Jan Košek (28 July 1884 – 30 December 1927) was a Czech footballer who played as a striker. He scored 819 unofficial goals in 302 games for Slavia Prague and won three consecutive Charity Cups. Additionally he won a Silver Cup and the European Amateur Championship.
Early life 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.
Club career 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 old.
On 2 April 1904, SK Slavia defeated London's Civil Service FC 6–3. A day later then 3:2. Slavia Prague's line-up: Jan Hejda – Páclt, Ferdinand Veselý, Nový, Hrabě, Strádal, Jindřich Baumruk, Josef Benda, Jan Jenny-Starý, Jan Košek and Slava Vaněk. Karel Setzer-Bloomer played in the second match. Košek scored four goals, Josef Benda scored three and Hrabě and Jan Jenny-Starý scored one. By February 1904, an Austrian newspaper stated, "Košek has developed in such a way, in recent games, that he should probably counted amongst the best strikers on the continent", despite being only 20 years old. During this year, Kosek scored at least 64 goals for Slavia alone.
Transfer to Sparta In November 1904 he transferred to Sparta Prague and played a year there with fellow Slavia Prague teammates, Jindřich Baumruk and Rudolf Krummer. In the same year, both his parents and his sister died. His debut game, Kosek put 6 past SK Smichov in a 12–2 victory. On 25 December 1904, Sparta played against First Vienna and won 7–2. Košek scored 7 goals. The next day, a game against Wiener AC, which ended 3–3. Košek scored 3 goals and the referee was Hugo Meisl. During his time at Sparta Jan played more than 25 games and scored more than 75 goals.
Goalscoring talent shows In 1905 he returned to Slavia Prague and met his new coach Johnny Madden. The way Slavia Prague trained changed massively, it became more expertly done and more modern. At this point in his career for Slavia Prague, he scored 178 goals. Jan was highly coveted by Vienna Cricket and Football Club and by Rangers.
1906 was a great year for him and Slavia Prague. During this year, Slavia Prague played 48 matches and won 39 times, with a goals scored to goals conceded ratio of 340:62. He at least scored 148 goals for Slavia Prague this season in 43 games. On 24 March Slavia Prague played a match against Budapesti Postás SE, in which Jan scored 4 goals. Košek had an explosive, violent temperament, a character that had the same trait in play as inaction. It was during this match in Pest on the MAC field. One of the Hungarian players knocked down Vaňek brutally. When treating him, a group Hungarian players are standing about 20 meters from us, surrounding Vaňek. Košek, seeing his injured friend, takes a look at the player who attacked Vaňek. The ball lied about a meter from his feet. Indignantly, he kicks him into the group of Pest players. His hard shot finds the culprit, Fekete, who goes down and is carried off the pitch. Everyone is surprised, nowhere is there a voice of resistance, rather muttering over the certainty with which Košek hit the culprit. From the 17 March 1906 to 19 May 1906, Kosek played 13 games and scored a hat-trick in each one. He totalled 31 hat-tricks that year and 62 goals across those 13 games, at an average of 4.76. On 25 February 1906, Slavia Prague beat Germania Schwechater 16–0. Jan scored 6 goals, including one with his hand, but the referee did not see this and gave the goal. On 10 October he scored his 300th goal for Slavia Prague in a 7–2 win against BTC.
In 1907, Slavia Prague continued to play a vast number of international friendly matches. Most of these matches were played against teams from neighbouring countries. Also this year, Slavia Prague won their biggest ever derby in a 9–1 thumping of Sparta Prague. Košek scored twice in this match. Jan scored 77 goals in 31 games for Slavia Prague this season, second behind Josef Bělka with 109 in 38. On 10 November, Košek scored 6 goals in an 8–1 victory against , making this his 399th goal for Slavia in only 130 matches.
Charity Cup triumphs In 1908, Slavia Prague B won the Charity Cup, with Košek scoring more than 45 goals. Kosek scored 5 against SK Vinohrady on 23 February 1908. A game later, he replicated his feat and scored another 5 against SK Smichov. Košek could have made a move to Newcastle United after an offer was made.
In 1909, Slavia Prague only played a total of 40 matches, Jan scored 58 goals. In a game against , in May, the Narodni Listy journalist describes one of Košek's goals; "The goalkeeper flies towards him, they both collide with each other, but Košek, with a coolness reminiscent of similar masterful feats by Bloomer, he kicked the ball into the net."
In 1910 Slavia Prague played 21 matches and did not lose a single one. Jan picked up 135 goals. These matches were played against amateur teams from England. Slavia Prague managed to win a second Charity Cup. In the semi-final Slavia Prague beat Sparta Prague 5–1 and in the final Slavia Prague won 5–2 against CFK Smíchov Praha. In both of these games Košek scored a goal. During this season Košek played his 200th match for Slavia Prague, before this games he had scored 576 goals in 199 games. By October Košek had scored 600 goals in his career, scoring 2 in a 5–0 victory over Old Grammarians
1911 was one of the best years for Košek, as he scored over 102 goals. In a game against Aberdeen, the score was 2–2 and in the 82nd minute, Košek took the ball on the half turn and rifled it into the net from 30 meters. This goal was called, by many, the best of his 819. This year he also won an additional Charity Cup and at this point in his career, he totalled 700 goals for Slavia. In the sports section of a Narodni listy paper, the author wrote "Shall we see if Košek gets his 1000th goal", predicting that Košek will score 1000 goals in the future. He eventually achieved this feat, but unfortunately not for Slavia Prague. In addition, Košek was elected captain of Slavia Prague on 7 January.
Final years 1912 was another great year for Košek, he notched up 68 goals. For the third time in a row, Slavia Prague won the Charity Cup, in a 4–3 victory against FK Viktoria Žižkov. On 26 March 1912, the Slavia footballers won over the team of English students at the University of London 6–1. The day before, on 25 March, they won 5–0. In these matches, Košek scored 6 goals, Šroubek and Jaroslav Bohata after two goals, Široký scored one, this total is for both games together. In addition to the shooters, Romováček's goalkeepers were also on the field in both matches, and Pimmer caught the next day. Rudolf Krummer, Richard Veselý and Hajný played in the defence, Emmanuel Benda, Majzl, G. Macoun and Holý were in the middle and Medek the attacker. By the end of 1912, Kosek had scored 803 goals in 295 games for Slavia Prague.
1913 marked Jan Košek's final full year as a Slavia Prague player. On 29 March, he announced his retirement from football at the age of just 29. Contemporary reports noted his importance to SK Slavia, highlighting his individual runs and long-range shooting. After retiring from regular play, he joined the club's Old Boys side. Slavia's committee also expected him to remain involved with the club in an administrative capacity, citing his experience as a player.
1914 sparked a change of decision from Košek, as he agreed to play several games for Slavia Prague, due to lack of players. During this year he played a total of 6 games and scored 8 goals. In his final recorded game for Slavia's first-team, Kosek scored 2 goals and registered an assist, in a 7–0 victory over First Vienna.
International career 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. Upon announcing the squads to face each other, in the Bohemia–Brussels match, the author of Le Soir said this about Košek: "Jan Kosek, captain of Slavia, the most famous left-forward on the continent. He's played 250 matches for Slavia and scored more than 600 goals. He is the terror of goalkeepers". Two days later, on 27 May, Košek scored once to help Bohemia to a 4–1 win over France in the semifinals. In the final of the UIAFA European tournament, Košek scored a second-half equalizer in an eventual 2–1 win over England AFA (although French newspaper reports that Josef Bělka scored both Bohemian goals), thus contributing decisively in helping Bohemia win the title.
Style of play