Fans of Komety Brno during the match with Třinec in Bratislava Source: TASR/Jaroslav Novák
BRNO – Over the course of seven decades, the Kometa Brno hockey club experienced both glorious and poor years.
In the 1950s and 1960s, he reigned under the names Červená hviezda or ZKL of the highest competition, adding three firsts in the European Champions Cup to 11 domestic titles. In the following decades, as Zetor, it was relegated several times, in the new millennium it even fell to the second league. In 2009, Kometa returned to the elite and subsequently extended the number of league triumphs by two more. Brno hockey players, who with 13 titles are the most successful Czech and Czechoslovak players. in total, on October 29 they will commemorate 70 years since the first match.
The club was founded in 1953 as a military sports unit under the administration of the Ministry of National Security in response to the achievements of military units under the Ministry of National Defence. The team was significantly strengthened and, after an agreement with the physical education authorities, was immediately included in the highest competition.
A glorious era
Already in its first season, Červená hviezda fought for the title, eventually finishing second behind Sparta Prague due to a worse score. During the next 12 seasons, Brno won 11 championship triumphs, its supremacy was interrupted only by Kladno in 1959. In the years 1966 to 1968, moreover, the club, which in the meantime came under the civilian physical education unit and changed its name to ZKL, did not find a conqueror even on the European scene in PM.
The elite attack of Vlastimil Bubník, Bronislav Danda and Slavomír Bartoň, who was later replaced by Václav Pantůček, largely contributed to Brno’s success. Goalkeeper Vladimír Nadrchal, defenders Rudolf Potsch and Jaroslav Jiřík and forward Josef Černý also belonged to the national team. Coach Vladimír Bouzek led the team to nine titles, Eduard Farda added the remaining two.
Fall and relegation to the second league
The gradual fall of the traditional hockey bastion, which has been performing under the name Zetor since 1977, culminated in 1980 with relegation. After the immediate return, the same thing happened several more times, after the division of Czechoslovakia, the club with the new name Kometa played in the top competition only in the 1995/96 season.
Seven years later, relegation to the second league followed, after the next season, Brno bought a license for the second highest competition from Žďár nad Sázavou, and in 2009, thanks to a similar transaction with Znojmo, they returned to the extra league after 13 years. In the meantime, former defender Libor Zábranský became the new majority owner of the club, who greatly contributed to its economic stabilization.
In 2017 and 2018, Zábranský also led his wards to two more titles after more than half a century as a coach. A bluish-white avalanche then drove the Moravian metropolis crazy and the hall there burst at the seams. This is also why the construction of a new multifunctional hall with a capacity of 13,000 spectators began this year.
Author: © List Source: CTK
2023-10-29 04:50:42
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