Oldgreytravel was visiting Prague recently and spent a few days exploring the highlights of this fabulous city, surely the most beautiful capital city in Europe. Feeling the need to spread my wings and explore some less visited parts, I decided to take advantage of Prague’s excellent (and free for over 65’s) public transport system and head out to the suburb of Vysehrad. The former fortress and Cathedral would provide a pleasant, if not spectacular, diversion from the delights of central Prague.
It was while wandering the cemetery beside the Cathedral that oldgreytravel realized that this was where Prague’s great and famous were buried. The composer Smetana, Jan Kaplicky, architect and Jiri Menzel, film director all had conspicuous monuments with candles and flowers from family and appreciative admirers. However, one such well-tended memorial was a surprise to oldgreytravel – an obelisk and bust featuring a strong, proud figure, the neck enveloped in a red and white football scarf, a red and white football jersey on the plinth and several commemorative candles, Josef Bican. Who was this man?
On-line research revealed a fascinating life story. Born into poverty in Vienna in 1913, Bican had the classic football education of playing in bare feet with a ball made of rags. He was a prodigy, playing for Hertha from the age of 12 and signing for Rapid Vienna in 1931, making his debut at 17 and scoring three times in the first 28 minutes. In 1934, at the age of 20, he was selected for the Austrian World Cup squad, finally losing to the eventual winners Italy in the semi-final.
Bican was uncomfortable with the growing right-wing movement in Vienna. Sensing the way the tide was turning, he departed Austria a year before Hitler’s annexation of the country. He journeyed to Prague, sought Czech citizenship and signed for Slavia Prague where his goal scoring exploits blossomed and he became an instant celebrity surrounded by the rich and famous. At the 1938 World Cup, he refused to play for a “German” national team that included Austrians and only a suspicious “clerical error” prevented him from representing Czechoslavakia.
History would soon intervene, the Germans would occupy Czechoslovakia, world war would rage and international football ceased. Bican continued to play for Slavia during the war years and after the end of hostilities, foreign clubs, including Juventus, showed interest in signing him. For whatever reason, Bican decided to stay with Slavia only to suffer from the communist coup of 1948. The communists were not keen on Bican’s role as a popular national figure or, indeed, Slavia, who they considered middle class and a representative of bourgeois society. The club was stripped of its name, renamed Dynamo and for a time became associated with the secret police. Concerned for his family’s safety and well-being, Bican signed for more overtly working class clubs and continued scoring goals well into the 1950’s and eventual retirement.
Despite the turbulent events that punctuated his career, including missing three World Cups, Bican’s place in the football record books is secure. Where that place exactly is, is uncertain. What is certain is that he is in the top 6 goal scorers of all time. The difficulty in being precise is that there are different criteria for establishing goals scored – competitive matches, friendlies, exhibition matches and then even some doubt about the accuracy of records. One of the more convincing statistics is the number of goals scored in official competitive matches, which shows Bican third with 950 goals behind Ronaldo (994) and the German, Helmchen (989). In terms of goals in all games, Bican is second with 1813 goals, while with goals in top flight competitive matches he is sixth with 743 goals. Perhaps more significant is his goals per game record which stands at an astonishing 1.5 goals for his entire career, more than twice that of Ronaldo at O.72.
To be fair, statistics can be difficult to compare over different periods, tactics varied, ball and boot technology changed, pitches improved, but what is without doubt is that Josef Bican was an extraordinary goal scorer and one that oldgreytravel was completely unaware of until that stroll through the National Cemetery in Prague. Fortunately, he remains a hero to Slavia fans and the Czech people and they have the good grace to mark his grave with those most potent of football symbols, scarf and jersey.
