Banik Ostrava - Bohemians 1905 (4-2)

Fortuna Liga
Mestsky Stadion Ostrava
August 10, 2019

Shortly after Colours of Ostrava, I was back in the city again. There were no games during the festival, so this time my goal was to go to a game. Even though everybody knows just about Banik Ostrava, there is another team in the city - MFK Vitkovice. It’s a team with a bit of history that had its share of mergers and bankruptcies.  MFK Vitkovice represents the eponymous district of the city and play the same municipal stadium. But certainly Banik is the main draw in Ostrava and beyond, so that’s why I was back specifically for Banik.

Ostrava has excellent connections with Krakow and you can choose more than just a Flixbus. Slightly over 2 hours and you’re there. This time, with no festival crowds, Ostrava felt even more sleepy and unloved. A lot of businesses in the main centre are either closed down or abandoned.  Even around lunchtime on Saturday there were hardly any people out.

The stadium is in the same industrial area of the city, where Colours Festival is held. I took a tram to reach the ground and marveled at the grey industrial massiveness outside.  A big indoor hockey arena is also very close to the stadium. It hosted 2 ice-hockey world championships in 2004 and 2015 and both time Canada won gold. The football stadium is also a track-and-field arena and has running tracks around the pitch. But contrary to what I thought, it’s not really a proper oval. The main stand is considerably different and was probably built and designed separately.

This time I had my backpack with a camera. It’s just a medium-sized bag but according to the steward it was too big. I asked if there were any storage lockers and he told me to talk to a security manager or whoever he was. That guy obviously did not want to deal with a foreigner so he just let me inside. I bought my ticket earlier that day from one of the tourist offices. Yes, Banik is one of the biggest draw of Ostrava. But the turnstile did not accept my ticket and there were quite of few of us like that. So then I had to wait in another line to get a paper bracelet in exchange for my ticket. Then, when I had that bracelet on, the steward at the turnstile just swiped his card and finally I was inside to take my seat and watch the game.

The stadium has the capacity of just 28000 but looks bigger. Also, I was very surprised that only over 8000 spectators were there on the day. It definitely looked more than that. The visiting fans occupied the stand to my right; on the other side of the pitch was the Banik ultras contingent.

Everyone remembers Milan Baros, particularly his exploits in Euro 2004. He is the real hero of Banik, and some even call him the “Ostravan Maradona”. He started his career at Banik and had a few spells with the club when he returned back from playing in various European clubs. In 2017 he returned for good. I hoped to see the now 37 legendary Czech striker but alas, he remained a substitute for the whole game. 

But turns out there was an even more special name in Banik squad. I was surprised to find out that Jan Lastuvka was a reserve keeper for the Ostravan team. Lastuvka is a well-known name in Ukrainian football. He was signed by Shakhtar but then barely played for them, even though he was really good. He was definitely better than the clown who replaced him and still plays for them. Then Lastuvka became a main-stay for Dnipro and had a lot a lot of memorable moments with the team. But it’s the off-the pitch activities that made his such a respected figure for me and many others. Jan Lastuvka was very active in helping the Ukranian army and volunteer forces to fight the russian invasion . Apparently, he donated considerably more than most of the other Ukrainian footballers. He is Czech, he was basically just a hired employee, but could not stay aside and eagerly gave away his hard-earned money for the sake of Ukraine. According to Roman Zozulya, nobody asked him to do it and Lastuvka kept bringing huge amounts of money long after everyone else stopped donating. We will always remember and respect him for that.

I also have to give a huge shout-out to all the Banik fans that made this game very memorable. You could clearly see that Ostravans are proud of their team and support it regardless of the outcome. Banik is famous for its hooligans, but even the regular folks in the stands were very passionate and engaged. The ultras section sang and chanted throughout the game. They had a few text banners and a magnificent pyro show.

The game was also far from boring. First, Bohemians scored but Banik equalized and then went ahead with a controversial goal. There was no VAR to check if the ball crossed the line, so the goal stood. But then it was Bohemains turn to equalize with a dubious penalty. But overall, Banik was a better side and overcame the opponents scoring 2 more goals.

After the game I bought a hot dog, which was just ok. I also got myself a metal magnet with Banik logo. It was definitely better than any other magnets of Ostrava and there were not many of them anyway.

I booked a train for my return trip to Krakow and the train station was occupied by the departing fans of Bohemians who were returning to Prague. Among them was a very elderly lady, dressed in green and white and with an old-school Bohemians beret on. A lot of policemen observed the safety of the visiting fans and there were no incidents. My trip back went smoothly and I was in Krakow around 11PM.