CTY Group buys Bohemians FC

Czech Republic Bohemians 1905 picked up a major new owner in the investment company CTY Group, which now holds a 51.19 stake in the club.

In return for the shares, the investor increased the club's equity from EUR 71,540 to approximately five times that amount. That could push the once-dominant club back up from the Second Division.

"Our main objective is to return the club to the level where it traditionally belongs – to the top division," said Martin Frelich, CTY Group's general director.

The new owners are reviewing ideas to refurbish Ďolíček, the Bohemians' stadium. CTY Group bought the stadium for more than EUR 2 million, bringing the stadium back among the club's assets.

CTY Group's arrival came some two years after the club declared bankruptcy and almost ceased to exist in winter 2005 when its seasonal debt approached EUR 2 million. In March 2005, the second division Bohemians became the first Czech football club to have been stripped off its professional license as a result of financial woes.

Bohemian's fans gathered more than EUR 100,000 in a nationwide collection in spring 2005. This helped restart the club, which entered play in the third division.

"Our only concern is to make sure that the Bohemians football club doesn't cease to exist," Antonín Jelínek, chairman of the Bohemians Supporters' Trust (DFB) that was established by the club's rescuers in 2005, said at the time.

After CTY Group's arrival, DFB still retains a 10.24 percent stake in the football club.

Things started turning around for the club. In the summer of 2006, Bohemians took over Prague Xaverov's spot in the second division. Xaverov closed down after its owner Vojtěch Tomi decided to withdraw his football sponsorship.