Extreme Football Tourism: CZECHIA: AFK Benešov (1922-1930) / Benešovský SK (1930-1949) / Sokol Benešov (1949-1953) / DSO Slavoj Benešov (1953-1957) / TJ Slavoj Benešov (1957-1960) / TJ Lokomotiva Benešov (1960-1972) / TJ ČSAD Benešov (1972-1990) / FK Benešov (1990-1999) / SK Benešov (1999-)

Městský Futbalový Stadión "U Konopiště", Benešov (SK Benešov, formerly AFK Benešov / Benešovský SK / Sokol Benešov / DSO Slavoj Benešov / TJ Slavoj Benešov / TJ Lokomotiva Benešov / TJ ČSAD Benešov / FK Benešov)

Czechia, region: Central Bohemia

10 VIII 2024 / SK Benešov - MFK Trutnov 2-0 / National Division 4C (= CZE level 4)

Timeline

1897 / Football is played for the first time in the Austro-Hungarian town of Benešov (or Beneschau in German), situated in Central Bohemia, some 40 km to the south of Prague. Two students of the local secondary school, Václav Lüftner and František Košárek, gather a group of friends around them – but, in part because the school board frowns upon the boys engaging in this new ball game, no club is formed.
1913 / Foundation of a first football club in Benešov, Athleticko-Footballový Klub (AFK) Benešov. Mr Seidler is the new club’s first chairman. In the first years of its existence, the club does not have a pitch of its own, with football being played on rented pastures and meadows in and around the town.
1918 / With Czechoslovakia winning its independence following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, AFK Benešov resumes its activities, although the club sticks to playing friendly matches instead of joining a league association. As AFK Benešov monopolises the best players available, other recreational clubs see the daylight in the 1920s, including Meteor Benešov, Studentský SK, Rúda Hvězda Benešov, and ČOB Benešov.
1922 / After years of lobbying, AFK Benešov’s board succeeds in convincing municipal authorities to purchase a plot of land from the church near the park of the Konopiště Castle for a football stadium, to be used by AFK exclusively. Subsequently, the stadium itself is laid out and constructed by club volunteers. AFK Benešov and its successors have played at the Stadión u Konopiště ever since.
1929 / Having played friendlies and tournaments only in the first sixteen years of its existence, AFK Benešov now joins the Czechoslovak Football Association’s regular league pyramid, with the club’s first match being an away win at SK Walter Jinonice (1-3).
1930 / Afflicted by the hardships of the economic crisis, AFK Benešov folds, ceasing all activities – but a successor club is founded straightaway, Benešovský Sportovní Klub (SK). In the following years, Benešovský SK plays in the local Bohemian divisions with varying degrees of success.
1949 / As the Sokol movement takes over Benešovský SK, the club is renamed Sokol Benešov.
1953 / As the Sokol movement is banned by communist authorities, Sokol Benešov changes its name to become Dobrovolná Sportovní Organisace (DSO, ‘Amateur Sports Organisation’) Slavoj Benešov.
1957 / DSO Slavoj Benešov changes its name to become Tělovýchovná Jednota (TJ, ‘Sports Club’) Slavoj Benešov.
1960 / With the club being organised as a sub-branch of Czechoslovakia’s railway services, TJ Slavoj Benešov changes its name to become TJ Lokomotiva Benešov.
1972 / With Czechoslovakia’s national automobile manufacturer ČSAD (Československá Státní Automobilová Doprava) taking over the club, TJ Lokomotiva Benešov changes its name to become TJ ČSAD Benešov. With the arrival of ČSAD as the club’s mother company, ambitions are set higher than the lower leagues of Bohemia’s league system. Coach Josef Vacenovský, who joins TJ ČSAD Benešov from Dukla Praha, is just one of many arrivals intended to rise the level of football at the club.
1973 / Coached by Josef Vacenovský, TJ ČSAD Benešov wins promotion to the Championship of the Central Bohemian region, a league division at the fourth level of Czechoslovakia’s football pyramid.
1976 / TJ ČSAD Benešov wins promotion to Divize C, the third level of Czechoslovakia’s football pyramid.
1977 / After just one year in Divize C, TJ ČSAD Benešov wins promotion to the First Czech National League (ČNFL), the second level of Czechoslovakia’s football pyramid.
1981 / Due to a reorganisation of Czechoslovakia’s football pyramid, TJ ČSAD Benešov is retrograded to the newly formed 2. ČNFL.
1983 / Suffering relegation from 2. ČNFL, TJ ČSAD Benešov drops back into Divize A, the fourth tier of Czechoslovakia’s football pyramid.
1985 / TJ ČSAD Benešov wins promotion to 2. ČNFL or third division.
1990 / Following the fall of the Iron Curtain and the liberalisation of Czechoslovakia – due to be split in the independent states of Czechia and Slovakia in 1993 – TJ ČSAD Benešov sheds the references to its past as a sub-branch of a state company, renaming itself Fotbalový Klub (FK) Benešov. Officially, the club takes on the name FK Švarc Benešov, as ambitious entrepreneur Miroslav Švarc becomes the main – or rather: only – sponsor.
1991 / Bolstered by the players bought with Miroslav Švarc’s money, FK Švarc Benešov wins promotion from 2. ČNFL to ČNFL, which meanwhile is the third tier of Czechoslovakia’s football pyramid.
1993 / FK Švarc Benešov wins promotion from ČNFL to the Czech 2. Liga, the second tier of the football pyramid. Also in 1993, along with a long list of other players, Miroslav Švarc secures deals with former Czechoslovakian international players Július Bielik and Ivo Knoflíček, who were both part of the country’s squad in the 1990 World Cup. Bielik joined Benešov from Japan’s Sanfrecce Hiroshima, while Knoflíček joined from SK Vorwärts Steyr.
1994 / Runners-up in the 1993-94 Czech 2. Liga, 7 points behind champions FK Jablonec, FK Švarc Benešov, coached by former player Jaroslav Hřebík, wins direct promotion to the Czech First League – thereby acceding to the top tier of Czech football for the first (and only) time in the club’s history. Benešov’s Tibor Mičinec (another former Czechoslovak international player) crowns himself top scorer of the 2. Liga with eighteen goals. By that time, Bielik and Knoflíček have already left the club, but the squad is reinforced by a string of new players. To meet league regulations, the Stadión u Konopiště is extended with several uncovered stands opposite the old main stand, thus extending the ground’s capacity to 8,300. In the 1994-95 season, FK Švarc Benešov gets off to a good start with three wins and one draw, but, at that point, sponsor Miroslav Švarc is charged with embezzlement and tax evasion. Players are no longer paid and coach Jaroslav Hřebík leaves the club at the end of December 1994 along with part of the squad.
1995 / With Jiří Novák taking over from Jaroslav Hřebík, FK Švarc Benešov has a disastrous second half of the season, completing a run of 24 matches without a single win. Adding insult to injury, the Stadión u Konopiště sees a pitch invasion from AC Sparta Praha fans in March 1995, with hooliganism leading to Benešov’s goalkeeper Martin Pařízek being rendered unconscious; in the legal proceedings following the incident, FK Švarc Benešov is punished for its lack of security measures around the match, leading to a fine of 30,000 Czech crowns as well as having to play one home game in a stadium at least 100km away from Benešov. Finishing dead-last with just 12 points, the club descends into the Czech 2. Liga along with Bohemians Praha. As none of the players have received any salary after the early stages of the season, virtually the complete squad leaves the club.
1996 / Finishing bottom of the table in the Czech 2. Liga, FK Švarc Benešov suffers a second relegation in a row, dropping back into the ranks of the Bohemian Football League (ČFL) along with the club finishing second from bottom, FK Turnov. Due to heavy financial problems, however, the club withdraws from first team football altogether, continuing with youth teams only. Due to sponsor Miroslav Švarc having left, the club name is adapted to simply FK Benešov.
1999 / After three years of just playing youth football, FK Benešov concludes a merger with a club from the nearby village of Pyšely (possibly called SK Pyšely, but no certainty on this matter), leading to the foundation of Sportovní Klub (SK) Benešov. As a result of the merger, the new club playing its football at the Stadión u Konopiště does not have to start at the bottom of the league ladder, instead being placed in the Regional Championship, the fifth tier of Czechia’s football pyramid. Meanwhile, in Pyšely, a phoenix club is founded, FK Pyšely.
2000 / In its first season, SK Benešov wins promotion from the Regional Championship to National Division 4.
2007 / Following a spell of seven seasons in National Division 4, SK Benešov drops back into the Regional Championship.
2008 / Winning the Regional Championship title, SK Benešov manages a return to National Division 4 after just one season.
2010 / SK Benešov absorbs FK Pyšely, which becomes the club’s B team.
2014 / Coached by former FK Švarc Benešov player Luboš Zákostelský, SK Benešov wins promotion from National Division 4 to the Bohemian Football League (ČFL). The decisive points are clinched in a home win against FC Milevsko (2-1).
2023 / Bottom of the table in the Bohemian Football League, SK Benešov drops back into National Division 4 along with FK Přepeře.