Early years At the close of 1893, a small group of young people based around three brothers – Václav, Bohumil and Rudolf Rudl – had the idea of setting up a sports club. On 16 November, the founders' meeting approved the club's articles of association and one month later, on 17 December, the first annual general meeting took place. Soon after that, the Athletic Club Sparta came up with its tricolour, in which blue symbolises Europe, red and yellow being the symbols of the (then)
royal city of
Prague. At the very beginning of the club's football history, the players used to wear black jerseys with a big "S" on the front. They then played for two years in black-and-white striped jerseys, which they returned to, wearing them as a reserve strip, for two years in 1896. In 1906, club president Dr. Petřík was in England where he saw the famous
Woolwich Arsenal play with their red jerseys and decided to bring one set to Prague. At that time, he did not realise he was setting up one of the club's greatest traditions. Together with the red jerseys, Sparta players wear white shorts and black socks. Shortly after
World War I, a team was put together that triggered off the famous period of the 1920s and '30s referred to as "Iron Sparta". A football league in Czechoslovakia was established in the mid-twenties and the club collected title after title. To this day, the fans still recall the names of the players of that period with admiration: Peyer,
Hojer, Perner, Káďa, Kolenatý,
Červený. A few years later, some no less famous names appeared, such as
Hochmann,
Burgr, Hajný, Šíma,
Silný,
Čtyřoký,
Košťálek and in particular
Oldřich Nejedlý, the top scorer at the
1934 FIFA World Cup. Shortly before this most famous era kicked off,
Vlasta Burian, the man who later became the king of Czech comedians, played in goal for the club. The milestones of the first golden period of the club's history are two Central European Cup titles, which in the '20 and the '30s enjoyed the same recognition as that of today's Champions League. Sparta's three titles are important milestones in the cup's history. After two triumphs in 1927 and 1935, the third came in 1964, at a time when the cup's importance was gradually falling behind that of other European cups. According to a book about the
Massaker von Prerau, the mass murderer
Karol Pazúr played for Sparta Prague's B-team in 1937. In 1946, AC Sparta toured Great Britain opening with a 2–2 draw against Arsenal on 2 October.
Golden years Golden periods alternated with years when Sparta fans only nostalgically remembered the "good old times". After substantial changes driven by the socialist regime, bringing frequent changes of the club's name rather than achievements to be proud of, the title in 1954 was the last one before a long period of misery. Only the great era of the team around
Andrej Kvašňák in the 1960s brought back memories of the club's golden years. There are still many people who recollect the era of
Andrej Kvašňák,
Jiří Tichý and
Václav Mašek. Those were the days when Sparta hosted the biggest number of fans in its history, with the stadium at that time accommodating almost 40,000. All three of the above-mentioned heroes were part of the national team that finished second at the
1962 World Cup in Chile. Other important players in these "golden years" were
Josef Vojta,
Vladimír Táborský and
Ivan Mráz.
Relegation and comeback Up until 1975, Sparta was the only Czech club that had never been relegated to the second division. In this year, however, due to a number of circumstances, the team dropped to division two. The club only spent one year in this division, In 1999–2000, it won its initial group under the management of
Ivan Hašek, and was then third in the quarter-final group. In that group, Sparta came up against a Barcelona squad which went on to reach the semi-finals. In the 2001–02 season, Sparta was drawn against the eventual winners of both the European competitions during the course of its run.
Feyenoord lost twice to Sparta in the champions league group stage and managed to qualify for the UEFA Cup, which it went on to win. Sparta went on to meet
Real Madrid in the quarter-final that year. Sparta did not qualify for the group stage in
2002–03, when it was beaten by the Belgian club
Genk in the third round of qualifying. 2003–04 saw Sparta take on two Italian giants; initially, the club beat
Lazio in the group stage, but after an initial draw Sparta failed to get into the quarter-finals past
Milan. The group stage in
2004–05 did not work out at all well for Sparta. After drawing with
Manchester United at the sold-out
Toyota Arena, the other matches were lost and the club finished last in the group with the club achieving their worst-ever return of just one point from the six matches. and a heavy 0–4 defeat to Slavia Prague. However, a tactical shift brought immediate results, starting with a 1–0 win over
Viktoria Plzeň, Sparta's first in Plzeň since 2011. This turnaround led to further league victories and progression in the
MOL Cup. By the end of the autumn, Sparta trailed Viktoria Plzeň by seven points. After reinforcing the squad during the winter break, Sparta dominated the spring season, securing first place at the end of the regular season. In the championship group, Sparta overcame Slavia 3–2 in a crucial derby, with
Ladislav Krejčí scoring the decisive penalty. A draw against Slovácko secured their 37th league title, the first in nine years. Sparta's good form continued into the 2023–24 season, with strong domestic performances and a brief run in the
UEFA Champions League qualifiers, where they were eliminated by
FC Copenhagen after a 3–3 aggregate draw. Despite some setbacks in both domestic and European competitions, Sparta finished the year strongly, advancing to the knockout stages of the
Europa League and securing key league victories. They were knocked out in the Round of 16 by
Liverpool, 11–2 on aggregate.
End of Priske's tenure and leadership changes Following the 2023–24 season, Brian Priske left to join
Feyenoord and was replaced by
Lars Friis. Sparta announced the signing of Kosovo international
Ermal Krasniqi, while club captain
Ladislav Krejčí departed for Girona.
Filip Panák was named the new captain. Sparta's preseason saw wins against
AIK Stockholm and
Spartak Trnava, but also a heavy defeat to
Brøndby. They strengthened their squad further with the additions of
Mathias Ross and
Imanol García de Albéniz. In the new league season, Sparta won their opener against Pardubice and advanced through the
UEFA Champions League qualifiers, defeating
Shamrock Rovers before facing
FCSB. After a dramatic 3–2 win over
FCSB, Sparta twice defeated
Malmö FF for a place in the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2005.
Historical names: • 1893 — Athletic Club Královské Vinohrady • 1894 — Athletic Club Sparta • 1948 — Athletic Club Sparta Bubeneč • 1949 — Sokol Bratrství Sparta • 1951 — Sparta ČKD Sokolovo • 1953 — TJ Spartak Praha Sokolovo • 1965 — TJ Sparta ČKD Praha • 1990 — TJ Sparta Praha • 1991 — AC Sparta Praha • 1993 — AC Sparta Praha fotbal, a.s. ==Club symbols==