Jiri Skalak gives us the lowdown on FK Jablonec

Albion's Premier League promotion winner believes Thursday's Conference League opponents will make it difficult but predicts a win for Fabian Hurzeler's side.

Luke Nicoli

2026-10-21T07:00+01:00

Jiri Skalak won promotion to the Premier League with Albion. 📷Paul Hazlewood.

Jiri, Albion are heading to your native Czechia to face FK Jablonec on Thursday. What can you tell us about them? They’re a solid team who have made good progress in recent years. They have finished fifth in the Czech league in each of the past two seasons, and their coach, [Lubos Kozel], has been there for a couple of years now and has impressed. They try to play good football and give opportunities to young players, while also having some experienced players in the side. They had a really good start to the season, although their form has dipped as they’ve focused on their Conference League campaign. It has stretched the squad.

Jablonec knocked out Rangers in the qualifying play-off. Did that surprise you? A little bit, yes. They had a really good pre-season and, as I said, started the campaign well, which helped going into the play-offs. When you have these two-legged games anything can happen, but having lost only 1-0 in Scotland they deserved to win the return. Rangers then took the lead in the penalty shoot-out, but Jablonec had the luck and managed to progress. It was a great achievement for them.

Who are the players we should be looking out for? Left-back Jiri Slama is a player with real potential. He broke into the national team recently, playing against England at Wembley and also scoring against Spain. The goalkeeper, Jan Hanus, is also very experienced at the age of 38, and in the last game against Freiburg he made a couple of good saves. The striker, Jan Chramosta, is also experienced and is the club’s top scorer. He scored the winning penalty against Rangers, but really, when you look at the side, there is no big star. They are more of a team that works hard together, and that is important.

Jablonec opened their Conference League account with a narrow 3-2 defeat at Freiburg last week. What did you make of the performance? Freiburg were the better team in terms of possession and chances, but Jablonec defended well. In these types of games you have to stay compact, try to control the space and look for opportunities to attack when they come. I think everyone here expected them to lose by more, but they made it difficult for Freiburg at times and that shows they can be a tough opponent when they get their tactics right.

So, next up it’s Albion. Will it help Jablonec that it’s a home game this time? It’s always better to play at home, especially against a team like Brighton, who are now a top, top side. Jablonec isn’t a big city, and normally the team don’t have a huge crowd. They might have around 2,000 supporters at a typical home game, but there should be quite a few more for this game. The stadium has three stands and an open area behind one goal, so it will be unlike anything the Albion players are used to. Jablonec will try to use the surroundings to their advantage. The crowd will get behind the team, as they did against Rangers.

Will you be attending the game? It’s a three-hour drive from where I live, but I’ve been invited by Brighton to come to the game and I can’t wait. It’s going to be great to meet some of the Albion supporters again and perhaps do some videos before the game. I’d also love to see some of my former teammates. Dunky, Steeley and Pascal are still there from my time at the club, and I stay in contact. I actually saw Pascal on holiday last year and we message regularly, so hopefully our schedules will allow me to see the boys again in the short time they are over here.

Do you still follow the team’s results? Of course. I still follow the team closely, and I have some fantastic memories from my time at the club. On the pitch, it was probably the best time of my career. Playing in England had always been my dream and that dream came true when I joined Brighton. I’m really proud that I was part of the team that got promoted to the Premier League. Off the pitch, too, I really enjoyed living in Brighton. My daughter was born there and I made friends for life – so the city will always be important to me.

What is your favourite memory from your time at the club? Definitely the promotion, but also my first goal for the club against QPR [the previous season]. I remember the ball bouncing nicely in front of me outside the box, and I just hit it. Beram [Kayal] was behind me, telling me not to shoot, but as soon as I hit it I knew it was going in and the emotion afterwards was incredible! I’m also still in touch with Beram and other players like Anthony Knockaert, Tomer Hemed and Bruno. Those friendships will last forever.

Jiri is mobbed by his teammates after his wonderful goal against QPR. 📷Paul Hazlewood.

At the training ground you were known for your crazy tracksuits and hairstyles – is that still the case? My hairstyle isn’t so crazy now that I’m older, but I do still like my tracksuits! To be honest, I’ve had to tone down what I wear because, as my playing career winds down, I’m working more for the TV company Canal+, so I wear quite formal clothes. I’m in the studio as a pundit for Premier League games and I really enjoy that. It’s good to keep a close eye on the English game – and it’s fantastic to see Brighton doing so well. The club was only heading in one direction when I was there so it hasn’t surprised me to see where they are now.

Have you retired from playing? I had been playing for a team called Dynamo Ceske Budejovice, who were in the top division, but there have been a lot of financial problems off the pitch, and the club has been relegated to the third tier. I decided to leave as a result, and now I’m just playing for fun for my local team Hluboka nad Vltavou in the fourth division. With my kids at school and my wife’s business here I didn’t want to move far. I’m really enjoying it and using my experience to help the younger players.