Football Club Viktoria Plzeà  () is a Czech professional football club based in Plzeà Â. It plays in the Czech First League, the top division of football in the country.
As runner-up in the 1970âÂÂ71 Czechoslovak Cup, the club competed in the following season's Cup Winners' Cup â the winner Spartak Trnava also won the championship and played in the European Cup. In 2010, Viktoria Plzeà  competed in the UEFA Europa League after it won the 2009âÂÂ10 Czech Cup.
The club won the Czech league for the first time in 2011, and participated in the 2011âÂÂ12 UEFA Champions League group stage, won their first Champions League match, and finished on five points, qualifying for the Round of 32 in the 2011âÂÂ12 UEFA Europa League. The club won its second Czech league title in the 2012âÂÂ13 season.
In 2013âÂÂ14, the team participated in the UEFA Champions League group stage and finished third. They then reached the round of 16 in UEFA Europa League before being eliminated by Lyon.
In 1911, Jaroslav Ausobský, an official of the state railways, filed a request for the establishment of a new football club in Plzeà Â. In August 1911, the newly formed club Viktoria played their first match, losing 7âÂÂ3 against Olympia Plzeà Â.
For the first 18 years of its existence, Viktoria Plzeà  was a purely amateur club, although in 1922âÂÂ23, they took their first foreign trip to Spain, where they won six out of nine matches. In June 1929, an extraordinary meeting of members agreed to go professional and enter the national professional league. Viktoria finished their first season in seventh place, but the very next season, improved and reached second place, which meant a first-ever promotion to the First League. In the 1934âÂÂ35 Czechoslovak First League, Viktoria finished in fourth place and subsequently played in the 1935 Mitropa Cup, the top European club competition at the time. Two matches against Juventus brought Viktoria to the attention of European football at large. They drew 3âÂÂ3 at home but lost 5âÂÂ1 in Turin.
Viktoria played without success in the First League, being relegated for the 1938 season but returning to top competition the next year. The outbreak of World War II interrupted competition, notably through the absence of teams from Slovakia. In 1942, Viktoria fell again into the divisions, but again returned to the top league the next year, where they would remain until 1952. That same year, the club changed its name to Sokol à  koda Plzeà Â. For nine years they remained in the divisions, struggling to return to the First League, and in 1961, now under the name of Spartak Plzeà Â, achieved that promotion. The club was relegated and promoted frequently between the top two tiers until 1972, when as à  koda Plzeà  they settled in the First League for eight years.
In 1971, Viktoria won the Czech Cup by drawing lots after the two-legged final ended 4âÂÂ4 on aggregate and 5âÂÂ5 in a limited penalty shootout against Sparta Prague B. They lost 7âÂÂ2 on aggregate in the Czechoslovak Cup final against Slovak Cup winners Spartak Trnava, but as Trnava had won the league title that season, Viktoria was the country's entrant to the next season's European Cup Winners' Cup. The club's greatest honor is elimination in the first round by Bayern Munich, 7âÂÂ2 on aggregate. From 1980 until the division of Czechoslovakia 13 years later, Viktoria moved frequently between the top two tiers again.
In 1992, the club returned to its historical name FC Viktoria Plzeà  and the very next season, advanced to the first league, where it remained until 1999.
In the first years of the new millennium, Viktoria was owned by a foreign investor â Italian Football Company Ltd EAST. This situation lasted until March 2005, when 100% of the club's shares were purchased by local interests. The summer of 2005 also brought back relations with the Czech motor company à  koda, which had previously been the club's name sponsors.
On 18 May 2010, Viktoria won the Czech Cup final 2âÂÂ1 against Jablonec, and returned to European competitions via the 2010âÂÂ11 UEFA Europa League. Viktoria entered in the third qualifying round against Beà Âiktaà  and held them 1âÂÂ1 at home before losing 3âÂÂ0 away.
Viktoria won its first ever league championship in 2010âÂÂ11, finishing with 69 points to Sparta Prague's 68. The club therefore qualified for a play-off to the 2011âÂÂ12 UEFA Champions League, in which they defeated Copenhagen 5âÂÂ2 on aggregate. Viktoria were placed in Group H alongside reigning champions Barcelona and Milan, and reached third place in the group by recording a victory over BATE Borisov. This saw the club drop into the 2011âÂÂ12 UEFA Europa League in the round of 32, where they lost 4âÂÂ2 on aggregate to Schalke 04 after extra time.
The club's Stadion mÃÂsta Plznàwas also rebuilt in 2011. The same year on 11 June, Viktoria celebrated together with fans in the courtyard of the Pilsner Urquell brewery for a centennial anniversary. In January 2012, the club held a festive gala for its centenary, and voted current midfielder Pavel Horváth as its greatest player of all time.
The 2011âÂÂ12 season saw Viktoria finish in third place in the league, three points behind champions Slovan Liberec, to qualify for a third consecutive Europa League campaign. Starting in the second qualifying round, the club advanced past Metalurgi Rustavi of Georgia and Ruch Chorzów of Poland to set up a play-off against the Belgian club Lokeren, in which Viktoria advanced on away goals after a 2âÂÂ2 aggregate draw. The club finished first in Group B, ahead of the tournament's reigning champions Atlético Madrid. In the round of 32, Viktoria were drawn against Napoli and won 3âÂÂ0 away and 2âÂÂ0 at home to advance to the last 16, where they played Fenerbahçe. Viktoria lost the home leg 1âÂÂ0, and in the away leg (which was played behind closed doors due to the Istanbul club's fans' recent conduct) drew 1âÂÂ1, resulting in their elimination. Viktoria won the Czech First League for a second time in the 2012âÂÂ13 season.
In the 2014âÂÂ15 season, Viktoria were involved in a title race between Sparta Prague and Jablonec. In the end, Viktoria emerged as league champions, finishing in front of second-placed Sparta Prague by 5 points. In the 2015âÂÂ16 season, Viktoria became champions of the Czech First League for a fourth time.
In 2017, the club installed a dugout in the shape of a beer can after a deal with a local beer sponsor.
After narrowly missing out on the league title to SK Slavia Prague in the 2016-17 season, Viktoria Plzeà  made a remarkable comeback the following year. Demonstrating consistent form and resilience, they clinched the championship, finishing 7 points ahead of Slavia Prague, who this time ended as runners-up.
Viktoria were named league champions for a sixth time in the 2021âÂÂ22 season.
In the 2023âÂÂ24 season, Viktoria reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League. Viktoria reached top of their group consisting of Dinamo Zagreb, FC Astana and FC Ballkani, beating all of them to be the first Czech team in a UEFA competition to go 6 wins in the group stage while only conceding one goal. In the round of 16, Viktoria dispatched of Servette FC, before going out to Fiorentina after extra time in the quarter-finals.
.
. Highlighted players are in the current squad.
The following is a list of the all-time statistics from Plzeà Â's games in the three UEFA tournaments it has participated in, as well as the overall total. The list contains the tournament, the number of seasons (S), games played (P), won (W), drawn (D) and lost (L). The statistics include qualification matches.