Jan Košek

Emerging talent

Košek started his career and Union Letna where he played 4 games and scored 4 goals. He played against Slavia Prague in two of those matches, scoring in one of them.

On 22 February 1903, Košek made his debut as an 18-year-old, in the red and white colours of Slavia Prague, in a 9–1 win vs CAFC Vinohrady. Journalists praised him, fans raised eyebrows and his goals convinced everyone. On 1 April 1903, Slavia Prague acquired the pupil of the Academic Gymnasium Jan Košek and publicly admitted that the transfer took place (for the first time in our football history) for money. She paid the membership fees to the current SK Union club, paid for club membership in our club and gave the student "the necessary financial support". During this time, Košek was still studying at the academic gymnasium and had to hide from the school authorities in newspaper reports and in photographs. Košek's first known hat-trick for Slavia was against his former club, Union Letna. His first goal came in the 20th minute and his third came in the 40th. He scored one final goal in the 70th minute. During a game against First Vienna, Slavia scored 5 goals in the space of 13 minutes, Košek himself, scored 4 goals in 10 minutes. His most goals in one game, came against Berliner FV. He scored 10 goals in 15–0 victory, scoring 3 goals in the final 10 minutes of the game. In his first season with Slavia he scored 65 goals, in international friendlies and 91 goals overall, as a 19 year…

Jan Košek would regularly play for Bohemia and Moravia as well as the Prague national team. In 1903 he defended the colours of the national team of Prague in a game against Budapest, which Prague lost 2–1. Many of his games for Prague are not classified in his official statistics. The Bohemia and Moravia played several matches under the regulations of FIFA from 1906 to 1908. Košek took part in three of them and scored four goals. On 7 October 1906 Bohemia and Moravia drew 4–4 with Hungary and Košek scored a goal in the 88th minute to set the final score. Kosek 2, Baumruk scored 1 and Jan Jenny-Stary scored the other, however, other sources claim that Košek scored 2 and so did Jenny Stary. The next year they met again in a friendly, Bohemia and Moravia won 5–3 and Košek scored a hat-trick and Josef Bělka scored the other two. But again another source claims that Košek scored 4 and Josef only got one. In 1908, FIFA did not allow Bohemia and Moravia to take part in the 1908 London Olympics. In September and October 1909, the Bohemia and Moravia team went on a tour to England and France, playing 6 games against England FA, Eastern Counties, Lille, among others. Košek scored at least 11 goals, including a five-goal haul against Lille. In 1911, Košek helped the Bohemian team win the European Amateur Football Championship in Roubaix. On 25 May, on their way to the tournament, they played a warm-up match against a team from Brussels, in which Košek scored two goals in a 6–1 win.…

Košek was a very strong and fast athlete, clocking 100m in 11 seconds. He had such a powerful left-foot which allowed him to score many longshots. Due to his high speed, he always played on the final man on the attack and was able to spin away from the defender with ease. He would complete the attack from any position on the pitch. Wilhelm Cepurski, former Wisła Kraków player, once said about Jan: "Košek, yes, the leading forward of Slavia. I had the pleasure to tackle him in the match. The peasant was bulky, his legs like telegraph poles. Taking advantage of the fact that the ball was wet, heavy and slippery, he often hit from a distance, and our poor goalkeeper did not have the strength to stop such shots and the result 10–3 to Slavia Prague." In 1905, Košek played for Sparta in 2–3 loss to Ferencváros and despite being on the losing side, "performed at an outstanding class". When playing for Sparta, Košek represented Prague against Budapest, an author of Nemzeti Sport commented: "the Czechs' high scoring ability was only due to Kosek's magnificent play and the team's greater training." Another author, this time of Sport-Vílág stated: "The main strength of the Czech team lies within the attack, in which Sharp (Kosek), the continent's best player, plays. This time, however, Kosek did not play for himself, but for the team, and with the help of his talented forward teammates, he won the game for his team." Mr. Jenšík and Mr. Macků write in the Chronicle of Czech…

Jan Košek was born on 28 July 1884 in Turnov. His father was Jan Baptista Košek and his mother was Františka Košek, originally Peldová. They raised five children, and only Jan lived to adulthood. Jan had three sisters and a brother and the family owned two houses, numbers 31 and 40 on Hrustická street. He spent his childhood in Turnov, where he attended his local school. In the middle of 1895, his father came to the decision to move to Prague, where Jan went to study. The first match that was ever recorded, that Jan played in, was in 1900 for Letenský kroužek. The score ended 5–4 to Letenský kroužek and Košek scored 3 of the 5. For the first few years of his life in Prague, Košek played for Academic Gymnasium Prague, Letenský kroužek and Union Letná.