David Hovorka

David Hovorka
Hovorka (in left) in action with Slovan Liberec in 2016
Personal information
Date of birth (1993-08-07) 7 August 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth Kladno, Czech Republic
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
Kladno
2002–2012 Sparta Prague
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2015 Sparta Prague 0 (0)
2014 → Hradec Králové (loan) 7 (0)
2014–2015 → Viktoria Žižkov (loan) 29 (0)
2015–2017 Slovan Liberec 36 (3)
2017–2019 Sparta Prague 19 (1)
2018–2019 → Jablonec (loan) 15 (1)
2019 Jablonec 14 (0)
2019–2022 Slavia Prague 25 (0)
International career
2020 Czech Republic 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

David Hovorka (born 7 August 1993) is a retired professional Czech football defender. He played for four clubs in the Czech First League.

Club career

Hovorka spent most of his youth career in Sparta Prague, arriving from SK Kročehlavy in 2002 at nine years old.[1] He entered the first team squad in 2012, but failed to make a league appearance for the club.[citation needed]

Loan moves to Hradec Králové and Viktoria Žižkov

In January 2014, Hovorka moved to Czech National Football League team Hradec Králové on loan with an option to buy.[2] He made his professional league debut on 21 March 2013 in a 1–1 away draw against České Budějovice.[3] Hovorka appeared in only seven league matches, returning to Sparta at the end of the season.

In the 2014–15 season, he moved on another loan to fellow second-tier club, Viktoria Žižkov, for one year. He appeared in 29 league matches, scoring no goals.

Slovan Liberec

In summer 2015, Hovorka signed a three-year contract with the Czech First League side Liberec.[4] He made his First League debut for them on 27 July in a 4–2 home win against Mladá Boleslav.[5] He scored his first professional league goals on 11 May 2016 in a 4–3 home win against Zlín.[6] With Liberec, he played in the Europa League group stage in two consecutive years.

Prague clubs and retirement

On 2 February 2017, it was announced that despite being seriously injured at the time, Hovorka rejoined his former club Sparta Prague.[7] In 2018, he was sent on loan to Jablonec for one year.[8]

In summer 2019, Hovorka moved to cross-city rivals SK Slavia Prague and was a starter in the UEFA Champions League match against Inter. He retired from professional football on 31 March 2023 due to lingering injury, having played his last match in May 2022.[9]

International career

Despite not playing for any youth national teams, Hovorka was called up to the Czech senior squad in August 2017 to face Germany and Northern Ireland in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification.[10] He debuted on 7 October 2020 in a friendly match against Cyprus.[11]

Post-playing career

Since January 2024, Hovorka has worked as a mental health coach in the Sparta Prague youth academy.[12]

Career statistics

Club

As of 18 June 2022
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Hradec Králové (loan) 2013–14 Czech National Football League 7 0 0 0 — — 7 0
Viktoria Žižkov (loan) 2014–15 Czech National Football League 29 0 4 0 — — 33 0
Slovan Liberec 2015–16 Czech First League 25 2 5 0 8 0 — 38 2
2016–17 11 1 0 0 8 0 — 19 1
Total 36 3 5 0 16 0 — 57 3
Sparta Prague 2016–17 Czech First League 0 0 0 0 — — 0 0
2017–18 19 1 1 0 0 0 — 20 1
Total 19 1 0 0 0 0 — 20 1
Jablonec (loan) 2018–19 Czech First League 15 1 2 0 6 1 — 23 2
Jablonec 2018–19 Czech First League 14 0 — — — 14 0
Slavia Prague 2019–20 Czech First League 9 0 0 0 5 0 1 0 15 0
2020–21 8 0 1 1 4 0 — 13 1
2021–22 7 0 — — — 7 0
Total 24 0 1 1 9 0 1 0 35 1
Career total 144 5 13 1 31 1 1 0 189 7

Honours

SK Slavia Prague

References

  1. ^ Machek, Radomír (29 January 2014). "Gól hýžděmi? Šťastný střelec Hovorka chápe, že se na něj všichni ptají". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech).
  2. ^ "Do Hradce přichází Hovorka. Kulič a Rolko mají nové smlouvy". FotbalPortal.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  3. ^ "České Budějovice - FC Hradec Králové". EuroFotbal.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  4. ^ Váňa, Lukáš. "David Hovorka a Jan Sýkora přestupují do Slovanu". FC Slovan Liberec (in Czech). Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  5. ^ "Slovan Liberec - FK Mladá Boleslav 4:2". EuroFotbal.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  6. ^ "Slovan Liberec - Fastav Zlín 4:3". EuroFotbal.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  7. ^ "Sparta si bere z Liberce stopera Hovorku, využila předkupní právo". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). 2 February 2017.
  8. ^ "Hotovo! David Hovorka zůstává v Jablonci!". FK Jablonec (in Czech). 19 July 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  9. ^ "Hovorka se už na ligové trávníky nevrátí, obránce Slavie ukončil kariéru" (in Czech). Mladá fronta Dnes. 31 March 2023.
  10. ^ "Jarolím doplnil tým na Němce a Iry. Bere Lüftnera a Hovorku, vrací se Hušbauer". Blesk (in Czech). Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  11. ^ "Šilhavý je rád za výhru. Teď budeme mít konečně čas na fotbal, pochvaluje si". Deník (in Czech). 8 October 2020.
  12. ^ Lizec, Jiří (12 February 2024). "Hovorka nově pomáhá mladým sparťanům. Ve Slavii se to nepotkalo, vysvětlil". Sport.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 12 February 2024.