Tomáš Vlček: The Beautiful Gift of Fatherhood and his Promising Football Career

Last year, the 21-year-old defender received the most beautiful gift at the end of November. A daughter, Lotty, was born to the Vlčkovi couple. “The little one was born at a time when we and Pardubice were not doing very well. I re-evaluated a lot of things and found out what is important in life. With Lotty, I can clear my head from football and recharge my batteries,” explains Vlček.

Why Lotty, you ask? The tracks lead to Jihlava, where Vlček spent two years as a guest and became friends with goalkeeper Luďek Vejmola. “He returned from a guest stay in Norway and he and his girlfriend were expecting the boy Niklas. They had Lotty as a girl version: when the birth was approaching, we liked it and stole it a little from Luďka,” smiles the young man, who is nicknamed Vlčák.

After a long season that ended with a successful playoff, he enjoyed a week with his family, then he had to report to the 21st team meeting. But you won’t hear any complaints from him: “We are young and we have to manage it. We only have good things to worry about, for example I will return to Slavia for training after the EURO.”

“If you were looking for candidates for jumper of the year, he would be one of the favorites. Just a year ago he was playing in the second division Jihlava, and now he is looking forward to the European Championship with the twenty-first team. He received his first invitation from coach Jan Suchopárek last September for a play-off double match with Iceland, and since then party Lvíčat did not fall out. “We have a nice mix. The team includes guys who won the league, as well as us, who saved ourselves at the last moment,” describes Vlček. “We enjoy every day and enjoy every training session. Hopefully we can transfer that to the pitch.

It would be good, Vlčka et al. from June 22, a devilish group with England, Germany and Israel awaits in Georgia. “We have big games ahead that everyone wants to play. The EURO will be a benchmark for us: we will find out what we are good at and where we have reserves,” says the footballer. “England and Germany have strong teams, but they can underestimate us a bit. If we play as a team, we can fight for promotion. Also because of the Olympics , which no one will just look at.”

The promising stopper has a lot to build on: his club coach Radoslav Kováč won EURO 2002 with the 21-year-old. “It was lucky for me that he came to Pardubice in the fall. He took me and Robin Hranáč under his wing, devoted a lot of time to us,” mentions Vlček, a partner from the national team. “Mr. Kováč gave me a lot to start my career, and thanks to him I am going to the European Championship.”

While Vlček’s peers often started in the league as teenagers, he had to wait until he was twenty-one. And the first season was tough, Pardubice languished in last place for a long time, and they had to save themselves on the first weekend of June. “A lot of people wrote us off, but we managed to pick ourselves up. We had all the sweeter feelings at the end,” recounts Vlček, who missed only three league matches. “When I came to Pardubice a year ago, I did not expect such a portion at all. For the first five rounds, I looked around and the seasoned attackers took aim at me , but in the end it was probably better. And it’s nice that I experienced what it’s like to play for everything right in the premiere season.”

Even his beloved Slavia played for everything, which was only separated from champion Sparta by a worse position after the regular season. “I kept my fingers crossed for the slavists and I was sorry that it didn’t come close. They will learn from this and will be better next season,” hopes Vlček, who will leave for Eden immediately after returning from Georgia. “I will fight for a place, I’m already looking forward to it.”