Pavel Vrba

Pavel Vrba (born 6 December 1963) is a Czech football manager and former player. He is known for applying an offensive football philosophy in the teams he coaches.

As a player, Vrba played for several clubs, including Baník Ostrava. As a coach, he led several Czech and Slovak clubs, including a Czech First League record of five seasons in charge of FC Viktoria Plzeň, whom he led to two league titles, one cup title, and three consecutive seasons of participation in the UEFA Europa League knockout stage – a record for any Czech club.

Managerial career

Early career Having been assistant to manager Erich Cviertna, Vrba took charge of FC Baník Ostrava for a short time towards the end of the 2002–03 Czech First League after Cviertna's departure. His first match in charge resulted in a 7–0 loss for Ostrava away to Slavia Prague.

He won the Slovak Superleague with MŠK Žilina in the 2006–07 season and led the team to second place the following season.

Viktoria Plzeň In 2010, he led Viktoria Plzeň to the victory in the Czech Cup for the first time in the club history. He was voted the Czech Coach of the Year for 2010. In the 2010–11 season of the Czech First League, he won the league with Viktoria Plzeň for the first time in the club history. Vrba was awarded the title "Czech Coach of the Year" for 2012, symbolising the third consecutive year he had won the award. He led Plzeň to a second league title in 2013. In October 2013 Vrba led Plzen for a 152nd consecutive top-flight match, setting a league record. Despite having a contract with Plzeň until June 2015, His last game in charge of the club was the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage tie against CSKA Moscow which Plzeň won 2–1 with a last-minute goal from Tomáš Wágner, thus earning them a place in the Europa League knockout stage. At the end of the match, the fans unfurled a banner reading "always remember that it wasn't wasted time".

Ludogorets Razgrad On 16 December 2019, Vrba became manager of Bulgarian Ludogorets Razgrad.

Sparta Prague On 3 February 2021, Vrba became manager of Sparta Prague.

Trinity Zlín On 28 November 2022, Vrba became manager of Trinity Zlín.

Líšeň On 18 December 2024, Vrba became manager of Líšeň. On 4 February 2025, Vrba was dismissed after only managing the club in five pre-season matches.

Honours

Managerial Žilina Slovak Super Liga: 2006–07 Slovak Super Cup: 2007

Viktoria Plzeň Czech First League: 2010–11, 2012–13, 2017–18 Czech Cup: 2009–10 Czech Supercup: 2011

Ludogorets Razgrad First Professional Football League (Bulgaria): 2019–20

Individual Czech Coach of the Year (8): 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018

Managerial statistics

TeamFromToRecord Baník Ostrava 3 May 2003 17 June 2003 Matador Púchov 18 June 2004 7 April 2006 Žilina 1 July 2006 24 September 2008 Viktoria Plzeň 8 October 2008 15 December 2013 Czech Republic 1 January 2014 30 June 2016 Anzhi Makhachkala 30 June 2016 30 December 2016 Viktoria Plzeň 1 July 2017 17 December 2019 Ludogorets Razgrad 18 December 2019 25 October 2020 Sparta Prague 3 February 2021 9 May 2022 Baník Ostrava 18 June 2022 10 October 2022 Zlín 28 November 2022 23 October 2023 Líšeň 18 December 2024 4 February 2025Career totals