Following Tomas Souček’s birthday goal against Leicester, I wanted to look at each Czech to have played for West Ham's first XI.
There have been only nine players from the Czech Republic /Czechoslovakia to have played in the claret and blue. Despite this, the Czech contingency is nothing short of iconic.To start off with, let’s get the players who didn’t make much impact out of the way. Jan Lastuvka, Marek Stech and Pavel Srnivic made a combined seven appearances for the Hammers and were all goalkeepers.
Petr Mikolanda was a striker who failed to make a single appearance in his year at the club in the 2005/06 season also. Finally, Alex Král (a name that most will remember) made only six appearances for us on loan from Spartak Moscow, during David Moyes’ first Europa League season.
The next Czech in the appearance list is Radoslav Kováč – jumping from Kral’s six appearances to 62 for the defender. Kováč spent the first half of 2009 on loan to West Ham, playing 10 games in all competitions and scoring once against Everton in the league.
He then signed permanently, where he made a further 52 appearances. In the 2011/12 season, he was sold to Basel. As a younger West Ham fan, I didn’t know of the Czech before researching, unlike the rest of the players – perhaps an indicator of his impact?
With over 100 appearances more than Radoslav, the next man is Vladimír Coufal, with 173. The right back has been ever-present during his time at the club, signing for the cheap fee of £5.4m – supposedly recommended by former teammate Souček.
Although he may not be utilised as much as he once was, Coufal was a work horse of a full back. In his first season (the 2020/21 season), he notched up seven assists in the league as he and Aaron Cresswell created the most assists of any Premier League full-back duo that season.
It was also that year that he finished second in the Hammer of the Year vote, showing the fans admiration for Coufal. With the expiry of his contract at the end of this season, it might be a farewell for Vlad come next season.
Tomáš Řepka comes in next, with 185 appearances. A fan favourite during his five years, Řepka was an aggressive defender – getting sent off four times while at West Ham, but 20 times in his entire career. Although, two of his red cards for the Hammers came in his first three games – including his debut.
Signing from Fiorentina for a club record fee, he helped us finish in the top ten places during his first year. The following year saw a relegation, but Tomáš remained loyal to the club – playing two seasons in the Championship until we were back in the Premier League.
In the January window of the 2005/06 season, a tearful Řepka ended his West Ham career with a win against Fulham, as the fans chanted his name, and he returned to the Czech Republic for family reasons.
Just 13 appearances shy off the top spot is Souček, with 235. An energetic box-to-box type midfielder, he has cemented himself as an icon of the 2020s for West Ham. He spent the first half of 2020 on loan, playing 13 and scoring three times. He then joined permanently in the summer window and has been a permanent fixture ever since.
In his first permanent season, he was named Hammer of the Year – grabbing 10 goals from DM and was our joint top goalscorer for the season. He has consistently been a goalscoring threat each season, managing 38 goals in all competitions for West Ham.
As he enters his thirties, it is hard to imagine a West Ham side without the presence of Souček, as he continues to play week in week out for Potter.
Lastly, the most iconic Czech player is without a doubt Luděk Mikloško. A name I heard so much as a kid at the Boleyn, the Czech goalkeeper played 248 times for the Irons.
Taking over from another great goalkeeper, Phil Parkes, Luděk became the first-choice keeper in the 1989/90 season. The following season, he played every single league match – helping us get promoted to the First Division and make the semi-finals of the FA Cup. For his performances, he was named Hammer of the Year.
He also helped deny Manchester United the league in the 1994-95 season, when on the last day, he put in a Man of the Match performance against the Red Devils to secure a 1-1 and give Blackburn the title.
Ludo left in 1998, retiring just three years later – but returned to West Ham as a goalkeeping coach until 2010. The mutual love between the club and player is evident, given the fact we still sing his name every matchday.
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