Josef Csaplár

Josef Csaplár
Personal information
Date of birth	29 October 1962 (age 62)
Place of birth	Ostrov nad Ohří, Czechoslovakia
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Arsenal Česká Lípa (sporting director)
Youth career
1973–1979	Spartak Příbram
Senior career*
Years	Team
1979–1985	UD Příbram
1985–1986	Sklo Union Teplice
1986–1987	VTJ Tábor
1987	VTJ Karlovy Vary
1987–1988	Sklo Union Teplice
1988–1989	SK Rakovník
1989–1992	UD Příbram
1992–1996	TSV Waldkirchen
Managerial career
1989–1996	UD Příbram (youth)
1996–1998	Dukla Příbram/FC Dukla B
1998	Dukla Příbram
2000–2001	Marila Příbram
2001–2003	Slovan Liberec
2004–2005	Slavia Prague
2005	Panionios
2005–2007	Wisła Płock
2008	Viktoria Žižkov
2009–2010	Wisła Kraków (scout)[citation needed]
2010–2012	Czech Republic U17
2012–2013	Czech Republic U19
2014–2015	Slovan Liberec
2015–2017	Al-Ittihad Kalba
2017–2019	Příbram
2019	Fastav Zlín
2024–	Arsenal Česká Lípa (sporting director)
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Josef Csaplár (born 29 October 1962) is a Czech professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the head coach of FC Fastav Zlín.

Playing career

Born in Ostrov nad Ohří, Csaplár began playing football at the age of 12 at Spartak Příbram.

In 1979 he moved to UD Příbram, joining the first team straight away. In the 1985/86 season he played for Sklo Union Teplice, then completed his military service in VTJ Tábor and VTJ Karlovy Vary. Following that, he returned back to Teplice, staying there for another season, after which he moved to SK Rakovník. He finished his career at German lower-league club TSV Waldkirchen.

Managerial career

During his playing days, Csaplár already worked as a youth coach at UD Příbram. In 1996, he took over the club's B-team. In 1998, he was made head coach of the first team in the Czech First League, but was dismissed in November after amassing only six points from his twelve games in charge. He stayed at the club as an assistant manager.

In 2001, he managed Slovan Liberec together with Ladislav Škorpil, with the joint managers leading Liberec to the league title. In the 2003–04 winter break, he moved to manage Slavia Prague. Third in the table at the time of his appointment, Slavia finished the season in fourth place. Csaplár was eventually sacked in April 2005, leaving the team in a disappointing fourth place again.

For the 2005–06 season, Csaplár signed a two-year contract with Panionios, but was dismissed after only three months. His next club was Wisła Płock in the Polish Ekstraklasa, where he won the 2005–06 Polish Cup, the club's biggest achievement to date.

In 2008, Csaplár worked with Everton as a scout.^[1]

In September 2008, he became the manager of Czech first division side Viktoria Žižkov, replacing Stanislav Griga, but in November he was sacked after just 55 days in the job, with the club at the bottom of the league table.^[2]

In 2011, he was head coach of the Czech Republic U17 team, which qualified for the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup for the first time in its history.

In December 2014, after six years, Csaplár returned to Czech first division scene, when he was together with Jiří Kotrba appointed as a coach of Slovan Liberec.^[3] After only three games, in which the club lost three times with a total score of 2–8, were both coaches dismissed from their positions.^[4]

Outside of his coaching career Csaplár works as a television commentator and expert. He has popularized terms such as "Csaplár's trap", "festival of easy losses" or "heavy poor quality" in the Czech football community.^[5]