JUDr. Ján Švehlík

* 1950

  • I received the pass, processed it and shot. It was already a goal chance, only the goalkeeper, whose name was Mayer, blocked it. Once again the pass came back to me and then the goal was open, so I shot it there. So such an easy goal. I scored much better goals. But he was very important and laid the foundation for our success. Even though we then led 2:0, Karol Dobiáš scored the goal. Then the Germans reduced the score to 2:1. We held it until the last moments of the match. Then there was a corner kick and we made it 2:2 with a header. At that time, I was already on the bench, because world-class player Beckenbauer was playing there. He had a cleaner - stopper Schwarzenberg in front of him. He broke my lip with his elbow during some fight and it bled, my head hurt. I was replaced by Laco Jurkemik from Inter in about the 80th minute. We were already looking at our watches that we were the champions and they equalized. Typical Germans, they don't give up, they played until the last seconds. The extension did not bring anything. Then penalties. Our team kicked fantastically. And then the world-famous Panenka penalty. Such an easy kick to the center of the goal, where the goalkeeper is expected to risk a corner. That's what happened. And we were the Champions of Europe. Huge joy. Something incredible.

  • In Spain, for example, there were traditional tournaments where there were four teams. They took us as a sparring partner and in the end we won those tournaments and brought home the meter cups. Confrontation with high-quality teams then also helped Slovan in that for many years he actually ruled the Czechoslovak league, in which there were also high-quality teams from Prague - Sparta, Slávia, Dukla, Bohemians, Ostrava, Trnava, Košice. We had an international confrontation and thus we were one step ahead of the other teams. Then it helped us on an international scale as well.

  • The Czechs, I don't want to say that they were offended, but they thought that more of their players should be in the nomination. This was also reflected in the nomination for the European Championship. When we get to the finals, there were eight Slovaks and three Czechs. They had to accept it. In the period when this happened - the final of the European Championship (1976) and the entire promotion process, Slovan was the best team in Czechoslovakia. So it was logical that there were the most players from there. Then there was Karol Dobiáš and Jozef Móder. The Czechs took it hard. In the end, they recognized that the nomination was correct, as success was achieved. But there was always competition and friction as to why there are so many Slovaks in the nomination. That always came up. Head coach Václav Ježek explained it many times in the newspapers and they had to accept it. Although with a heavy heart.

  • I had permission from the union in the summer of 1982 to go to Belgium. I completed all the papers and still needed one paper. At that time, we were covered by the Slovan Physical Education Unit, which was in charge of various sports - football, hockey, tennis, basketball and so on. I needed a paper from them that they agree with me going abroad. Time ran and the paper did not and could not be received from them. I was a little disappointed that I had done something for the club in twelve years. I didn't know what the problem was. Then an official whispered to me that the football chairman wanted me to bring a replacement for myself and it would be arranged. I'm quite understanding. I should have brought a player that I would pay out. So it happened, and suddenly the paper was on the table. That shocked me a lot at the time, because I thought I had done enough for Slovan.

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    Bratislava , 28.04.2022

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I was fascinated by scoring goals

football representative of Czechoslovakia and Slovan Bratislava player
football representative of Czechoslovakia and Slovan Bratislava player
zdroj: Witnesses archive

Ján Švehlík was born in 1950 in Lovča. He started playing football as a pupil in Lovča. He played his first matches for Žiar nad Hronom. He graduated from the Connected Industrial School of Connection Technology in Banská Bystrica. He used to commute to Žiar for football. He studied law at the University of Bratislava. In 1969, he played in ŠK Slovan, as a striker, in 1969. First in the B team and then he transferred to the A team, where he won three titles of the Champions of the Czechoslovak Republic. He added the fourth title during his military service in Dukla Prague. He played 296 matches in the top flight and scored 79 goals. He already represented Czechoslovakia in the junior categories, in 1972 he contributed to winning the title of European Champions in the under-23 selection. Between 1974 and 1979, he played in the Czechoslovak national team. In 1976 in Belgrade, he won the title of European Champion with the team. At the end of his career, he played in the Belgian second division club KSC Hasselt and in lower Austrian competitions. After finishing his playing career, he worked in Slovan in various capacities - as assistant coach, head coach and sports director of the club. Today he is the manager of the SK Slovan team.