PRAGUE – Former football player and coach František Cipro died today at the age of 75 after a long illness. His former club Slavia informed about it.
He led the Prague team to the championship title in 1996 and advanced with it to the semi-finals of the then UEFA Cup. Since spring 2020, Cipro has been battling colon cancer.
He coached Slavia in three different periods, in the Czech top flight he also managed České Budějovice three times and Teplice and Plzeň once. He worked abroad as a coach in Austria (Innsbruck, Linz, Freistadt) and in Cyprus in Limassol. He ended his Cipro coaching career in 2015 in České Budějovice.
Slavia was hit by very sad news today. On Tuesday, February 7, František Cipro, a former player and coach of our club, died after a long illness.
Thank you for everything, Captain and Mr. Coach! Honor to your memory!
INFO➡️https://t.co/Cn3EX5CXA2 pic.twitter.com/GdcMLkEWAj
— SK Slavia Prague (@slaviaofficial) February 7, 2023
The Jihlava native spent most of his playing career in Slavia, for which he played 501 competitive matches between 1971 and 1980 and scored 41 goals. He was a great all-rounder, he started in the attack with the famous František Veselý, then moved to the reserve and defense. He was the captain for three years and celebrated the triumph in the Czech Cup with the “Red and White” in 1974. Previously, he won the Czechoslovak Cup in Zlín.
The semi-final of the UEFA Cup, where Slavists lost to Bordeaux, remains the best result of Czech teams in cups. “I have always argued that it is necessary to confirm home wins in Europe. Nothing more. That was true even then. I appreciated that we made it to the top four European teams in our cup competition.” quoted Cipra on the website of Slavia, with whom he won the domestic cup in 1997.
An irreplaceable loss
The educated lawyer lived in Hlboka nad Vltavou, where he also led the local team in the regional championship for several seasons. In 2016, he became the laureate of the Václav Jíra Award, which the Football Association of the Czech Republic awards personalities for their lifelong contribution to the development of Czech football.
The club from Eden prepared a memorial place in front of its museum where fans can say goodbye to Cipro. “František Cipro’s departure is an irreplaceable loss, and I would like to express my deepest condolences on behalf of the entire association and Czech football to his family and everyone close to him,” said FAČR chairman Petr Fousek to the futbal.cz website.
“I always admired the humanity with which he approached those around him, and all the meetings together were very pleasant. I am very sorry for the news and would like to express my sincere condolences to those closest to me.” said the coach of the Czech national team, Jaroslav Šilhavý.
- Author: © List
- PHOTO: Twitter/SK Slavia Prague
- Source: CTK
