On 16 November 1893 a group of young people in Prague, centred on three brothers, set up the club that would become the most successful in Czech football. Sparta Prague turns 133 years old on 16 November 2026. Its name has Greek roots, and its red shirt came straight from London.

The Rudl brothers and ancient Sparta

The core of the founding group were the brothers Václav, Bohumil and Rudolf Rudl. The club was first called AC Královské Vinohrady, after Prague's "Royal Vineyards" district. According to UEFA, it was founded by 26 footballers who had left AC Praha.

In 1894 came the name that stuck: Athletic Club Sparta. The founders wanted to honour the fighting spirit and courage of ancient Sparta, and so Central Europe gained a team with a Greek soul.

Born in black

The first kit had no red at all. The oldest surviving photo, from 1896, shows black shirts with a large white "S" on the chest. In the following years Sparta even borrowed striped shirts from other Prague teams, first red and black, then red and white.

In 1896 it played its first official match against Slavia and won 1-0, though the goal was later disallowed. So began the great rivalry between the capital's two clubs, the derby that still splits Prague in two.

The 1906 trip to London

The big change came in 1906. According to the club, Otakar Petřík, a founding member and committee official, watched Arsenal play in London and was won over. He bought red shirts and white shorts like Arsenal's and brought them to Prague, predicting they would become just as famous.

Since then Sparta has played in deep red, white shorts and black socks. The only major departure came in 2002-2007, when the shorts and socks turned red.

The change kits have their own stories too. In 1997-98 Sparta wore black and white stripes inspired by Juventus, and in 1969 it played Independiente in borrowed blue shirts of Nacional Montevideo. In 2021 the adidas three stripes returned to the red shirt after 27 years.

The new 2026-27 shirt honours 120 years of red. Dark stripes rise from the hem and turn red across the chest, under the slogan "Born in Black, Defined by Red".

"Iron Sparta" and the Mitropa Cup

In the early 1920s the team won title after title and earned the nickname "Železná Sparta", "Iron Sparta". From 1919 to 1923 it won five straight league titles, losing only one match in 59. In 1927 and 1935 it lifted the Mitropa Cup, the most prestigious club trophy in Europe at the time.

In 1991-92 it finished second in its European Cup group, a whisker away from the final. Today it counts 38 league titles, a record in Czech football.

Legends in the red shirt

Oldřich Nejedlý was top scorer at the 1934 World Cup with five goals. Belgian centre-forward Raymond Braine scored 300 goals in 281 matches, while defender Jaroslav Burgr captained the side for 13 years. Closer to our time, the academy produced Petr Čech and Tomáš Rosický, and Karel Poborský also wore the shirt.

Celebrate with us

133 years on, Sparta is still the team with the Greek name and the red of London. Happy birthday to "Iron Sparta" and its fans at Letná!

See our collectible jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Sparta's stadium at Letná, August 2020 – Interhofer, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.