I’ve been lucky all my life
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Ján Geleta was born on 13 September 1943 in Malé Chlievany, a village near the Slovak town of Bánovce nad Bebravou, as one of six children in the blacksmith family. After elementary school in Partizánske (former Baťovany) he learned to wear rubber boots, where he also started playing football for junior team Iskra Partizánske. He joined the military service in 1962 in Dukla, Prague, where he quickly worked his way up among the famous teammates and took over the position of midfielder after the legendary footballer, Josef Masopust. He stayed in Dukla until 1976, winning three Czechoslovak championships and three national cups with the club, and in 1967 he was named the player of the year. He represented Czechoslovakia in a number of international matches, and his team brought a silver medal from the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. After leaving Dukla in 1976 he worked as an army recruiter. After 1989 he ran a grocery store in Prague. He currently lives with his wife at a cottage in Křivsoudov and is training a football youth there.
