The Knowledge | The Scot who played for Spurs - and became Slavia Prague's first manager

The first-ever SK Slavia Prague manager was a Scotsman who had a brief spell with us towards the end of his playing career - John Madden.

Scotland to Spurs to Slavia

John Madden played for Dumbarton Albion, Dumbarton Hibernian and Gainsborough Trinity prior to being invited to play in Celtic’s first-ever match in May, 1888. He won three titles at Celtic, plus the Scottish Cup, scoring 49 goals in 118 appearances. A brief spell at Dundee preceded his arrival at Tottenham during December, 1897 and he went on to play eight times for us at the end of 1897/88, twice in the Southern League. Madden’s Slavia Prague connection is believed to have come about when he accompanied Celtic on their tour to Prague during May, 1904. He was offered the job as manager and took up the post with effect from 15 February, 1905. Under Madden, Slavia won the local cup competition four times in five years between 1908-1912 and the Czechoslovakian league championship in 1925, 1929 and 1930. Madden retired during June, 1930 and, having married a local lady, remained in the city until his passing on April 17, 1948.

1905 | Tour of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

Our first meeting with SK Slavia Prague was in May, 1905, part of a seven-match tour of the Austro-Hungarian empire – our first ever overseas tour. It was another century before we faced them again in European competition - then we played them four times in 18 months! Back in 1905, we played three games in Vienna and two in Budapest before arriving for two matches in Prague. We played Slavia at their stadium in the Letna area of Prague, close to the present home of city rivals Sparta. Level at 1-1 at half-time, we added seven without reply in the second half - ‘Ginger’ Walton, John Cameron and Walter Bull netted two apiece with Alex Glen and Charlie O’Hagan also on the scoresheet.

2006 | Back in Europe - back in Prague

After a seven-year absence - we played in the UEFA Cup in 1999/2000 - we were back in Europe after finishing fifth in the Premier League under Martin Jol in 2005/06. First up in the first round of the 2006/07 UEFA Cup - Slavia Prague. We travelled to the Czech Republic for the first leg on 14 September, 2006, returning with a 1-0 win, Jermaine Jenas on target. We repeated the scoreline at home for a 2-0 aggregate win, Robbie Keane on target at the Lane. We progressed to the fifth round where we were beaten over two legs by Sevilla. Since 2005/06, we've played in Europe in 18 of 20 seasons - a stark contrast to the previous 20 season, where we played in Europe just twice - 1991/92 and 1999/00.

2008 | O'Hara sees us home

We were soon renewing acquaintances with Slavia Prague as we drew them again in the third round of the UEFA Cup in 2008. We won the away leg 2-1 with Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov on target and were in control at 3-1 on aggregate when Jamie O'Hara opened the scoring in the second leg at the Lane. However, the visitors hit back and it needed a late save from Paul Robinson to keep us in front. As we reported at the time - Jamie's goal extended a run of firsts for the midfielder - debut, first start, first home game, first call into the England U21 squad, first game in Europe, first goal. We went out on penalties to PSV in the fourth round - future Spur Heurelho Gomes providing the heroics in goal for PSV.