Jiří Liška

“[Q: What was your relation to the Czechoslovak Republic, seeing that your Dad was hit hard by the regime, and you had difficulties studying? How did you feel about that as a sportsman, when you represented that same country with its colours on your kit?] I said that I’d never emigrate. It’s my homeland, I was born here. I think that we certainly played for our country, regardless of what it was like. We didn’t quite like it that people looked down at us when we journeyed abroad. The Iron Curtain made a difference - even now there are some distinctions between eastern and western Germany. But I loved the Czechoslovak Republic.”

“[Q: Are you saying that Dukla was sponsored by a Western company in the 1970s?] No one produced the appropriate kits over here. Back then, the kits in Czechoslovakia were made in such a way that the dark red lining of Dukla’s V bled dye and left marks on our bellies. We played in them only once, and it was such an embarrassment that they then signed a deal with Adidas to supply us with our things. There was Botas in Czechoslovakia, and I don’t even know who made the playing kits. Equipment was a big problem.”