# 2023–24 Czech First League

The 2023–24 Czech First League, known as the Fortuna liga for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st season of the Czech Republic's top-tier football for professional clubs since its establishment, in 1993. Sparta Prague were the reigning champions. The season was scheduled to start in July 2023. The first half of the season had 19 rounds, finishing in December, and the other half commenced in February 2024. The season ended on 31 May 2024 with two extra play-out fixtures on 29 May and 2 June 2024.
In the 12th round, the highest number of goals in one game in the history of the Czech First League was seen in the match Zlín–Mladá Boleslav, which ended 5–9.

## Format

The season format remained unchanged from last season, each team played in the league format home and away matches. The lowest-ranked team was relegated directly to the second league, and the two teams positioned 14th and 15th played a play-off with two teams from the second league positioned 2nd and 3rd in a home and away format. This was be the sixth season to use VAR, featuring it in all matches played. The only change in the rules was the limited number of players that could be sent on loan.

## Teams
### Promotion and relegation (pre-season)

A total of sixteen teams contested the league, including thirteen sides from the 2022–23 season, the winner of last season's second league, and two winners of the play-out, determined on 4 June.

#### Team promoted to Czech First League

After being relegated in the 2021–22 season, MFK Karviná returned to Czech First League as the champion of the 2022–23 Czech National Football League.

#### Teams relegated from Czech First League

The lowest positioned team from the last season, Zbrojovka Brno, was relegated to the Czech National Football League.

### Locations and stadiums

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Bohemians 1905 | Prague | Ďolíček | 6,300 |
| SK Dynamo České Budějovice | České Budějovice | Stadion Střelecký ostrov | 6,681 |
| FC Hradec Králové | Hradec Králové | Malšovická aréna | 9,300 |
| FK Jablonec | Jablonec nad Nisou | Stadion Střelnice | 6,108 |
| MFK Karviná | Karviná | Městský stadion (Karviná) | 4,833 |
| FC Slovan Liberec | Liberec | Stadion u Nisy | 9,900 |
| FK Mladá Boleslav | Mladá Boleslav | Lokotrans Aréna | 5,000 |
| SK Sigma Olomouc | Olomouc | Andrův stadion | 12,474 |
| FC Baník Ostrava | Ostrava | Městský stadion (Ostrava) | 15,123 |
| FK Pardubice | Pardubice | CFIG Arena | 4,620 |
| FC Viktoria Plzeň | Plzeň | Doosan Arena | 11,700 |
| SK Slavia Prague | Prague | Fortuna Arena | 19,370 |
| 1. FC Slovácko | Uherské Hradiště | Městský fotbalový stadion Miroslava Valenty | 8,000 |
| AC Sparta Prague | Prague | epet ARENA | 18,944 |
| FK Teplice | Teplice | Na Stínadlech | 18,221 |
| FC Zlín | Zlín | Letná Stadion | 5,898 |
| Rank | Region | Number of teams | Club(s) |
| 1 | Prague | 3 | Bohemians 1905, Sparta Prague, Slavia Prague |
| 2 | Liberec | 2 | Jablonec, Slovan Liberec |
| 2 | Moravian-Silesian | 2 | Baník Ostrava, Karviná |
| 2 | Zlín | 2 | Zlín, Slovácko |
| 5 | Central Bohemian | 1 | Mladá Boleslav |
| 5 | Hradec Králové | 1 | Hradec Králové |
| 5 | Olomouc | 1 | Sigma Olomouc |
| 5 | Pardubice | 1 | Pardubice |
| 5 | Plzeň | 1 | Viktoria Plzeň |
| 5 | South Bohemian | 1 | Dynamo České Budějovice |
| 5 | Ústí nad Labem | 1 | Teplice |

## Managerial changes

Ahead of the season:
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Contract valid until |
| Hradec Králové | Miroslav Koubek | End of contract | 30 June 2023 | Jozef Weber | 10 May 2023 | Undisclosed |
| Viktoria Plzeň | Michal Bílek | End of contract | 30 June 2023 | Miroslav Koubek | 5 June 2023 | June 2024 |
| Jablonec | David Horejš | Sacked | 29 May 2023 | Radoslav Látal | 30 June 2023 | Undisclosed |
| Mladá Boleslav | Pavel Hoftych | Mutual consent | 26 May 2023 | Marek Kulič | 26 May 2023 | Undisclosed |
During the season:
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Match-week | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Contract valid until |
| Hradec Králové | Jozef Weber | Sacked | 18 September 2023 | 8 | 11th | Václav Kotal | 18 September 2023 | Undisclosed |
| Karviná | Tomáš Hejdušek | Sacked | 18 September 2023 | 8 | 15th | Juraj Jarábek | 27 September 2023 | Undisclosed |
| Zlín | Pavel Vrba | Sacked | 23 October 2023 | 12 | 16th | Bronislav Červenka | 25 October 2023 | Undisclosed |
| České Budějovice | Marek Nikl | Sacked | 23 October 2023 | 15 | 16th | None | None | None |
| České Budějovice | Tomáš Zápotočný | Mutual consent | 13 December 2023 | 18 | 16th | Jiří Lerch | 13 December 2023 | Undisclosed |
| Mladá Boleslav | Marek Kulič | Sacked | 30 December 2023 | 19 | 7th | David Holoubek | 2 January 2024 | June 2028 |
| Sigma Olomouc | Václav Jílek | Sacked | 26 February 2024 | 22 | 8th | Jiří Saňák | 26 February 2024 | Undisclosed |
| Hradec Králové | Václav Kotal | Mutual consent | 28 February 2024 | 22 | 12th | David Horejš | 28 February 2024 | Undisclosed |
| Karviná | Juraj Jarábek | Sacked | 12 March 2024 | 25 | 16th | Marek Bielan | 12 March 2024 | June 2024 |

## Regular season
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Sparta Prague | 30 | 24 | 4 | 2 | 70 | 26 | +44 | 76 | Qualification for the Championship group |
| 2 | Slavia Prague | 30 | 22 | 6 | 2 | 62 | 23 | +39 | 72 | Qualification for the Championship group |
| 3 | Viktoria Plzeň | 30 | 19 | 5 | 6 | 67 | 33 | +34 | 62 | Qualification for the Championship group |
| 4 | Baník Ostrava | 30 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 48 | 39 | +9 | 45 | Qualification for the Championship group |
| 5 | Mladá Boleslav | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 50 | 46 | +4 | 44 | Qualification for the Championship group |
| 6 | Slovácko | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 39 | 40 | −1 | 41 | Qualification for the Championship group |
| 7 | Slovan Liberec | 30 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 46 | 46 | 0 | 40 | Qualification for the Play-off |
| 8 | Sigma Olomouc | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 40 | 45 | −5 | 37 | Qualification for the Play-off |
| 9 | Hradec Králové | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 32 | 38 | −6 | 37 | Qualification for the Play-off |
| 10 | Teplice | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 31 | 40 | −9 | 36 | Qualification for the Play-off |
| 11 | Bohemians 1905 | 30 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 29 | 40 | −11 | 35 | Qualification for the Relegation group |
| 12 | Jablonec | 30 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 35 | 45 | −10 | 30 | Qualification for the Relegation group |
| 13 | Pardubice | 30 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 29 | 42 | −13 | 28 | Qualification for the Relegation group |
| 14 | Karviná | 30 | 6 | 7 | 17 | 30 | 52 | −22 | 25 | Qualification for the Relegation group |
| 15 | Zlín | 30 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 36 | 61 | −25 | 25 | Qualification for the Relegation group |
| 16 | České Budějovice | 30 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 34 | 62 | −28 | 24 | Qualification for the Relegation group |

### Results

| Home \ Away | BOH | CBU | HKR | JAB | KAR | LIB | MLA | OLO | OST | PCE | PLZ | SLA | SLO | SPA | TEP | ZLN |
| Bohemians 1905 | — | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 |
| České Budějovice | 3–0 | — | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–5 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Hradec Králové | 2–2 | 5–1 | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Jablonec | 0–1 | 5–2 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–5 | 3–2 | 0–0 |
| Karviná | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 5–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 4–1 |
| Slovan Liberec | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 4–1 | 0–2 | 3–3 | 5–3 |
| Mladá Boleslav | 2–1 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | — | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 |
| Sigma Olomouc | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | — | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| Baník Ostrava | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 5–1 |
| Pardubice | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 2–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Viktoria Plzeň | 2–0 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 6–2 | — | 1–0 | 1–4 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| Slavia Prague | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 4–3 | 5–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 |
| Slovácko | 5–2 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | — | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Sparta Prague | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–3 | 5–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 5–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Teplice | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 |
| Zlín | 2–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 5–9 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–7 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | — |

## Championship group

Points and goals were carried over in full from the regular season.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | SPA | SLA | PLZ | OST | MLA | SLO |
| 1 | Sparta Prague (C) | 35 | 27 | 6 | 2 | 82 | 30 | +52 | 87 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | — |
| 2 | Slavia Prague | 35 | 26 | 7 | 2 | 76 | 24 | +52 | 85 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round | — | — | 3–0 | 5–0 | 4–0 | — |
| 3 | Viktoria Plzeň | 35 | 21 | 7 | 7 | 76 | 40 | +36 | 70 | Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round | — | — | — | 1–1 | 3–0 | 4–2 |
| 4 | Baník Ostrava | 35 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 56 | 48 | +8 | 49 | Qualification for the Conference League second qualifying round | — | — | — | — | 0–1 | 6–0 |
| 5 | Mladá Boleslav (O) | 35 | 13 | 8 | 14 | 51 | 59 | −8 | 47 | Qualification for the Conference League play-off final | 0–5 | — | — | — | — | 0–1 |
| 6 | Slovácko | 35 | 12 | 8 | 15 | 45 | 56 | −11 | 44 | | 2–4 | 1–2 | — | — | — | — |
* ↑ Since the Europa League winners, Atalanta qualified for the Champions League via league position, Slavia Prague were promoted from the Champions League second qualifying round to the third qualifying round as one of the two teams with the highest coefficient in the second qualifying round.

## Conference League play-off

Teams placed between 7th and 10th position will take part in the Conference League play-off. The best of them will play against the fifth-placed of the championship play-offs to determine the Conference League play-off winners. The winners will qualify for the second qualifying round of the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League.
| First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round |
| Teplice | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Slovan Liberec | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | | |
| Slovan Liberec | 0 | 1 | 1 | Teplice | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | | | | Hradec Králové | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Hradec Králové | 3 | 3 | 6 | Hradec Králové | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Sigma Olomouc | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | |

### Final
## Relegation group

Points and goals were carried over in full from the regular season.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | JAB | PCE | BOH | KAR | CBU | ZLN |
| 11 | Jablonec | 35 | 9 | 14 | 12 | 45 | 50 | −5 | 41 | | — | 3–0 | — | 3–2 | — | 1–0 |
| 12 | Pardubice | 35 | 11 | 7 | 17 | 39 | 47 | −8 | 40 | | — | — | — | 4–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 |
| 13 | Bohemians 1905 | 35 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 34 | 48 | −14 | 39 | | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–3 | — | — |
| 14 | Karviná (O) | 35 | 8 | 8 | 19 | 38 | 62 | −24 | 32 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs | — | — | — | — | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| 15 | České Budějovice (O) | 35 | 7 | 8 | 20 | 41 | 70 | −29 | 29 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs | 2–2 | — | 2–1 | — | — | — |
| 16 | Zlín (R) | 35 | 5 | 12 | 18 | 40 | 69 | −29 | 27 | Relegation to FNL | — | — | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | — |

## Relegation play-offs

Teams placed 14th and 15th in the relegation group will face the teams placed 2nd and 3rd in the Czech National Football League for two spots in the next season.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Vyškov | 0–2 | Karviná | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| České Budějovice | 3–2 | Silon Táborsko | 2–1 | 1–1 |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Václav Jurečka | Slavia | 19 |
| 2 | Pavel Šulc | Plzeň | 18 |
| 3 | Jan Kuchta | Sparta | 17 |
| 4 | Veljko Birmančević | Sparta | 16 |
| 4 | Mojmír Chytil | Slavia | 16 |
| 6 | Ewerton | Ostrava | 14 |
| 7 | Lukáš Haraslín | Sparta | 12 |
| 7 | Marek Havlík | Slovácko | 12 |
| 7 | Lukáš Juliš | Olomouc | 12 |
| 7 | Tomáš Chorý | Plzeň | 12 |

### Hat-tricks

| Matchweek | Date | Player | For | Against | Result |
| 4 | 13 August 2023 | Pavel Šulc | Plzeň | České Budějovice | 5–2 (A) |
| 18 | 9 December 2023 | Marek Havlík$^4$ | Slovácko | Bohemians 1905 | 5–2 (H) |
| 22 | 25 February 2024 | Mojmír Chytil | Slavia | Pardubice | 3–0 (H) |
| 32 | 11 May 2024 | Pavel Šulc | Plzeň | Slovácko | 4–2 (H) |
| 34 | 18 May 2024 | Jan Kuchta$^4$ | Sparta | Mladá Boleslav | 5–0 (A) |
| 34 | 19 May 2024 | Ladislav Krobot | Pardubice | Karviná | 4–0 (H) |

#### Notes

$^4$ Player scored 4 goals (H) – Home team (A) – Away team

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Martin Jedlička | Bohemians 1905 / Plzeň | 13 |
| 2 | Peter Vindahl Jensen | Sparta | 12 |
| 3 | Jiří Letáček | Ostrava | 9 |
| 4 | Milan Heča | Slovácko | 8 |
| 4 | Jindřich Staněk | Plzeň / Slavia | 8 |
| 4 | Aleš Mandous | Slavia | 8 |
| 4 | Adam Zadražil | Hradec Králové | 8 |
| 8 | Jan Hanuš | Jablonec | 7 |
| 9 | Tomáš Grigar | Teplice | 6 |
| 10 | Pavol Bajza | Hradec Králové | 5 |
| 10 | Hugo Jan Bačkovský | Liberec | 5 |
| 10 | Dominik Holec | Karviná | 5 |
| 10 | Antonín Kinský | Pardubice | 5 |