FORTUNA:LEAGUE and FORTUNA:NATIONAL LEAGUE start their 30th anniversary season
FORTUNA:LEAGUE and FORTUNA:NATIONAL LEAGUE start their 30th anniversary season
Just like the previous one, the thirtieth season in the history of independent Czech football will be spiced up by the extension part. The FORTUNA:LEAGUE FINALS will determine not only the champion, but also the other participants of the European Cups. Czech football will continue to send four participants to UEFA competitions next year. "The journey of our cup representatives will certainly be difficult, but the summer course of the European Cup preliminary rounds will be very important not only for the participants themselves, but for the entire Czech professional club football. Participation in the group stage is important in terms of finances, the prestige of the whole league and the value of individual players on the transfer market. I would really like to see as many Czech clubs as possible making it into the basic groups and offering our fans an attractive fight on the European stage. Of course, it would be equally important for the Czech coefficient, especially since we know that reaching the important 15th place in the UEFA standings is within the power of our teams," wishes for the start of this year's cup and league season Dušan Svoboda, chairman of the LFA League Committee.
Important rankings for the 2022/23 season
- Winner of the F:L - Champions League Qualifying Stage 2023/24
- Winner of the MOL Cup - Conference Preliminary Round 2023/24
- Second and third (or fourth) teams in F:L - Conference League preliminary round 2023/24
- 14th and 15th F:L team - participation in the barrage against the third and second F:NL team respectively
- 16th F:L team - direct relegation to the F:NL
- Winner of F:NL - direct promotion to F:L
In addition to the anniversary, the upcoming season will feature an unusually long winter break, which will be filled by the World Championship in Qatar. "Even though our national team did not qualify for the championship, we have to follow the FIFA international calendar, which mandates the suspension of competitions for the duration of top tournaments throughout the developed football world. It means that the season of all the advanced European competitions will be affected anyway," commented Dušan Svoboda.
Season calendar 2022/23
- 29 July 2022 - start F:NL
- 30 July 2022 - start F:L
- 12-13 November 2022 - Round of 16 matches in both F:L and F:NL, the last autumn round
- 28-29 January 2023 - matches of the 17th round of F:L, the first spring round
- 5-6 March 2022 - matches of the 17th round of the F:NL, the first spring round
- 30 April 2023 - matches of the 30th round, the last F:L regular season round
- 6 to 28 May 2023 - matches of the post-legislative part of the FORTUNA:LEAGUE FINALS
- 27-28 May 2023 - matches of the last 30th round of F:NL
- 1 June 2023 - opening match of the barrage for promotion to F:L
- 4 June 2023 - return leg of the F:L barrage
The 2022/23 competition year will be the 30th anniversary season since the split of the Czechoslovak federation. Celebrations of the anniversary of Czech professional football will take place throughout the thirtieth season. The historic milestone of the 30th anniversary season will be commemorated by the League Football Association together with the clubs throughout the season.
"We deliberately don't want to direct the celebrations to one specific moment. On the contrary, the communication of the significant anniversary will extend throughout the season and we will bring a lot of interesting content and individual projects to the fans during the season. The big milestone is already the introduction of the unified ball. Today we are also launching the official fan shop where, among other things, the official PRVNÍ balls will be available for purchase. But that's definitely not all fans can look forward to yet," promised Daniel Hajný, sales and marketing director of LFA.
All FORTUNA:LEAGUE matches will be played for the first time from the start of the 2022/23 season with a uniform league ball from SELECT, which, in addition to the Czech Republic, also supplies balls to other advanced competitions in Germany, Portugal and Scandinavia. The ball bears the symbolic name PRVNÍ (FIRST) and is made in a unique design chosen only for the Czech top competition. The League Football Association has provided all clubs with both summer and winter versions of the balls.
Balls PRVNÍ will also play a major role in the League Football Association's Green Life Foundation project. Children from this project will have the opportunity to ceremoniously bring this unique artefact onto the field during the first league round. "One ball from each match of the first round of FORTUNA:LEAGUE will be donated by the League Football Association for a charity auction, the proceeds of which will go to our Green Life Foundation. The completely unique balls, which will be on Czech league pitches for the first time in a unified version, will be an extremely valuable relic for collectors and everyone who wants to contribute to a good cause." revealed Daniel Hajný. For several years, the Green Life League Football Association Foundation has been supporting children from socially disadvantaged families who are starting their football careers with one-time financial contributions. For detailed information and to find out how to get a financial donation, please visit www.zelenyzivot.org.
