Milan Petržela

Milan Petržela (born 19 June 1983) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a winger for Czech First League club 1. FC Slovácko. He has played for the Czech Republic national team. With more than 480 appearances, he holds the record for the number of appearances in the Czech First League, which he is still increasing.^[1]

Milan Petržela

Personal information
Date of birth	(1983-06-19) 19 June 1983 (age 41)
Place of birth	Hoštice-Heroltice, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Winger
Team information
Current team	1. FC Slovácko
Number	11
Youth career
1988–1993	TJ Hoštice-Heroltice
1993–1995	Drnovice
1995–1996	SK Rostex Vyškov
1996–1999	Zeman Brno
1999–2001	Drnovice
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2003	Drnovice	5	(0)
2003–2006	Slovácko	70	(3)
2006–2007	Sparta Prague	1	(0)
2006–2007	→ Jablonec (loan)	24	(1)
2007–2012	Viktoria Plzeň	118	(22)
2012–2013	FC Augsburg	12	(0)
2013	FC Augsburg II	3	(0)
2013–2019	Viktoria Plzeň	147	(17)
2019–	Slovácko	149	(17)
International career
2003	Czech Republic U20	6	(0)
2004–2005	Czech Republic U21	14	(0)
2010–2016	Czech Republic	19	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 June 2024

Career

Petržela grew up in the South Moravian village Hoštice-Heroltice.^[2]

In August 2003 he moved to 1. FC Slovácko of the Czech First League. There he played 70 games in three years and in the summer of 2006 he was bought by Sparta Prague. They however loaned him out to FK Jablonec where he made 24 appearances. He subsequently signed with Viktoria Plzeň, where he won the Czech Cup in 2010 and the Czech First League in 2011.

After an unsuccessful season with FC Augsburg, Petržela returned to Viktoria Plzeň in June 2013.^[3]

After leaving Viktoria Plzeň, Petržela returned to Slovácko in the summer of 2019, where he complimented the young staff brilliantly with his experience.^[4]

On 18 May 2022, Petržela started for Slovácko in the 2021–22 Czech Cup final, defeating Sparta Prague 3–1.^[5] Thanks to winning the cup, Slovácko qualified for the preliminary round of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League, where they lost to Fenerbahçe, thus being relegated to the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League, where on the fourth preliminary round, Slovácko was able to beat Sweden's AIK twice, hence qualifying for the group stage of a UEFA competition for the first time in its history.^[6]

On 15 September 2022, Petržela scored in a 4–2 loss to 1. FC Köln in their second ECL group stage match,^[7] and in doing so, at the age of 39 years and 89 days, he became the oldest goalscorer in the short history of the Europa Conference League, as well as the second oldest goalscorer in any UEFA competition, only behind Joaquín, who scored in that same day in Europa League, aged 41 years and 56 days.^[8] Pepe has since overtaken him as well with a goal in the Champions League at the age of 40 years and 289 days.^[9]

On 6 November 2022, Petržela set a new Czech First League record with 465 appearances, when he surpassed Jaroslav Šilhavý with 464 appearances.^[10] In December 2023, the 40-year-old Petržela made his record-extending 500th start in the Czech First League.^[1]

Career statistics

As of 13 July 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1. FC Slovácko	2003–04	Czech First League	20	1	0	0	0	0			20	1
	2004–05	Czech First League	29	2	0	0	0	0			29	2
	2005–06[11]	Czech First League	21	0	0	0	0	0			21	0
	Total		70	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	70	3
FK Jablonec (loan)	2006–07[11]	Czech First League	24	1	0	0	0	0			24	1
Sparta Prague	2007–08[11]	Czech First League	1	0	0	0	0	0			1	0
Viktoria Plzeň	2007–08[11]	Czech First League	10	2	0	0	0	0			10	2
	2008–09[11]	Czech First League	26	5	0	0	0	0			26	5
	2009–10[11]	Czech First League	29	1	5	3	0	0			34	4
	2010–11[11]	Czech First League	26	7	4	0	2	0	1[a]	0	33	7
	2011–12[11]	Czech First League	27	7	2	0	14	1	0	0	43	8
	Total		118	22	11	3	16	1	1	0	146	26
FC Augsburg	2012–13[11]	Bundesliga	12	0	1	0	0	0	–		13	0
FC Augsburg II	2012–13[11]	Regionalliga Bayern	3	0	–		–		–		3	0
Viktoria Plzeň	2013–14[11]	Czech First League	26	6	7	0	16	2	1[a]	0	50	8
	2014–15[11]	Czech First League	27	3	4	0	2	0	1[a]	0	34	3
	2015–16[11]	Czech First League	27	3	6	0	9	2	1[a]	0	43	5
	2016–17[11]	Czech First League	23	2	1	0	9	0	–		33	2
	2017–18[11]	Czech First League	24	2	2	0	13	2	–		39	4
	2018–19[11][12]	Czech First League	20	1	2	0	6	0	2[b]	0	30	1
	Total		147	17	22	0	55	6	5	0	229	23
1. FC Slovácko	2019–20[11]	Czech First League	27	4	2	1	–		–		29	5
	2020–21[11]	Czech First League	33	5	1	0	–		–		34	5
	2021–22[11]	Czech First League	30	4	5	0	2	0	–		37	4
	2022–23[11]	Czech First League	30	3	2	0	9	2	–		41	5
	2023–24[11]	Czech First League	29	1	1	1	0	0	–		30	2
	Total		149	17	11	2	11	2	0	0	171	21
Career total			524	60	45	5	82	9	6	0	657	74

1. Appearance in Czech Supercup
2. Appearances in league play-offs

Honours

Viktoria Plzeň

• Czech First League: 2010–11
• Czech Cup: 2009–10
• Czech Republic Football Supercup: 2011

Slovácko

• Czech Cup: 2021–22

References

1. "Po pětistovce konec? Ne! Petržela chce 555 startů kvůli pětkám ve škole" [End after five hundred? No! Petržela wants 555 starts because of high fives at school]. www.eurofotbal.cz (in Czech). 16 December 2023. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
2. Faistová, Klára (24 April 2011). "Petrželův velikonoční plán: Seřezat Limberského a také Slavii" [Petržela's Easter plan: Cut down Limberský and also Slavia] (in Czech). MF DNES. Archived from the original on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
3. "Hotovo, Milan Petržela se vrací na tři roky do Plzně" [Done, Milan Petržela is returning to Plzeň for three years]. sport.aktualne.cz (in Czech). 26 June 2013. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
4. "Petržela se po odchodu z Plzně vrací do Slovácka" [Petržela returns to Slovácko after leaving Plzeň]. www.eurofotbal.cz (in Czech). 3 July 2019. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
5. "Slovácko - Sparta 3:1, finále rozhodli domácí za půli, závěr v nedůstojných kulisách" [Slovácko - Sparta 3:1, the home team decided the final after halftime, the end in an indecent setting]. www.idnes.cz (in Czech). 18 May 2022. Archived from the original on 12 May 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
6. "AIK Stockholm - Slovácko 0:1, poprvé v pohárové skupině, postup jistil Sinjavskij" [AIK Stockholm - Slovácko 0:1, for the first time in the cup group, progress was secured by Sinjavskij]. www.idnes.cz (in Czech). 25 August 2022. Archived from the original on 12 December 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
7. "History: Köln-Slovácko - UEFA Europa Conference League 2022/23". www.uefa.com. 15 September 2022. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
8. "Europa Conference League records and stats: Clubs, players, matches, goals, wins". www.uefa.com. 22 January 2024. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
9. "Pepe, the oldest scorer in Champions League history". www.besoccer.com. 7 November 2023. Archived from the original on 9 November 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
10. Folk, Čestmír (6 November 2022). "Rekordman Petržela už předstihl Šilhavého. A ve středu by rád pomstil na Spartě bývalé plzeňské parťáky" [The record holder Petržela has already overtaken Šilhavé. And on Wednesday, he would like to avenge his former teammates from Plzeň against Sparta] (in Czech). sport.cz. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
11. Milan Petržela at Soccerway
12. "Milan Petržela » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022.

External links

• Milan Petržela at Fortunaliga.cz
• Milan Petržela at FAČR (in Czech)
• Milan Petržela at Sparta Prague