PRAGUE
Stadiums
The Toyota Arena, known by all as the Letna after the parkland in which it is set, is the home of Sparta Prague and the national team. The ground, a compact, 20,000-capacity all-seater, became a political hot potato last May when prime minister Jiri Paroubek made a pre-election pledge to build a 35,000-capacity national stadium on the site. Although the idea has since lost momentum, the FA is still looking for Sparta to vacate the ground by 2008.
The stadium lies just over the Vltava river, north of the city centre, on the Milady Horakove main road. The nearest metro station is Hradcanska, on green line A.
Tickets for Sparta games (60Kc-230Kc; £1.50-£5.50) go on sale two days in advance at the club’s customer centre (+420 296 111 400/zcentrum@sparta.cz), next to the stadium’s entrance 1. Office hours are 9am-noon and 1pm-5.30pm on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, until 7pm on Wednesday and until 4pm on Friday. On weekend matchdays, the office opens three hours before kick-off.
Sparta fans gather at the south end of the ground, the Milady Horakove end, which is accessible through entrance 1. Visiting supporters sit in the north end, via entrance 4. Neutrals are most comfortably positioned along the east side, via entrances 2 and 3. Souvenirs, including traditional Czech football horns, are sold at the club shop on the corner of Milady Horakove and U Sparty. Stadium tours (20Kc-30Kc; 50p-75p; in Czech only) take place on weekdays, 10am-noon, 1pm-4pm, except on matchdays and the day before European games.
While Slavia’s Eden ground in Vrsovice is being reconstructed they are playing at the Evzen Rozicky stadium, beside the massive Strahov stadium in the north-west of the city.
Second division leaders Viktoria Zizkov are based in the working-class district of Zizkov, a short tram ride south of Prague’s main railway station, Hlavni nadrazi. Bohemians, mid-table in the second division, play at the modest Dolicek stadium in Vrsovice, a short tram ride from either the IP Pavlova or Namesti Miru metro stations.
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