shortness of his sports career and in order to provide for his family, he graduated from business school. He got a job in the accounting department at the Pension Institute and devoted his free time to football and his family.
After his retirement, PlániÃÂka continued to play football with fellow Slavia legends, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and physical condition. On 4 July 1970, PlániÃÂka played his last match in goal in a senior team of former internationals. In 1985, UNESCO presented him with an Honorary Fair Play Award in recognition of his footballing career.
In 1994, after receiving a sports merit award, PlániÃÂka stated that he would like to see Slavia win the league while he was still alive. In the 1995âÂÂ96 season, after a 48-year wait, Slavia won the league title, and PlániÃÂka was able to celebrate it. Two months later, he died at the age of 92. At the time of his death, he was the last living member of the Czech squad at the 1934 World Cup and the last surviving player from either team to play in the final. Czech national team midfielder Karel Poborský attended his burial, postponing his contract signing with Manchester United, which was scheduled to happen the same day.