Josef Vojta

“On July 31st 1945, Germans were being massacred in Ústí nad Labem. Did you already live there? Do you have recollections of that?” - “I met some Germans who were still there, but we came right after the war, so they would give us this family house from which Germans were expelled. But we had good experience with the Germans, we were friendly with them. We got on well together.” - “What was the language most commonly spoken there after the war?” - “I began to play at the age of ten, and in my team, they spoke mostly German.” - “So the German element still prevailed after the war and in the following years?” - “Yes.”

“We spoke about your great success at the Tokyo Olympics Games under coach Vytlačil. This tournament has been the greatest moment of your career. What are your recollections of the Tokyo Olympics?” - “I would rather tell you what I didn´t like. We won the silver medal, as we played the final against Hungary. And I have these bad recollections, as we would win the silver medal, yet we weren´t allowed to attend the final ceremony and we had to fly home immediately. But our plane would break down in Cambodia and we were stuck there for a week waiting for another flight.” - “What did you do there? How you were being treated?” - “I would say we were treated badly. We stayed at the hotel, but we weren´t allowed to go to a cinema or for a walk... We stayed there for a week doing nothing and then we would fly home. And on top of that we had to pay for our Olympics dress which I refused, as they wouldn´t give us any money, and Sparta had to pay for me.” - “So in the end, you were supposed to pay for your silver medal...”

“How was it like with your employment status? As officially there were no professional athletes in the country, yet you were paid so you could reach the top level. Did you have some kind of a civilian work contract while at Sparta?” - “When I came to Sparta I was employed at ČKD Sokolovo. At the beginning we were working, then Ježek, our coach, decided that there would also be a morning training. But initially, we used to train since 2pm, so we had to be at work till noon and after that we would go training.” - “So after that, you didn´t go to work?” - “No, we didn´t.”

“In 1956, you were twenty-one and you started your military service. Where did you serve?” - “At first, I was in Kovářská near Karlovy Vary, spending over a month there, then I moved to Red Star (Červená hviezda Bratislava with Ján Popluhár. After that, I had been transferred to Red Star (Rudá Hvězda) Brno, where we were still playing the second league, which we won and made it to the first league.” - “There were some quite famous players in Bratislava, as it was a big football club, a club run by the Ministry of the Interior, just as Red Star (Rudá Hvězda) Brno. How would they accept you, as a newcomer?” - “I was very happy. As Laco Kačány had been playing there, as well as Matlák, Blažík or Gajdoš. It was perfect. We had been living at the Ministry of the Interior in Bratislava.”

“Did you attend some kind of political training? As it was the year of 1956, after Khrushchev denounced Stalinism and there was this political thaw...” - “It didn´t affect us at all. I had such a nice time during my military service, I have such good memories of it. As we were living at the Ministry of the Interior, and with Red Star (Rudá Hvězda) Brno it was the same. I have been in Bratislava for maybe half a year, then I spent most of the time in Red Star (Rudá Hvězda) Brno.”