Each year, the football team of FC Hradec Králové seem to raise the bar even higher. In 2023, they returned to their hometown with a brand-new stadium, filled it to the rafters on a regular basis and even welcomed the Czech national team, coming within a whisker of an unlikely European adventure. In 2024/25, they lifted their point-per-game average to 1.44, setting up the scene for only their second Top 4 placement since the shock title win in 1960. All along the way, FCHK’s marketing team has been opening new chapters as effortlessly as opening a pack of Bon Pari, effortlessly swapping the club’s 2025 First Republic-themed appeal to older generations for a fresher look in 2026, continuously adding more exciting layers to the brand. It’s as if the club simply cannot put a foot wrong.

‘Votroci’ are officially gunning for Europe. After coming within an inch in 2024 — to the shock of many — they now want to make it the norm. New ownership should be in place by the end of September, and they look set to doggedly hold onto all of their key players until then; furiously adding high-end, foreign battle-tested quality in Vladimír Darida, Mick van Buren or earlier Tomáš Petrášek to the misfit core built around Adam Zadražil, Daniel Horák and Filip Čihák. The city is celebrating 800 years since its first recorded mention; the club is turning 120 with a fancy new stadium still gleaming, fresh money coming their way, and the potential fifth UEFA spot very much up for grabs. If not now, then when?