Josef Černý

“When young boys start playing ice-hockey today, they ask for ice clear as a mirror. But it was our advantage that on a pond there were trees, leaves and stuff like this. You skated and kept running into things. This taught you to keep balance. I didn’t fall. Even when I ran into something, I was caught off balance but didn’t fall. This was a huge benefit for me into future, because whenever I stumbled on someone else’s stick or when someone wanted to trip me up, I could cope. I didn’t mind. I was used to it from my youth. The pond taught me to skate excellently.”

“No one cared what we ate, that was quite out of the question. This was the business of each of the players. Our duty was to perform well and train properly. We had good conditions. But what we ate or didn’t eat? We drove to Prague to play against Sparta. And we were given CZK 100. Get something to eat. But no one cared what we ate. CZK 100 was enough for a good meal, it was not little. You could have a schnitzel with potatoes, a salad, a soup and paid CZK 40. For CZK 50 you could eat really a lot, if you wanted. Some ate, some not, depending on what they were used to. Today, it’s completely different, you cannot really compare it.”