Czech National Football League


The Czech National Football League, currently known as Fortuna národní liga due to sponsorship reasons, is the second level professional association football league in the Czech Republic. Before 2013 it was known as 2. liga or Druhá liga. The top two teams each season are eligible for promotion to the Czech First League.
The league replaced the I.ČNL, which had been established following the end of the nationwide Czechoslovak Second League in 1977. The league became known as simply II. liga in 1993 following the establishment of the Czech Republic as an independent state.

Structure

There are 16 clubs in the FNL. During the season, which runs from August to May or June, with a winter break between November and February or March, each club plays each of the other clubs twice and is awarded three points for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. From these points a league table is constructed.
Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference and then goals scored. At the end of each season the top two teams are promoted to the First League, providing they obtain a license and meet league requirements, and are replaced by the two teams that finished bottom of that division.
Similarly the two teams that finished at the bottom of the FNL are relegated to either the Bohemian Football League or the Moravian–Silesian Football League, based on geographical criteria. In turn, the champions of each of these regional divisions are promoted to the FNL.
In the 1993–94 season the league was played with 16 teams, before expanding to 18 teams in the 1994–95 season. Since 1995, the league has always been played with 16 teams, but on two occasions a team did not fulfil its fixtures and the full 30 rounds were not completed. Firstly in the 1997–98 Czech 2. Liga as Ústí nad Labem did not fulfil their fixtures and their results were cancelled, and secondly in the 2004–05 Czech 2. Liga as Bohemians' results were expunged after playing only the first half of the season.

Participating teams in 2018–19

The following 16 clubs were competing in the 2018–19 Czech National Football League.
ClubLocationStadiumCapacity2017–18 Position
Zbrojovka BrnoBrnoMěstský fotbalový stadion Srbská12,550'
Dynamo České BudějoviceČeské BudějoviceStřelecký ostrov12,000
ChrudimChrudimStadion Za Vodojemem1,500'
Hradec KrálovéHradec KrálovéVšesportovní stadion7,220
Vysočina JihlavaJihlavaStadion v Jiráskově ulici4,082'
PardubicePardubicePod Vinicí2,500
ProstějovProstějovStadion Za Místním nádražím3 500'
SokolovSokolovStadion FK Baník Sokolov5,000
TáborskoSezimovo ÚstíSportovní areál Soukeník5,000
TřinecTřinecStadion Rudolfa Labaje2,200
Ústí nad LabemÚstí nad LabemMěstský stadion 4,000
VarnsdorfVarnsdorfMěstský stadion v Kotlině5,000
VítkoviceOstravaMěstský stadion 15,123
VlašimVlašimStadion Kollárova ulice6,000
Viktoria ŽižkovPragueFK Viktoria Stadion5,037
ZnojmoZnojmoMěstský stadion5,000

FNL champions

Teams promoted to the First League since 1993

All information in this table can be found at except for the 2003–04 season, which is sourced from the following link.
SeasonTop scorerClubGoals
1993–94 Tibor MičinecBenešov18
1994–95 Bedřich HamsaLeRK Brno22
1995–96 Patrik HolomekPoštorná16
1996–97 Václav KoloušekDukla Prague18
1997–98 Vítězslav TumaKarviná19
1998–99 Patrik HolomekSt. Město18
1999–00 Vladimír MalárSt. Město24
2000–01 Pavel ČernýHradec Králové17
2001–02 Radek DrulákHFK Olomouc16
2002–03 Petr ŠvancaraOpava20
2003–04 Tomáš KaplanJihlava10
2003–04 Roman BednářMladá Boleslav10
2003–04 Vojtěch SchulmeisterSigma Olomouc B10
2004–05 Horst SieglMost16
2005–06 Petr FaldynaČeské Budějovice19
2006–07 Petr FaldynaJihlava15
2007–08 Petr FaldynaJihlava13
2008–09 Martin JiroušSokolov18
2009–10 Pavel ČernýHradec Králové14
2009–10 Dani ChigouDukla Prague14
2009–10 Karel KroupaTescoma Zlín14
2010–11 Dani ChigouDukla Prague19
2011–12 Jiří MlikaSokolov19
2012–13 Lukáš ŽelezníkZlín13
2013–14 David VaněčekHradec Králové17
2014–15 Václav VašíčekSigma Olomouc13
2015–16 Jan PázlerHradec Králové17
2016–17 Jakub PlšekSigma Olomouc18
2017–18 Jan PázlerHradec Králové21
2018–19 David LedeckýČeské Budějovice18